News
FG Names Airlines Probe Panel
The Federal Government, has ordered an up-to-date audit of all airlines as part of measures to forestall another crash.
For that purpose, a nine-member Technical Committee and Administrative Review Panel, headed by an aeronautical engineer, Group Captain John Obakpolor (rtd) has been set up.
Other members of the panel are Captain Austin Omame, Capt Dele Sasegbon, Dr Obi Aliu, F.C Onyeyiri, Capt Mfon Udom, Capt Muhtar Usman, Dr Tony Anuforom and Capt A Mshelia.
The Tide learnt that the panel is expected to do a comprehensive assessment of all domestic airlines and recommend to the government actions that should be taken to improve safety.
It is also expected to assess the financial health line of airlines operating within Nigeria, with a firm assurance that not only would the panel’s report be made public, President Goodluck Jonathan has also vowed to take firm action when necessary.
Briefing reporters immediately after the special Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting held in memory of the victims of flight 9j-922, Aviation Minister Stella Oduah said the committee, which has six months to complete its work was expected to come up with a comprehensive report on each of the airlines in the country.
On regulation, she said the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), will be strengthened. This, she said, includes the implementation of the Central Bank/Ministry of Aviation committee recommendations.
The minister, who hinted about moving the black box to the United States for analyses, said, “at the site of the incident, there were people with AIB t-shirts; they were gathering information.
“They cut the parts from the aircraft, looking for clues. The information they obtained will be taken back to the lab for analysis to get exactly the reason for the accident. But, in addition to that, because we do not have a laboratory for the black boxes, we need to take them outside the country for proper analysis.”
Mrs Oduah also assured of proper diagnosis of the cause of the crash. “I want to also say that among the team that worked with AIB, are international experts and so, you are not likely to have collusion or reports that will have integrity issue. So, I want to assure that the report we will get will be a very authentic report,” she said.
On the nine-man panel, she said, “Mr. President has graciously approved the names of those that will be part of the investigative panel. As you are aware, there are two investigative panels that will be going on simultaneously; one will use the other as a resource, based on aviation global best practices.
“We cannot redesign ours; we have to do it in line with what is obtainable in the aviation sector. And so, immediately an accident takes place in aviation, the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) commences investigation.
The reason is to ensure that we don’t have a reoccurrence and so we are very preventive in aviation, not to have this happen again. But, most importantly, is to determine the cause of the accident.
“The economic regulatory aspect of NCAA will be strengthened to monitor domestic airlines on a regular basis. So, whenever we see signs that indicate danger, we will be able to either shut down the airline or take precautionary actions so that we don’t get into a very bad situation.”
On the recommendations of the CBN/ FMA, she said, there is an ongoing committee between the Ministry of Aviation, the CBN, commercial banks and other financial agencies. They are set in the first place to ensure that domestic airlines are restructured. They are coming out with their recommendations today and we have read a preliminary report and so we will implement it fully.
“Mr. President has granted us that approval and when this is done, all the local airlines will have a transformed structure. And we all know that the reason why most domestic airlines have problems is because the structures within which they are operating are very faulty. So, we are fixing that with this measure”.
The minister also said the crashed aircraft was not the one that was investigated over the concern raised by Akwa Ibom Governor Godswill Akpabio. She said the aircraft involved is abroad for repairs.
Mrs Oduah assured Nigerians, “Air transportation is still the safest mode of transportation. Our airspace is very safe. I hear people say our airspace is not safe, that is not true; we have the safest airspace in the world; we are very safe. What happened has nothing to do with the safety nets of our air space. And so I want to assure Nigerians that what happened on Sunday will not reoccur, by the grace of God. We will do everything humanly possible to ensure that we enhance our safety policies and procedures and we are doing that now to ensure that NCAA becomes stronger and their regulatory oversight is enhanced.
“With all the approvals we have got and with the transformation measures that is currently ongoing, in addition to institutional reforms that we started about a year ago, everything is on course. All these are to ensure we have safe aviation sector in Nigeria.
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.
News
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.