The Executive Secretary, Federal Capital Development Authority FCDA, Engr. Umar Gambo Jibrin has inaugurated the committee on the movement of Jabi- Yakubu community to the Galuwyi- Shere resettlement site.
While congratulating the members on their selection into the very important committee, the Executive Secretary also assured them of the support of the FCT Administration, stating that the FCT Minister, Mallam Muhammad Musa Bello is desirous of a quick implementation of the Galuwyi-Shere resettlement scheme.
He therefore called on the committee to ensure a seamless movement as the administration is committed to seeing that every impediments to the smooth exercise are promptly attended to.
Responding on behalf of the committee, the Sapeyi of Garki Usman Ngakupi, represented by Nuhu Nyaholo promised the full cooperation of the community and also pledged that the committee will not betray the trust reposed in it in the discharge of its responsibility.
Earlier, the Director of the department of Resettlement and Compensation, ESV. Perpetua Ohammah intimated that the Jabi- Yakubu community was ready for the movement and that others including Jabi- Samuel in phases 2 and 3 of the city would follow afterwards.
The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) said it was considering partnering with owners of uncompleted structures who couldn’t further develop such structures with a view to complete them.
The Director, FCTA Department of Development Control, Alhaji Mukhtar Galadima, made the disclosure while addressing newsmen during the evacuation of occupants of an uncompleted building at Maitama District.
” Some of the people that cannot further develop their property, may be we have to do what we call partnership. It is a strategy that we are looking at to widen the scope of thinking so that we can involve all stakeholders concerned. This will involve a lot of stakeholders to look into the issues because it is beyond us in government circle alone. We have to involve Estate Developers and other investors in property development and marketing,” Galadima said.
The Director warned occupants of illegal structures within the city centre to vacate or face the full wrath of the law.
Galadima noted that the evacuation of people in uncompleted buildings was part of the efforts of the FCT administration through the department to rid the city of insecurity.
He said that that findings by the FCTA showed that most of the uncompleted buildings are mostly occupied by hoodlums who perpetrate crime.
The director stated that the exercise was in line with the FCT administration’s policy that nobody transacts any business or stay in or under any uncompleted building in Abuja.
He noted that there are risks associated with uncompleted buildings, as no one could ascertain the integrity of the structure, because it had been abandoned for a long time.
The National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, has debunked media reports of rising cases of COVID-19 in the 37 orientation camps across the country.
The Director, Press and Public Relations of the organization, Mrs Adenike Adeyemi revealed this in a statement.
According to her, “Management wishes to once again reiterate that there is no COVID-19 positive Corps Member in any of the 37 Orientation Camps of the Scheme spread across all the States of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory”
Mrs Adenike also said that before the commencement of the ongoing Orientation programme, the Scheme in collaboration with the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) tested all the prospective Corps Members reporting to the camps and those that tested positive to COVID-19 were handled by the NCDC.
“No one, both staff and Prospective Corps Member that tested positive to COVID-19 was allowed into any of the orientation camps, therefore, it is erroneous and misleading to talk about rising cases of COVID-19 in the NYSC Camps”
She clarified that “it is pertinent to state that the terminology, ‘prospective Corps Member’ should not be confused with Corps Member as both cannot be used interchangeably”
According to her, a Corps Member is a qualified Nigerian youth who has been duly admitted into the NYSC Orientation Camp, registered and formally sworn-in as a bona fide member of the service Corps.
Mrs Adenike, therefore advised members of the public to disregard such misleading story and assured that the scheme will never shirk its core responsibility of prioritising the welfare and security of Corps Members.
Kano State House of Assembly has approved Governor Abdullahi Ganduje’s request to access N20 billion loan from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and United Bank for Africa (UBA).
The assembly approved the request at the beginning of the week’s plenary after the Speaker of the house Abdulazeez Garba-Gafasa read the letter written by the Governor requesting approval.
The approval was given after series of deliberations.
While shedding more light to newsmen, the majority leader of the assembly, Kabiru Hassan Dashi said the loan was to cover up the economic breakdown occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The assembly considered the governor’s request after the government’s inability to access the loan from the capital market due to worsening economic conditions,” said Dashi
Meanwhile, during the plenary, a member representing Kunchi/Tsayawa constituency, Garba Ya’u Gwarwai apologised to the assembly on behalf of the five lawmakers suspended on March 2020.
Five lawmakers were suspended by the house for allegedly being the mastermind of a rowdy session. The lawmakers also approached the court which ordered their reinstatement.
“We are apologizing in order to allow peace to reign in the assembly. Therefore, I am apologizing on behalf of my other colleagues” Ya’u Gwarmai said.
Farmers in Borno State have appealed to the Nigerian government to take proactive security measures that would put an end to the continuous attacks on farmers.
The farmers, who said the attacks have made life unbearable for them, said the crime must not be left unaddressed.
This was made known in a statement issued to journalists while reacting to the death of 43 rice farmers who were killed by suspected members of the boko haram on Saturday while harvesting their crops at Garin-Kwashebe rice field, about 20 kilometres north of Maiduguri.
The statement signed by the Managing Director Wal-Wanne Group, Dr. Abiso Kabir, said the sad incident would not only cause instability in the zone, but would also lead to poverty and make the people to be over dependence on aid, if proactive measures are not taken to bring an end to the killings.
Dr. Abiso who explained that Koila Agro Allied Nigeria Limited is the most affected company who lost its farmers to the attack, also called on the Nigerian Government to recruit more persons into the civilian joint task force in order to put an end to insecurity.
According to him, “About 43 have been buried but we are not sure these are the exact numbers that are dead because some people are still missing.
“We are tired of the situation, just when we thought we have gotten our farmlands back to support agricultural development and fight hunger in the country, we keep waking up to sad events.
“We can’t continue to go out to our farmlands and risk being killed by the insurgents”, he said.
He however said the government should also establish series of measures to enhance public confidence in the security and intelligence agencies.
“We may be facing a severe food security crisis due to the destructive activities of bandits who are not only destroying farms but also killing farmers,” he sadded.
An Agency of the Nigerian Federal Capital Territory Administration, Abuja Property Development Company (APDC) has revealed it’s plan to build standard hospitals in the nation’s capital (Abuja) to reduce the number of Nigerians travelling outside the country for medical tourism.
The Managing director of the company, Lawal Aliyu Magaji, disclosed this during an interaction with Journalists..
Magaji said if those hospitals could be provided, it would definitely stem the current tide of medical tourism.
He stated that the company was also collaborating with the Health and Human Services Secretariat, HHSS to develop four district hospitals to be located at Wuye, Lokongoma, Galadima and Lugbe districts, to cater for the health need of FCT residents.
He attributed the high cost of buildings in the nation’s capital to the rising cost of building materials, especially the cost of finishing materials, which have to be imported, coupled with the widening exchange rate between the naira and the dollar at the international market.
The managing director however disclosed that the APDC was already working with some groups to proffer solutions to the high cost of buildings, by providing locally made building materials, or getting some foreign building materials companies to establish and produce the materials locally.
He said this would go a long way in supporting the government’s effort at bringing down the cost of the houses.
According to him, “We also have the intention of doing social housing, so that the costs of these houses are brought down. We are also doing research to build houses for no income.
It is something we have to put our thinking caps to provide, because they are also Nigerians. We are working to ensure that we take care of all Nigerians, irrespective of their status in order to provide houses for them.”
Nigeria’s Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo says government will not relent but will do all it takes, including putting new ideas on the table, in order to secure the country.
The Vice President is on a one-day official visit to Nasarawa State and was accosted by reporters on his arrival in Lafia after he was received by Governor Abdullahi Sule.
He said: “As the President said, these group of people have acted insanely in such a dastardly manner, killing innocent people, people who had gone to their farms to work.
“I spoke to the Governor, Governor Babagana Zulum and the former Governor, Senator Kashim Shettima to express my condolence, but more importantly, to try and think through ways of dealing with this kind of random attacks.
“It’s important to understand also that we will probably need to keep reviewing the conventional means of dealing with some of these issues, these security challenges, especially the randomness.
“Which is why the President has said that he is taking a serious look at how to deal with the issues, especially the randomness: some insane person goes into a place and shoots people, that is not the sort of thing that you are prepared for conventionally.”
Community Policing Osinbajo said government would do a lot more local intelligence and some of the community policing efforts that are being planned to enable security agencies gather information faster, especially at the local level.
“It is a major tragedy; it’s a very unfortunate thing and our hearts are with the family of those who were killed in such a terrible manner.
“We are very confident and the Federal Government will continue to do what it needs to do especially in terms of trying to ensure security in the Northeast and all over Nigeria.
“You’ve heard the President and what he has to say, especially some of the new ideas around security and the security architecture which we are trying to put in place. We will get there,” the vice president added.
The World Health Organisation says the rights of women, girls and gender equality must be the focus to stop new HIV infections.
WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti disclosed this in her message to mark the 2020 World AIDS Day, globally celebrated on Dec.1 to raise awareness of the pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infection.
According to Moeti, children living with HIV are not being adequately identified for treatment. Girls and women aged 15 – 24 years accounted for 37% of all new HIV infections; stigma and discrimination especially against key populations continue to create barriers to service access.
“Despite these challenges, significant progress is happening in African countries. 2020 is a milestone year towards ending AIDS epidemics and 81% of people living with HIV know their status.
Among them 70% of adults and 53% of children are receiving lifelong antiretroviral therapy (ART).
“Eighty five per cent of pregnant and breastfeeding women living with HIV are on ART, which protects their health and prevents HIV transmission to their newborn infants.
“There are 38 million people living with HIV and 67% of them are living in the WHO African Region,” Moeti said.
Reports have it that in 2019, more than 1 million people in the region were newly infected with HIV, accounting for 60 per cent of the global total and sadly, 440,000 people in the region died from HIV related causes.
She urged communities, especially people living with HIV to be proactive in their self-care and in understanding how to prevent the spread of the infections.
She commended governments, partners and communities who have contributed to the progress on HIV in the Region and came up with innovative ways to keep services going during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“They are also contributing to the national COVID-19 response by creating and disseminating health messages, busting myths, and raising awareness.
“In Cote d’Ivoire, Nigeria and Senegal, women living with HIV are serving as community pharmacists, visiting hard to reach semi-urban and rural areas to facilitate the home delivery of HIV treatment and medicines for other diseases.
To sustain and accelerate the gains made, Moeti urged governments and partners to come together, with the same level of urgency and leadership demonstrated in response to COVID-19, to increase domestic funding and strengthen health systems.
“The pandemic was making it even more challenging for countries to provide these services, particularly in areas affected by conflict, disasters, outbreaks, and rapid population growth,” she said.
“There must be global solidarity and shared responsibility among all stakeholders to ensure integrated, people-centered, quality care, and an uninterrupted supply of essential commodities for HIV services.
“This World AIDS Day let us all demand global solidarity and shared responsibility to maintain HIV services during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond as we strive to achieve the 2030 targets,” Moeti added.
The Commissioner for Health in Abia State, Dr Joe Osuji says 17 members of the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC currently at the orientation camp at Umunna, Bende council area, have tested positive for COVID-19.
Osuji, who stated this in an interview with journalists, explained that the corps members underwent compulsory testing on arrival at the orientation camp.
He said that seven of those who tested positive have been treated and discharged, two on self-isolation while five are at the state isolation centre, Umuahia.
The commissioner complained that people are no longer observing the COVID-19 protocol in wearing face masks, while those who wear masks do wear it halfway.
He warned that the pandemic was not yet over as the virus was still ravaging many countries across the world.
The Commissioner commend the government for easing the difficulty in transporting samples of the COVID-19 test.
Osuji also noted that within the period of time the state set up a test centre, about 10,864 samples were collected and 947 tested positive.
He said that Abia has the highest sample testing centres in the South East and South-south zones.
The Commissioner further stated that 925 persons have been treated and discharged, 11 patients on self-isolation under close monitoring while 7 are currently at the treatment centres.
“In the month of July till date, testing is still ongoing in the entire 17 LGAs,”
“If somebody tests positive, we immediately begin contact tracing from family to where he or she works, that is how we have been able to contain the virus. As I speak we have almost flattened the curve, all these were made possible through the governor’s efforts,” Osuji stated.
President Muhammadu Buhari says the utilisation of Nigeria’s large gas deposits would enhance development in the country.
The President made the remark at the virtual inauguration of the National Gas Expansion Programme in Abuja.
He said the inauguration of the programme marks a milestone in the current administration’s quest to provide an alternative energy source for Nigerians.
He said: “The National Auto-Gas roll Out Initiative is a deliverable of the Natural Gas expansion Programme of government. Today’s event signals the realisation of government’s commitment to ensure the domestic utilization of the nation’s vast gas resources, which currently stands at over 2two trillion cubic feet.
“Through the development of robust gas infrastructure, expansion of gas-based industries, massive adoption of gas as auto and cooking fuel, with the overall objective of employing same as catalyst for the growth and development of the Nigerian economy.
“It is an important milestone in the widening of domestic gas supply ana tge provision of cleaner, safer and better energy option for Nigerians.”
President Buhari appreciated Nigerians and Organised Labour for restraint, understanding and patience as the country tackles myriad of economic challenges, assuring that the Government is working hard to ameliorate the situation.
“Let me now express my deep appreciation to Nigerians for their patience, and Organized Labour for its maturity and patriotism as we collectively navigate these global economic and other challenges,’’ he said.
Gas as Alternative Fuel The President urged Nigerians to embrace the use of gas as an alternative to fuel.
“It is no longer news that the vast Natural Gas resources, which Nigeria is endowed with has hitherto been used sub-optimally as a result of a dearth of gas processing facilities and infrastructural connectivity for effective and optimal domestic utilization.
“As I mentioned above, with a proven reserve of about 203 Trillion Cubic Feet (TCF) and additional upside of 600 TCF ranking Nigeria as the 9th in the world currently, the need for domestic gas expansion and utilization is apparent,’’ he explained.
President Buhari said the deregulation of the downstream sector had exposed many to price volatilities in the global market, urging attention to more affordable alternative for energy, especially with Nigeria’s heavy reserve.
“Therefore, the roll-out of the National Gas Expansion Programme, Auto-gas initiative is coming at the right time, especially in light of global crude oil market fluctuations coupled with the full deregulation of the local PMS market.
“These developments have made it imperative to focus on gas as an alternative fuel to move Nigeria from the conventional dependence on white products for autos and prime-movers of industrial applications, to cleaner, more available, accessible and affordable energy source.
“The outcome will not only cushion the effect of the downstream deregulation that this government has to painfully implement, but also create new markets and enormous job opportunities for our people.
“I therefore encourage everyone to embrace gas in form of LPG, CNG and LNG as an alternative fuel for autos and other prime-movers,’’ he said.
The President then directed the Minister of State-Petroleum, Timipre Sylva to commence the process of handing over gas powered mass transit buses to the labour leaders, to help cushion the effects of harsh economy on the masses.
“The Minister of State Petroleum Resources is hereby directed to commence the process of hand over of mass transit buses to Organized Labour as part of our government’s pledge to continue providing support that will ease the transportation challenges Nigerians are facing at this time,’’ the President said.
Skills Development The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources Timipre Sylva said the Ministry was focusing on development of skills, technology and manpower as well as growth in the utilisation of LPG, CNG and LNG.
He added that the National Gas Expansion programme which was initiated this year to boost the utilisation of gas in the short and medium term “is expected to create two million jobs per annum, promote skills acquisition and enhance technology transfer in addition to growing the nation’s GDP.”
The Group Managing Director of NNPC, Mele Kolo Kyari informed the gathering that from 2016 to 2019, Nigerian Government had spent over three trillion Naira subsidizing the pump price of petroleum products particularly PMS, insisting that the subsidy regime did not benefit the masses that the President is passionate about.
He added that the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have made it impossible to continue with the onerous subsidy regime.
