Benefit
PAP sets JAMB as criteria for ex-agitators to get scholarship
The Presidential Amnesty Programme, PAP, has explained that its new policy mandated all ex-agitators desiring to benefit from its scholarship scheme to first take the examination organised by the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board, JAMB. Amnesty office said the new policy was designed to eliminate mediocrity in the programme, adding that the scheme was aimed at transforming ex-agitators into well-educated entrepreneurs and employable citizens. PAP’s Interim Administrator, Col. Milland Dixon Dikio, disclosed in a statement in Port Harcourt signed by his Special Assistant on Media, Nneotaobase Egbe, that the policy was vital for the personal, intellectual and mental growth and development of the delegates. Dikio explained that PAP was targeted at ensuring that beneficiaries of PAP schol...
Lagos governor: We are ready to domesticate AfCFTA agreement
Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, says the state is ready to domesticate the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement. Sanwo-Olu said this on Tuesday when he received the Minister for Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr Niyi Adebayo, on a courtesy visit at the Lagos House, Ikeja. The minister led members of the National Action Committee on nationwide sensitisation on African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which the nation entered into to deepen economic integration among African countries. He said that Lagos had observed the processes leading to the adoption of the continental trade agreement and positioned itself for market expansion across areas of collaboration. The governor said the state was ready to take advantage of the AfCFTA for growth, as a local ac...
2023: Why South South should produce next president – Edo deputy governor, speaker
Deputy Governor of Edo state, Comrade Philip Shaibu, and Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Hon Marcus Onabun, Saturday said the South-South geo-political zone is ripe to produce the next president of Nigeria and while calling on the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to zone its presidential candidate slot to the region. The two spoke at an event to celebrate the emergence of Chief Dan Orbih as the South-South national Vice Chairman of the party held at the Benin residence of late Chairman, Board of Trustees (BoT) of the party, Chief Tony Anenih. Shaibu said, “We voted for President Buhari again and he had a second term. South-South must produce the next President of Nigeria. “Chief Dan Orbih being National Vice Chairman South-South of the PDP from our state is not by m...
Kwara government inaugurates transition committees for 16 councils
The Kwara Government has inaugurated Transition Implementation Committee (TIC) chairmen of the 16 Local Government Areas of the state, charging them to be prudent, transparent, accountable and fair to all. The Deputy Governor of the state, Mr Kayode Alabi, inaugurated the committee chairmen on Thursday in Ilorin. Alabi explained that the TICs have been appointed by Gov. AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq to hold forth pending election into the local councils within shortest possible time. He enjoined the appointees to justify the confidence reposed in them by working assiduously to engender sustainable development at the grassroots. “These appointment thrust upon you the responsibility to galvanise our Local Government Areas for sustainable development in the grassroots. ” This administration is conce...
Nigerian government’s special cash grant for rural women launched in Yobe
Federal government has on Friday Flag-off Special Cash Grant for Rural Women in Damaturu, Yobe State capital. Launching the programme, the Minister of Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouq said that “we gather to provide support to citizens of our beloved country. I am delighted to have you all converge on this venue for purpose of flagging off the Federal Government’s cash grant for rural women, which is a significant social protection programme of President Muhammadu Buhari’s government, aimed at uplifting the most vulnerable groups out of poverty”. According to her, since the inception of President Muhammadu Buhari’s Administration in 2015, Government has paid more attention to protecting and promoting the plight of the poor and vulnerable in the country. This s...
President Buhari wants rapport between NDDC, National Assembly sustained
President Muhammadu Buhari has lauded the cordial relationship existing between the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and the National Assembly. The president, who spoke on Thursday at the virtual commissioning of the NDDC headquarters building in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, called for such relationship for the development of the Niger Delta region. While commending the management and staff of the NDDC for staying the course and keying into the reform agenda of his administration, President Buhari said: “I am particularly pleased to note the cordial relationship between the NDDC and the National Assembly and hope that this relationship will be strengthened further for the benefit of the people of the Niger Delta region.” He said: “I, therefore, use this opportunity to ...
Borno governor extends service years of tertiary institution staff to 65
Governor Babagana Umara Zulum has approved the service elongation of academic staff of tertiary institutions in Borno State. Zulum has assented to the bill passed by the Borno State House of Assembly on the service elongation. A statement from the Senior Special Assistant on Media to the Governor, Baba Sheikh Haruna, indicates that, the tenure of service year of the academic staff is now 65 years of retirement age and 40 years of service. ” The approval followed a bill sent to the legislature by the Executive for the elongation of service year of academic Staff of tertiary institutions in the country. ” The Nine tertiary institutions in Borno to benefit include the Ramat Polytechnic Maiduguri, Kashim Ibrahim College of Education Maiduguri, Umar Ibn Ibrahim College of Education Science and ...
Lagos speaker: I’ll assist LASU to become world class institution
The Speaker, Lagos State House of Assembly, Mudashiru Obasa, says he will work toward ensuring that Lagos State University (LASU), Ojo, becomes a world class institution through appropriate legislation. Obasa made the promise while receiving the institution’s Alumni Association led by its Vice President, Norrison Quakers, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), on Wednesday in Lagos. He said this is to ensure that the institution catches up with the top tertiary institutions across the world. The speaker said the House had always ensured that requests involving LASU were prioritised in the budget to enable the institution to meet the accreditation requirements of the Nigeria University Commission (NUC). He said that currently, there was hardly any institution in the country that LASU could not...
AfDB approves $1.3 million grant for female financial inclusion research in Africa
The African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved two grants worth $1.3 million for research aimed at increasing women’s access to a range of digital financial services on the continent. In a statement on Monday, AfDB said the grants will be disbursed by Africa digital financial inclusion facility (ADFI), a blended finance vehicle supported by the bank. The grants will be disbursed to two fintech firms, Pula Advisors Kenya and M-KOPA Kenya. AfDB said Pula Advisors will use the $1 million for research of social and economic factors that impact women farmers’ access to microinsurance in Kenya, Nigeria and Zambia while M-KOPA will use the $300,000 funding for research involving 500 women and men in Kenya’s Kisumu, Eldoret and Machakos counties. It said findings from the research will inform th...
AfDB approves $1.3 million grants for women’s access to digital finance
The African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved two grants of $1.3 million for research aimed to increase African women’s access to a range of digital financial services, including loans and micro-insurance. According to a statement from the AfDB on Monday, the grants for $1 million and $300,000 respectively, will be disbursed through the Africa Digital Financial Inclusion Facility (ADFI). ADFI is a pan-African initiative designed to accelerate digital financial inclusion throughout Africa. It is a blended finance facility of AfDB with two financial technology firms; Pula Advisors Kenya Ltd. and M-KOPA Kenya Ltd. Pula Advisors will use the $1 million for research of social, cultural and economic factors that impact women farmers’ access to micro-insurance in Kenya, Nigeria and Zambia. Mor...
Governor Ikpeazu: Oil companies have no presence in Abia
Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State, has expressed concern that despite the long years of oil exploration in the state, there was nothing tangible people of oil-producing communities in the state have to show for it. Ikpeazu, while receiving the Senate and House of Representatives Joint Committee on Petroleum Industry Bill led by Senator Albert Bassey at Government House, Umuahia, said that Abia oil-producing communities have remained peaceful more than other oil-producing communities in the country, stressing that the peaceful disposition of the communities should serve as a model for the compensation of oil-producing communities. The governor lamented that the oil exploration and production companies who do business in Abia do not pay taxes to the state, but rather reside in neighbouri...
Rumble in Edo as governor runs government without cabinet
Precisely 129 days into his second tenure as governor of Edo State after his election on September 20, 2020 and inauguration on November 12, 2020, Godwin Obaseki, has not formed his cabinet. This has generated some flaks from different quarters, including the opposition party, All Progressives Congress (APC), constitutional lawyers, political analysts, public commentators, residents among others. While others feel that Obaseki has not committed any crime or breached any law, others believe that he is running a one-man administration and must go ahead to form his cabinet. They argued that going by Section 192 of the 1999 Constitution, the governor is obliged to form a cabinet, saying this is a circumvention, which the state House of Assembly should take action on. Obaseki had said that his ...