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Africa's Media Giant
Africa's Media Giant
By Emmanuel Oloniruha
The Federal Government has warned that unauthorised disclosure or leakage of official documents, capable of impacting the country negatively, is a punishable offence.
Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Sen. George Akume, gave the warning on Tuesday in Abuja, at a workshop organised by the Bureau for Public Service Reforms (BPSR) in collaboration with the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF)
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the theme of the workshop is: “Renewing hope and strengthening of national unity through effective communication and the role of the Official Secret Acts in maintaining confidentiality and national security.’’
Represented by Dr Nnamdi Mbaeri, Permanent Secretary in the Office of the SGF, Akume said unauthorised leakage of sensitive official document constitutes felony and there is no defence for such, either in the Constitution or Freedom of Information Act.
NAN reports that Section 97 (2) of the Criminal Code Act of Nigeria, provides: “Any person who, being employed in the public service, without proper authority abstracts, or makes a copy of, any document the property of his employer is guilty of a misdemeanour and is liable to imprisonment for one year”.
Akume recalled that government had devised measures in the past to contain the leakage of sensitive official information in MDAs through the issuance of service-wide circulars by the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation in August 2021.
“This was reinforced by the issuance of another service-wide circular in February 2024 on the unauthorised circulation of official documents with information on social media.
“This was done to re-emphasise other extant regulations prohibiting unauthorised disclosure or leakage of official documents
“There is the need to regulate the activities of the civil society organisations who use the Freedom of Information Act to harass, intimidate and siphon resources from public officers through the dissemination of fake and unfounded information.
“This should be properly addressed by all the practitioners in the communication and related industries,’’ he said.
Akume commended the BPSR for organising the workshop, saying its underlines the importance government places on the dissemination of correct and truthful information.
The Director-General of Bureau, Dr Dasuki Arabi, urged participants to equip themselves with the Official Secrets Act and effectively communicate government policies and programmes to the public.
“Your role as communication managers in MDAs is crucial, especially in our increasingly complex information ecosystem.
“In today’s environment, communications and platforms are highly fragmented. The government cannot afford to be reactive.
“It must lead the communication landscape to prevent misinformation and ensure that citizens are all informed about the activities, objectives of government and benefits of its policies and programmes to the citizens of the country.
“Accurate and prompt information delivery is essential and cannot be compromised as its impact on service delivery and governance is profound,” he said.
Arabi tasked the communication managers to take advantage of the training to use the traditional and social media platforms to ensure the public is well informed about government initiatives, programmes and services. FG(NAN)(www.nannews.ng)
Edited by Dorcas Jonah/Rotimi Ijikanmi
By Folasade Akpan
The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) says forgers of its discharge or exemption certificates risk jail term, option of fine or both as penalties.
The Director, Legal Services, Mr Ahmed Ibrahim said this on Monday in Abuja during the 2023 Legal Officers’ Capacity Building Training.
The theme of training exercise is “The Role of the Legal Officer in the Defence of the Public Service in Nigeria”.
According to Ibrahim, the NYSC Act contains all the infractions that people should know about.
“The infractions are many, like forging the NYSC certificates.
“Also, persons that are supposed to go for youth service as specified in the Act are not coming for youth service while those that are supposed to come for service will do but will not complete it and abscond.
“Therefore, the Act itself has specified what is to be done in respect to these instances”.
Ibrahim also said some attend the orientation camps with forged documents and when such persons are caught, they are arrested by the police for prosecution.
He said that though such cases abound in court, that the exact number could not be determined, adding that they were being followed up.
“The punishment, first of all is to arrest them, the police will now charge them to court and it is now left for the courts to decide if it is imprisonment or fine.
“It is at the discretion of the court to say this is what we are going to do as the term of imprisonment.
“If you are found guilty by the court, the court can give you two years jail term depending on the type of offence or three years or an option of fine or both jail term and fine.”
Regarding Corps Producing Institutions’ (CPIs) involvement in such infractions, Ibrahim said that those caught the NYSC engages in ‘lifting of veil of corporate personality’ of such institutions.
According to him, if they submit names of unqualified corps members they are also guilty and sent to court.
He said the punishment to be meted to such institutions was also at the discretion of the court.
He, however, said that such institutions are not delisted but are allowed to still send the names of their intending their corps members for mobilisation.
He also said that it was worrisome that such infractions were coming up day by day.
On the essence of the training, he said a lot of people were committing a lot of infractions against the NYSC Act.
He said therefore, it deemed it necessary to ensure that members of the public to know exactly what the Act contains and what they should do and should not do.
The Director-General, Brig.-Gen. Yusha’u Ahmed, said that enhancement of capacity building to stimulate efficiency and higher corporate performance was in line with one of the focal areas of his policy thrust to the scheme.
Ahmed, represented by Ibrahim, said the training was organised to enhance the capacity and knowledge of legal officers in the scheme on their professional roles in the defence of the Public Service in Nigeria.
He said that the training was expected to harness the potentials of the legal officers in the scheme for improved professional services.
“Over the past 50 years of existence of the scheme, our experience has shown that the decision by management to train and re-train staff of the scheme has proven to be very fruitful.
“This is especially in the training of legal officers, judging from the laudable achievements recorded so far by the Legal Unit and the professional conduct by legal officers in the scheme.
“The unit has kept faith with its mandate of rendering quality legal advice to the NYSC management and has shown due diligence in handling cases involving the scheme in different Courts of Law in Nigeria.
“To further contribute to the achievements of the legal unit, this training is an ideal platform to evaluate the activities of the unit with a view to breaking new grounds towards strengthening the values of the scheme.”
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the training is expected to enhance their competence and practical performance/service delivery in the areas of legal drafting and litigation in both civil and criminal matters.
Others are legal education involving corps legal activities and general legal advice. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)
Edited by Celine-Damilola Oyewole/Ekemini Ladejobi
By Justina Auta
The Federal Government has vowed to jail or fine any person engaged in any form of discrimination, violence and harmful traditional practices against widows in the country.
Mrs Monilola Udoh, Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Women Affairs (FMoWA), gave the warning during community grassroots sensitisation on Friday in Karu, FCT, as part of the International Widow’s Day (IWD) celebration.
Udoh reiterated the commitment of the government in accordance with the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Act 2005 towards ensuring that human rights of widows are protected and promoted.
“Any person who subjects a widow to harmful practices commits an offence and will be sent to prison for two years or fined N500,000 or both.
“This is a warning to communities that practice all forms of discrimination against widows.
‘The law also prohibits any person who supports someone to commit the offence. That person will also be liable to N200,000 fine or imprisonment.
“Any person that receives or assists someone to commit the offence will spend six months in prison or fined N100,000 or both,” she warned.
She said the ministry will educate women, especially widows, on access to a fair share of their inheritance, land and productive resources; pensions and social protection that are not based on marital status alone.
Udoh said the 2023 theme, ‘’Innovation and Technology for Gender Equality”, highlights a gender responsive approach to innovation, technology and digital education to increase the widow’s awareness, empowerment, rights and civic engagements.
“The Widows Hub Africa Initiative also with the Ministry is creating awareness on innovation and technology for gender equality which aligns with this year’s theme.
“This activity is to enable Widows have access to information on the importance of innovation and technology in doing business.”
The Permanent Secretary also revealed that 300 widows will be trained on using orange fleshed sweet potatoes, while 200 others will also be given some palliatives to reduce their social and economic burden.
Also, Hajiya Lami Adamu-Lau, National President, National Council for Women Societies (NCWS), represented by Ms Nnenna Emedolibe, encouraged widows to continue to strive hard to improve their status and that of their dependent children.
Also, District Head, Peshe-Karu, Atnadu Shanyibwa, expressed appreciation to the government for its support to widows, assuring them of their commitment towards protecting their rights.
Mrs Gloria Samuel, a widow, urged the government to protect widows rights, especially that area concerning deceased spouses’ properties, as well as punish those who engage in harmful practices against them to serve as a deterrent to others.
“They should make a law that will protect all the widows across Nigeria. I encourage widows,, especially the young ones, not to give up,” she said.
Mrs Amina Musa, widow and mother of six, said the support from the government will reduce their economic hardship and encourage them to strive hard. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)
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Edited by Benson Iziama/Vincent Obi
A man who chopped off his wife’s hands for failing to bear him children has been handed a 30-year jail sentence.
The court in Machakos, Machakos County, jailed Stephen Ngila, 39, for attempted murder for chopping off Jackline Mwende’s hands with a machete in 2016.
He has 14 days to appeal the judgement.
Justice Brenda Bartoo said the court had taken note that the accused was not remorseful for the offence. (PANA/NAN)
