By Philip Yatai

Abuja, Sept. 16, 2023 (NAN) The Minister of The Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr Nyesom Wike, says the FCT Administration will soon introduce digital security monitoring and control system in the existing FCT transport management system.

Wike stated this at the 2023 Special Marshals Sectoral Workshop, organised by the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), FCT Sector Command Special Marshals.

The workshop held in Abuja on Saturday had the theme, “Volunteerism in Road Safety Management: Limits and Possibilities.”

The minister, who was represented by Mr Ubokutom Nya, Secretary, Transport Secretariat, FCTA, said that the digitisation would ensure the safety and security of commuters in the FCT.

He added that the initiative would equally enhance affordability and efficiency in transportation services.

“The idea of the digital monitoring system is part of our attention to details in providing a transportation system that will be safe and secure.

“Apart from being affordable, those entering a vehicle, private or mass transit of the FCT will have peace of mind that as he enters the vehicle, so also he will come out safely,” Wike said.

He explained that the digital monitoring system would be made up of cameras that would be able to track vehicles that carry people.

The minister said that on entering vehicles, people would be required to scan in using their phones and scan out on disembarking.

He said: “once in the vehicle, the system will time the trip and alert the central control system if a person does not scan out at the time he or she is supposed to disembark the vehicle.

“This means that in real time, there will be an alarm to search for the individual who entered the vehicle.

“You don’t need to call any person at home, saying you entered a particular vehicle, because it is self-activating.

“As you enter, you scan in on the vehicle and it goes to the central control and as you come out within a period, it also goes to cancel. If the trip is not canceled, there is an alarm that is triggered.

“We are working on the details, and it will not be too long before it comes on board.”

The minister added that other innovations would also be rolled out in line with the secretariat vision – safety, affordability, and flexibility.

“We are working on rail transportation; we are working on Bus Rapid Transport and consulting with private individuals who will bring in their private transportation.

“The FCT will also be working on upgrading our motor parks to global standards, so that people will be encouraged to patronise public transport.

“This, of course, will reduce the number of private vehicles on the roads, and if there are fewer private vehicles, it means that the traffic movement will be better,” he said.

Wike noted that Abuja recorded a high level of crashes as a result of  irresponsible road users, which, he described as “worrisome”, and called for drastic actions.

He noted that most road users did not comply with traffic regulations like maintaining tolerable speed limit, obeying traffic lights and maintaining lane discipline among others.

This, he said, caused traffic infractions for other road users making the roads unsafe.

The FCT minister said that the establishment of the Special Marshal Division by the FRSC would help the corps to effectively discharge its statutory functions.

“On our own part as the administrators of the FCT, we will continue to relate with critical stakeholders in this sector to enable us to achieve our core mandate,” the minister said.

Earlier, the FRSC Corps Marshal, Dauda Biu, stressed the need for a review of the road safety management activities and analysis of factors that could contribute to the reduction of crashes on Nigerian roads.

Biu, who was represented by the Deputy Corps Marshal, Shehu Zaki, blamed road crashes on the action or inaction of road users, saying it was preventable.

He added that road safety advocacy was not for the FRSC alone, but a responsibility of all stakeholders. (NAN)

Edited by Christiana Fadare

By Ruth Oketunde

Mr Mustapha Ahmed, Director-General, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), has said that state governments are becoming more proactive in their response to disaster issues in the country.

Ahmed said this at the end of a four-day workshop organised for staff of the agency and staff of various State Emergency Management Agencies (SEMAs) in Abuja.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the workshop with the theme: “Disaster Management and Preparedness Institutional Capacity Strengthening” was organised in collaboration with the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN-OCHA).

The workshop had the support of UNICEF, International Federation of Red Cross and Crescent (IFRC), International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and Nigerian Red Cross Society.

The D-G said that the decision by the state governments to send their representatives for the workshop showed that they were more resolved in tackling disasters at the grassroots and sub-national levels.

He said that the decision to bring together staff of NEMA and SEMAs for the workshop was deliberate as the agency was committed to fostering cooperation, collaboration, experience sharing and enhanced collaboration between the federal and state agencies.

According to him, building capacities of the disaster management staff is a critical component for effective and efficient disaster management.

“In NEMA, we are looking beyond the present and working towards building a more robust system of disaster management where all relevant stakeholders are not only aware but also prepared to carry out their roles.

“This informs the wide range of collaboration and partnership engaged by the agency in the delivery of its mandates,” he said.

The director-general, who appreciated UN-OCHA and other stakeholders for collaborating with the agency for the training, urged the participants to apply the knowledge gained towards improving services in their various states.

Mr Trond Jensen, Head of UN-OCHA office, represented by Mr Ibrahima Barry, Head of Government Liaison Unit, assured of its readiness to continue collaborating with NEMA to effectively discharge its mandates.

“Our role in the humanitarian sector is to support government efforts and we in UN-OCHA will continue to reinforce our collaboration with NEMA.

“One thing we will also do is to create a communication network so that we can keep in touch and get updated when there is an emergency situation,” he said.

In his remarks, Mr Hopewell Munyari, Operations Manager, IFRC, said it was important to have continuous collaborations with relevant stakeholders in disaster response in the country.

“It should not stop here after the workshop, I hope you all will go back to your states and implement what you have learnt,” he said.(NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

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Edited by Stanley Nwanosike / Isaac Ukpoju

By Ismail Abdulaziz

President Bola Tinubu has approved the appointment of Alhaji Aliyu Ahmed as the new Federal Commissioner/Chief Executive Officer of the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants, and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI).

A statement by Chief Ajuri Ngelale, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, on Thursday in Abuja said the appointment takes immediate effect.

Ahmed holds Bachelors and Masters Degrees in Sociology and has previously served the Nasarawa State Government as the Secretary to the State Government (SSG).

He was also the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs and as the Commissioner of Education in the state.(NAN)

Edited by Sadiya Hamza

By Ahmed Ubandoma

The World Food Programme (WFP) has pledged to commit 2.5 billion dollars to strengthen and support Nigeria’s efforts towards sustainable food security and zero hunger across the country.

The WFP Country Director, Mr David Stevesson, disclosed this when he led the UN agency’s team to the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr Betta Edu, on Wednesday in Abuja.

“We talked about zero hunger, we talked about humanitarian hubs in every local government area in the country, we talked about the world food programme.

”The potential to support those hubs through buying food locally and assisting the needy with cash transfers and food.

“Let me announce here that the World Food Programme is committed to spending 2.5 billion dollars to fight hunger in  the next five years in Nigeria,” he said.

Stevesson said that the agency had already captured 2.1 million beneficiaries under the programme with the hope of maintaining working relationship with the ministry to achieve the target.

He expressed the agency’s readiness to support the Federal Government’s determination to address humanitarian crises and poverty issues, especially as it related to food security.

”We are excited by President Bola Tinubu’s commitment and drive to eradicate poverty and reduce humanitarian crises in Nigeria.

”The new energy which the Minister is bringing into the space gives us hope that we will accomplish a lot together,” he said.

While congratulating the minister on her appointment, the WFP Country Director expressed optimism on the ability of the minister to deliver on the mandate.

Earlier, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr Betta Edu, said that the intervention would go a long way to address some of the humanitarian challenges affecting the country.

According to her, “Zero Hunger” is one of the projects the Ministry has initiated as part of poverty and humanitarian response efforts.

”We, therefore, appeal to the WFP to key into it by working with the Ministry to achieve results.

”Because, this intervention will go a long way to address some of the biggest challenges the country is facing” she said.

Edu told the WFP delegation that over 133  million people in Nigeria are affected by  multidimensional poverty.

She said that the National Homegrown School Feeding was one aspect of the Zero Hunger Project.

”The Ministry will be working on different nutritional food programme that will target pregnant women, children under the age of five years and school pupils.

”Feeding persons who are affected by humanitarian crises, the aged including refugees that have found themselves within our space.

” Currently, we have over 80,000 persons living as refugees across Nigeria,” she said.

She said that the ministry had introduced an innovative way of rejigging the humanitarian response in the country.

“Part of the innovation we are bringing on board is what we call humanitarian hub.

”Because we want to create 774 of these humanitarian hubs in each local government across Nigeria,” the minister  assured. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng).

Edited by Oluyinka Fadare
 

By Philip Yatai

Mr Bitrus Garki, the newly inaugurated Mandate Secretary, Area Council Services Secretariat, FCTA, says his appointment is a demonstration of President Bola Tinubu’s confidence in youths’ capacity to contribute to national development.

Garki, an indigene of the FCT and the youngest Mandate Secretary ever appointed, stated this while interacting with management staff of the secretariat in Abuja on Tuesday.

He also described the appointment as a “win” for the youths in the country and commended Tinubu for recognising the need for intergenerational cooperation and youth inclusion in governance.

He said that his appointment represents a remarkable opportunity for progress through the commitment to harnessing the energy, creativity, and potential of the youths.

“My appointment is a testament that President Bola Tinubu acknowledges the contributions of the youth, their aspirations, and their determination to build a better Nigeria.

“In this appointment, we see the recognition of the important role that young people play in shaping the destiny of our beloved country.

“It is recognition of the fact that when the youth are empowered and given the opportunity, they can be a force for positive change,” he said.

Garki expressed commitment to supporting Tinubu to achieve his renewed hope agenda.

He stressed the need for collaboration among all the departments in the secretariats for maximum results.

The secretary assured Tinubu and the FCT Minister, Mr Nyesom Wike of his resolve to liaise and work in partnership with other Secretariat to achieve the mandate of the Area Council Secretariat.

“I am a youth that listen to the advice of both the young and the old. We must work collectively to achieve success in this office.

Mrs Olanipekun Oluwatoyin, Director, Administration and Finance, who spoke on behalf of the management staff, pledged the full support of workers in the secretariat to deliver quality services to the people of FCT.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Garki was inaugurated on Tuesday, along with six other Mandate Secretaries by Wike. (NAN)

Edited by Joseph Edeh

By Ahmed Ubandoma

Dr Betta Edu, Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, has called for inter-ministerial collaboration to address illegal migration and human trafficking.

Edu made the call when she paid a courtesy visit to the Minister of Interior, Mr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, in his office in Abuja.

The minister said the call became urgent to tackle the root causes of poverty and humanitarian crises which she believed insecurity, illegal migration and human trafficking.

Edu assured the interior minister that the National Social Register would be expanded to capture families and widows of ex-servicemen in the paramilitary organisation.

“The inmates of the Nigeria Correctional Services will also be captured to benefit from the skills acquisition programmes of my ministry.

“For us to achieve the desired result, we must ensure an effective and sustainable inter-ministerial collaborations.

Edu said the synergy would enable her ministry to get the required  intelligence to coordinate and  effectively administer any humanitarian crisis.

“We need intelligence from you. We just got the approval for officers from NAPTIP to be present at the different ports.

“We need you to know the importance of our collaboration with you on the border.

“We have to find ways to step up our intelligence in Nigeria, we have too many illegal borders” she said.

The minister said the partnership became necessary to accomplish President Bola Tinubu’s plans to reduce poverty and humanitarian crises in the country.

“We are here for serious business and for us to succeed, we must work as a team through inter-sectoral and ministerial collaboration to achieve success.

“My new responsibilities covers  a greater population of vulnerable Nigerians and to provide them with humanitarian services and alleviating their poverty in line with President Tinubu’s agenda,” she said.

She, therefore, expressed optimism that the synergy between the two ministries would help in addressing some of the challenges.

“We need your support, heads of security agencies here will help us to work with our team to gather intelligence on how people are moving in and out of our country.

“There are issues of human trafficking, child labour and sexual exploitation, amongst other things which lead to Humanitarian crises.

“We cannot continue to allow this trend to go unattended, It’s not acceptable, we need your support,” the minister said.

In his response, Tunji-Ojo, commended the courage and commitment of his Humanitarian counterparts for pushing the renewed hope agenda.

Tunji-Ojo said the inter-ministerial committee headed by the two permanent secretaries in the two ministries will work out modalities that will strengthen the focus of the agenda.

He commended the offer made by the humanitarian minister to train the inmates of the Correctional services in skills acquisition(NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

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Edited by Angela Okisor/Sadiya Hamza

By Philip Yatai

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr Nyesom Wike, said on Tuesday that the FCT Administration would partner with the Republic of South Korea on vocational education.

Wike also expressed willingness to partner with Turkiye on agricultural development.

The minister stated this when the Ambassadors of South Korea to Nigeria and his Turkiye counterpart visited him in his office.

He told the Ambassador of South Korea to Nigeria, Kim Young-Chae on Tuesday, that he visited the country while he was the minister of education and discussed the issue of vocational education.

He described South Korea’s vocational education model as “impressive”, saying that the model enables students who do not want to go further, to have some skills.

“It was my desire that we would have concluded with that partnership then, but unfortunately, that was not to be.

“I would also like to reintroduce that as the FCT minister to see how we can also have that vocational school,” he said.

Wike added that he would like to introduce a hands-on model to the vocational schools and skill acquisition centres in the FCT.

This, he said, would be in partnership with the Republic of South Korea.

He said that he was impressed when he visited Samsung and noticed that sometimes, the company supplies refrigerators and cars to the vocational schools for practical purposes.

“I think we have to see how we can come back to that issue because vocational education is very key to us,” he said.

Earlier, Young-Chae informed the minister about his country’s collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and the Rural Electrification Agency.

He said that the aim was to build a mini electricity grid in the FCT which was ongoing.

He also disclosed that South Korea plans to introduce a grant project to help young businessmen start new businesses.

This, he said, was in addition to the Nigeria-Korea Model School in the FCT and other training programmes for teachers.

“In addition to that, we have launched a smart school project, one in each of the six geopolitical zones, to help innovate schools in terms of communication technology and teachers’ education,” he said.

In a related development, the FCT minister, while hosting the Turkiye Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr Hidayet Bayrakter, on Monday, said that FCT has large arable land for agricultural development.

He said that collaboration with Tirkiye in that regard would be beneficial for both countries.

On the Abuja metro rail line, the minister said that the FCT Administration has an open-door policy and would be willing to discuss with companies from Turkey.

Wike, however, appealed for a review of Turkish visa policy, pointing out that the policy of short-term, single-entry visas may not be good enough to enhance business collaborations.

Earlier, Bayrakter sought the collaboration of the FCT Administration in the construction of the second phase of the ongoing Abuja metro line system.

The ambassador said that Turkiye had very capable construction companies with experience in rail constructions as well as suspension bridges.

Some of the companies, he said, were involved in the construction of the metro system in Dubai and Qatar, in addition to building one of the biggest suspension bridges in the world.

He said that the companies have expressed interest in partnering with the FCT Administration.

He expressed the readiness of Turkish investors to meet with the FCT minister for further discussions on the second phase of the rail project. (NAN)

Edited by Sadiya Hamza

By Philip Yatai

The Reform Coordination and Service Improvement (RCSI) of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) on Tuesday in Abuja, trained workers on advocacy and workplace hazard.

Mr Akinnubi Ogunniran, Acting Director, Human Resources Management, FCTA, said during the training that the move was part of the strategies to enhance efficiency and effective service delivery.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the participants were drawn from Parks and Recreation Department and Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB).

Ogunniran said that the training was crucial in ensuring efficiency in the civil service, particularly with the ongoing constructions and maintenance of building and drainages.

The director explained that apart from physical hazards, workers were also exposed to health hazards.

He said that some workers sweep the streets, clean offices, and need to know how to protect themselves against dust and dirt.

According to him, many of such workers may develop physical and health challenges, psychological trauma or injuries that could be life threatening or impact their lives for a very long time.

Earlier, the Acting Director, RCSI, Dr Jumai Ahmadu, said the training was in fulfillment of the 6th Pillar of the Federal Civil Service Strategy and implementation Plan, designed to enhance the productivity of civil servants.

Ahmadu said  that the strategy placed high premium on the welfare of civil servants, adding that the effort was to ensure maximum protection of workers against any form of hazard in their places of work.

“The safety of our field workers wherever they find themselves while providing essential services is very paramount.

“This is part of deliberate efforts to protect and guide workers against risks associated with their work schedule.

“For instance, I have come across some field workers, especially in AEPB performing their duties but without any form of protective gear.

“This is exposing them to health hazards, not only to themselves but to the members of their families,” she said.

She urged workers to demand for necessary protective tools from their employers that could aid in safeguarding their health conditions for optimum job performances.

Ahmadu said  that part of the goals of the training was to equip the workers with basic information needed  to protect them from preventable hazards at their places of work.

The director said that the training would be a continuous exercise until all boards, secretariats, department, and agencies were covered.

“It is a new era of transformative civil service, so people should have all the necessary information available to enable them know what to do while discharging their duties,” she said. (NAN)

Edited by Joseph Edeh