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Nigeria’s senate president, others bag NIS fellowship award
Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, and the governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, were on Wednesday in Abuja presented with the Honourary Fellowship Award of the Nigerian Institution of Surveyors (NIS) alongside a former Minister of Defence, Brig-General Mansur Dan-Ali (rtd) and the Emir of Nasarawa, HRH Alh. Ibrahim Usman Jibril, at the institution’s 2021 investiture ceremony. Also, 24 members of the NIS, including Surveyor-General of the Federation (SGoF) Surv. Taiwo Samuel Adeniran and Registrar/CEO of the Surveyors Council of Nigeria (SURCON), Surv. Kabir Mohammed Mamman, were confirmed Fellows of the institution. Appreciating the honour, Senator Lawan said though right now he is in the political sphere, he felt drawn back to his professional root by the award, assuring ofevery suppo...
Ramadan: House deputy governor urges muslims to pray for Nigeria
The Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Ahmed Idris Wase, has urged Muslim Ummah to use the Holy Month to pray for the peace, security and development of Nigeria. In a congratulatory message to mark the commencement of this year’s Ramadan, the Deputy Speaker implored Muslims to follow and apply the teachings of Prophet Muhammad in their relationship with both Muslims and non-Muslims neighbours. He said: “We should remember to cater for the less-privileged in our midst, stay humble and abstain from all bad deeds. As Ramadan begins, I wish to felicitate with all Muslims for witnessing yet another season of spiritual significance. I enjoin you to use the sacred holy month of Ramadan to pray for our dear nation against the current spate of killings, kidnappings, banditry and o...
Minister calls for transformation of food system
Minister of Environment, Dr. Muhammad Abubakar, has called for the transformation of the food system to aid rejuvenation of soils and forest covers. Speaking at the 14th National Council of Environment virtually held with the theme: “Managing Emerging Environmental Challenges: Need for Strategic Approach to Sustainable Development in Covid-19 Era and Beyond,” the Minister said: “There is urgent need to transform our food system which has been the major factor in the issue of loss of biodiversity, fresh water and deforestation with its attendant effects on climate change. It is therefore, expected that pertinent issues of climate smart agriculture and agro ecological practices that will aid rejuvenation of soils and forest covers, among others,are discussed during this meeting.” He noted th...
Analysts: Printing currency could hurt economy
Analysts have expressed concerns over a recent claim that the federal government resorted to printing money to augment the monthly allocation to the three tiers of government, warning that it could heighten inflationary pressure with dire consequences for the country’s exchange rate and economy. The analysts, in separate interviews with newsmen, warned that a sustained policy of printing the currency, if not well managed, would hurt the economy. The concern came on the heels of recent revelation by Governor of Edo State, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, that due to the dwindling revenue in the face of declining oil revenue arising from the growing sources of alternative sustainable energy, the federal government had to print money to augment the amount available for sharing by the federal, state and lo...
Senate summons insurance firms over failure to remit N17.4 billion pension fund
The Senate Public Accounts Committee, on Monday, summoned NICON Insurance Plc, AIICO Insurance and other insurance companies over alleged failure to remit N17.4 billion fund to Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD). The Executive Secretary of PTAD, Dr Chioma Ejikeme, had told the panel that PTAD took over the assets and liabilities of defunct pension offices without a formal handing over. She said, “On taking over, the Directorate wrote all underwriters to make returns and remit whatever amount is in their custody into a CBN dedicated account. Some of the underwriters responded to the request while some did not. “The bank certificate of balances, accounting statements, 3 years financial statements and policy files requested by the Federal Auditor were not handed over to PTAD ...
UN expresses worry over violence against women in Nigeria
The United Nations has expressed worries over rising violence against women and girls in Nigeria. The UN National Programme Manager, Patience Ekeoba, lamented that the country’s security is weak in handling gender-based matter. Ekeoba called on the federal government to retrain security personnel, especially the police in handling gender-based matter in order to put an abrupt end to the narrative across the country. She said this while speaking at the 8th Triennial Convention of the Mothers’ Union of the Church of the Lord International held in Ogere-Remo, Ogun. The UN personnel who spoke on the theme “Fearfully and Wonderfully Made” disclosed that 3.85 million of Nigerian girls are out of school, warning that the victims are at risk of social violence. According to her, violence against w...
All Chinese schools now have access to internet
Andrew Brookes/Getty Images All Chinese schools now have full access to the Internet, and 95.2 per cent of them are equipped with multi-media classrooms, according to a senior official with China’s Ministry of Education. The country has been constantly accelerating informationisation of teaching, and sees it as underpinning the modernisation of education, said Zhong Denghua, vice minister of the education ministry, at a virtual conference attended by ministers of education on the E9 Digital Learning Initiative jointly held by UNESCO and Bangladesh on April 6. Following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, online courses thrived across the country as a way to ensure normal teaching activities, said Zhong, adding that nearly 300 million teachers and students had learnt or taught online whi...
Nigerian Army seeks media support to end insurgency
The Commander, Operation Lafiya Dole, Major General Faruk Yahaya, has called on the media to support the ongoing operation to rout Boko Haram terrorists out of the country. The theatre commander made the call at Maimalari Cantonment in Maiduguri on Saturday during a luncheon organised in honour of the media practitioners in Borno State. Gen Yahaya expressed appreciation to the media, describing practitioners as critical stakeholders in the fight against the terrorists. He added that the media as an important component could enhance operations when effectively harnessed and deployed. The theatre commander charged the media to be reliable partners by effectively deploying its skills and competence in the support of the operations in the North-east. “Media should make effort to deny the crimi...
Lagos: Councillors suspend council chairman for ‘fraud’
The Chairman, Surulere Local Government, Lagos State, Tajudeen Ajide, has been suspended for alleged financial impropriety. This is according to a letter sent to the Lagos State Commissioner of Police by the nine councillors at the local government. The suspension, according to the councillors, is sequel to a resolution dated April 9, 2021 wherein a vote of no confidence was passed in Ajide. The names of the councillors include: Akande Barakat, Adebisi David, Fasasi Ajenifuja, Phillips Olubunmi, Otinwa Eric, Ijitola Oluwasegun, Ajala Ajibola, Kareem Abiodun and Kazeem Bello. They asked both the police commissioner and the area commander, Area C, to deploy policemen in the local government secretariat to prevent hoodlums from attacking them. The letter read in part, “We the undersigned by t...
Imo attacks: IGP tasks CPs, AIGs to evolve new policing strategies
The Inspector-General of Police, Ag. IGP Usman Alkali Baba, on Friday, met with Police Strategic Commanders, Zonal Assistant Inspectors General of Police, Commissioners of Police, and Deputy Commissioners of Police (Operations), in the South-South and the South-Eastern States of the country and tasked them on checkmating security challenges. A statement by CP Frank Mba, Force Public Relations Officer, said the meeting, which held at the Force Headquarters, Abuja, is part of efforts by the new Police leadership to critically diagnose the security threats in the region and evolve new policing strategies and responses towards tackling the threats. The IGP, while noting that the South-East and South-South geo-political zones of the country are very critical in the socio-economic stability and ...
Nigerian Army begins show of force in Imo
File Photo The Nigerian Army on Thursday began show of force in Imo State. Our correspondent gathered that the military exercise was an offshoot of Monday attacks on Owerri Correctional Center and the Imo State Police Command headquarters. The attackers, who operated between 1am and 3am also attacked a military base at Ukwuorji on Owerri-Onitsha expressway, burnt a soldier in a car and razed four military operational vehicles. The military exercise was intended to burst the moral of security agents and to restore the confidence of the people in the security agents, a source told newsmen. The source said, “The operation show of force is a military exercise targeted at restoring the confidence of the people in the security agencies. It is also a way of raising the morale of the operatives af...
OPC berates ex-COAS for equating group with Boko Haram
The Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) yesterday berated a former Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt. Gen. Abdulrahman Dambazau, for comparing the group with the terrorist organisation, Boko Haram. In a statement, the group’s newly-elected President, Mr. Wasiu Afolabi, said the former army chief displayed a dangerous level of mischief, prejudice and narrow-mindedness by equating what it termed a pro-democracy group like the OPC with a world-acclaimed terrorist organisation. Afolabi maintained that the comments by Dambazzau were an attempt to give a dog a bad name in order to hang it, insisting that the move will not work. “We shall not succumb to this cheap attempt at blackmail and negative profiling. OPC is not, has never been and will never be a terrorist organisation. Nobody should link us or lik...