By Aderogba George

The National Population Commission (NPC) is partnering with the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs to promote data upgrade for the next population and housing census.

This was the thrust when the NPC Chairman, Alhaji Nasir Kwarra, led the organisation’s management team on a courtesy visit to the Minister of Women Affairs, Mrs Uju-Kennedy Ohanenye in Abuja.

Kwarra said the visit was to advance the implementation of its core mandate in data gathering.

According to him, the ministry of women affairs plays a critical role in child welfare, gender related issues, disability and other social related matters.

The chairman explained that population census is fundamental to the mandate of the ministry, as it provides the required demographic data disaggregated by age, sex, educational qualification, disability and others.

“I wish to inform you that the NPC is also preparing for the conduct of the next population and housing census and we would like to highlight some of the preparatory activities and steps that have been undertaken by the commission.

“The commission has demarcated the 774 local government areas across the states of the federation and developed hybrid data collection applications.

“We have conducted the first and second pre-tests of the census to test the enumeration areas and the questionnaire, conducted a trial census, identified and mapped special populations.

“We have done advocacy and publicity/stakeholders engagement, collaborated with other national stakeholders to finalise and commence the presentation of the final list of localities, chiefs and local government chairmen.

“The commission’s geospatial data has mapped out all physical infrastructure in the country, which include all households, formal and informal facilities where children and women reside in Nigeria.”

Kwarra said that NPC would also be partnering with the ministry on the planned situational analysis of vulnerable children in the country, saying the ministry would be the lead implementation agency.

He thanked President Bola Tinubu for reappointing some of the commission’s federal commissioners.

In her response, the women affairs minister said the ministry is ready to partner the commission, adding that both organisations would benefit from each other.

Ohanenye said as someone who is closer to the grassroots, noted that she came in with a passion to transform the lives of the people.

“There is a need to come together to fight some critical challenges confronting the grassroots. There is a need for training and empowerment of Nigerians to reduce poverty. I am happy with the mission of the NPC chairman.

“We will tap from NPC’s intelligence to also improve our data, with this you will help us draw a map for our empowerment programme. We are determined to transform the lives of ordinary Nigerians.

“I am assuring you that resources to accomplish all the tasks will be judiciously used; this will happen if we organise ourselves.

“There is a need for planning before the resources will come, I promise, we will work together,” Ohanenye said. (NAN) www.nannews.ng

Edited by Hadiza Mohammed-Aliyu

By Victor Adeoti
Ifeolu Koni, a professor of law at Redeemer’s University, Ede, said the failure of many developed countries to honour their obligations under international instruments was responsible for persistent corruption in Africa.

Koni said this at the 11th inaugural lecture of the university, on Thursday at the university campus in Ede, Osun.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the lecture has as its theme ”The Hypocrisy of International Cooperation On The War Against Corruption And Abuse of Office In Africa: A case Study of Nigeria”.

The don said that the insincerity and refusal of the developed countries to honour the United Nations Convention against Corruption was also the major reason siphoning of stolen funds and other corrupt practices persist across the continent of Africa.

Koni noted that developed countries possessed the necessary technology to detect and block illicit transfer of funds, but they refused to use the same because they needed the funds to develop their countries.

”This contention is further strengthened by the notorious fact that the developed countries posses the technology to detect and block illicit transfer of funds from African states.

”Could it be then mean that they refuse to block those funds because they are needed, and in fact, used to develop their countries?

”The way forward is for Africa to look inward and must not be deceived by the campaign spearheaded by the developed countries. Our salvation and deliverance is in our hands.

”It is the same developed countries that are labelling Africans as corrupt and it is the same illicit funds they refused to block, they are using to develop their countries”, he said.

Koni also said that it was sad that in corruption assessment ranking conducted by the transparency international in 2022, no Africa country could be found among the top 10 least corrupt countries.

The don said that since the establishment of TI in 1993 and the commencement of its corruption perception index in 1995, Africa countries had been performing poorly.

Koni said that African leaders must look inward to minimise corruption.

He also said that Nigeria must strengthen its implementation of laws against corruption.

According to him, the greatest challenge of Nigeria is not corruption but impunity.

“Until the law begin to take its cause in Nigeria, the fight against corruption cannot succeed”, he said.

Koni said that Nigeria must also avoid conspicuous consumption of foreign goods, adding ”we should consume what we produce”.

“Let us consume what we produce. It is the developed countries that introduced conspicuous consumption to us and that is the basis of corruption in the country”, he said.

In his remarks, Prof. Ahmed Yerima, the acting Vice-Chancellor of the university, said the lecture was a clarion call for Nigerians to change their ways.

”Corruption is something that has come to be with us and that is why I am happy that the lecturer found it pertinently to discuss the topic.

”We must all come together to fight corruption to move our society forward,” Yerima said. (NAN)

Edited by Tayo Ikujuni

By Naomi Sharang

CellHub, an election observation team has identified some security flashpoints in Bayelsa ahead of Saturday’s off-cycle governorship election holding in the state.

It listed the flashpoints to include Brass, Nembe, Ogbia, Southern Ijaw, and Yenagoa.

“As part of our collaboration to enhance the electoral process, we urge security agencies to concentrate efforts at the identified flashpoints.

“We have noticed over the last 24 hours, reported cases of intimidation and violence in some communities, particularly in Brass and Nembe local government areas.

“Recognising the significance of these local governments and the potential challenges they may pose, we call for heightened vigilance, strategic deployment, and effective communication among security personnel.

“By focusing on these flashpoints, we aim to pre-emptively address any potential security concern and ensure the safety of voters, electoral officials, and other stakeholders,’’ its Executive Director, Mr Idris Usman, stated on Friday in Abuja.

Usman, however, commended the performance of security agencies involved in the pre-election operations, particularly the military.

He acknowledged the commitment, professionalism, and diligence so far displayed by the security personnel deployed in the state to ensure a secure and conducive environment for the electoral process.

He noted that the efforts of security agencies had contributed significantly to building public confidence and ensuring the smooth conduct of pre-election activities.

Usman also expressed the commitment of the team to work closely with security agencies; with INEC and with other stakeholders to ensure a successful outing.

“This is to foster an atmosphere of transparency, fairness, and security throughout the electoral process as it is believed that a collaborative approach is crucial for the success of the democratic exercise in Bayelsa.

“As we move towards the governorship election on Saturday, we emphasises the importance of maintaining the highest standards of professionalism and impartiality by all parties.

“We call on Bayelsa people to cooperate with security agencies and electoral officials and contribute to the creation of a peaceful and credible electoral environment.’’ Usman added. (NAN) www.nannews.ng

Edited by Nick Nicholas/Alli Hakeem

By Isaac Aregbesola

The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has deployed its operatives to monitor the Saturday governorship elections in Bayelsa, Imo, and Kogi.

The Spokesperson of the Commission, Mrs Azuka Ogugua, said this in a statement  in Abuja.

According to her, the commission’s operatives have been deployed to the 56 local government areas and 649 Wards in the three states where the election would be held.

Ogugua said that the operatives were to among others monitor and prevent vote buying and other electoral malpractices at the various polling units during the election.

“The monitoring exercise is a response to the invitation by the INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, for ICPC to participate in ensuring that the electoral processes in these three states are free and fair.”

She said that the ICPC Head of Special Duties Division (SDD), Mr Alex Chukwura, called on the operatives to collaborate with other sisters agencies during the exercise.

Chukwura told the operatives before their deployment, to collaborate with the Military, Police, Department of State Security, other security agencies and INEC to ensure that the elections were free and fair.

The SDD head charged the operatives to strictly adhere to the ICPC guidelines for monitoring elections.

He added that officers should always act with discipline and imbibe the spirit of integrity while on the field, and also staying close to each other and working as a team to achieve the desired goal.

He also advised the officers to take necessary actions against perpetrators of any acts of corruption during the election in accordance with the law, no matter their social status.

“Voters in the three states aforesaid are charged to go out on Election Day and perform their civic responsibilities while avoiding any act that could lead to electoral and other related offences,” he said.(NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

Edited by AbdulFatai Beki/ Maharazu Ahmed

By Blessing Udeh

The Managing Director of News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Malam Ali Muhammad Ali, says the agency is set to establish a Product Development Unit  (PDU) for its effective service delivery.

Ali said this when the Senior Staff Association of Statutory Corporations and Government Owned Companies (SSASCGOC), NAN branch, led by its President, Ogechi James, paid him a courtesy visit in Abuja.

The managing director said the establishment of PDU would help to promote NAN products, create new ones and improve on the revenue of the agency.

“NAN is poor by design. We have to start to run NAN as a business not  like a civil service.

“I will ask the legal department to advise management on the act establishing NAN accordingly and activate whatever contact,” he said.

He said that necessary efforts would be made to ensure that the amendment of the agency’s act was fast tracked to achieve its goals and objectives.

“I know there have been attempts to amend the act in the past, we will do our best, and if that is the legacy we will leave for others to benefit,” he said.

Ali said there was also a need for collaboration among the stakeholders in the agency, stressing that his administration would be transparent as much as possible to boost productivity.

“If the resources are available, management will try not to mismanage it. We don’t want to be associated with failure.

“We have plan for NAN products to be expanded, all our social media platforms have to be up and doing. We will motivate people to do more.

“NAN is a brand that reports the Africa stories.

“The challenge of NAN being sabotaged will have to stop, NAN perception has to change, because the international community looks towards NAN for news,” he said.

He emphasized the need to strengthen collaborations and partnerships to efficiently and effectively take NAN to a greater height.

The president of the union earlier said the visit was to congratulate the new NAN boss on his appointment and to collaborate with him for the success of the agency.

James, therefore, urged the managing director to use his network to bring significant improvement to the agency, especially in the area of welfare.

She had also earlier stressed the need for the agency to establish PDU for its effective service delivery.

On his part, the Vice President of the union, Mr  Oliver Tsorker,  urged the the managing director to work towards reviewing NAN Act, which he said was obsolete.

He also urged him to give the expansion of of the agency the needed priority

By Vivian Ihechu

 Nigerian-born and award winning writer, Chimamanda Adichie, has called for more African stories to help preserve the continent’s heritage, history and development.

According to her, stories are integral to development as they encompass the total essence of a people and their worldview, saying they impact positively on psychology, education, politics and more.

Adichie spoke at the launch of CANEX Book Factory and Prize for Publishing in Africa, held during Creative Africa Nexus (CANEX) Summit on Thursday, at the hybrid Intra African Trade Fair 2023 holding in Cairo, Egypt, from Nov. 9 to Nov. 15.

She said: “We need more stories on this continent because we need to reclaim our histories. We need stories because stories are very much part of development.

“Our continent has so often been sidelined and maligned, and while there has been some change, there is still altogether too much patronising and too much pity directed at this continent.

“And it must be said that, there are also a few Africans who by their actions, enable the state of affairs.

“If we reclaim our histories, it will give us the confidence that comes from knowing who we are, we need more stories so that we can turn our myths into memory.”

According to her, today, African children go to elite boarding schools in different parts of the world, and they learn about Greek mythology.

“But what is the difference between Persephone, the Greek goddess of planting seeds, and Ala, the Igbo Goddess of land?

“It is only that one story has been told well, and the other story has not,” she said.

Adichie said telling more African stories would give the people and continent more confidence and dignity in their heritage, shaping politics and perception.

“There is a clear psychological component to development, a nation without a strong sense of itself, a strong psychological sense of itself, cannot thrive.

“Stories can take away dignity and stories can also restore dignity.

“Stories shape politics and perception.

“I cannot tell you how many times I have been told by people in different parts of the world, that after reading my novels, they started to see Nigeria differently,” she said.

Adichie advised that children be exposed to reading storybooks as it would help improve their cognitive abilities and communication skills.

“We need more African literature, because no matter what your discipline is, reading well written imaginative writing will teach you how to think in creative and complex ways and we need to start early with our children.

“When children read storybooks consistently, they’re learning without even knowing that they’re learning. Their vocabulary, their communication skills, their thinking abilities are all improving.

“We need more stories so that future generations of Africans will find it hilarious that there was indeed a time when Africans went to school to learn that an European discovered Victoria Falls, and an European discovered River Niger, even though Africans have been living there for generations.

“I’m reminded of a conversation I once had with a Nigerian who was complaining that a European had said that Africans have built so few skyscrapers in Africa.

“And this Nigerian then went on to argue about, that no, there are skyscrapers in Nigeria and skyscrapers in South Africa.

“And what I was struck by was, it seems to me that the problem really was that, we have somehow accepted that skyscraper should be the basis on which to measure our growth.

“Sometimes it feels to me that even our aspirations as Africans, are shaped by others.

“Stories can give us the confidence to own our own aspirations and to become more confident in our storytelling,” said Adichie.

However, she advised that Africans should not have a certain kind of defensiveness on how they approach storytelling, rather they should have   proactiveness to do more stories on the continent to reclaim Afica’s unique and rich histories.

According to her, the idea of a nation is about stories.

“A nation is not geography. A nation is psychology. A continent is psychology. And so we need stories in order to know ourselves,” Adichie advised. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Salif Atojoko

By Emmanuella Anokam

The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) says the Federal government revenue generating agencies remitted ₦14.38 trillion as revenue from the extractive sector to the federation account between January 2020 and December 2021.

Dr Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, Executive Secretary of NEITI, made this known on Thursday in Abuja at the unveiling of the latest Fiscal Allocation and Statutory Disbursement (FASD) report which covered the period 2020-2021.

The report was unveiled by the Auditor General of the Federation, Mr Shaakaa Chira, who was represented by the Director of Audits, Mr Sundung James.

The revenue generating agencies include the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.), Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Ministry of Mines and Steel Development (MMSD), and the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).

Orji said the breakdown showed that mineral revenue accounted for N6.40 trillion about 44.5 per cent of total remittances for the period, while other non-mineral revenue (excluding VAT) contributed N4.80 trillion about 33.37 per cent of total remittances.

Orji while presenting the highlights of the report stated that the information and data contained in the NEITI latest FASD reports reviewed processes that characterised all transactions within the sector.

“It looked at independent assessment of financial transactions in the areas of revenue receipts, payments, how the processes weighed on the scale of transparency and accountability in the oil and gas sector during the period under review.

“Other areas that NEITI focused on, in this report, were projects executed deployment to capital projects and recurrent expenditure and how these aligned with the core responsibilities of the agencies, the government and citizens’ expectations.

“NEITI’s FASD Report examined total extractive industries revenue remitted to the federation account, tracked allocation and disbursement from the account to statutory recipients, utilisation and application of the funds by beneficiaries between 2020 and 2021,’’ he said.

He said the audit covered four federal revenue generating and 11 beneficiary agencies that were involved in the management of extractive industries funds.

The report, he said, also covered nine selected states Akwa-Ibom; Bayelsa, Delta, Gombe, Imo, Kano, Nasarawa, Ondo and Rivers.

“The beneficiary agencies include: Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF); Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Nigeria Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Resources Agency (NMDPRA) – PEF– PPPRA.

“Others are: Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund); Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), Development of Natural Resources Fund (DNRF), Stabilisation Fund, Ecological Fund, Excess Crude Account (ECA)”.

The executive secretary said the report, which was the fourth in the audit cycle, revealed that overall remittances to the federation account for the period increased by about 14 per cent.

Speaking, the Auditor General of the Federation, Mr Shaakaa Chira, said the FASD report which would be useful to his office fulfilled the agency’s mandate as enshrined in the Nigeria’s constitution.

According to Shira, the report will assist his office when performing the audit of the federation revenue, its collection, remittance, and disbursement, aid periodic checks of deductions and transfers made before remittances and the FAAC Allocations.

In a remark, Mr Faruk Ahmed, Authority Chief Executive, Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulations Authority (NMDPRA) lauded NEITI’s role over the years including transparency in public and private sector businesses and beyond the extractive industries.

Represented by Mr Oseni Adewale, Director Operations, NMDPRA, Ahmed said NEITI’s demand for accountability from stakeholders had increased sense of responsibility among agencies and government institutions towards enhancing revenue and maximum value for Nigerian people.

Speaking on behalf of the Civil Society Organisation (CSOs), Mr Monday Osasah, Executive Director, African Centre for Leadership, Strategy and Development and the global representative of the Publish What You Pay urged the organisations to use the report as a tool for advocacy. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

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Edited by Rabiu Sani-Ali

By Ahmed Ubandoma

The Surveyor-General of the Federation (SGoF), Mr Abudul-Ganiyu Adebomehin, has announced plans to host the 2023 Conference on Geographic Information System (GIS) on Nov. 14 in Abuja.

Adebomehin disclosed this on Thursday while briefing newsmen on the preparations ahead of the event in Abuja.

“The GIS day is a remarkable day and a day that we have not had before in Nigeria, so we are planning it big so that people will know the importance of GIS.

“When you say GIS is everything you think-of, its because that is where you have the data, keep data and how you run analysis of data, showcase what you have in the data and use it for informed decision making.

“That’s why we are planning to give it a kind of attention where professionals will come and display what they have been able to achieve.

“So that at the end of the day we would have a remarkable GIS day, so come November 14 to 15 we would kick-start the the programme” he said.

Adebomehin said, the event is expected to attract stakeholders from formal and informal sectors of the nation’s economy.

The Surveyor-General said, the stakeholders would meet and brainstorm on the possibilities of having a unique systems that guarantee data harmonisation.

He stressed the need for professionals in the sector to support efforts in strengthening capacity towards achieving effective National Geospatial Data Infrastructure (NGDI) for Nigeria.

According to him, having effective and efficient NGDI is the surest way to sustainable development in terms of accuracy in database which would assist government in development planning.

“Because, when you talk about Geospatial Repository is sole responsibility of the office of Surveyor General of the Federation.

“When you go outside the country you will appreciate that having National Geospatial Data Infrastructure (NGDI) for Nigeria is everything you can think of.

”Because it would contain information about everything even the road, health institutions among others.

“Because anything you want to talk about is Geospatial Information when you keep it as repository then dissemination of that information is what makes the pool out of it” he said.

The press briefing was attended by stakeholders from the National Population Commission (NPC), and other partners from the private sector.

The News Agency of Nigeria(NAN) reports that,  the Geographic Information System (GIS) is a computer system for capturing, storing, checking, and displaying data related to positions on Earth’s surface.

NAN also reports that, GIS helps individuals and organisations to better understand spatial patterns and relationships, especially in land administration, security among others.(NAN)(www.nannews.ng).

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Edited by AbdulFatai Beki/Ekemini Ladejobi