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Census: NSA Inaugurates 25-Member Security, Logistics Committee
The National Security Adviser (NSA), Malam Nuhu Ribadu, has inaugurated a 25-member National Census Security and Logistic Committee for the conduct of the next Population and Housing Census in the country.
The committee members are drawn from the military, paramilitary, police force, relevant ministries, unions and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
While inaugurating the committee in Abuja late Wednesday evening, Ribadu stressed the need for accurate and reliable demographic data for policy formulation and planning, and for sustainable development.
He said “it is in the light of this and the desire to bequeath an enduring legacy of evidence-based planning for sustainable development that the conduct of the Population and Housing Census is of topmost priority to the administration of President Bola Tinubu.
“The setting up of this committee and its inauguration at this point in time is therefore a necessary step toward ensuring peaceful and smooth conduct of the census.”
Ribadu also said that the scope of the census is enormous, adding that “safeguarding the personnel and materials, as well as smooth channelling of same is imperative to the overall success of the exercise.”
He explained that the committee must be conscious of several risks factors that might affect successful conduct of the census.
The NSA said “the planning and conduct of a gigantic programme such as the census will no doubt come with its challenges in terms of security and logistics arrangement.
“Potential areas of threats to the census include physical attacks on National Population Commission (NPC) staff and facilities, attacks on security personnel on census duty, kidnapping, inter/intra communal violence disrupting preparatory and main census work.”
Others, according to him, are attacks targeting NPC databases and ICT architecture, intimidation of members of the public to dissuade them from participating in the process, snatching and destruction of census materials.
“Most prominent is the issue of insecurity arising from banditry, kidnapping, armed conflicts, terrorism, insurgency and other violent crimes which pose major challenges to the census.”
He, however, said that though the task before the committee is huge, Federal Government had put in serious efforts to ensure the safety of Nigerians.
“It is expected that with coordinated synergy by the committee, safe movement of personnel and materials before, during and after the census will be guaranteed.
“This is because we have the confidence that with the calibre of members of this committee, this national assignment will be carried out successfully,” he said.
He also disclosed that the committee would be replicated in the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory and in the 774 local government areas of the country.
Mr Isa Kwarra, the Chairman of NPC and Chairman of the committee, emphasised the importance of the committee.
He noted that the commission attached great importance to the work of the committee, whose work is critical and important to the commission’s quest to giving Nigeria a credible, reliable and acceptable census data for national planning.
He assured that the commission would without delay, organise workshops on processes and methodologies for the census to keep members of the committee up-to-date on preparations for the census.
Citing some milestones the commission had reached preparatory to the exercise, he said NPC concluded
the enumeration area demarcation of the 774 LGAs and the first and second pretest of census instruments.
Others, according to him, are the procurement of 760,000 tablets and accessories and distribution of same to all states of the federation.
He added that “from these milestones, it is obvious that the commission has a herculean task in deploying personnel to every nook and cranny of the country.
“With the calibre of members, I am confident that the committee has all it takes to mitigate the security and logistic challenges of the coming census.
“I wish to assure the committee and all Nigerians that the commission remains committed to the conduct of a credible and acceptable census that will be transformational and meet international standards.
“In the coming census, everyone will be counted in the right way, at the right place and time, and for the benefit of all persons resident in Nigeria,” he said.
He assured members of the committee of NPC’s support in the discharge of their duties.
Former President Mohammadu Buhari postponed the Population and Housing Census scheduled to have held between May 3 and May 7, 2023, to a date to be announced by the new government of President Bola Tinubu.
The then Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said that the shift in date was to allow frayed nerves to calm down after the 2023 general elections.
Vice President Kashim Shettima has arrived in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, for an official State visit at the invitation of the Prime Minister, Dr. Abiy Ahmed.
Upon arrival yesterday, Shettima was received at the airport by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia, Dr. Gedion Timothewos, and other members of the Ethiopian and Nigerian diplomatic corps.
Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Communication, Stanley Nkwocha, revealed this in a statement he signed yesterday, titled: “VP Shettima arrives in Ethiopia for official state visit.”
During the visit, Vice President Shettima will participate in the official launch of Ethiopia’s Green Legacy Programme, a flagship environmental initiative.
The programme designed to combat deforestation, enhance biodiversity, and mitigate the adverse effects of climate change targets the planting of 20 billion tree seedlings over a four-year period.
In line with strengthening bilateral ties in agriculture and industrial development, the Vice President will also embark on a strategic tour of key industrial zones and integrated agricultural facilities across selected regions of Ethiopia.
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RSG Tasks Farmers On N4bn Agric Loan ….As RAAMP Takes Sensitization Campaign To Four LGs In Rivers
The Rivers State Government has called on the people of the state especially farmers to access the ?4billion agricultural loans made available by the State and domiciled in the Bank of Industry.
This is as the State Project Implementation Unit (SPIU) of Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project (RAAMP), a World Bank project, took its sensitization campaign to Opobo/Nkoro, Andoni, Port Harcourt City and Obio/Akpor local government areas.
The campaign was aimed at enlightening community dwellers and other stakeholders in the various local government areas on the RAAMP project implementation and programme activities.
The Permanent Secretary, Rivers State Ministry of Agriculture, Mr Maurice Ogolo, said this at Opobo town, Ngo, Port Harcourt City and Rumuodumanya, headquarters of the four local government areas respectively, during the sensitization campaign.
Ogolo said apart from the ?4billion, the government has also made available fertilizers and other farm inputs to farmers in the various local government areas.
The Permanent Secretary who is the Chairman, State Steering Committee for the project, said RAAMP will construct roads that will connect farms to markets to enable farmers and fishermen sell their farms produce and fishes.
He also said rural roads would be constructed to farms and fishing settlements, and warned against any act that will lead to the cancellation of the projects in the four local government areas.
According to him, the World Bank and Federal Government which are the financiers of the programme will not condone such acts like kidnapping, marching ground and other acts inimical to the successful implementation of the projects in their respective areas.
At PHALGA, Ogolo asserted that the city will benefit in the areas of roads and bridge construction.
He noted that RAAMP was thriving in both the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja; Lagos and other states in the country, stressing that the project should also be given the seriousness it deserves in Rivers State.
Speaking at Opobo town, the headquarters of Opobo/Nkoro Local Government Area, the project coordinator, RAAMP, Mr.Joshua Kpakol, said the programme would reduce poverty in the state.
According to him, both fishermen and farmers will maximally benefit from the programme.
At Ngo which is the headquarters of Andoni Local Government Area, Kpakol said roads will be constructed to all remote fishing settlements.
He said Rivers State is lucky to be among the states implementing the project, and stressed the need for the people to embrace it.
Meanwhile, Kpakol said at PHALGA that RAAMP is a project that will transform the lives of farmers, traders and other stakeholders in the area.
He urged the stakeholders to spread the information to their various communities.
However, some of the stakeholders at Opobo town complained about the destruction of their farms by bulls allegedly owed by traditional rulers in the area, as well as incessant stealing of their canoes at waterfronts.
At Ngo, Archbishop Elkanah Hanson, founder of El-Shaddai Church, commended the World Bank and the Federal Government for bringing the projects to Andoni.
He stressed the need for the construction of roads to fishing settlements in the area.
Also, a former Commissioner for Agriculture in the state and Okan Ama of Ekede, HRH King Gad Harry, noted that storage facilities have become necessary for a successful agricultural programme.
Harry also stressed the need for the programme to be made sustainable.
In their separate speeches, the administrators of Andoni and Opobo/Nkoro Local Government Areas, pledged their readiness to support the programme.
At Port Harcourt City, the Administrator, Dr Arthur Kalagbor, represented by the Head of Local Government Administration, Port Harcourt City, Mr Clifford Paul, said the city would support the implementation of the programme in the area.
Also, the administrator of Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, Dr Clifford Ndu Walter, represented by Mr Michael Elenwo, pledged to support the programme in his local government area.
Among dignitaries at the Obio/Akpor stakeholders engagement is the chairman, Rivers State Traditional Rulers Council and paramount ruler of Apara Kingdom, HRM Eze Chike Wodo, amongst others.
John Bibor
President Bola Tinubu has ordered the commencement of personnel audit and skill gap analysis across all cadres of federal civil servants.
The president gave this directive in Abuja, yesterday, while speaking at the International Civil Service Conference, reaffirming his resolve to achieve efficiency and professional service delivery in the civil service.
“I have authorized the comprehensive personnel audit and skill gap analysis across the federal civil service to deepen capacity. I urge all responsible stakeholders to prioritize timely completion of this critical exercise, to begin implementing targeted reforms, to realize the full benefit of a more agile, competent and responsive civil service,” the president announced.
Tinubu further directed all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), to prioritise data integrity and sovereignty in national interest.
He called for the capture, protection and strategic publication of public sector data in line with the Nigeria Data Protection Act of 2023.
“We must let our data speak for us. We must publish verified data assets within Nigeria and share them internationally recognized as fruitful. This will allow global benchmarking organisation to track our progress in real time and help us strengthen our position on the world stage. This will preserve privacy and uphold data sovereignty,” Tinubu added.
President Tinubu hailed the federal civil service as the “engine” driving his Renewed Hope Agenda, and the vehicle for delivering sustainable national development.
He submitted that the roles of civil servants remain indispensable in modern governance, declaring that in the face of a fast-evolving digital and economic landscape, the civil service must remain agile, future-ready, and results-driven.
“This maiden conference is a bold step toward redefining governance in an era of rapid transformation. An innovative Civil Service ensures we meet today’s needs and overcome tomorrow’s challenges.
“It captures our collective ambition to reimagine and reposition the civil service. In today’s rapid, evolving world of technology, innovation remains critical in ensuring that the civil service is dynamic, digital” the President said.
Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Didi Walson-Jack in her welcome address told the President that his presence and strong words of commendation at the conference has renewed the morale and mandate of public servants across the country.
Walson-Jack described Tinubu as the backbone of driving transformation in the Nigerian civil service, and noted that the takeaways from past study tours undertaken to understudy the civil service in Singapore, the UK and US under her leadership, is already yielding multiplier effects.
Walson-Jack assured Tinubu that her office, in collaboration with reform-minded stakeholders, will not relent in accelerating the implementation of the Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan, FCSSIP 25.
She affirmed that digitalisation, performance management, and continuous learning remain key pillars in strengthening accountability, transparency, and service delivery across MDAs.
Walson-Jack reaffirmed that the civil service is determined to exceed expectations by embedding a culture of innovation, ethical leadership, and citizen-centred governance in the heart of public administration.