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Oyo Governor urges Government to partner with Academia to solve problems

Mercy Chukwudiebere
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The Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, has urged governments at all levels, industries and the academia to collaborate for Nigeria to solve some of its problems.

Governor Makinde stated this while receiving a delegation from the University of Lagos, Akoka, led by its Vice-Chancellor, Professor Toyin Ogundipe, at the Governor’s Office, Secretariat, Agodi, Ibadan on Friday.


He called for an improvement in the relationship between the town and gown, asking the two to maintain a mutually beneficial relationship.

The Governor stated that Oyo State would explore the opportunity of having a Memorandum of Understanding with UNILAG on how to address some of the challenges facing the state.

Expressing readiness to work with the UNILAG Consult, given its pedigree and antecedents, the Governor reminisced on how he used to run on the concrete road in UNILAG.

He said his administration tried to introduce the innovation in Oyo with the ongoing 12 kilometre Apete-Awotan Road, which is being constructed with concrete.

Extending MoU
According to him, though the state already has an MoU and cordial relationship with the University of Ibadan and the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA), he would readily expand the MOU to include UNILAG.

He said: “I want to take this opportunity to let you know that we followed the crisis that engulfed UNILAG recently, and we are happy that things have been resolved and you are getting back into the real business of why the university was created, and you are fulfilling your mandate as a university.”

Governor Makinde disclosed that ”his history of collaborating with UNILAG dates back to his days as an industry player, when he ran a programme with AGIP and Italians successfully carried out a needed experiment at the Machines Laboratory in the school. The collaboration birthed the Automation Laboratory and many young engineers from schools.”

Responding to the institution’s request for support towards the hosting of the Nigeria Universities Games Association (NUGA) events later in the year, the Governor assured the University that the state would support it and he would also make his contribution as a private citizen.

Reducing unemployment
The UNILAG’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Ogundipe, described Governor Makinde as ‘a worthy and distinguished alumnus.

Professor Ogundipe expressed the readiness of the institution to partner with Oyo State on how to reduce unemployment and promote entrepreneurship.

He said: “We will be ready to partner with you on the issue of unemployment that we have now.

“We are collaborating with some local governments in that area but for Oyo State, what we can do right now is to send some of our colleagues to come and train them in different areas of interest for the SMEs and the rest. So, we look forward to having your support in that area.”

Other members of the delegation include; the newly-appointed Deputy Vice Chancellor (Development Services), Professor Ayodele Atsenuwa, and the University’s Registrar, Mr Oladejo Azeez.

 

Mercy Chukwudiebere

Governor reviews curfew in 3 LGAs of Adamawa State 

Mercy Chukwudiebere
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The Adamawa State, Governor Ahmadu Fintiri has reviewed the curfew imposed on Yola North, Yola South and Girei Local Government Areas, following the activities of Shila Boys and other miscreants in the society using Tricycles and Motorcycles.

The curfew, earlier imposed from 10pm to 5am (Local time), has now been eased to begin from 11pm to 5am daily during the period of the Ramadan Fast.

The review takes effect immediately.

The Government had on February, 2, 2021, imposed a night curfew on the three councils using “the Adamawa State Restriction of Movement of Tricycles/Motorcycles Executive Order No.1 of 2021.” 

The order is meant to check the excesses of hoodlums terrorising the areas, prescribing a sentence of six months imprisonment with an option of fine or both in addition to forfeiting the Tricycle or Motorcycle.

Th Government said; ”the review of the restriction of movement was necessitated by its desire to allow Muslim faithful observe unhindered Tafsir at their various Mosques during the Ramadan period.”

Security
Governor Fintiri, however, directed security agencies to beef up security across the state, especially in the three Councils of Yola North, Yola South and Girei by deploying more service personnel, to keep watch and ensure the security of lives and property of residents of the State.

Warning
He warned that anybody found  breaching the peace will be dealt with accordingly.

“Security agencies will continue to discharge their duties and residents are urged to cooperate with them to maintain the status of our State as one of the most peaceful,” Governor Fintiri stated.

While wishing the Muslim  Ummah a peaceful Ramadan, the Governor advised them to adhere to the Covid-19 guidelines, which include the use of protective face masks in public places.

“We urge residents to maintain social distancing in public gatherings, regular handwashing and use of sanitizers. I appeal to residents not to encourage any action that may turn back the clock, but to keep living in harmony and strengthen the unity that we are known for,” he said.

 

 

Mercy Chukwudibere

Tourism Associations President dies

Mercy Chukwudiebere
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The President of Federation of Tourism Associations of Nigeria. FTAN, Alhaji Saleh Rabo is dead.

Rabo’s immediate family confirmed he died in his residence, Abuja on Friday, after a protracted illness.

He had been buried according to Islamic rites.

FTAN condoled with the family of the late President and the entire tourism trade community in Nigeria.

A statement issued by its Public Relations Officer, Mr Joseph Karim, reads; “Rabo will be remembered for his loving personality, tolerance of detractors, genteelness in leadership, camaraderie and go-getting spirit.

“He was a consummate travel and tourism professional and investor.

“Rabo died being the Managing-Director of All States Travels with office in Transcorp Hilton Abuja.”

The late Rabo first became the President of FTAN in June 2017, after winning a landslide victory at the general elections of the federation, and was subsequently re-elected in 2019 for his second and final term.

His tenure was due to elapse in July 2021 before his death. He was previously the Vice-President of the National Association of Nigerian Travel Agencies (NANTA) Abuja zone.

During his time as FTAN President, Rabo accomplished a number of tourism industry developmental milestones, some of them as a befitting secretariat for FTAN in Abuja within weeks of his election, entrenchment of professional development programmes for practitioners in the tourism and hospitality sector and advocacy for Nigerian government prioritisation of tourism industry’s development.

The late Rabo also re-established  FTAN operational presence in each of the six geopolitical zones in Nigeria.

 

 

NAN/Mercy Chukwudiebere

NASIMS: Humanitarian Ministry inaugurates Steering Committee

Mercy Chukwudiebere
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The Nigerian Government has inaugurated a steering committee for the Implementation of the National Social Investment Management Systems Project, NASIMS.

NASIMS is a platform that encompasses all the National Social Investment Programmes, including N-Power, National Home Grown School Feeding, GEEP, Conditional Cash Transfer and others and provides a singular data portal for all the programs.

The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya  Farouq inaugurated the Steering Committee in Abuja, Nigeria.

She appreciated the Committee members for their acceptance to work towards collating  data for all National Social Investment Programmes in the country.

“I hope we will work very closely together to ensure that the project meets its intended conclusion. The project coordinators and initiators have put in quite a lot of work and collated so much data before this inauguration and I am impressed with their efforts . 

“I commend them and sincerely hope that from today, we will move with the speed of light to cover up for lost time.  I hope the committee will give the necessary guidance to the management  on the direction of the project.  I urge all the committee members to work together to ensure that we achieve all that this project is expected to achieve.”

The Minister was represented by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Bashir Nura Alkali.

Also Read>>Nigeria to roll out agro-processing zones programme

Committee’s assurance
Responding, a Committee member and Director National Information Technology Development Agency, Dr Usman Abdullahi said that due to the critical nature of the project and its importance to the President Muhammadu Buhari Administration, the committee would endeavor to work relentlessly.

“I want to assure the Permanent Secretary and the committee, of NITDA’s commitment to the success of this project.  It is a critical national project and we will do everything to ensure that it succeeds,” he stated.

Also speaking, another member of the committee, David Ibhawoh of Fourcore Technology Solutions said that institutionalising the project would be the core mandate of the committee by having a singular port that houses information for social growth and development.

He said; “As a private sector organisation, we are tools responsible for the actualisation of this dream. We are to provide a one-stop shop for all the National Social Investment programmes as a veritable tool to ensure that we reach  the poorest of the poor in the society. 

“We will provide an institutional framework within the ministry to ensure that Nigerians are the key beneficiaries at the end,”

 

Mercy Chukwudiebere

Sirleaf tasks ECOWAS Speaker on championing cause of women

Mercy Chukwudiebere
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A former Liberian President, Mrs. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, has called on Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament, Sidie Tunis to continue championing the cause of women in West Africa.

Mrs. Sirleaf made the call when she received  Mr. Tunis who led the delegation of the ECOWAS Parliament on a courtesy visit to her resident in Monrovia, the Liberian capital.

The visit follows the successful completion of the ECOWAS Parliament deocalised meeting of “Empowerment of Women in the West-African Sub-region”.

The meeting of the ECOPARL Joint Committee on Social Affairs, Gender and Women Empowerment, Education, Science and Culture, Health seeks to proffer solutions to issues affecting women in the sub-region.

Commendation
Mrs Sirleaf however lauded all the efforts and initiative of Mr. Tunis in driving forward the cause of the West African women, to ensure their inclusion across all sectors especially increased representation in the ECOWAS Parliament.

She said; “I am pleased to see many women in this gathering and that brings me to say that except for Senegal, our countries have not done well in politics and we need to do more.

“We cannot do it unless you lead us. I will need to recognise the value and contributions of women to the peace, security and development…So I will call upon you as the head of the Parliament to be a champion for ensuring that as we go into elections in all of our countries, we have a minimum of 30 per cent representation of women.

“That we get what has been the ECOWAS standard, trying to conform with International Standard by the year, and that is that we seek to have minimum 30 per cent and we are not asking for too much.”

“We like to see as women that we are equal in every way to men, we like to see that if we get that minimum then I think we will have so many women.

“And that we work very strongly through coalition and collaboration to help even push harder for the achievements of our development goals.

“I want to thank all the Parliamentarians for all you have done to keep the fire burning, to keep pushing all of our countries  to meet the goals aspirations of ECOWAS.

“And as long as you continue to do that, you will get the support and I assure you that all the  ECOWAS leaders will stand by you,” Mrs Sirleaf stated.

Sustaining performance
According to her, ECOWAS stands as one of the best performing regions in the continent in terms of its solidarity, in terms of its decisions to enforce those regulations for all, hence the need to work hard to sustain it.

Also read>> ECOWAS Parliament pledges to address issues against Women in the Region

Mrs Sirleaf urged Parliamentarians to continue to work hard so that the West African continent remains an example to other regions of the continent.

The Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament, Sidie Tunis said; ‘Mrs Sirleaf’s position as first female President in Africa is a precedent set by the West African region which must be sustained.”

The Speaker of the Community Parliament also commended Liberia for being a model of women empowerment to other African Countries.

Mr. Tunis said that the resolutions from the delocalised meeting which was a success would be forwarded to the Mrs Sirleaf.

He said; “We have been here for about a week now at the delocalised meeting with the theme ‘Empowerment of Women in the ECOWAS Sub-region.’

“We believe that your election as the first female President in Africa and just few years down the line the election of her Excellency Joy Taylor as Vice President demonstrates the fact that Liberia is already a model in women empowerment.

“You have already demonstrated it and throughout your tenure as President of Liberia you did everything possible to empower women and to promote women…So we believe that if we are having a meeting of such nature in Liberia our first point of call should be here.”

“We waited to finish the session to bring the resolution to you as soon as that is done you will receive it.

“We have had a very fruitful meeting, the presentations from the experts were excellent  and I must say we are very elated about that to chart a way forward to women’s empowerment in the sub-region,”  Mr Tunis added.

 

 

Mercy Chukwudiebere

 

 

Guatemala restricts travel from Brazil, UK and South Africa

Kamila Bello
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Guatemala will restrict entry to visitors who have recently been to Brazil, the United Kingdom and South Africa in an effort to control a jump in coronavirus cases.

President Alejandro Giammattei said in a public address the measure will go into effect on today and last through April 30, applying to tourists who have been to those countries within the prior two weeks.

Guatemala had registered 5,813 new COVID-19 infections in the last five days, bringing the total in the Central American country to 210,667 confirmed cases.

“That has triggered our alerts and forces us to have to decree a state of prevention immediately,” Giammattei said.

Guatemala had previously enacted strict lockdowns and travel restrictions to prevent the spread of the virus, which has caused 7,160 deaths in the country of 16 million people.

 

READ ALSO: German to tighten COVID-19 restrictions amid third wave

 

 

 

Kamila/Reuters

NAFDAC workers to call-of strike soon

Kamila Bello
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The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), has assured that the seven days warning strike that commenced on the 15th of April, by its workers will soon be called off.

The Resident Media Consultant of the agency, Sayo Akintola, explained that the Director General of NAFDAC, Prof Mojisola Adeyeye, has enjoyed a good work relationship with the union and its members since she assumed office.

She condemned the action of the union leaders preventing senior management staff from gaining access to their offices.

He however expressed the displeasure of the director general that the union went ahead to begin a strike when a meeting was already scheduled with the management of the agency for next week Tuesday.

“Seriously speaking, it’s being resolved and before the expiration of the seven days, the strike would be called off.

“It’s unfortunate that the union had scheduled a meeting with the management for next week Tuesday only to embark on strike on Thursday.

“They should have waited for the outcome of the meeting before going on strike. This is the position of the DG when I spoke to her last night,” Akintola said.

She however urged the affected staff to continue to work from home pending the time the issues would be resolved.

It would be recalled that during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, staff of the agency were working effectively from home while only the senior management staff were physically present in the office.

The Director General assured the agency’s clients that the strike would not affect the operations of NAFDAC in any way as most of its transactions are now automated.

 

READ ALSO: NAFDAC workers embark on seven days warning strike

 

 

 

Kamila/ The nation

South Africa urges people over 60 to register for vaccination -Health Minister

Kamila Bello
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South Africa urged people over the age of 60 to register for vaccination online.

Health Minister, Zweli Mkhize said when launching the vaccination electronic data system which would allow people to register online.

“The president, myself, hundreds of thousands of healthcare workers and now you, the citizens of South Africa, have or will all access the vaccines through the same process, by using this system,” he said

This was the first time in history that a major public health campaign will be supported by one digital system for all South Africans.

The launch was held as government was preparing for the start of the second phase of the vaccination campaign set for May.

The first phase only included healthcare workers.

 

 

READ ALSO: South Africa vaccinates over 230,000 health workers

 

 

 

Kamila/Xinhua

 

 

Allegation of vaccine mismanagement in Lagos inaccurate -NPHCDA

Kamila Bello
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The Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, Faisal Shuaib, on Friday, cleared the allegation of vaccine mismanagement in Lagos State.

He disclosed this in Abuja at a joint press conference organised by the NPHCDA and the World Health Organisation to update Nigerians on the status of the COVID-19 vaccination campaign.

A team set up to investigate the allegation found out that the reports were inaccurate.

“At this juncture, I would like to provide an update on the vaccine accountability issues that erupted in Falomo Clinic, Lagos State,” Shuaib said.

“There has been a rich engagement with the Governor of Lagos State and his health team led by the Commissioner for Health.

“A rapid fact-finding team was established to investigate the veracity of these reports not only in the said Falomo Clinic but in designated health facilities all over the state.

“The information reaching us is that these reports of widespread mismanagement of the vaccination process were inaccurate and do not represent what transpired in these locations.

“One thing that the PSC and the Lagos State Government are aligned behind, is zero tolerance to diversion of COVID-19 vaccine. The vaccine is free to all Nigerians irrespective of social standing,” he added.

 

READ ALSO: COVID-19 vaccine: 8,439 mild adverse events recorded in Nigeria –NPHCDC

 

 

Kamila/Punch

Nigerian Troops take out ISWAP senior commander, fighters

Ime Njoku
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A senior Commander of ISWAP, Bukar Gana Fitchmeram (aka Abu Aisha), and scores of his fighters who were on revenge mission at Damasak, fell to the fire power of Nigerian troops Thursday, 15 April, 2021.

The terrorist and his fighters met their waterloo as they made a come-back following the neutralization of 12 high value ISWAP commanders in Mobbar Local Government Area of Borno State in a week-long air and ground operations by the Nigerian military.

A statement by the Director Army Public Relations, Brigadier General Mohammed Yerima said a well-coordinated ground bombardments and aerial strikes by the Nigerian military on various locations in the Northeast, the terrorists who were denied any sanctuary or respite desperately conducted two separate failed attacks on Gajiram and Damasak.

The deadly air strikes conducted on Tudun Wulgo, Zari and Tumbun Alhaji, Kusuma, Sigir in Ngala and Arijallamari, in Abadam, Marte and Ngala Local government Areas, led to the killing of top ISWAP Leaders. The Commanders that perished in the airstrikes included; Mohammad Fulloja , Ameer Mallam Bello, Ba’a kaka Tunkushe, Abu Muktar Al -Ansari, Ameer Abba Kaka, Abu Huzaifa, Ameer Modu Kwayem, while  Goni Mustapha who was the Chief Imam of the ISWAP escaped with bullet wounds.

Troops’ artillery bombardment and air strikes on April 6 also resulted to the elimination of two top ISWAP leaders including Abu-Rabi and Muhammed Likita as well as scores of their troops and body guards around the axis of Kusuma, Sigir in Ngala and Arijallamari in Abadam Local Government Areas.
The terrorists’ storage facilities that housed weapons used to conduct several attacks was also targeted and destroyed in the air raid by the Air Component of Operation Lafita Dole.

On the night of Saturday, April 10, three other terrorist Commanders including Ameer Umar, Abu Ubaida and Abu Salim were ambushed and killed by own troops around Wulgo / Logomani axis close to Cameroon borders while attempting to attack locals and rustle their cows. The devastating air strikes and artillery bombardment on the ISWAP camps had pushed the surviving elements to conduct desperate attacks and looting missions for food and drugs for their wounded colleagues.

Also on April 11, the Nigerian military bombardments eliminated scores of ISWAP/Boko Haram terrorists on five guntrucks in Damasak. Some of the terrorists were hits close to the perimeter fencing, while others were neutralized while attempting to loot food items in a store belonging to the United Nations as well as drugs and ambulance. However, three soldiers and some civilians lost their lives while properties were burnt in the town.

Some of the terrorist still got access to the town burning and looting items before vacating the area. It is also noteworthy that Damasak has been attacked several times and failed. Troops’ fighting spirit remains very high in spite of the nefarious activities of some local informants who often tip the Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorists on troops’ movements and positions. Pictures below:

 

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