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The Oracle Today Wednesday October 17, 2018
NEWS Taraba Govt evacuates 383 students from University of Jos over killings
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araba State Government said on Friday that it had evacuated 383 students from the University of Jos following renewed killings in the Plateau capital, with a student confirmed dead. The Special Adviser to Gov. Darius Ishaku on Students Affairs, Mr Samson Tor-Musa disclosed this to newsmen in Jalingo. Tor-Musa told journalists that the state government took the step following a distress call from the students of Taraba origin studying at the university. He explained that the discovery of the car belonging to the missing rtd. Army General in Jos, led to the escalation of tension in the university, leading to the death of a student. “The pond where the car of the missing army general was found is located close to one of the university hostels; so, there was tension following the discovery. “The University has confirmed one student dead; but when we got to the school, we discovered that a prospective student from Takum Local Government area of Taraba was also killed in the incident. “We were able to evaluate 383 out of 423 students from the state because some had left on their own before we got to Jos.” Tor-Musa, who said the condition of the students was pathetic when they got to the school, added that the state government had since reunited the students with their families. A parent of one of the students, Mr. Andetarang Irammae, thanked Ishaku for his support and quick intervention in the evacuation of the students.
Nigeria’s disabled population hits 19m -- NPC
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ational Population Commission of Nigeria (NPC) has estimated that no fewer than 19 million persons are living with disabilities in Nigeria. Chairman of the Commission, Mr Eze Duruiheoma (SAN), announced this during the 73rd UN General Assembly General Discussion of Agenda 28 on Social Development at the UN headquarters in New York. The World Bank estimates that one billion people, or 15 per cent of the world’s population, experience some form of disabilities and the prevalence is higher for developing countries. The population chief said Nigeria had existing policy that reserved certain percentage of vacancies for the disabled, adding the corporate organisations were also encouraged to reserve two per cent for the disabled population. “As a result, government is implementing measures to promote and enhance the entrepreneurial skills of many of our 19 million Persons with Disabilities (PWDs).
“This is executed through training in various vocations and provision of relevant tools to enable them to embark on economic ventures of their choice. “Furthermore, corporate organisations in Nigeria are encouraged to reserve two per cent of their vacancies to PWDs in support of the existing policy in the public sector.” He said Nigeria recognised the importance of implementing policies that bridge social inequality gap through poverty eradication, social integration, full employment and decent work that target especially the disability population. “As part of our commitment to the continuous implementation of the relevant provisions of the 2002 Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing, President Muhammadu Buhari signed into law the National Senior Citizen Act 2018 early this year. “The Act mandates all tiers of government, including institutions in the country, to establish National Senior Citizens Centres to ensure
proper care, training, integration, orientation and re-orientation of senior citizens. “This highlights the need for, and ensuring full utilisation of potential and expertise of the elderly, while recognising the benefits of increased experience through age, as well as strengthening intergenerational solidarity,” Duruiheoma said. Similarly, a pre-retirement vocational training is being provided to officers prior to disengagement from the public service to enhance investment of retirement benefits and guarantee income security as a means of eradicating poverty, he said. “Waivers are also extended to treatment provided for the elderly in government hospitals in some states in the country,” the Nigerian population chief said. He said Nigeria’s recently-revised National Population Policy now accorded special attention to ageing and the aged, and provided strategies for improving their welfare through investment in healthy age-
Dogara congratulates Atiku over victory
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peaker of the House of Representatives, Mr Yakubu Dogara, has congratulated former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, on his emergence as the presidential flag bearer of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The speaker said this in a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Public Affairs, Mr Turaki Hassan, Sunday in Abuja. Abubakar won the PDP Presidential ticket with 1532 votes out of the total 3221 votes cast by 36 states and the FCT, According to the results of the poll announced by Sen. Ifeanyi Okowa, Chairman of the PDP 2018 Special National Convention Planning Committee at the end of the party’s convention on Sunday in Port Harcourt, Gov. Aminu Tambuwal came second with 693 votes, while Sen. Bukola Saraki placed third with 317 votes. Dogara said that the task before Alhaji Atiku was now to unite with other aspirants to work toward the success of the party in the 2019 elections. He expressed confidence that with proper strategies and consensus, the party would win the 2019 elections. “Come February 2019, PDP will lead Nigeria to the transformation that we so dearly desire as citizens of this dear country,” he said. The speaker commended other aspirants for accepting the outcomes of the exercise, stating that their dedicated involvement was the foundation that would lead the party to victory in the presidential elections.
• Members of the Asaba Branch of the Asaba Ladies League, a non-governmental philanthropic organisation, led by their National President , Mrs. Rose Nwosu, at one of the internally displaced persons (IDPs) camps in Asaba to distribute relief items donated by them
NUT to Ortom: Recruit more teachers in Benue
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igeria Union of Teachers (NUT) in Benue has called on Gov. Samuel Ortom to recruit more teachers to fill the vacancies in schools. The NUT Chairman in the state, Mr Michael Yiaseh, made the appeal in Makurdi on Friday while addressing teachers during the 52nd Commemoration of World Teachers’ Day.
The theme of the Teachers’ day is: “The Right of Education Means the Right to a Qualified Teacher’’. Yiaseh said that many teaching vacancies existed in schools across the state owing to retirement of teachers, saying that there was need to fill such vacancies. “Arising from the retirement of a lot of teachers in 2018, coupled
Court slams N600m on EFCC
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High Court in Port Harcourt has slammed a N600 million in exemplary damages on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for investigating and subsequently declaring two officials of the Rivers state government wanted. Justice George Omereji in a fundamental human rights matter brought by the Accountant General of Rivers state, Frederick Abere and a retired Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Local government Affairs, Lekia Bukpo, restated that the EFCC has no right to investigate the State government or its officials. Justice Omereji said he is embarrassed by the actions of the anti-graft agency; EFCC who he said failed to appeal the judgments against it but resorted to self-help by inviting the officials. He added that the EFCC should
first vacate the subsisting order made by Justice Ibrahim Buba of the Federal High Court before taking any action on accounts of the State government. Justice George Omereji also said the Letter of invitation of the EFCC is in disobedience to the court order and malicious adding that only the Rivers state House of Assembly has the right investigate the financial activities of the State government. The court however declared that three hundred million naira each be paid by EFCC to Federick Abere and Lekia Biokpo as as exemplary damages. Speaking with correspondent in an interview, Counsel to the two officials of the State government, Dike Udenna said verdict of the court addresses actions of Federal agencies who take the Judiciary for granted.
with deaths and teachers leaving for greener pastures, the need for filling of these vacancies cannot be over emphasised. “Therefore, we want to appeal to the governor to fill the vacant positions as soon as necessary. “Most classrooms require more facilities to enhance teaching/learning, ‘’ Yiaseh said. He noted that families of some deceased teachers had yet to get retirement benefits. The NUT chieftain explained that since 2010, teachers had not received `Leave Grant’, while omission of teachers’ names from payment vouchers had yet to be fully addressed. Yiaseh disclosed that Nigeria was celebrating the Teachers’ Day for the 21st time while NUT Benue was making the day the 18th time. The NUT chairman advised teachers to update their knowledge in order to remain relevant in the computer age and cautioned against unnecessary procedures. “You must follow necessary procedures by obtaining permission before going for further studies to avoid unpleasant consequences,’’ Yiaseh said. He, however, commended Gov. Ortom for the full implementation of the N18,000 national minimum wage for primary school teachers.
ing and integration into life-long learning programmes. He added that the Nigerian Government remained irreversibly committed to implementing social policies that impacted positively on the lives and well-being of all Nigerians, regardless of social status, creed and affiliations. “This is based on President Muhammadu Buhari’s conviction that the implementation of people-centred and all inclusive sustainable development policies remain a strong parameter for measuring the success of any credible government,” he said. He explained that Nigeria had begun implementation of an ambitious three-year medium-term economic development strategy: ‘Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP)’. Duruiheoma said the ERGP would fast-track the realisation of the objectives of Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development and the overarching social-economic goals of Agenda 2063 of the African Union. “Fundamentally, EGRP was designed to place the country’s economy on a trajectory of upward growth, sound social infrastructure, global competitiveness, as well as ensuring environmental sustainability for all Nigerians. He said a National Social Investment Office has been established within the Office of the Vice President, to guarantee effective coordination, implementation and to facilitate access to a broad range of social development opportunities and benefits for all citizens. Duruiheoma said a potent feature of the social welfare programmes related to the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) scheme, saying it had continued to provide monthly stipends to one million poor and vulnerable households in Nigeria. He said a veritable component of the CCT was the concept of ‘Market Money’, disbursting micro credit loans with a zero interest rate to another batch of one million market traders across Nigeria. “Bridging youth empowerment inequality through provision of jobs and development of innovative ideas is at the very core of our government policies and programmes. “Consequently, the N-Power Youth Employment Scheme, created to facilitate employment generation for a total of 500,000 graduates in the country, has successfully deployed over 400,000 graduates to the agricultural, health and teaching sectors all over the country. “The non-graduate component that targets annual employment of 100,000 artisans has also created jobs for more than 30,000 youth till date,” Duruiheoma said. He said the Nigerian Government was scaling up the creation of innovative hubs through the establishment of technological smart villages across the country to unleash the innovative potential of youth and bridge the technology divide in the country. Duruiheoma said in terms of mainstreaming youth into all aspects of governance, Buhari had created the Office of Special Adviser on Youth Matters and signed into law the ‘Not-Too-Young-To-Run’ bill. “This has undoubtedly triggered more interests from the Nigerian youth population in the office of the President in the coming presidential election in February 2019,” he said. He pledged Nigeria’s usual cooperation to the global community, adding the country remained committed to its international obligations, programmes and strategies that promoted social development for citizens.