NEWS AGENCY OF NIGERIA

2023: Bamidele tasks INEC, judiciary to defend democracy

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Sen. Opeyemi Bamidele 

 

By Naomi Sharang

Sen. Opeyemi Bamidele, Chairman Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, has tasked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the nation’s judiciary to stand up in defence of democracy ahead of the Feb 25 and March 11 elections.

Bamidele made the call in Abuja, on Wednesday during a one-day special hearing on “The extent of implementation of the Electoral Act, 2022 ahead of the conduct of the 2023 general election”.

The session was organised by the National Assembly Joint Committee on Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) with support from the Policy and Legal Advocacy Center (PLAC) and the United Kingdom (UK).

Bamidele, also the Chairman, Southern Senators Forum, while tasking other stakeholders on the same vain said that all hands must be on deck to ensure that the elections are conducted as scheduled.

He said: “The nation is at crossroads; and all stakeholders must stand up in defence of our democracy.

“Two stakeholders stand out. The INEC to stand on its feet and do its best and the judiciary.

“This is because when the political class has come to hold the nation to ransom as it appears now, it is the judiciary that has to stand up and save the nation from the jugular of the political class.”

Bamidele also suggested that the National Assembly needs to rework the electoral act to ensure that grey areas are addressed.

“There is the need for us to go back to the drawing board and rework the electoral act as it is.

“However, in the meantime, we have a law that if it is sincerely implemented by all stakeholders, by all parties concerned, it should lead us somewhere.

“But that is not to say it is yet Uhuru. In some of the provisions in the law; we mean well to the extent that we disenfranchise ourselves in an attempt to get things right.

“I’m not aware that any member of the National Assembly was able to vote as a delegate in their own political party primaries”

On the lingering crisis over the scarcity of naira, Bamidele charged the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to live up to expectations of Nigerians and stop acting like a threat to democracy.

He also raised concerns about the hardship which Nigerians are currently undergoing in accessing their money through the banks.

“The CBN told us at the beginning of the policy that the targets were the so-called moneybags who stashed away billions in their closets. We thought those are the people they want to get at.

“We have now seen that it is the ordinary man on the streets. They are sleeping in the banking halls because they cannot have access to the little money they have. We must understand the political economy of an electoral process.

“People are thinking of the money politicians would spend on vote buying, they don’t know that political parties would also mobilise people to all the polling units as agents, just like the INEC would mobilise personnel.

“Today, the CBN is assuring Nigerians that it would provide money for INEC if they need more money.

“Are we saying that INEC must rely on the intervention of the CBN for it to perform?

“If the police run into logistics problems, would they also run to CBN for selective intervention?

“We are fighting Boko Haram, if the military authorities could not access funds from their banks, they will also need to approach the CBN for selective intervention?

“These are issues and as a stakeholder, the CBN is the most outstanding threat to these elections holding as scheduled.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Secretary to INEC, Mrs May Agbamuche, spoke on behalf of Chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu.

She said that the commission had no intention whatsoever to postpone the elections.

According to her, INEC has already carried out 12 steps out of 14 listed to conduct the elections.

She said the commission would conduct free, fair, credible and transparent elections.
.”(NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Julius Toba-Jegede

Tinubu ‘ll engender brilliant, friendly policies- Folarin

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By Akeem Abas

Sen. Teslim Folarin, the All Progressives Congress (APC) Governorship candidate in Oyo State, says Bola Tinubu, the party’s Presidential candidate, will engender

brilliant and sustainable masses-friendly policies, if elected.

 

Folarin made this known on Tuesday in a statement by Alhaji Kehinde Olaosebikan, the Chairman, Media and Publicity for the Presidential Campaign Council in the state.

 

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Folarin, a former Senate Leader and Asaaju Olubadan of Ibadanland, is the APC-PCC Coordinator in the state.

 

Folarin had explained that the presidential rally scheduled to hold in Ibadan on Tuesday, Feb. 7, was postponed in solidarity with the masses over scarcity of naira notes and fuel.

 

He said Tinubu was eager to be in Ibadan for the rally, assuring the people that he would soon visit the state for the presidential rally.

 

The candidate said: “People had been subjected to unwarranted sufferings as a result of the horrendous scarcity of naira notes and fuel.

 

“Tinubu is the greatest and most compassionate leader in Nigeria today. He would always put the interest of the masses first in all his policies and actions as the President of Nigeria.”

 

Folarin, also said that Tinubu would implement brilliant and sustainable masses-friendly policies and programmes that would guarantee better life for Nigerians.

 

He thanked the people for the loving concern shown over postponement of the rally, assuring them that Tinubu would be in Ibadan very soon.

 

The governorship candidate said that the enthusiasm shown to receive Tinubu in Ibadan and the eventual affectionate concern expressed by the people since the announcement of the postponement was massive.

 

Folarin said that all these have confirmed their love for Tinubu and their determination to vote for him enmasse on Feb. 25.

 

Also, Dr Isiaka Kolawole, the Director-General of APC Presidential and Governorship campaigns in the state, said that the postponement would not affect the quality of the rally whenever it takes place.

 

Kolawole said that the campaign council had concluded all arrangements for a grand rally with the stage and all other necessary equipment put in place.

 

“As I promised when I addressed the press on our preparations on Sunday, we are determined to make the rally the best in all ramifications.

 

“It is going to be grand, classy and groovy. We are the pacesetters, we are setting a new pace with the rally and you will all see it when it happens. The postponement would not limit us,” he said.(NAN)

Edited by Olagoke Olatoye

Kwara NNPP governorship candidate says education determines societal progress

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Prof. Oba Abdulraheem, Kwara NNPP governorship candidate

By Razak Owolabi

Prof. Oba Abdulraheem, Kwara Governorship Candidate of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) has said that education is the best determinant of societal progress.

Oba spoke on Tuesday with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on his plans for education of the people if voted as the next governor of Kwara.

He said as one of his major programmes, he placed a lot of premium on education of the people of Kwara being himself a trained educationist and teacher.

“And I know the value of education in determining many things in the society.
If you have a good education plan you are prepared to eradicate illiteracy. There is need for a well educated state of young people.

“And with good education you fight poverty, you fight disease and you fight ignorance. You fight even violence and extremism because it is ignorance that nurtures all these evils.

“So, if you begin by fixing the education sector, you would have gone a long way to prepare the future for the children,” Oba said.

The NNPP governorship candidate said it was unfortunate that there was a large number of out – of – school children across the nation.

“If we use the investment, the resources of government, to bring people up, we are only preparing them for the future.

“We are preparing the state for competition now and in the future, so education is one of the entry points and flagships of my administration by the Grace of God when I become governor,” Oba, said. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Bashir Rabe Mani

Anambra records 119 fire outbreaks in 2022

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Fire

 

By Lucy Osuizigbo-Okechukwu

The Anambra State Fire Service on Sunday said it recorded and attended to 119 fire incidents across the state from January to December 2022.

Dr Martins Agbili, Director, State Fire Service, made this known to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Awka.

Agbili attributed the incessant fire outbreaks in the state to high level of unconsciousness in the handling of fires and other inflammable materials.

He lamented that valuables worth millions of naira were being lost daily to avoidable fire outbreaks.

According to him, the rate of fire incidents calls for concern, and as a responsible and responsive government that places safety of its citizenry at premium, efforts were being made to address the situation

”Fire outbreaks in the state have become a perennial problem. It leaves enormous material damages, injury to persons and disruption of economic and social life.

 

”Some of the fire cases are mostly caused by negligence on the part of those who use it, hence the need to prioritise the management and prevention of fires in our environment to avoid destruction of lives and properties, ” he said.

While calling for the support of residents, the fire chief promised that the firefighters would continue to intensify efforts to reduce fire outbreaks in the state.

“Everyone has a role to play in the mitigation of fire outbreaks. You need to adhere to fire safety rules to save your property, your life and the lives of people around you.

“Fire officials as first responders to emergencies and incident management have been empowered and equipped by Gov. Chukwuma Soludo’s administration to tackle any form of natural and man-made incident across the state,” he said.

He appealed to residents to utilise the emergency toll free lines to report any case of fire incident to avert loss of lives and properties. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

 

Edited by Idris Abdulrahman

 

 

APC’s governorship candidate in Plateau promises to boost agriculture

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By Peter Amine

Governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Plateau, Dr Nentawe Yilwatda says agriculture would be his main focus if elected at the 2023 general elections.

 

His campaign spokesperson, Mr Shittu Bamayi, stated in Jos on Sunday that Yilwatda made the pronouncement on Saturday at interactive sessions with three communities in Langtang South Local Government Area of the state.

 

Yilwatda said he was amazed by the vast uncultivated arable land in the local government area saying that such endowment was enough to pull the people out of poverty.

 

“Boosting agriculture remains one of my cardinal objectives and I will go the whole hog to support farmers through the provision of high-yielding seedlings and modern farming technology.

 

“The people cannot enjoy the fruits of their labour in terms of food production if certain basic amenities are not provided to them.

 

“Apart from giving support to farmers, we will ensure that as a matter of priority, the lives of the people are properly secured.

 

“We will do that through well-trained security personnel and modern technology to fight terrorism and other forms of criminality,’’ he assured.

 

Yilwatda said the first thing to be done if elected would be to provide roads and potable water for people in communities visited.

 

He commended the Taroh people for being good and dependable hosts to many ethnic nationalities in the area who were purposely there to farm and earn a living. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Abubakar Ahmed/Alli Hakeem

NEMA promotes 229 staff members

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By Ruth Oketunde

Mr Mustapha Ahmed, Director-General, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), has approved the promotion of 229 staff members of the organisation who were successful in a recent promotion exercise.

 

This is contained in a statement signed by Mr Manzo Ezekiel, Head, Press Unit, NEMA, on Sunday in Abuja,

 

Ezekiel said the newly promoted staff were elevated to various ranks which include one substantive director on salary grade Level 17, one deputy director on grade level 16 and eight assistant directors on grade level 15.

 

“Others are 37 staff members promoted to grade level 14 and 55 officers to level 13.

 

“Also, 45 officers were elevated to grade level 12, 29 officers to level 10, 9 officers promoted to level 9 and 5 were promoted to level 8 and 39 others were also promoted to grade level 7.

 

“Furthermore, one staff member was converted from clerical to executive cadre and another from executive to administrative cadre respectively. Also, 10 drivers were converted to works superintendent cadre.

 

“The promotion exercise was conducted in line with the extant provisions of Public Service Rules.

 

“The Management of NEMA approved the outcome of the exercises, which was ratified by the Senior Staff Establishment Committee that included representatives of the supervising Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development as well as the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation,” he said.

 

The director-general congratulated the newly promoted staff and urged them to justify their elevation with more commitment to duties and actualising the mandates of the agency.(NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

 

Self-awareness, panacea for organisational success — Griffith, London Business School alumnus

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Prof. Paul Griffith, TEXEM UK Faculty

 

By Abigael Joshua.

Paul Griffith, a London Business School-trained professor, has asserted that self-awareness is a compulsory management requirement for an organisation to succeed.

 

Griffith, who spoke in an interview session on the website of TEXEM UK (www.texem.co.uk), announced that he would be a faculty member at the TEXEM virtual session on “Self-awareness for Better Management of Change in Uncertain Times” from Feb. 11 to March 4.

 

The faculty, the world’s first Professor of Management to lead a team to launch a rocket, will share insights into why leaders should be more self-aware in the present uncertain times; at the capacity development programme.

 

Griffith also elaborated more on his role during the coming programme.

 

“I will explore the topic of “translating strategy into action. One of the critical challenges for any organisation is effectively executing its strategy.

 

“Over the last 20 years, research has consistently shown that 70 per cent of strategies fail to deliver the intended outcomes they were conceived to deliver.

 

“If organisations can address this issue, then they will significantly impact their performance,” he said.

 

Griffith said that self – awareness is essential for organisations because

a leader needs to create the best environment for his people to flourish.

 

He said that understanding one’s strengths and response to challenging situations helps one engage with people to ensure they can be supported as individuals to deliver exceptional results.

 

Griffith said the programme is pertinent to the needs of leaders all over the world

because understanding oneself is a crucial insight that successful leaders possess.

 

“Leadership is the ability to have people follow you. But first, you must know yourself before expecting people to follow you.

 

“Knowing your strengths and areas for development is a key part of maturing as a leader, and it helps leaders to recognise these traits in others to build successful organisations.

 

“We need to be aware of our reactions to situations so that we are able to empathise and engage with others around us more effectively, and that is why this TEXEM UK programme is relevant and necessary for all organisations,” he said.

 

According to Griffith,

the programme will leverage TEXEM UK’s tested and proven methodology that has helped over 4,000 executives win globally.

 

He spoke further on the benefits executives will gain from participating in the programme.

 

“This TEXEM UK programme allows executives to develop their self – awareness through a range of concepts, tools, and experiential sessions in a supportive environment.

 

“As a result, executives will gain insights into their talents and how to leverage them for their organisation’s benefit and “turbocharge” their careers,” Griffith said.

 

Another faculty member expected at the programme, Prof. Roger Delves, an Oxford alumnus, also shared insights into how leaders could win through better self-awareness.

 

Delves said there was no doubt that people presently live in times of enormous change.

 

“We are not the first to do so, but change and accompanying uncertainty are here and show no signs of departing. Therefore, leaders need to be self-aware to lead with clarity and purpose,” he said.

 

According to Delves, “Self-awareness is understanding what is important about me — my values, purpose, needs, strengths, weaknesses, and so on”.

 

“The more self-aware I am, the more confident I am, the more sure-footed I am around decision-making, and the more likely I am to be able to tell others what I stand for.

 

“Thus, offering them expectations of behaviour around concepts like personal integrity, for example, which are very important to followers or team members, if you want them to follow you.

 

“Leaders who lack this awareness will find that change and uncertainty are hard to lead through, and their followers will find such leaders unequal to the task,” he said.

 

Delves said the TEXEM UK programme is a rare opportunity for leaders and managers to immerse themselves in learning how to be better at what they do.

 

Delves also said that “an essential programme like this is packed with proven ways to do things better, ways to approach things better, ways to think about things better, and ways to resolve things better”.

 

“It is exactly what all managers need to take that step up to the next performance level,” he added.

 

Delves said participants would be guided by robust models that have repeatedly proven their efficiency and effectiveness in businesses worldwide.

 

Amb. Charles Crawford and Prof. Randall Peterson of London Business School are two other faculties that would help deliver the live sessions of the programme. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Razak Owolabi

If clean Nigerians shun politics, dirty ones will make laws – Prof. Oba

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Prof. Shuaib Oba, Kwara NNPP Governorship Candidate 

 

By Ikenna Uwadileke

Emeritus Prof. Shuaib Oba, Kwara’s New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) governorship candidate, says politics should not be seen as a dirty game left to politicians alone if Nigeria is to be fully developed.

Oba, who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday, urged Nigerians, especially the youths, to be actively involved in party politics.

“Saying politics is a dirty game is wrong. Politics should be for the clean people as well, for us to reach the promised land,” the former Vice Chancellor of the University of Ilorin said.

Oba said that clean people should not leave politics for the dirty people.

He said, instead, they should be involved through active participation so as contribute to cleaning the Augean stable.

“If all clean people leave politics to dirty people, we will have a dirty nation of dirty people who will make dirty laws that will be obeyed by good people, whether they like it or not.

“So, if you are going to be a victim in that case, it’s only appropriate that good people should also take an interest.

“Politics is too serious to be left to politicians alone. If people of goodwill attempt damage control, people will appreciate it,” the NNPP governorship candidate said.

On why he joined NNPP to actualise his Kwara governorship ambition, Oba said it is because, among other things, the party is devoid of corrupt leaders and members.

“I joined NNPP because it has people who have a clean bill of health against corruption.

“Our presidential candidate, Dr Rabiu Kwankwaso is one of those who have not been chased around by anti-corruption agencies in the country,” he said

Oba said part of his “The Strategic Action for Change in Kwara (SACK)” programme is zero tolerance for corruption and, in the process, inspires good governance.

He asserted that zero tolerance for corruption is achievable through value re-orientation and sensitisation of the public service, including strategic and innovative investments of workers’ pensions to assure geometric bumper return on investment that safeguards their future.

Oba said another way was  showing good leadership by example, whereby the leader would make it clear through his actions that he would not tolerate corruption.

“Waste reduction and elimination, as well as getting value for money, will go a long way in eradicating corrupt practices.

“Moreover, probity, the sanctity of property rights and good governance will inspire private sector confidence.

“These will also reduce transactional costs and attract excellent symbiotic public-private partnership investment that will unlock unparalleled socio-economic inclusive growth for Kwarans,” he said.

According to Oba, good governance is relatively inexpensive.

“Still, bad governance is destructive and has catastrophic intergenerational ramifications if not stemmed,” he said.

Oba promised that he would entrench good governance from the onset once he is sworn in as the next governor of Kwara. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng).

Edited by Razak Owolabi

55,864 farmers benefit from APPEALS project – Co-ordinator

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Participants at the event on Wednesday

 

By Bukola Adewumi

 

Agro-Processing, Productivity Enhancement and Livelihood Improvement Support Project (APPEALS) on Wednesday said it has supported a total of 55, 864 farmers across the country.

 

Alhaji Mohammed Jobdi, the National Project Coordinator, APPEALS disclosed this during the progress monitoring meeting of its project implementation in Abuja with the World Bank Task Team on Wednesday.

 

Jobdi also disclosed that a total of 75 aggregation and cottage processing centres were being constructed across states.

 

He said the APPEALS was constructing about 80 kilometers of farm access roads as well and energy infrastructure linked to production and processing clusters.

 

According to Jobdi, the projects are visible when one interacts with the beneficiaries during visits to the participating states.

 

“The participating states have continued to make progress in the implementation of activities under the various components of the project,” he said.

 

Jobdi said the total number of Value Chain Investment Plans (VCIPs) being implemented across the states stood at 2,892.

 

He said that the projects had continued to contribute to the national food basket across the different value chains in the year under review.

 

This according to Jobdi, had come with significant increase in the output of the commodities when compared with the last mission’s figures.

 

“For instance, cocoa output increased by 129.01 per cent, while poultry egg, cassava, rice and poultry meat increased by 48.3 per cent, 24.7 per cent, 23.8 per cent, and 7.6 per cent respectively,” he said.

 

Jobdi said the number of farmers adopting improved technologies stood at 33,857 with females constituting about 36.0 per cent.

 

According to him, the project is linking farmers to markets through the facilitation of commercial partnerships resulting in a total of 303 business alliances.

 

Jobdi said this was with 145 off-takers already buying the farmers’ produce across the 11 value chains, with a transaction value worth N23.439 billion. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

 

Edited by Deborah Coker/Razak Owolabi

4000 IDPs from Uhogua camp have returned home — Coordinator

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By Deborah Coker

 

No fewer than 4,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the IDP camp in Uhogua, near Benin, are said to have been re-united with their families.

 

Pastor Solomon Folorunsho, Coordinator of the camp, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), on Tuesday, in Abuja.

 

 

 

NAN reports that Folorunso on Tuesday received the Leadership Newspaper award as the “Social Impact Person of the Year 2022”

 

He however said there were still more than 3,000 IDPs in the camp, adding that they were those whose families were completely wiped out during insurgency and various crises in different parts of the country.

 

“But the population of the IDPs in our camp is not diminishing because of the crisis that escalated in different parts of the country,” he said.

 

He noted that it had been very challenging feeding the thousands of IDPs and even funding the education of more than 200 of them in tertiary institutions.

 

He explained that the motivation behind rendering and providing succour to the IDPs against all odds was because of his love for humanity.

 

“Another motivation is being your brothers’ keeper, joy and pleasure in seeing others out of pain, suffering and backwardness.

 

“We have about 200 of them in the universities now, and 14 of them are on scholarships.

 

“We have to be knocking on doors and talking to people to help out. We really need help, because we don’t want them to drop out of school.

 

“Because if such happens, our efforts would have been wasted. These children need their fees to be paid. They are brilliant children and very hopeful.

 

“This is the only way their future can be guaranteed,” he said.

 

Folorunsho said the award would however spur him to continue his good work in the lives of the IDPs.

 

He further said he was in Abuja to personally receive the award, so as to use it to highlight the plights of the IDPs.i

 

He appealed to appeal to the government, the private sector as well as individuals to come to the aid of the IDPs. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

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