Wednesday, October 9, 2019 Edition

Wednesday, October 9, 2019/ Safar 9, 1441 AH

Vol. 32 No. 067 N150

2007 Days after

Alleged husband killer: Court fixes Oct. 16 for Sanda to open defence >>>page 3

@pmlonline

peoplesdailyng

. . . putting the people first

The nation awaits rescue of the remaining abducted Chibok schoolgirls

Panel blames police, military over officers’ killing in Taraba >>>page 5

N10.33tr 2020 budget:

NASS gives MDAs 30 days to defend estimates >>>page 5

...Begins budget debate today ...Suspends plenary for hearings, defences

President Muhammadu Buhari addressing the Joint house of the National Assembly, during the presentation of 2020 budget at National Assembly, yesterday in Abuja.

Photo: Mahmud Isa

Panic as kidnappers hit Kuje community,12-yr old, 8 others missing

Adamawa records 54 rape cases in 3 months

Insurgency: CSOs write NASS to probe NGOs in north east

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PEOPLES DAILY, Wednesay October 9, 2019

News CONTENTS News

. Gov. Mai Mala Buni of Yobe State (left) in a handshake with the Chief of Army Staff Lt General Tukur Yusuf Buratai when the governor visited to discuss with the army chief at the Headquarters of the Nigerian Army, yesterday Abuja .

2-10, 14

Editorial

11

Op.Ed

12-13

Politics 15-17 Health

18

Business

19-20

Feature

21

World News

22

Africa News

23

World News

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France-sponsored NGO vows to resolve security challenges in Zamfara From Ibrahim Sidi Muh’d, Gusau

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France-Sponsored Pastoral Resolve (PARE) a Nongovernmental organisation has vowed to intervene into Zamfara security crisis by educating warring communities on the importance of tolerance for coexistence and peace loving.

This was disclosed by the PARE Executive Director, Dr. Sale Momale when he paid an advocacy visit to the emir of Zamfara who doubles as Chairman Council of Chiefs, Alhaji Attahiru Ahmad Muhammad at his

FG ‘ll involve high political leadership in OGP process – Malami Page 4

Environment 25 Feature

26

Sports 30-31 Back Page

32

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By Stanley Onyekwere

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esidents of Pegi Resettlement community, located in Kuje Area Council of Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have been thrown into panic mood as nine persons are missing, following raid by kidnappers in the area.

It was gathered that unknown gunmen arrived the area around 8pm of Monday, clad in military camouflage, and randomly kidnapped people.

It was learnt that the kidnappers were said to have blocked one of the rough roads leading to the community from Kuje, for period the operations lasted.

However, it was gathered that one the victims who was allegedly released by the assailants on health ground, said the attackers were not be less than 20.

It was also said that the kidnappers had started making contact with the family of the victims and demanding a ransom N10 million.

According to the Chairman Pegi Community Development Association (PECDA), Taiwo Aderibigbe, who confirmed the incident, a 12 year old boy was among those kidnapped, while one person who was critically injured during the operation has been hospitalized in an unnamed hospital.

Aderibigbe noted that the helpless local vigilante were overpowered by the gunmen who took their victims and vanished into the forest.

He added that the kidnappers allegedly attacked a pickup truck, after deflating the tyres to demobilize

palace in Anka emirate on Monday.

Momale, who informed the emir on the mission embarked by the PARE said, the security challenges that bedevilled the state comprising banditry, kidnapping and cattle rustling, had compelled France to mobilize security experts to enlighten the warring communities on ways to amicably resolve disputes without use of weapons.

According to the Director, the PARE would organise seminars for both Hausa and Fulani traditional leaders across seven most affected emirates in the state including

Zurmi, Birnin Magaji, Anka, Dansadau, Maradun, Tsafe and Gusau.

“The aim of the organization was to assist in total restoration of peace and the lost glory of the state with a view to build mutual understanding between the Hausa and Fulani communities in the areas of cattle rearing and farming activities in more tolerable to move the state and the nation’s economy forward.

Responding, the emir of Anka, Alhaji Attahiru Ahmad Muhammad assured most needed support for the mission to be successful, adding

that, “My emirate will do everything possible in giving support for this organisation to reach out to all the warring communities in effort achieve restoration of peace and unity”.

The emir further said, the mission will be effected easier as Governor Bello Matawalle had already achieved over ninety percent of peace restoration in the state, saying, “With the introduction of peace initiative by the state government, the warring communities have reunited for legitimate businesses even better than before”.

Panic as kidnappers hit Kuje community,12-yr old, 8 others missing the vehicle.

“Yes about 9 persons were kidnapped yesterday (Monday) in our community by some unknown gunmen. We have reported the incidence to the Police”, he said Also confirming the kidnap incidence, Police Public Relations Officer for FCT Police Command,

DSP Anjuguri Manzah, said that the Police had launched a manhunt against the kidnappers.

He said, “the Police is making concerted effort to rescue the persons kidnapped around Pegi Community.

“Though details of the incident is still sketchy, the command is urging members of the public to be calm

while the police intensify efforts to rescue and reunite victims with members of their families.

“Meanwhile, we call on the public to be security conscious and provide information to the police and other relevant security agencies on suspicious movements and activities within their communities.”

ABU institute develops new anti-insect seed From Kano

T

Mustapha

Adamu,

he Ahmadu Bello University Institute for Agricultural Research has developed a new variety of seed that resists ‘Moruka Testulalis, an insect that affects the growth of cowpea.

Speaking during a Cowpea Field Day, held at Bagadawa village in Dawakin Tofa Local Government area of Kano State yesterday, the Executive Director of the institute, Professor Ibrahim Umar Abubakar said the creation of the seed is to boost cowpea production in Nigeria.

According to him, Moruka

Testulalis is the major challenging insect that affects cowpea production that causes 30% loss of the cowpea yield every season in the country.

He explained that the Moruka-Testulalis-resistant seed could survive with only two rounds of fumigation in a season, unlike the ordinary beans which yields with application of seven rounds of insecticide spray.

“The danger associated with the spray on the ordinary beans is that the insecticide kills some insectarium that is useful to us like bee. It is also hazardous to farmers that spray it.

“But this new variety of cowpea seed can survive with

only two rounds of fumigation and it is less dangerous and harmful,” he said The Executive Director also said the institute is working tirelessly in the aspect of conducing various researches, targeted at curtailing various challenges that hinder cowpea production in the country.

Abubakar however disclosed that the institute had recently developed another seed that resists moruka insects that attack cowpea yields through penetration of Pod Bora.

He stated that the new variety of seed is currently under trial in Kano, Kaduna, Bauchi, Zamfara, Niger, Abuja, Oyo and Abia States among others.

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PEOPLES DAILY, Wednesay October 9, 2019

News

Shocking: Business woman pays N1m loan in kind

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business woman has narrated to a Magistrate’s court in Ojo, Lagos State how she slept with her creditor to pay off a N1.1 million loan.

Ejioma Ahibafu, 49, told Court that she was taken to a hotel on three occasions where she slept with her creditor as part of the loan repayment.

Ahibafu, a trader who sells bags of rice, pleaded not guilty to a two-count charge of obtaining money by false pretence and stealing brought against her.

She spoke in pidgin, telling the court that the said loan was obtained after a friend introduced her to the complainant.

She admitted that although she was given the loan, she also delivered some bags of rice to the complainant with an understanding to pay up the balance.

The defendant also informed the court that even before she was given the loan by the complainant, she had to pay him in “kind” on three different occasions in a hotel.

The Prosecutor, Mr Simon Uche, had earlier told the court that the defendant obtained a loan of N1.1 million for rice business from one Emma, a businessman, with a promise to pay back the money in six months.

The prosecutor said that the woman refused to pay up the loan and had been evasive since then.

According to him, the offences contravened Sections 287 and 314 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.

The Magistrate, Mr A.A Adesanya, granted the defendant N250,000 bail with two sureties in like sum.

He adjourned the case until Dec. 9 for mention.

News Editor, Ese Awhotu

Alleged husband killer: Court fixes Oct. 16 for Sanda to open defence

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n FCT High Court Maitama on Tuesday fixed Oct. 16, for Maryam Sanda, accused of killing her husband, Bilyaminu Bello, to open her defence.

The matter was adjourned at the instance of Justice Yusuf Halilu.

Sanda is charged with allegedly killing Bello, her husband, who was a nephew of former PDP Chairman, Alhaji Bello Muhammad on Nov. 18, 2017.

The court also discharged and acquitted Maryam’s mother, Maimuna Aliyu; brother, Aliyu Sanda and

housemaid, Sadiya Aminu, who were accused by police of assisting Maryam to conceal the evidence by cleaning the blood of the deceased from the scene of the crime.

The police said the offence is contrary to the provision of Section 221 of the Penal Code.

NAN reports that Justice Halilu had on April 4 ruled that Sanda had a case to answer in the case and subsequently ordered her to enter her defence.

The ruling was based on the no-case submission filed by counsel for Sanda, Olusegun Jolaawo, SAN, and Hussein

Musa for other defendants after the prosecution closed its case.

The prosecution had called six witnesses to prove its case against the defendants.

Halilu ordered Sanda to enter her defence, discharged and acquitted other three defendants, saying that the police were unable to link them with their alleged offence.

The judge held that from the evidence of the prosecution witnesses, “a thick cloud seems to form around the case of the prosecution, making it impossible at this point of time for the other side not to be considered”.

“The submissions of nocase to answer as it were in this particular situation is overruled.

“I order the first defendant, Maryam Sanda, to enter her defence with respect to the offence of culpable homicide punishable by death,” Halilu held.

The judge had adjourned the case till May 6 and directed that it shall be held on a day by day trial unless otherwise directed by the court.

The case could not go on due to the absence of the judge who was on election petition tribunal duty in Ogun State.

L-R: Executive Director, YIAGA Africa, Mr Samson Itodo; Chief Executive Officer, GIG Group, Mr Chidi Ajaere; Board Member, Independent Corrupt Practice Commission (ICPC), Mrs Hannatu Mohammed; and Speaker Oyo State House of Assembly, Adebo Ogundoyin, during the 3rd plenary session at the ongoing Economic Summit Group, yesterday in Abuja. Photo: NAN

Ughelli-Asaba dual carriageway will complement Warri Port activities - Okowa From: Nosa Akenzua, Asaba

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ov. Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta on Tuesday said the state government was accelerating completion of Ughelli-Asaba dual carriageway to accommodate expected heavy traffic from Warri Port when dredging of second part of Escravos bar would be completed.

The governor made this known at his quarterly interactive session with newsmen in Asaba, and said that the Federal Government was undertaking the dredging of the Warri Port stretch.

According to him, my administration is working round the clock to complete the dualisation of Ughelli-Asaba road because of its importance in the evacuation of goods from the port.

He said that in May, 2015, there were

some projects that his government chose as priority and that one of them was the Ughelli-Asaba road.

He explained that the previous administration had nearly completed Section B of the project, which was divided into three phases, adding that session C, from Ossissa to Asaba, which was the area slowing down the completion of the project would be concluded between November, 2019 and April, 2020.

“Work has started earnestly at the Section C that is Asaba/Ogwashi-Uku/ Ossissa road. All these work are being done because these roads are very critical to us.

“It is going to ease movement between Warri and Ughelli, through Asaba to Onitsha and now that our ports are gradually coming back to life and

we are hoping that when the Federal Government through Nigeria Ports Authority dredges the second part of the Escravos bar, we will have many more ships coming into Delta.

“This will help to decongest the Lagos Ports and the working of the roads will come to the rescue of those who make use of the roads for conveying of goods and services,” Okowa said.

He disclosed that his administration was committed to ensuring the 2019 budget got 95 per cent performance.

He said “we are working hard to ensure that we present the 2020 Appropriation Bill not later than the first week of November.

“We are working with the House of Assembly to ensure that we have a budget that is transparent and will be uploaded online because, we want a

budget that the people will be able to see, ask questions on and can trust.

“What we are trying to do is to have a budget that will be able to have a near 100 per cent achievement or achieve at least 95 per cent performance.

“We have also introduced the Ministry of Technical Education, and that is because of the emphasis we are laying on technical education; we want our children not only to acquire the knowledge of books, but they should be able to use their hands and their brains to work.

“We have always paid special attention to technical education; during our first tenure, through the legislation, we created the Board for Technical and Vocational Education but now that we are laying further emphasis on this, we have created the Ministry.”

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News PDP tasks NASS to redirect 2020 Budget …Challenges Buhari to make Presidency allocation public

By Lateef Ibrahim, Abuja

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he Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has declared that the N10.7 trillion 2020 budget presented

by President Muhammadu Buhari to the National Assembly will further impoverish Nigerians and mortgage the future of the nation.

The party has, consequently, urged the legislature to redirect the fiscal proposal to serve the interest of majority of Nigerians.

The PDP said this in a statement yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr Kola Ologbondiyan in Abuja.

The party noted that the core of the budget remains hazy, showing streaks of padding, fraudulent duplications, replete with false performance indices, deceptive projections and inexplicable expenditure assertions which create openings for continued looting of “our national patrimony” by leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and persons close to the Presidency.

The PDP insisted that it is inexcusable that despite the huge natural resources at President Buhari’s reach, he articulated a N10.7 trillion budget that is completely lacking in concrete wealth creation strategy but relies on further squeezing of Nigerians through excruciating taxes, levies and agonizing tolls.

The party described as unacceptable that the budget is skewed to serve the interest of the opulent, as projects that have direct bearing on the wellbeing of the masses were not substantially accommodated in the overall expenditure profile.

According to the statement, “The PDP says such cannot happen under the Atiku Abubakar economic recovery blueprint for which Nigerians voted massively the PDP in the 2019 Presidential election”.

The party also criticized the Buhari administration for not being transparent in the mammoth allocations for alleged vague projects, particularly the ministries of works and housing as well as transportation, where allegations of diversion of public funds were endemic in the last budget.

It added, “Standing with millions of Nigerian youths and women, our party rejects the paltry budgets of N48 billion for education and N46 billion for health and urges the National Assembly to review the allocations in the interest of Nigerians.

“Furthermore, the PDP notes, as unacceptable that President Buhari, in his budget speech, could not give account of his handling of the 2019 budget and had to resort to lame excuses and unsupported figures, particularly on the various unimplemented subheads in critical sectors of the economy “Moreover, Mr. President failed to explain why his administration has remained hugely corrupt and how his Presidency depleted our foreign reserves to an all time low $41,852 billion, accumulated huge foreign and domestic debts and kept the naira at its knees at about N360 to $1USD under his watch”, it said.

PEOPLES DAILY, Wednesay October 9, 2019

FG ‘ll involve high political leadership in OGP process – Malami

By Vivian Okejeme, Abuja

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he Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, yesterday, said that president Muhammad Buhari’s administration will continue to involve high political leadership in the Open Government Partnership (OGP) process in the country.

Malami reiterated the federal government stance during the Ministerial roundtable on the occasion of the country visit of OGP international support unit to Nigeria.

Represented by the Solicitor General of the federation/ Permanent secretary, federal

ministry of justice, Mr Dayo Apata, SAN, the minister described the visit as historic, saying that it came about the same time Nigeria was entering her 2ndCycle membership of OGP. As one of OGP members to deliver Action plans in 2019, he reiterated that the visit was a confirmation of the organization support for the Nigeria OGP process.

He said, “Nigeria joined the Open Government Partnership as part of the Unit’s mandate to engage high level political leadership and stakeholders on OGP implementation in member’s countries.

“As you are aware, Nigeria

joined OGP in 2016 to further deepen institutional and policy reforms already initiated by president muhammadu Buhari administration.

“The OGP 1st NAP 14 commitments centred on 4 thematic was implemented from Jan 2017-June 2019 in areas namely; Fiscal transparency, Anticorruption, Access to Information and Citizen engagement.”

Speaking further, Apata SAN, added that a lot of progress and achievements were recorded in the implementation of the 1st NA. He informed that lessons and learning took place during the period implementation.

The Chief Executive Officer of Open Government Partnership,

Sanjay Pradhan, in his speech, congratulated Nigeria for the OGP accomplishment.

He revealed that since Nigeria joined, nine other countries and twenty local governments have equally joined OGP. “I want to also congratulate you on the second action plan that you are about to launch. Both are very important accomplishment, I must congratulate and acknowledge your government for coming this far.”

As principal supporter in the global stage, Pradhan nevertheless urged Nigeria to raise her ambition even further as she unveiled its second action plan for the betterment of the citizenry.

L-R: Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, Chief of Staff to the President, Malam Abba Kyari and Acting Head of Service, Folashade Esan, during the presentation of 2020 budget, at National Assembly, yesterday in Abuja. Photo: Mahmud Isa

Insurgency: Coalition writes NASS to investigate activities of NGOs in north east

By Vivian Okejeme, Abuja

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coalition of civil Society Organizations, under the aegis of Save Humanity Advocacy Centre and the Centre for International and Strategy Studies has called on the National Assembly to probe the activities of the International NGO’s in the North East over abuse.

The Group, in a strong worded letter, called on the leadership of the 9th assembly to enact laws that would curtail the excesses of the INGOs operating in region.

This move is sequel to a recent revelation by a human rights group that some of the INGOs were passing classified information to members of the dreaded Boko Haram insurgents.

A letter jointly signed by Ibrahim Abubakar of the Save Humanity Advocacy Centre and Ifure Ataifure of the Centre for International and Strategy Studies, is titled, “The despicable actions by international NGOS and their local franchise in support of Boko Haram and the need for urgent legislation to ban their

activities” The letter reads in full; ‘’We bring warm greetings to the leadership of the National Assembly in Nigeria and also to commend the Distinguished Senate President on the sound leadership it has provided since the commencement of the 9th Assembly of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. ‘’Dear Senate President, as you may be aware, Nigerian has been grappling with the activities of terrorist groups in North-East Nigeria, which has resulted in the wanton loss of lives and destruction of properties. ‘’This undeniable fact is such that all well-meaning Nigerians must see to the end of terrorist activities in Nigeria if we are desirable of achieving peace and tranquillity in the country through our actions and inactions. ‘’The Boko Haram conflict in North-East Nigeria has festered for the past ten years since the group took up a violent campaign against the constituted authorities in Nigeria and consequently led to the loss of lives and properties and a disruption

of the development of the economy of North-East Nigeria. ‘’Dear Senate President, it is a known fact that the Nigerian Military has been at the forefront in the fight against terrorism in North-East Nigeria, and all and sundry have commended this much in the country. ‘’Dear Senate President, it must be stated in unequivocal terms that the activities of the Boko Haram terrorist group in North-East Nigeria are buoyed by the fact that some individuals and organizations masquerading under various nomenclatures have been covertly giving tactic support to the Boko Haram terrorist group. ‘’These individuals and organizations have perfected the act in such a way that despite the efforts of the Nigerian Authorities in the fight against terrorism, the Boko Haram terrorist group have continued to enjoy financial, logistics as well as intelligence support from these groups.

Senate President, it must be stated that since the advent of the present administration in Nigeria in 2015, lots of efforts have been put into ending

the Boko Haram crisis in North-East Nigeria by the display of a strong political will as well as a significant improvement of the operational capacity and efficiency of the Armed Forces in the country. ‘’The Senate President may at this point wish to note that the activities of some Non-Governmental Organisations operating in North-East Nigeria have been suspect in recent times. ‘’It has also been proven beyond reasonable doubt that these NGOs have been covertly giving tactic support to the Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorist group and this has led to the resurgence of the group operating on the fringes of the Lake Chad Basin region. They have been providing financial and logistics support in the area of food and drug supplies. ‘’Dear Senate President, as despicable as this might sound, the activities of some international NGOs in North-East Nigeria are causing more harm than good, and as such, there is a need for urgent and proactive steps to be taken towards arresting this anomaly.

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PEOPLES DAILY, Wednesay October 9, 2019

News

N10.33tr 2020 budget: NASS gives MDAs 30 days to defend estimates

By Christiana Ekpa, Ikechukwu Okaforadi, and Musa Adamu

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he President of the Senate, Sen. Ahmad Ibrahim Lawan and the Speaker of House of the Representatives Femi Gbajabiamila yesterday gave Ministries, Developments and Agencies (MDAs) one month ultimatum to appear before it’s Committees for the defense of their Budget estimates within the month of October. Even as they stressed that the month of October has earmarked to be the sole window for all Budget defense activities in this year, by all MDAs. This was just as the Green Chamber disclosed that it’s will begin budget debates from Wednesday and Suspend the plenaries from Tuesday next week to ensure that the budget is reserved to January to December cycle and performance rather than the irregularities in the past.

The Senate President Lawan who disclosed while presenting his opening remarks, for the 2020 budget presentation on Tuesday said members of the National Assembly and indeed all Nigerians, looks forward with great expectations on the 2020 budget stressing that , to Nigerians, the presentation of budget yesterday is significant as it unfold the plans of the Federal Government on how our socio-economic wellbeing will be enhanced in the 2020 financial year.

He stressed, “Mr. President, the National Assembly Committees are ready to receive the Honourable Ministers and other heads of government agencies for the defense of the Budget of the various MDAs. In order for timely passage, all . MDAs are expected to appear before the Committees for the defense of their Budget estimates within the month of October. We have earmarked the month of October to be the sole window for all Budget defense activities in this year, by all MDAs” He said “all of us members of the National Assembly here today, and indeed all Nigerians, look forward to this day with great expectations. As representatives of the people, we are assembled here to listen and receive the fiscal plans for the year 2020, for the people that we represent. For every Nigerian, this day is significant as you unfold the plans of the Federal Government on how our socioeconomic wellbeing will be enhanced in the 2020 financial year.

“This function being the first in the 9th session of the National Assembly, makes it even more significant as both the Legislature and the Executive have demonstrated readiness and commitment to work together in order to pass the 2020 Budget in a good and desirable time. Clearly, this effort is to enable the Federal government provide those laudable objectives of physical infrastructure and socio-economic services to our citizens.

“The public, as well as the private sectors need a reliable Budget cycle that is predictable, and reliable for planning and execution of their fiscal and financial policies and programmes. It is therefore, necessary

…Begins budget debate today …Suspends plenary for hearings, defences that the present cycle is changed to a January-December cycle. In this regard, the National Assembly, and the Executive must work together to ensure the realization of this important objective.

He said the National Assembly after the receipt of the Budget Estimates will swing into swift action, to start work. “Both Chambers of the National Assembly have constituted their Committees, we are therefore, ready to start processing the Budget estimates.

“The 9th National Assembly has shown capacity, commitment and willingness to treat legislative matters that will impact on the lives of our citizens with dispatch and every sense of urgency. This was clearly demonstrated last week, when we received, processed and passed the request of Mr. President on the 20202022 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper (MTEF/FSP).

“Your Excellency, the National Assembly will treat the 2020 Budget Estimates with the same commitment or even more. In our effort to pass the Budget, we will also be guided by the legislative requirement of a thorough scrutiny.

“In this regard, our Committees will be expected to conclude their work on Budget defense within October, this year. The subsequent necessary

legislative work will be carried out in November and December, leading to eventual passage before the end of this year.

“Recently, the Senate passed its Legislative Agenda and the House of Representatives will pass its Legislative Agenda soon. Though the agendas are separately treated, the objectives and goals are the same.

At the heart of our agendas are the Nigerian people. Mr President, both the Legislature and the Executive have the same agenda – a commitment to taking Nigeria to the Next Level of development.

“We all want to ensure that the Federal Government is better enabled to provide enhanced security for protection of lives and property of Nigerians, an improved and revitalized economy, that is all inclusive; able to create and sustain employment opportunities for our teeming youths; taking Nigerians out of poverty to prosperity and sustainable development.

Mr. President, we are all on the same page” he said.

Also speaking, the Speaker of the House Gbajabiamila who expressed NASS sincere appreciation to the President Muhammadu Buhari, President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, for coming to the National Assembly to address this joint session, in fulfillment of his

constitutional obligation, said “the budget we enact into law will be proof of our priorities and a reflection of the values we hold. What are those values? Integrity, accountability in managing the affairs of state and absolute commitment to the best interests of the Nigerian people.

“What are our priorities?

Building an economy that provides sufficient opportunity for our people to achieve the dreams they hold dear – equipping our children with an education that prepares them for the challenges and opportunities of a rapidly changing world – protecting the rights of our citizens and securing them from internal and external aggression. This is our commitment and we will ensure that this commitment is reflected in the 2020 Appropriation Act. “There are significant flaws in the process of passage and implementation of our annual national budgets. Some of these problems are structural, others are a function of failures of process and inadequacies in attitude. We intend in this 9th Assembly to improve on these past imperfections and to leave a legacy of budgets that are enacted without rancour, implemented diligently and that achieve the objectives of national development for which they are intended. We fully intend to return to a January

to December budget cycle and to put an end to the policy instability and economic uncertainty that is a consequence of an unpredictable budget cycle.

“We recognise that our highest ambitions and the collective best interests of our nationhood can only be achieved when the legislature and the executive work together in pursuit of our shared ambitions. Therefore, we will make every effort in this 9th assembly to achieve constructive collaboration with the executive on all matters of appropriation, implementation and oversight.

“We will seek collaboration, but we will not yield on our constitutional obligation to ensure faithful compliance with the letter and spirit of the Appropriation Act by the Ministries, Departments and Agencies of the government. We will strive for big wins, resisting the temptation to bask in the false allure of mediocre achievements because this moment calls for nothing short of grand ambition, and transformative ideas. Above all else, we will hold ourselves in the legislature and others, to the highest standards of probity because to fall short of excellence will be to betray the calling of leadership to which we all have answered” he added.

Briefing newsmen after the budget presentation, the spokesman of the House, Benjamin Kalu said, (APC Avis) said the House will begin debate on Wednesday 9th and Suspend plenary from next week Tuesday for budget public hearing and defenses.

L-R: Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Arc. Olamilekan Adegbite, Minister of State, Dr. Uchechukwu Ogah and the President, Miners Association of Nigeria (MAN), during the press conference on the forth coming Nigeria mining week, held yesterday in Abuja.

Photo: Justin Imoowo

Panel blames police, military over officers’ killing in Taraba

By Tobias Lengnan Dapam

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panel of inquiry recently set up to investigate the killing of three police officers and two civilians in Taraba State in August has blamed both the police and military for the incident.

The Defence Headquarters in a statement issued yesterday by Onyema Nwachukwu its Acting Director Defence Information said the panel submitted its findings and linked the deadly confrontation to a breakdown in communication between the police team that went on an operation in Taraba State and the

soldiers manning a checkpoint in the state.

It said “Three officers from the police intelligence response unit were killed on August 6 while returning from an operation to arrest a suspected kidnap kingpin in Taraba. The team came under fire from a company of soldiers while transporting the suspect, Hamisu ‘Wadume’ Bala, in a police van to Jalingo, the state capital.

“The suspect was freed by the soldiers afterwards. He was later arrested in Kano a few weeks later and has remained in police custody ever since”.

The statement added that two civilians believed to be working with the police were also killed in the attack, which generated nationwide outrage.

The attack led to open recrimination between the police and the military, with the police insisting that the attack was premeditated by the soldiers in a bid to free the suspect.

Several media reports later said there were links between an army captain in the state, Tijani Balarabe, and the suspect. Police internal findings also showed that the suspect had a series of telephone

conversations with senior police officers in Ibi, the community where Mr Bala was arrested.

The panel recommended additional investigation of Messrs Balarabe and Bala, four police officers and the divisional crime officer in Ibi, Taraba, to establish their involvement in the fatal incident before prosecution.

The panel was led by Ibikunle Olaiya, a rear admiral, with one representative each from the Defence Headquarters, Nigerian Army, Nigerian Navy, Nigerian Air Force, Defence Intelligence Agency, Nigeria Police and the State Security Service.

PEOPLES DAILY, Wednesay October 9, 2019

PAGE 6

News

W

omen in Aba, the commercial hub of Abia on Tuesday disrupted activities in the commercial city over bad roads and poor infrastructure.

The women threatened to shut down the Government House in protest of bad governance in the State.

The women, mostly traders who came out in their hundreds

Aba women draw battle line with Gov. Ikpeazu over bad roads, others issued a 90-day ultimatum to Governor Okezie Ikpeazu to the fix the bad roads in Aba and

ensure payment of salaries to civil servants in the State.

Speaking to newsmen, the

women leader threatened that there will be a return of Aba Women riot of 1929 if their

demands were not met.

Security men were on ground to control the situation.

Delta Assembly receives Okowa’s letter to reconstitute DLA From: Nosa Akenzua, Asaba

T

he Delta state House of Assembly has resumed plenary after its one month recess with receipt of a letter from the State Governor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa reconstituting the Board of the Direct Labour Agency, DLA. The Speaker, Sheriff Oborevwori who presided over plenary read the names of the nominees as contained in the letter to the House from Governor Okowa.

According to the letter, the nominees for appointment into the Board of the Direct Labour DLA are

Precious Ajaino, Director General, Engineer Blessing Enamuotor, Ndudi Osakunih-Izuegbu and Austin Bebeteidoh as Directors.

The Governor noted that the nomination was in line with the powers conferred on him by Section Five sub section one of the Direct State Direct Labour Agency law 2006.

The Majority Leader, Tim Owhefere in a motion moved for the House to receive the letter for further consideration and was seconded by the member representing Patani Constituency, Hon Emmanuel Sinebe before being adopted.

The Speaker directed the nominees to submit thirty five copies of their curriculum vitae to the office of the Clerk on or before October 14, 2019 and should appear for screening on October 15, 2019.

Also at plenary the Speaker read a letter from the Chairman of Patani Local Government Council, Peres Omoun nominating Mr Agori John Ebipuakebina as Secretary of the Council following the resignation of the former Secretary, Emmanuel Tebowei.

The Speaker also directed the nominee to submit thirty five copies of his curriculum vitae to

the office of the Clerk on or before October 14,2019 and should appear for screening on October 15, 2019.

Meanwhile, the Speaker has charged chairmen and members of the various House Committees to to start articulating strategies for their legislative engagement with Ministries, Departments and Agencies of government as legislative activities will be heightened when the 2020 Appropriation bill is presented to the House by the Governor.

Hon Oborevwori who stated this at plenary while welcoming members back from the recess

said that the House was in the last quarter of legislative business for the year.

He urged members of the House to make efforts in ensuring robust plenary and committee engagements, stressing that their legislative ability to carry out the task was not in doubt.

The Speaker commended members for their show of love and support to the leadership of the House and urged them to continue in that spirit of unity.

Oborevwori used the opportunity to congratulate members for their victories at the Election Petition Tribunal.

Monarch debunks allegation of North enslaving Yoruba From: Femi Oyelola, Kaduna

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he Chairman Yoruba Traditional Council of Obas and Chiefs in the 19 Northern States and Abuja Ambassador Muhammadu Arigbabuwo has debunked the allegation trending in some Media that the North is gradually enslaving Yoruba.

He made the assertion while speaking to the media in kaduna yesterday.

The Royal father who was reacting to a statement credited to leader of the purported Yoruba Ethnic Nationality, Professor Banji Akinloye said it is degrading for anybody to believe that the Yoruba race can be enslaved.

Ambassador Arigbabuwo said the Vice President Yemi Osinbanjo have shown that the Yoruba People are people of integrity by saying he is ready to waive his immunity to clear his name.

Acccording to him it is wrong for Banji Akinloye to assumed that the vice President is been persecuted “We are learned and People of reputable manners,we understand how the Government system function.

“We also have our Royal, Fathers and political leaders. The Present political leader is Ashiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

“Tinubu we all know is vast in Government system and will not fold his hand to watch his ethnic group enslaved.

“I advised Banji Akinloye and his group not to create tension between the Yoruba and others ethnic groups “We as people have benefitted from the present regime and its success is our focus and not crying wolves where there is none,” he said

Chief Executive Officer/Editor-In-Chief, Daily Trust, Malam Mannir Dan-Ali, Chairman, Daily Trust Foundation, Malam Wada Maida (Middle), with Participants, during the Training Workshop on Investigative Photography organized by Daily Trust Foundation in collaboration with MacAthur Foundation, yesterday in Abuja.

CSO lauds FG over border closure

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Civil Society Organisation, Empowerment for Unemployed Youths Initiative has described the Federal Government’s decision to close the country’s borders as a strategic step to boost local manufacturing and steer economic activities.

The CSO particularly commended the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for giving impetus to the policy.

It would be recalled that the NIS and NCS had recently announced that Nigerian borders would remain closed until neighbouring countries comply with protocols on movement of goods and persons as established

by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

A statement signed by the National Coordinator, Empowerment for Unemployed Youths Initiative, Mr Solomon Adodo, commended President Muhammadu Buhari for the steps taken to put the country economy back on track.

Adodo described the strategy as “masterstroke” expected to trigger a more robust national economy.

He maintained that the move was needed to address the rising case of smuggling into Nigeria from neighbouring countries, adding that the country was losing several hundreds of millions daily on smuggling of goods through the land borders.

“It is alarming the amount

of money Nigeria losses daily on account of smuggling; it is on record that the country losses average of $400m on smuggling of foreign rice alone through the land borders.

“If you juxtapose this to other items, you will better appreciate the policy. The action of the government had suddenly returned life to the rice value chain as the hitherto subdued mills had resumed operations within one week of the border closure.

“The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had already taking the initiative by funding local production of rice and other agricultural produce.

“This proactive step taken by the apex bank has created a lot of jobs in the agricultural sector and

added impetus to the national economy,” Adodo said.

The CSO further lauded the Federal Government for taking the decision to carry out surveillance on the nation’s borders, stating that Nigeria risked losing foreign exchange to smuggling if the borders were reopened.

“The transparent tempo at which the Nigerian Customs Service has raked in more revenues should be sustained.

“The sterling efforts of the Comptroller General should therefore not be reversed, we cannot continue to support the economies of neighbouring or distant countries at the detriment of local content and maximum revenue accruals,” Adodo added.

(NAN)

PAGE 7

PEOPLES DAILY, Wednesay October 9, 2019

CRIME News

NASENI boss blames labour dispute on lack of communication

By Albert Akota

T

he Executive Vice-Chairman (EVC) of the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI), Professor Mohammed Haruna has blamed labour disputes on lack of communication between workers and management.

He said that members of the labour union are human beings who understand the fact that there are lean resources in circulation and appreciate continuous dialogue.

Haruna said this yesterday in Abuja, while receiving an award of excellence from members of the NonAcademic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU) of the agency.

He said the peaceful co-existence that exists in the agency demonstrates that staff are happy to conduct research and sacrifice with the little resources available.

He said: “There is a continuous dialogue as at today. They have other demands but they appreciate the lean

do research. It demonstrates their willingness to continue to sacrifice working with the little resources available. It also shows us that despite the fact that we punish, we still reward where possible.

“It is not that the union has got all that it needs but what is happening is that we are open, we make things clear to them. There is an open system democracy in the system, we present to them what is available, explain to them what is possible and encourage everyone to sacrifice what cannot be

resources available and reason with management.

“We believe that wherever there is adequate communication and transparency, the union leaders are human beings and they will understand.”

He said NASENI was collaborating with workers to show the peaceful coexistence existing in the agency.

He said: “The significance is to demonstrate the peaceful co-existence that exists and to demonstrate that the staff of the system is happy to

possible for the benefit of the country.

Haruna praised his predecessors for laying a good foundation for the agency.

“My achievements are possible because of the foundation laid by exchief executives who made my work easy. We are building on a foundation laid by them.

“I think our biggest achievement is trying to run with the current trend in the world, we are innovative, researching and developing equipment that is modern in nature, we are trying to catch up with the world,” he added.

NECO seeks policy promoting discipline, honesty in schools Maryam Abeeb, Abuja

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he National Examinations Council, NECO, has urged the Federal Government to formulate a deliberate policy aimed at promoting discipline and a culture of honesty among teachers, school administrators and students.

Acting Registrar of NECO, Mr Abubakar Gana, who stated this in a brief submitted to the Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu, on the mandate and achievements of the Council between May 2018 and September 2019.

He called on the government to prioritise security of examinations just as the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, is provided security during elections.

Gana’s appeal come as the menace of examination malpractice continues to hunt public examinations across the country, with NECO recording over 40,000 cases in its June/July 2019 Senior Secondary Certificate Examination, SSCE. He said incessant cases of examination malpractice especially impersonation and particularly collusion by supervisors, teachers and school administrators, who ought to be part of the army in fighting the scourge, was a major challenge in the conduct of the exercise.

Although NECO acquired 8,000 biometric verification machines before its conduct of the 2019 SSCE, the Registrar said the exam body requires more biometric verification devices to serve its over 16,000 centres and enable it strengthen its efforts towards eliminating identity theft, which is the severest form of examination malpractice.

Speaking on its achievements, the NECO boss said immediately after his assumption of office, he embarked on critical reforms, which had led to the successful conduct of the 2018 June/July SSCE under compelling circumstances and released the results of the examination within forty days of completion.

He further stated that the Council abolished the use of scratch cards following the scam that surrounded it, which led to loss of hundreds of millions in revenue, adding that it subjected all printed 2018 November/December registration cards to activation only after the money for each card must have been credited to the Council’s TSA. “The Council successfully conducted the 2019 June/July SSCE. A total of 1,163,194 candidates registered for the examination conducted in 16,093 Centres in the 36 States and FCT between 20th May and 12th July, 2019. The results were released on 27th

August, 2019 with a total of 829,787 (71.59%) candidates having 5 Credits and above including English Language and Mathematics.

“A total of 40,630 (3.53%) candidates were involved in the various

forms of malpractice; 18 Supervisors were blacklisted for poor supervision; aiding, abetting and connivance with Candidates to perpetrate examination malpractice. Three (3) schools, one each in Katsina, Kebbi and Oyo States

were de-recognized for two years for their involvement in Collusion and Mass Cheating,” he said.

He further disclosed that NECO had successfully developed and integrated the 2019 November/December SSCE

registration software on its new website and regular registration for the examination has effectively taken off on 19th August 2019 and is scheduled to end on 28th October, 2019 at 12.00 midnight.

Insurgency: ADSEPIP donates education materials to affected LGA’s From: Umar Dankano, Yola

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n an effort to provide succour to the victims of destruction of Boko Haram Insurgency in the North Eastern region of the country, five (5) states have been selected for meeting the criteria on results based approach for technical assistance by the State Education Programme Investment Project (SEPIP).

The Project Coordinator, Adamawa State Education Programme Investment Project (ADSEPIP), Alhaji Othman Bakari disclosed the development in Yola Tuesday at a Flagging off ceremony of the distribution of essential educational materials for victims /survivors of conflict in the affected Local Government Areas.

Bakari said the project is aimed at supporting the education programme of participating states of Adamawa, Borno, Gombe, Taraba and Yobe that were affected by insurgency.

Bakari explained that the project is to compliment the development partner efforts to support its Education sector goals with African Development Bank (AFDB),DFID, JICA, UNESCO, USAID, UNICEF and the World Bank.

He further stated that in Adamawa the project is

PDP congratulates Ortom, Mohammed on victory at tribunal

By Lateef Ibrahim, Abuja

T

he Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has congratulated the Benue state Governor Samuel Otorm and his Bauchi State counterpart, Senator Bala Mohammed, on their victory at the governorship election petitions tribunal in the respective states.

The party described the verdict of the tribunal as a "clear consolidation of the triumph of the will of the people of the two states as expressly delivered through massive voting" for the governors in the March 9 governorship elections.

The leading opposition party said this in a statement yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr Kola Ologbondiyan in Abuja.

The PDP noted that the spontenous jubilation that greeted the verdict across the two states affirmed the fact that justice was delievered in the matters in line with the will and aspirations of the people.

According to statement, "Indeed, Governor Ortom's resounding victory at the election underlines the overwhelming acceptance of his leadership style as demonstrated in his unprecedented commitment to the welfare and development of his state despite daunting security and economic challenges.

"His reelection marks the consolidation of good governance and contribution towards the uplifting of the living standard of the people in all sectors of life.

"In the same vein, the PDP notes the excitement of the people of Bauchi state on the affirmation of the election of Governor Bala Mohammed whose administration marks the repositioning of the state toward greater productivity in all critical sectors.

expected to strengthen school level management and accountability through School Based Management Committee for better school performance with interface of PTAs .

"It is envisaged that SEPIP's successful outcomes will act as a catalyst for the allocation of funding by State and National policy makers to result based approaches in particular by the Universal Basic Education Commission", he stated.

In his speech, the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Education thanked the Government

and the donating partners for donating educational materials for schools affected by the terrible activities of insurgents and other ancillary terrorists groups.

He said the "intervention project is in line with the approved work plan for recovery in the education sector, has procured teaching / learning materials and several other equipment for distribution at the basic and senior levels of our schools in the seven insurgency affected Local Government Areas in the State".

manufacturers association of Nigeria kano/jigawa

Cordially Invites Its Members And The General Public To Its 46th Joint Annual General Meeting/Conference.

Theme: "SURVIVAL OF INDUSTRIES IN THIS HARSH ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT AND THE EFFECT OF MULTIPLE GOVERNMENT POLICIES TO THE MANUFACTURING SECTOR".

Date: - Thursday 10th October 2019 Private Session: 9:00am

Venue: - Royal Tropicana Hotel Kano.

Public Service: 11:00a.m

Venue: - Royal Tropicana Hotel Kano.

Special Guests of Honour - His Excellency, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje OFR, The Executive Governor of Kano State

- His Excellency, Alh. Muhammadu Badaru Abubakar, The Executive Governor of Jigawa State Royal Father: - His Highness, Muhammadu Sanusi II CON, the Emir of Kano Guest Speaker: - Professor Murtala Sabo Sagagi Dean Dangote Business School, Bayero University Kano Signed: - - Executive Secretary

By order of the Joint Council BE PATRIOTIC: BUY MADE-IN-NIGERIA PRODUCTS

PEOPLES DAILY, Wednesay October 9, 2019

PAGE 8

News Christian Pilgrims Commission to flag off 2019 pilgrimage in Abuja

By Albert Akota

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he Nigeria Christian Pilgrim Commission (NCPC) is set to flag off this year’s general Pilgrimage to Israel and Rome on 17th November 2019 in Abuja.

A statement made available to newsmen by Assistant Director/ Head Media of the commission, Celestine Toruka in Abuja said the chairman of the Commission Rev. Yomi Kasali disclosed this in Yola when he visited the

Executive Governor of Adamawa State.

The Governor who was ably represented by his deputy, Chief Crowther Seth commended the government and people of Adamawa State for the key role they have been playing in Christian Pilgrimage operations in the part years.

He stressed that the Commission in recent time had used the high number of pilgrims the state government sponsored

to stimulate the government and Christians in the state.

He noted that there was need to “see how we can ensure that the faith which we believe in is strengthened through pilgrimage”.

Rev. Kasali affirmed that the Federal Government is highly supportive to the hajj operations as well as the Christian pilgrimage operations.

He therefore called on the states to support pilgrimage in

order to avail the less privileged Christians the opportunity of experiencing this once in a life time experience in the holy Land. In the words of the NCPC Chairman, “We have come to appreciate you for what you have done in the past and to solicit for your assistance and patronage”.

Responding, the Deputy Governor of Adamawa state, Chief Crowther Seth stated that the state is made up of both Christians and Muslims and

News Adamawa records 54 rape cases in 3 months From Umar Dankano,Yola

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ifty four young people mostly teenagers have been confirmed Of being sexually abused (raped) in the last three months in Adamawa state.

A referral centre ‘Adamawa Hope Centre’ based in Yola for treatment of gender based violence victims disclosed that it recorded 54 rape cases between July 1 and October 3, 2019.

State Project Coordinator of a

Nosa Akenzua, Asaba

Many federal roads now death traps, says Okowa

Minister of State for Science and Technology Mohammed Abdullahi presenting the best performance Executive award since inception to Executive Vice Chairman NASENI Professor Mohammed Haruna during the Non Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions(NASU--NASENI FAMILY) celebration of NASU DAY IN Abuja

From: Nosa Akenzua, Asaba

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elta state Governor, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa has lamented the deplorable federal roads across the country, saying that they have turned death traps to motorists in the recent times.

At a media briefing on Tuesday in Asaba, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa regretted the inability of the Federal Government to make repairs of the roads over the years, adding” many of the federal roads are now death traps and there are challenges the federal government is currently facing but we are appealing to President Muhammadu Buhari to do the roads because residents across in the Eastern states, others may be completely cut off as all the roads have completely failed” On bringing back the toll gates, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa urged the Federal Government to provide toll gates to major roads as they will fund many repairs of the failed federal roads if the managers are working with sincere minds.

He said” Many Nigerians may be afraid that introducing toll gates might portend another fraudulent ways of diverting funds meant for Federal Government Coffers into personal pockets, well this may be true but if they are manage by trusted personnel who will make returns for the maintenance of the deplorable roads, it will also help the Federal Government in addressing difficulties in the bad roads’ maintenance” disclosing that Delta state government took the steps to fix some Federal roads was to help those who can’t move their products to the urban areas.

Regretting that the economy was worsened by poor leadership, Okowa disclosed that the state government was facing difficulties in executing major projects, especially in schools as a result of the dwindling economy, adding that the state has 1124 primary schools with shortage of teachers, while 465 secondary schools have been difficult to maintain for poor financial situation.

as such the government would always ensure that everyone is carried along in matters of pilgrimage.

He also explained that in spite of the economic challenges the state is currently facing, the state government would try do its best to ensure that Christians would be given the opportunity to participate in this year’s pilgrimage. He added that the government as usual would continue to support pilgrimage.

A/Ibom mulls Sugar, Ethanol factories, to up Agric investments

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lans are underway by the Gov. Udom Emmanuel-led administration in Akwa Ibom state to establish more agro-allied industries, even as the government hints at new Sugar and Ethanol factories.

Gov. Emmanuel also emphasised that there was need for the state and indeed the country to invest more in Agriculture for wealth creation and economic growth.

The governor stated this while declaring open a two-day InterAgency Retreat on Agricultural Investments, held in Uyo on Tuesday.

He said that with the rich vegetation and a favorable weather eighty percent of what is consumed within the state should be produced in the state.

He said that his administration places high premium on Agriculture due to its high investment potentials and the derivable benefits in industrialization

and wealth creation, harping on the need for all to harness the Agricultural potentials to generate revenue and attract Agro industries to the state.

According to him all the Local Government Areas have comparative advantages in various crops based on their soil adaptability for cultivation hence they should be harnessed.

“If I could own a farm no person should have an excuse not to cultivate the soil given the rich vegetation that is suitable for all season cultivation, I hereby the Ministry of Agriculture to undertake free distribution of cassava stems for multiplication and high yield. ” Also, the Technical Committee on Agriculture must ensure that the rice produced in the state floods the market for use during the Christmas festivals”.

Furthermore, Governor Emmanuel revealed that the coconut refinery would also refine

palm kernel and that the wild palm tree have rich nuts and oil better than other varieties that are good for edible oil.

He said that if every individual should invest in any aspect of Agriculture the state would in no distant time become a haven to investors while the farmers smile to the bank in their limousines.

“Such produce like Palms trees, Cocoa,Cassava Bamboo,Tomatoes,and also fisheries and livestock are sources for high returns as such any area that excels in the cultivation of any crop attracts a processing plant which would in turn produce more revenue to the farmers, the area and the state.

“Plans are underway to establish some agro value chain industries including an Ethanol plant, Toilet tissue making plant and sugar factory,” he said.

While commending organizers of the retreat, the governor charged all stakeholders to collaborate to

achieve success in the drive for self sufficiency and explore ways for exports.

Earlier the Commissioner for Agriculture Dr Glory Edet expressed appreciation to the Governor for his passion to make Agriculture a goldmine in the state with farmers getting value for their crops.

She said the retreat was for all the Agencies involved in Agro investment to brainstorm and evolve an action plan that would enhance efficiency in the Agro business chain.

The Head of Civil Service, Engr.

Essien in a goodwill message lauded the passion the state governor had exuded by ensuring the drop in the price of Garri through an aggressive cultivation of the staple food crop.

He said that civil servants have heeded the call to own a farm and this has paid off and the people now have garri at an affordable price index without depending on other state for staple food stuffs.

PAGE 9

PEOPLES DAILY, Wednesay October 9, 2019

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ngry Members of the Association of Contributory Retirees in Delta state on Tuesday chased away the state Chief of Staff Government House, Olorogun David Edevbie who had attempted to address them during their protest at the Government House gate Asaba Eyewitness Michael Ojo said that the protesting retirees armed with placards’: Okowa please correct the irregularities in our wages, we are not satisfied with the system at all, we need to be addressed properly, we want the true position of things because we can’t be working in the dark and be deceived”, refused to give their ears to the Chief of Staff.

They were said to have been shouting themselves down at the Government House gate where they were locked out by the security agents who allegedly threatened to shoot them if they forced themselves into the premises with their placards including their protesting songs and dances.

But the Chief of Staff, David Edevbie who spoke to Journalists at the gate, however confirmed that the posters numbering over 2,000 were visibly angry with him and chase him out as they insisted that they were going to speak with the Governor and not himself as Chief of Staff to the state Government.

He assured that the state government was looking into the plight of the protesters, adding that the issue would be resolved soon.

Meanwhile, in an address presented by Comrade Agbaka Avurakoghene Isaiah, state Chairman, Association of Contributory Retirees (ACR), stated that the major problem confronting the Association was the delay by the state government to correct the disadvantaged position they were currently facing by the use of obsolete N7, 500 to calculate their terminal benefits, instead of N18,000 which the retirees earned before

nongovernmental organisation, Rule of Law and Anti-Corruption (RoLAC), Bar Haphsatu Abdullahi, whose organisation partners with the Hope Centre in seeking justice for rape victims said the cooperation, was timely.

Barristar Abdullahi at a stakeholder’s conference against rape held in Yola Tuesday stated that the victims were mostly below the age of 13 years “From the 1st of July 2019 to 3rd of October 2019, 54 cases were reported to the centre,” she

said.

Responding to a question from journalists who interviewed her, she said rape is either on the rise in the state or people are becoming more enlightened about the Hope Centre and learning to come away from the culture of silence to take advantage of the services of the centre.

The anti-rape Statekeholders Conference in Yola was initiated by a youth corps member, Miss Fatima Saka and funded by the

European Union.

The youth corps member explained that the conference was a follow up of previous programme units targeted at curtailing rape.

“Before now we have been going to schools talking to students and teachers. Now is for stakeholders - traditional and community leaders, education managers, NGOs, and security agencies - to rob minds on how rape and other forms of gender violence can stop,” she explained.

One of the representatives of NGOs who attended the stakeholders function, Charity Onoja who is the Adamawa State Coordinator of International Republican Institute (IRI), blamed rampant rape cases on poor prosecution.

“Perpetuators are not being punished,” she asserted, adding, “we need the culture of adequately punishing perpetuators to make likely perpetuators fear that they could not do it and get away with it.”

Retirees chase Delta Chief of staff over unpaid benefits they retired into the scheme.

Part of the address reads:” suffice it to say that the full implementation of the scheme commenced on 1st March,2010 when the first set of CPS retirees were Churned out and that was when the National Remuneration mode of N18,000 minimum wage came into force”, adding that the issue of correcting the anomaly was earlier dialogued with the state government for

the past seven years and till date nothing changed.

Stating further that they recognized the giant stride of the Governor Ifeanyi Okowa to address the issue, the protesters said that there are individuals who had been acting as dog on the wheels of progress, adding that the Governor admitted short changing them and Constituted a Committee headed by Professor Sylvester Monye to authenticate

FG to distribute N3.6m insecticide treated nets in Niger From Yakubu Mustapha, Minna

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he Federal government to commence no fewer than 3.2 million Long Lasting Insecticidal Nets (LLIN) distribution across the 25 local government areas of Niger state.

The Advocacy, Mobilization and Social Operation Officer in the Federal Ministry of Health National Malaria Program, Ada Olisa Ezechukwu disclosed this during a Media Orientation program for the distribution of long-lasting insecticidal nets in Niger state.

She said that the program will support the Niger state government on distributing LLIN to the people in order to reduce incidents of malaria cases in children and adults.

According to Ezechukwu, the longlasting insecticidal nets have proven to be effective to prevent malaria adding that, “If families constantly use the nets correctly and consistently, there will no longer be episodes of malaria in the state and Nigeria.”

She said the help of the media is needed to enlighten the people to embrace the initiative and encourage them to come out for registration and collection of the nets when the distribution begins.

Ezechukwu further said that although 3.6 million need is being budgeted, they are willing to give more if the number of households surpasses the number of available nets.

“3.6 million nets have been budgeted for people in the state, however, it depends on the population. While we base our budget on the record of population given to us, we will provide for every household in this process” she stated.

The Niger state Malaria Programme Officer, Amina Zumro Edward explained that the distribution is done in a bid to eradicate the incessant cases of malaria in the state.

the figures contained therein in the submitted Actual valuation review report approved for Implementation to meet emerging economic realities by a firm of Actuarial valuers ( Messers B.A Adigun and Associates) that was engaged by the state government.

The statement explained that in December 2016, the Committee would have summited its report and

Implementation will be effected, adding that the December date failed and the Governor then appointed the Committee of one Dr Kingsley Emu who brought in H.R Consultancy Services as the firm submitted several reports that were faulty and acceptable as it further placed the retirees and serving workers in more precarious disadvantaged position going by the laws establishing the CPS.

CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA www.cbn.gov.ng

CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA ON BEHALF OF DMO OFFERS NIGERIAN TREASURY BILLS TENDER NOTICE Notice is hereby given by the Central Bank of Nigeria on behalf of DMO that the Federal Government of Nigeria Treasury Bills of 91, 182 and 364-day tenors amounting to N5,849,034,000; N3,500,000,000; and N112,535,643,000 respectively would be issued by Dutch auction on Thursday, October 17, 2019.

All Money Market Dealers should submit bids through the CBN S4 WEB INTERFACE between 9.00 a.m. and 11.00 a.m. on Wednesday, October 16, 2019.

Each bid must be in multiple of N1,000 subject to a minimum of N50, 001, 000.

Authorized Money Market Dealers can submit multiple bids. A bid may be for authorized Money Market Dealers own account, non – Money Market Dealers or interested members of the public. The result of the auction would be announced by 11.30 a.m. on Wednesday, October 16, 2019. The Bank reserves the right to reject any bid.

Allotment letters would be issued for successful bids on Thursday, October 17, 2019, while payment for the successful bids should be made to your account with Central Bank of Nigeria not later than 11.00 a.m. on Thursday, October 17, 2019.

The Bank reserves the right to vary the amount on offer in line with market realities prevailing as at the period of auction of the Nigerian Treasury Bills.

GOVERNMENT SECURITIES OFFICE CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA ABUJA.

PEOPLES DAILY, Wednesay October 9, 2019

PAGE 10

N ews

Kiki Mordi’s life under threat

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interest in the investigation was driven by her personal experience which saw her dropping out of the University and yet to become a graduate.

In a chat with Sahara Reporters, she said; “I have received subtle threats since this work was completed but I am

not bothered because the BBC takes the security of employees seriously.

Before embarking on this project, the team prayed a lot and also sang because it helped to calm the nerves.

But I had to go through the trainings I received over and over

again because I wanted to get it right.

The biggest goal of this work was to be louder than the aggressor because sexual harassment is very loud.

I wanted it to be silenced.

I am happy that a lot is changing already since the

Ortom dedicates Tribunal victory to Benue people

documentary was release and I can confirm to you that one of the lecturers at the University of Lagos caught sexually harassing a prospective student has been dismissed by the institution.

I believe it doesn’t stop there until there is a conviction. We have to break that culture of impunity.”

L-R: Trainee Representative, Medical Association of Nigerians Across Great Britain, MANSAG, Dr. Mike Ehima, President, Mr. Ibrahim Bolaji; Secretary, Dr. Chris Agbo; and Representative, Nigerian Nurses Association/ Charitable Organisation UK, Mrs. Elizabeth Ekanem, at a Press Conference

by Medical Association of Nigerians Across Great Britain on Supports Quality and Universal Health Coverage in Nigeria, yesterday in Abuja. Photo: Mahmud Isa

From Uche Nnorom, Makurdi

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overnor Samuel Ortom has said that the judgment of the Benue State Governorship Election Tribunal is victory for the people of the state who elected him for a second term.

The Governor stated this yesterday while reacting to the verdict of the tribunal which upheld his election.

According to him, the victory is a confirmation of the unanimous decision of Benue voters, noting that it has proven that his re-election was credible.

Ortom expressed gratitude to God Almighty for honouring him with the mandate to lead the state for another term.

He declared that the victory at the tribunal is for every Benue person, stressing that the task of building the state is the responsibility of its entire people.

Governor Ortom extended a hand of fellowship to the candidate of All Progressives Congress, APC for the 2019 governorship election, Barrister Emmanuel Jime and other contestants in the election, maintaining that politics is over; now is time for governance, assuring that his administration is willing to collaborate with Benue sons and daughters irrespective of political differences, ethnicity, religion and place of origin.

He restated the commitment of the present administration to the provision of selfless service to the people.

Group rejects ‘unlawful utterances’ against gov Obaseki By Osaigbovo Benin

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Iguobaro,

Socio-political group, Change Advocate of Nigeria, (CAN) has rejected unlawful utterances against Edo State governor, Godwin Obaseki ahead of the next year’s Governorship poll in the State.

It also faulted the hard-line posture of Edo Peoples Movement for sponsoring a campaign of calumny against Governor Obaseki and alleged rejection of

his second term bid by aggrieved members of the All Progressives Congress in the State.

The National Coordinator, Comrade Osareniye Ikponmwonba and Secretary, Comrade Valentine Ogedegbe said this in a joint statement yesterday in Benin City where it urged EPM members not to fractionalize the party.

It also dismissed insinuations that governor Godwin Obaseki has abandoned ongoing projects inherited from past administration and expressed

confidence on the performance of Governor Obaseki in delivering the dividend of democracy to the electorate Part of the Statement reads: “We are all witnesses to the mandate giving to Mr Godwin Nogheghase Obaseki by the same party (APC) and the general Edo People as indeed, raised the bar of good governance and development of the state from November 2016 till date in the area of Educational Reforms, infrastructure, Agriculture, Administration and Investment”

It would be recalled that, a parralel group and aggrieved members of the ruling Party in the state, “The watchward for the party in Edo State at this time should be to Unite, Lobby, and canvass within itself ahead of the Governorship Election.

“The campaign of Calumny and hatred being sponsored against performing APC governor which has become the habits of acclaimed Edo Peoples Movement is Unacceptable is unacceptable”, the statement said.

Niger Gov. submits list of 17 commissioner nominees to Assembly, 18 Special Advisers From Yakubu Mustapha, Minna

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PAGE 11

Letter to the Editor

EDITORIAL

BBC ‘Sex for Mark’ investigation: iki Mordi, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) investigative journalist that uncovered the sexual harassment in universities has revealed that she has received subtle threats since the report went viral.

According to the journalist, her

PEOPLES DAILY, Wednesay October 9, 2019

he Governor of Niger State, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello has submitted the names of 17 commissioner nominees to the State House of Assembly for screening and confirmation with 8 of them as returnees It was gathered that the list came more than four months after the governor was

sworn into office for a second term.

In a letter read on the floor of the House by the Speaker, Hon. Abdullahi Bawa Wuse, the governor said the submission of the list was in line with section 192 subsections 1 of the 1999 constitution as amended.

The nominees include; Nasara Dan Mallam, Zakari Abubakar, Haliru Jikantoro, Ramatu Yardua, Ibrahim

Panti, Sunday Kolo, Haruna Dukku and Mamman Musa as returnees.

Others are; Mustapha Jibrin, Yusuf Suleiman, Emmanuel Umar, Mohammed Idris, Tanko Zakari, Sunday Kolo, Haruna Dukku, Mamman Musa and Maku Sidiib Adul Malik Sarkin Daci, Mukhtar Nasaleh,, Ibrahim Panti, Hannatu Saleh.

The list indicated that 8 out of the 17 nominees are returnees having

served in the first tenure of the present administration.

The House thereafter resolved to consider the list at its next executive session before fixing a date for the screening of the nominees.

Also in a separate letter to the State Assembly the governor solicited for the approval for the appointment of eighteen (18) Special Advisers

General Buratai and spiritual warfare

Nigeria’s long, tortuous journey

N

igeria, today, marks her 59th independence anniversary, also known as the National Day. Incurable cynics would say there is nothing to celebrate but true optimists and patriots would think differently, even if only for the fact that we are still one nation in spite of our many fault lines. A senseless 30-months civil war in 1967-70 nearly obliterated Nigeria on the world map, but it survived and will always do despite what doomsday prophets predict.

the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). It says rice imports which before 2015 rose to over one billion dollars annually have been stopped because of increased local production.

It is true that these have not translated to real improvements in the welfare of ordinary Nigerians in terms of lower costs of living and new jobs. However, let us not forget that economic transformation takes time to deliver the fruits that people expect. If we do, we We, at Peoples Daily, It is true that shall do well to ignore count ourselves among these have not the opposition’s those who have not given up on Nigeria and translated to real cynicism in the name its government, led by improvements of politicking. Also, as we expect so much President Muhammadu in the welfare of the government Buhari. We do so for very of ordinary on the change good reasons. Politically, Nigerians in terms based platform that brought our democracy, warts and all, has matured. We of lower costs of Buhari to power, we living and new must not forget the have had uninterrupted jobs However, dark years of the democratic governance government since 1999. For the first let us not forget PDP time in our history, we had that economic preceded his. Yes, he a successful transition transformation promised to reverse the lean years of the of power from a ruling takes time to PDP famine and party to the opposition deliver the fruits he started well. Let in 2015. Under this that people Nigerians give him present dispensation, the expect the benefit of the electoral system is more doubt in the 4 years transparent, and political contest much more competitive ahead. but less acrimonious. In February/ Looking ahead, Nigeria is not March this year, we had successful elections that returned Buhari to yet the Dickensian “Bleak House” power, at the centre, for anther 4 of some persons’ imagination.

The Boko Haram insurgency in years.

On the economic front, the northeast that pessimists had progress has been slower but feared would make the nation nonetheless encouraging. Growing ungovernable has been all but at just slightly over one percent, quelled. And so have been the it is still Africa’s largest economy, killings by herders across the dwarfing Egypt and South Africa. country. For the second time in Diversification of our monocultural many years, this year’s National economy, dependent solely on oil Day celebration, by God’s grace, revenues, is well underway. The will pass off without any disturbing contribution of non-oil revenues major incidents. The credit does to GDP has grown significantly in not go to just the government of the the 4 years of this administration, day but all patriots who chose to accounting for more than 3%. rise above partisanship to support The inflationary trend has been the anti insurgency campaign. Let reversed downward from a high us all make Nigeria’s future our of 18% in March 2015 to just 12% number one priority and political as of last August, according to sloganeering a distant second.

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Chairman “To be the market Malam Wada Maida, place of ideas and Oon, Fnge the leading player in the industry by putting the people first, upholding the Chief Operating Officer Editor, Daily truth, maintaining the Hameed M. Bello, PhD highest professional and ethical standards while Manager, administration delivering value to Hassan Hammanyaji our stakeholders”

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By Obadiah Mailafia

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ast week, the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai, raised a lot of eyebrows when he advocated the use of prayers and “spiritual warfare” in the war against terrorist groups such as Boko Haram and the Islamic State’s West Africa Province (ISWAP).

Interestingly enough, “spiritual warfare” was not on the curriculum of the Nigerian Defense Academy (NDA) when cadet Tukur Buratai went there in 1981 as a member of the 29th Regular Combatant Course. And I doubt if it ever featured in the staff college and other prestigious training courses that he might have undergone at home and abroad.

Some of the most important things in life are never taught at Oxford, Harvard, Cambridge, Stanford or MIT. No university ever teaches you how to become a great success in life.

Same goes for war-making. I spent some of my formative years working on the economics and politics of defence and strategy at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru.

I have studied the classics of military warfare from Alexander the Great and Napoleon to Sun Tzu, Carl von Clausewitz, Georgy Zhukov and Erwin Rommel. From ancient to the modern times, spiritual warfare has never been a part of training for the military high command. The fact that such things were never taught, however, does not mean they are never important.

I am a social scientist. I believe in the canonical supremacy of the scientific method.

I have studied epistemology and appreciate the intricacies of the philosophy of mind. My intellectual interests cover cosmology and quantum physics. I know that the human mind is a powerful magnet and that human nature is far more complex than we ordinarily imagine.

This is probably why some of the greatest scientists and inventors like Sir Isaac Newton, Pierre and Marie Curie, Wolfgang Pauli, Carl Linnaeus, Nikola Tesla and Carl Jung were into occultism. One of the greatest savants of all time, Emmanuel Swedenborg, was also a seer and prophet for whom the world of the spirit was as vivid as daylight.

I have studied the intellectual history of Christian, Hindu, Jewish and Islamic metaphysics. I have studied the Kabbalah and Jewish and Gnostic mysticism, but I am not an occultist. I am a Christian and my spiritual commitments forbid me to dabble in the occult.

But it would be foolish to deny that such things exist. An objective and detached scientific mindset would dictate that we simply keep an open mind. The only requirement is that we always insist on rigorous and infallible proofs.

History provides us with ample evidence of the existence and efficacy of spiritual warfare.

In the Old Testament Bible, the Red Sea parted while the children of Israel crossed it. But when the Pharaoh’s chariots tried to cross the dry ground, the river reunited and swept them away.

This feat could only have been accomplished through spiritual warfare. We also read in Exodus during the war with the Amalekites, Aaron and Hur held up the hand of Moses. Each time they did so, the children of Israel made progress in war; but whenever they stopped, the tide of war changed against Israel.

The survival of the modern state of Israel since 1948 is in itself a miracle. It is a small country of nine million people surrounded by 300 million hostile Arabs. And yet, in all the wars that have been fought since 1948, the Jewish state not only prevailed but also gained more territory. Israel today has the greatest war-making machinery in the Middle East; with some of the most fearsome warlords since the ancient Greek city state of Sparta. They include such legendary names as Meir HarZion, Jonathan Yoni Netanyahu, Yigal Allon, Ariel Sharon, Moshe Dayan, Yitzhak Rabin and Haim Bar-Lev. When you read the war memoirs of Israeli

commanders, you hear tales of extraordinary events. According to one account, during the 1967 war, angels literally gathered in their millions over an overcast sky. One young Israeli paratrooper recounted an incident when their unit was about to be wiped out by the Arabs. He started reciting Psalms 91. He was the only one that came back to tell the tale.

There is no doubt that the Israeli militaryintelligence establishment deploys spiritual resources in its existential conflict with the Arabs. I once met Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz when he came to address the Oxford Union. He is widely regarded as the greatest living genius on earth. A grandmaster of Kabbalah, his wisdom and counsel are widely sought by succeeding generations of Israeli leaders.

The young French teenager, Joan of Arc (1412-1431), was a great heroine who led the French army into several successful battles against the English. She claimed that she received messages directly from angels who guided her in her successful battles. She was later captured, tried and burnt at the stakes in Rouen, Normandy, on 30 May 1431. But she has been canonized as a saint by the Catholic Church and goes down as one of the greatest legends of the French nation. Her compatriot, Napoleon Bonaparte, was one of the greatest warlords in modern history. What few realize is that he was also a master occultist who deployed the dark arts in his military campaigns. It is said that he was able to trans-locate his spirit into the position of the enemy where he received details about their position and how to defeat them.

It is well known fact that Adolf Hitler and the Nazis were occultists. In his famous memoirs, The Gathering Storm, Winston Churchill opined that Hitler had “conjured up the fearful idol of an all-devouring Moloch of which he was the priest and incarnation”. When the German forces laid the infamous 900-day Siege of Leningrad (1941-1944), Soviet strongman Joseph Stalin reportedly brought back the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church from his nearbanishment in Siberia.

Some of the most powerful intelligence services in the world today employ psychics as part of their arsenals. Israel’s Mossad used to employ the psychic Yuri Geller, a former paratrooper, in their various spy missions. I suspect that their interest in having Prophet T. B. Joshua relocate to Israel is partly because they see him as a potentially huge intelligence asset.

We in Africa have vast untapped spiritual forces. A fortnight ago, some 36 cows were killed by a mysterious lightning in the sleepy village of Ijare in Ifedoro Local Government of Ondo State. The traditional ruler, Oba Adebamigbe Oluwagbemigun, had warned that the herdsmen had crossed the boundaries of the forbidden.

There are communities throughout our country that are custodians of potent spiritual warfare forces. My paternal grandfather was a legend of his time. He gave the British a hard time, but no chains or prison gates could keep him.

The wily British decided to make him a police officer. In 1914, they sent him to quench a riot in Lafia, capital of present day Nasarawa State.

When news came that his wife had put to bed and he was now the father of a bouncing baby boy, he sent back a message, “His name shall be Mailafia”.

I strenuously encourage our military and intelligence communities to set up a research centre for the scientific study of the spiritual warfare potential of our indigenous communities, including such groups as traditional hunters and practitioners of Ifa. Former Beninois president Nicéphore Soglo declared recently that Boko Haram is being sponsored by Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Our enemies are both domestic and foreign, but the truth is that the giant has feet of clay. He will be defeated if only we put our hearts and minds to it. All is fair in love and war.

Mailafia is a newspaper columnist.

PAGE 12

Opinion

PEOPLES DAILY, Wednesay October 9, 2019

Nigeria At 59: Poor leadership and bad followership

By Abba Dukawa

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The Nigerian problem is the unwillingness or inability of its leaders to rise to the responsibility and to the challenge of personal example which are the hallmarks of true leadership.’ – Late Prof. Chinua Achebe The country at 59 still battling with poor leadership, nepotism, corruption, mismanagement of resources, insecurity of life and property, lack of basic infrastructure and social amenities with a poverty level of 75% Nigeria Poverty is rising in Nigeria with more than a 100 million people living on less than $1a day.

While Nigeria contemporary’s countries that gotten statehood are now developing countries in spite of its enormous wealth, Nigeria is among underdeveloped countries with a life expectancy of 48.8%.

Interestingly at 59 independence problem with Nigeria has been identified by most analysts and social commentators as the absence of true leadership. This I believe is just one aspect of the truth or reality.

The reality of the matter is simple Poor leadership in the context of bad followership throughout the ages in every society that has evolved successfully, social reform and change is initiated by followership and not necessarily the leadership.

I intend to depict the generally accepted position that the problem with Nigeria is squarely the problem of leadership but I argue that Nigeria, like any other country, is peopled by stakeholders who are both leaders and followers. It then behooves on every Nigerian to rise to the occasion of

saving and securing Nigeria. Every Nigerian is a major stakeholder and therefore owes it a duty to salvage Nigeria from the quagmire of poor leadership. The success or otherwise of leadership will not be in isolation of followership. Both leaders and followers are guilty in the event of failure of the state. The support given to leaders in Nigeria, always allowing them to have their way in almost everything is the guilt of the citizenry.

At 59 independence yet we cannot always hold our leaders accountable. Are the leaders in Nigeria coming from mars? Even at the most basic levels, do we demonstrate and model good followership by demanding good governance. In the electoral process, do we ensure that individuals that rightly won elections are supported through mass support in their redress process? Do we participate in the legislative process or do the followers have regard for the laws, norms customs and traditions? If we say that we belong to a political party from where leaders emerge we should be able to influence the leadership. It is only in Nigeria that the followership supports a candidate for reasons other than the political ideology.

It critical look at the role of followership It must be reiterated that every Nigerian is a major stakeholder and therefore owes it a duty to salvage Nigeria from the quagmire of poor leadership. The success or otherwise of leadership will not be in isolation of followership. Both leaders and followers are guilty in the event of failure of the state. The support given to leaders in Nigeria, always allowing them to have their

way in almost everything is the guilt of the citizenry.

At 59 independence Nigerians do fully well to swallow the pills administered to them by their leaders even when such pills are bitter. The leaders have perfected their manipulatory skills such that even civil society groups, professional bodies, and religious organizations have fallen to the spell of poor leadership as if they are no more rational beings so to speaks the guilt weighs more on the followership, who have allowed them to be manipulated, deceived, abused, used and dumped by the leaders who should be there to protect their interest.

At 59 independence, we can either celebrate or sober reflections on major problems bedeviled us as a people and nation like corruption, Nigerians are a living witness that in any address made by all serving and ex-presidents, they claimed to fight against corruption.

“We are committed to transparency and accountability.” But despite these promises from the leaders, still, corruption has eaten deeply in the country.

To understand how this cancer has eaten deeply in our society, honouring transparency and accountability is no longer fashionable, and corrupt people don’t feel bad about their actions, because everybody else is doing it anyway. Those who choose not to do it are considered cowards and becoming a laughing stock in the society. The surge of kidnappings and killings by bandits, especially in the easr, coupled with the resurgence of a Boko Haram faction affiliated to the Islamic State

group are our greatest headaches. For more than two and half decade Nigeria never had such serious economy challenges like what we are now largely due to dependent on oil as government revenues, fluctuating prices leave the Nigeria vulnerable. The World Bank has predicted sluggish growth this year coupled with unemployment at more than 20% and nearly half the population living in extreme poverty. Infrastructure deficit: despite the billions of naira being pumped into numerous building projects by 2040, Nigeria’s infrastructure deficit will hit $878bn making it hard for businesses to prosper.

At 59 independence majority of Nigerians have been disappointed to the greater level with the development shape pour country in almost six decades where every sectors is decaying due to the lack of political will of our leaders and proactive citizenry role. Our failure’s to make concerted effort by insisting that the right must be done and we citizen must rise up and unite against misgovernment, corruption and nepotism if we really want to see the country move forward we have to be courageous to imbibe the culture of prudence, honesty and accountability.

We must ensure people with proven honesty and accountability are elected and the citizenry to adopt effective citizenry role while the within the corridor of power must have courage to tell the leaders the truth and not to be nothing but praise singers.

Nothing will change unless the leaders and led have country at heart.

Dukawa can be reach at abbahydukawa@gmail.com

Civil Defence Agro-Rangers and agric development

By Yarima Habu Mohammed

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he Commandant - General of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Abdullahi Gana Muhammadu is known as an innovative and ingenious leader. Traces of his ingenuity have been noticed in almost all segments of the organization he heads. Since his assumption of the leadership of the Corps, he has taken deliberate steps towards making his organization a success. I have it on strong authority that he is a great fun of many.

In other words, a lot of people admire his mastery of the job, commitment to duty and zeal to work.

In response to the President Muhammadu Buhari led administration’s quest for the diversification of the economy from being oil dependent, the CommandantGeneral set-up Agro – Rangers, an arm of the Corps meant to curb the nefarious activities of cattle rustlers, armed robbers and kidnappers in order to remove security challenges faced by large scale commercial and industrial farmers and pastoralists.

This will create an enabling environment for most farmers to produce optimally and encourage agriculture to be a major spring board towards economic diversification.

In Abdullahi Gana’s words, we set up this unit “to deal with all problems faced by our agro-businessmen and women as well as small scale farmers and herders”. “As I speak,” he went on, “local and foreign agriculturalist have invested billions of naira in agricultural activities and need to be protected”. He stressed further that the Corps has about 4,000 Agro-Rangers for this purpose.

Large farms such as Golden Hectares

and Gurara Farms along Abuja-Kaduna road as well as those along Abeokuta-Sango Otta road and the palm oil farms in Benin City among others are being provided security cover by the Civil Defence Corps’ Agro-Rangers for effective protection of investments in the Agro-Allied sector.

Water dams across the nation are also being guarded by these men. The understanding the Commandant – General of the Corps has with the Ministers of Agriculture and that of Water Resources is fast yielding fruit. The commencement of the operations of the Agro-Rengers in Kaduna which was personally witness by the CommandantGeneral is an indication of his believe that this is a panacea for the rampant banditry that has bedeviled our country.

It is hoped that government on its part will appropriate sufficient funds to the Corps in order for it to deal decisively with this menace so that we can grow agriculture.

Adequate funding is necessary because of the broad based nature of the Corps’ mandate. Needless to state, however, the Corps in conjunction with sister agencies, secures and protects lives and properties of Nigerians. It also protects all national assets and infrastructure in energy, telecom, oil and gas, rail and water transportation as well as mines and steel sectors. In addition, it manages disasters and monitors private guard companies in order to remove quackery and enhance professionalism.

The Corp has striven hard to stop pipeline vandalisation, oil theft and adulteration of petroleum products. Civil Defence Corps’ anti-vandals squad was deployed to man all major pipeline and oil installations across the country, especially the Niger Delta region where a lot of arrests were effected

with illegal refineries destroyed.

As an embodiment of integrity and propriety, the Commandant-General has excelled in almost all the departments under his watch. Closely related to the foregoing is the deployment of over 5,000 personnel of the Civil Defence Corps to the North – East geo-political zone of this country to provide security for internally displaced persons in most of the towns and villages already liberated by the military. This is geared towards promoting lasting peace in the region. In a rare show of patriotism, the Commandant-General also toured the entire region as a call to duty and to boost the morale of his personnel.

To perform these functions efficiently and effectively, the Corps CommandantGeneral, Abdullahi Gana realized that we are in a knowledge based era; and introduced a policy of training and retraining of personnel in order to strengthen capacity and improve productivity. Hence, over 12,000 officers and men of the Corps have recently been sent for seminars and various forms of workshops. International donor agencies such as UNDP have also been supportive in this regard. Currently, training is ongoing for additional 2,000 personnel as peace Ambassadors and mediators to perform the role of alternative dispute resolution officers. The Commandant-General ensures that surveillance and intelligence gathering receive the desired attention. While the Corps is already incorporated into the Joint Intelligence Board due to their performance profile, the National Security Adviser has also been supportive in the area of manpower development and capacity building through workshops and seminars.

Staff welfare and insurance policy are

also on the front burner for the Corps’ Commandant-General. All officers of the corps are insured in the event of accident, death or disability in the course of duty. Payment of staff salaries and other allowances, including shift duty allowances are promptly paid. What is more, the Commandant – General has also supported and promoted sporting activities. Over the last three years, the Corps has come first in almost all games and sporting tournaments they have attended. This helps personnel keep fit physically, mentally and emotionally to be able to fight crime.

Of recent, illegal miners’ activities have also been adequately checked by men of the Corps. They have ensured that only licensed miners’ operate in most minefields. This has raised the revenue profile of government by a very wide margin. In addition, emergency response outfit has been created by the corps and deployed to all major airports along with ambulances nationwide to enhance operational efficiency.

On the whole, Abdullahi Gana Muhammadu, the Commandant-General the Corps has become an inspiration to many as an acclaimed administrator and manager of men. A man of sober and unruffled countenance, the CommandantGeneral has been a tremendous motivation to officers and men of the Corps. Properly nuanced and principled, Abdullahi Gana is open and truthful and has shown great resilience and capacity since he took office.

It is pertinent to note that Civil Defence’ Agro-Rangers is a unit that will come to the rescue of our Agricultural sector as means of diversifying our economy.

Dr. Yarima Mohammed Wrote from Abuja.

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PEOPLES DAILY, Wednesay October 9, 2019

Comment

The urgency of ending Nigeria’s disastrous public image

By Aisha Bubaram

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woke up on Saturday, November 3, 2018 to witness another hype – a common pitfall of trending social media public outcry. This is becoming a fad to watch out for when dealing with public interrelations. This time however, the media storm coincided with the exit of two global banks that have closed offices in Nigeria, HSBC and UBS. Although the usual media trend was expected, some Nigerians have taken to social media continuously, fuelling the drama with negativities that could be detrimental to the country’s economy. But as much as people have a right to their opinion about issues, their contagion may only lead to disastrous consequences.

In terms of the closure of the major branches HSBC and UBS, both were not licensed banks within Nigeria but rather have representative offices in the country, as most retail banks do. In this capacity, they seek businesses for their head offices as correspondent bank lines within the Nigerian banking system, and provide advisory services for their investment arms in the capital market. With the economy supposedly not doing well and with a perceived lack of clear policy direction, the exit of both

banks might indicate a lack of confidence in the system’s ‘short term’ prospects overall.

Although the reason for their withdrawal is still unknown.

Let us take a flash back to when Nigeria was discontinued from the Frontier Market list a few years ago, it quickly made headlines but with minimal media influx. However, a dire consequence of unfavourable public response and action to such disclosure might have accelerated the descent of economic recession.

The country nevertheless picked up quickly and offered one of the highest interest rates ever on naira instruments, to curtail the impact of that exit. There’s still the continued bad reputation and tarnished image that has been reinforced over the years by actions of Nigerian citizens at home and abroad. Despite this, more foreigners come to Nigeria to do business because of the potentials that avails itself in the Nigerian market space. Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) still flow into the country in the manufacturing and service spaces, and these kind of investors cannot pull out their resources overnight (?). However, there are portfolio investors who bring in money for investments in financial instruments, the likes of T-bills, bonds and the stock market. These foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) are quick to

withdraw their funds when the market becomes less favourable and especially now that the country is facing elections in 2019.

There are a lot of opportunities for investment in Nigeria, and these are where we can propagate our interest and remain extremely positive on getting the right networks ready, and positive public participation will do well to support investors’ interests.

There is no country that does not have challenges but manages the drawbacks to minimise impact and this includes investing in proactive public relations (PR) for the benefit of their economy.

To say it quite plainly to my fellow country men and women (those who are usually fast to carry the loudspeakers to broadcast the wrong things and present the bad signals to the international community): Would we not prefer the economy to progress and earn respect when we flash our green passports at international borders?

As Nigerians we need to caution ourselves and largely project the good things that will encourage investors into our country.

I once came across a report, “Finance” by Mathew Nitch Smith in the Business Insider UK where Nigeria was ranked 5th of 16 countries with the worst reputations in the world. That

report also emphasised the religious intolerance and insecurity that have raged this country and kept it in bad light. Unfortunately due to the availability of social media tools like Facebook and Twitter, negative news spreads far and wide, be these religious, political, economic, and many individuals are oblivious or uncaring about the destructive impacts of their actions on social media.

When you want to engage in media campaign, look out for information about businesses you think can attract investors.

This will help you develop your own personal foresight and financial independence. Don’t waste valuable time in chasing a thread of negative commentators that are most likely encouraging unrest.

It is pertinent to note that most PR disasters are avoidable and unless most Nigerians understand the necessity of getting involved in promoting the good of the country, we will stain and damage our county’s image due to bad publicity that magnifies all the minor errors and inaccurate information on the performance of the Nigerian economy.

Aisha Bubaram – mother, wife and lover of Africa – is a philanthropist, with more than two decades of work as a banker.

Minimum wage, maximum trouble

By Koye-Ladele Mofehintoluwa

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he dispute between employer and employee over wage has existed before even the term ‘wage’ was coined. One of these notable disputes held in France where workers complained that they could not afford bread and Marie Antoinette, a member of the royalty would claim(in translation) “if they can’t eat bread, let them eat cake”. Of course, there is no need to have much knowledge of the economy in France as at then to understand that cake would have been more costly than bread. The protesters and the Queen operated on two different types of reasoning which are both correct. For the Queen, should she wake up some morning and not desire to eat bread, she can call the bakers and tell them to make cake.

For the protesters, however, cake is not an option but the cheaper bread has always been what the entirety of their existence is rooted upon. This mentality has reemerged in virtually all trade disputes.

On one side of the conflict table are ‘cake’ people who no longer understand the microeconomic because they have been soaked for too long in wealth either gotten legally or through corrupt means. The cake is an option for these ones if there is no bread and they simply would not understand how harsh the national conditions are or if they even do, they still believe the dustpoor can continue to manage little while they feed them with stories of their reward being in heaven or excuses of how the poor need to sacrifice for national advancement.

The ‘bread’ side of the conflict table has workers who have daily demands from their immediate families and are faced by an economy where the price of everything entirely has increased including the costs of individual transportation, the salary can no longer do what it used to and living on the same amount of work in the past has become harder. Thus, they reason, if my work has fed me in the past and the same amount of work no longer does there should be an increase in not the amount of work I do but the amount of pay that I used to be given.

The people on the ‘cake’ side of the table are those who would oppose wage increase yet have no fundamental issues with the high cost of funding elected public officers who despite the relative national poverty still get to take home very large sums of money. When the salary of public officers is compared internationally, Nigeria jumps up the list and can be prominently seen. When the wage of workers internationally is compared, Nigeria runs down the list to hide on the last lines as very great difference exists in international minimum wage comparisons to the negative while positive great difference exists when renumeration of elected public

servants are compared.

According to a report by the Brookings Institution “at the end of May 2018, our trajectories suggest that Nigeria had about 87 million people in extreme poverty, compared with India’s 73 million.

What is more, extreme poverty in Nigeria is growing by six people every minute, while poverty in India continues to fall”. Also, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), in its latest report on Nigeria, averred that despite the recovery of the nation’s economy from recession, more Nigerians were sliding into poverty.

The argument exists that the payment of minimum wage may lead to an inflation which is a rise in the general price level of commodities. It is argued that when it is increased, producers from the primary to the secondary levels would also increase the shelf price of their products by raising costs acting in the belief that the increase of the minimum wage(which affects all levels of civil servants positively including those not on the minimum wage) has also increased the purchasing power of the consumer. Thus, should this be the case, the money injected into getting the minimum wage increased would only court more trouble and severe inflation. This argument is quickly refuted by those who insist that the economy can only be better when people spend more and businesses can generate more profit and the government more revenue.

Both arguments quite overlook the important fact that a lot of the consumer goods in Nigeria are not locally produced. In event of an increase in minimum wage, the main profiteers would be foreign companies and the local economy will be deprived of more as people commit funds to the purchase of imported goods. This creates a major issue for concern as local production should receive a boost before minimum wage increase to ensure funds stay within the economy. However, who would explain to a Labour that hears frequent news of corruption that their minimum wage cannot be increased because the government needs to prioritise the development and encouragement of local production?

Among the myriad of issues that Nigeria faces is the trust that has been lost in government. As it stands presently, a lot of states cannot cope with the 18,000naira minimum wage structure. Nigerian Labour Congress just some months ago insisted on 65,000 naira but have now reviewed their call downwards by more than half to a 30,000 naira call. The country has suffered financial crises of late which include recession, inflation and a rise in unemployment vis-a-vis underemployment.

Can Nigeria pay the minimum wage? There is a real absence of facts to use to answer this as the

civil service maintained by the state and Federal governments are separate and a general answer cannot be found with the exception of states such as Lagos and Rivers where one can feel confident on their ability to pay an increased wage.

The people on the ‘bread’ side of the table are unlikely to listen to whatever the government has to say. The workers are incensed by continued news of corruption especially manifested in the brazen vote-buying episodes where politicians throw money out in the festival of getting the masses through inducements and leaving them afterwards to their poverty. Workers are also incensed by the antipeople policies of the government which includes a speculative increase of tertiary institution fees, an action the Academic Staff Union of Universities has already taken moves against by starting a nationwide strike.

In the face of this severe hardship, a call for the increment of the minimum wage is coming quite late and should have been made earlier. It is great surprise and wonder why Labour actions in past attempts have proven unpopular but this NLC Nov. 6 action looks promising this time around especially fueled by the rising political mood which has already made Nigerians pitch tents against or with the government of the day.

Labour actions in the past might have been unpopular due to the illusion held dear among Nigerian people that the Buhari regime was encountering difficulties while trying to create change. Presently, that mood has washed off to one of rage and impatience. The only thing left holding back a nationwide revolt is that the faith of the Nigerian labour and masses in the past NLC leaderships have proven betrayed. Thus, the reception is there for the strike action and nationwide sit-ins but the faith in the workers’ Union leaderships are not so strong.

Trying again to view the issue from the ‘cake’ side of the table, one finds that a minimum wage increase may be unrealistic as there is still a struggle to meet the old wage requirements. Again, there is the cost of oil in the international market as the major revenue generation means of Nigeria which would mean the government cannot plan to increase minimum wage anchoring it on the unpredictable international oil market where prices can crash the same way they have risen recently and is a market that is already being threatened of extinction by the combined forces of conservation/pollution-elimination and the force of developing newer technology. There is also the concern that the funds will make their way out of the economy should we consider that consumer goods are not locally produced and minimum wage increase would mean more of these items are purchased and

the country is ultimately on the losing end.

Switching to the ‘bread’ side of the conflict table, one finds that workers need a living wage that copes with the current harsh economic realities.

Workers are justified in their actions because the government cannot continue to spend so much for itself and elected public officials through excessive legal renumeration and surplus illegal sharings yet relinquish little to the masses and expect them to sacrifice even further while sending their children to schools that have become far costly than what the poor or average earner can afford. Should a person who is on the proposed 30,000naira wage desire to educate his child, he chooses between the dilapidated public institutions that are again becoming costly to the tune of the recent proposed fee of 500,000 or send them to private institutions where the costs are far above his earnings for a combined 5 years assuming he does not do anything else with his salary but to save it. There is a national hardship and the call for the minimum wage increase is not really selfish on the part of workers but is a desire for selfpreservation in these hard times.

Despite the court order, NLC can choose to proceed with her strike and make it even more effective by ordering her component Unions such as ASUU(already on strike), NAT, NUPENG, NUT, NASU and other unions to declare their independent respective strikes. The court stops NLC and not these component sister units. The NLC also argues that the government has defied court orders severally and they claim they have received no court order. The argument the government too has defied court orders are only moral yet they are appealing.

To cast a final glance at the entire issue, one hopes that a solution is found somehow. The true finances of the government must be shown to the Nigerian Labour and they must understand why the new minimum wage cannot be funded should the government stand on this. The government must further take steps that will aid the trust of workers by cutting bogus salaries and jumbo take-home packages as this will ensure the workers are at rest and can trust their government. The workers, on the other hand, should try to be receptive in their talks and negotiations with the consideration of supreme national interest. But at the same time, they should not do what Nigerian street parlance describes as ‘sleeping on a bicycle’. That is, they should not be too willing to drop their agitation as it further reduces their credibility for future actions.

Koye-Ladele Mofehintoluwa is a member of the Centre for Human Rights.

PAGE 14

PEOPLES DAILY, Wednesay October 9, 2019

N ews Nigeria ready for 5G – Communication Minister

D

ubai (United Arab Emirates), Oct. 7, 2019 (NAN) In line with global requirements of communications, Dr Isa Pantami, Minister of Communications, said Nigeria was ready to deploy 5G network across the country to ease network flow.

Pantami said this on Monday at the ongoing 39th Gulf Information Technology Exhibition (GITEX) holding in Dubai (United Arab Emirates).

GITEX is a global technology exhibition that brings together over 200,000 trade visitors, investors, innovators, IT experts, countries, Information Communication Technology startups from over 145 countries of the world, to share trends of ICT and ways of advancing technology innovations.

Nigeria’s participation in GITEX, which is spearheaded by the National Information Technology Development

Agency (NITDA) is a week long programme holding from Oct. 6 to Oct. 10.

The minster said “ Nigeria is ready for 5G network but preparation is key. We are ready but need deployment and before that we need pre-deployment and post-deployment.

“We are working to handle the challenges of pre-deployment but the approval has been given for the trial.

“Nigeria is not yet into the 5G

network deliberately. Some of the telecom operators are ready to deploy the 5G network but the proposal was put on hold, so we can be productive and proactive.

“There could be potential challenges that could obstruct 5G network, which include regulations. You cannot just rush into it without preparing your ground,’’ he said.

He said that the Federal Government is engaging some security agencies like the National

. Management Staff of Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC) attending to customers to mark the Global Customers Service Week, yesterday in Enugu .

Photo: NAN

NLC laments harsh working environment From: Femi Oyelola, Kaduna

N

igeria Labour Congress, (NLC), has expressed dismay over a situation where workers are exposed to worsening health and safety situations with increased cases of deaths and injuries at work.

The President of the Congress, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, stated this during 2019 Decent Work Day held in Kaduna on Monday.

The NLC President who was represented by Kaduna State Chairman, Comrade Ayuba Suleiman, said NLC rejects

a world of work of increased demand for overtime work without commensurate reward, adding that a world of work where jobs are not secured and hugely precarious.

“We reject the ascendancy of a work order denoted by casual, contract, or outsourced work.

We will continue to frown at child labour. We reject forced labour. “ These industrial infractions violate Section 7 of Nigeria’s Labour Act. “We say no to a world of work where workers are dumped in

the column of “expendables” to be torn apart, trampled upon and tossed aside.”

Speaking on the theme: “Invest in the Care Economy”, Ayuba said, “We re-echo our position that decent work must be at the centre of government actions to bring back economic growth and build a new global economy that puts people first. “ Putting people first means reversal of the ugly trend of wage poverty and extreme inequality.

“We therefore join the rest of the global trade union movement to call on government

to increase investment in care to generate economic growth, tackle growing demographic challenges and help overcome gender discrimination by mainstreaming women in the economy.

“Investment in care economy means prioritizing investment in extended social protection to women, extended leave for care of children, secured parental leave for both gender and change in work arrangement to allow workers to achieve the critical balance between work and family.” The statement reads

Umahi swears in 14 new permanent secretaries

G

ov. David Umahi of Ebonyi on Monday swore in 14 new Permanent Secretaries for the state’s Civil Service.

The governor, at a ceremony held at the Government House, Abakaliki urged the appointees to discharge their duties creditably in line with the vision of the state.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the 14 new permanent secretaries inaugurated was in addition to

the previous 12.

The new permanent secretaries includes Mr Christian Achi, Ministry of Health; Mrs Patricia Okiri, Ministry of Budget, Planning and Research and Mr Ogbonnaya Otta, Ministry of Internal Security.

Other are: Mr Martin Uguru, Ministry of Housing and Urban Development; Eze Sunday Silas, Ministry of Water Resources and Dr Emmanuel Nwafor, Ministry of Environment.

The new appointees also includes Mr Emeokoro Chukwuma, Ministry of Solid Minerals producing communities; Okoronkwo Jonathan, Ministry of Youths and Sports Development and Mr Ituma Elijah, Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

“We are integrating you totally into the mainstream of government activities. And you must also know that you are now 50 and 100 per cent civil and

public servants,” Umahi said.

Meanwhile, the State’s Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr Cletus Ofoke enjoined the new appointees to justify the confidence reposed on them by the state government.

“I urge you to follow the rules of your various offices,” Ofoke said.

Otta, who spoke unbehalf of other appointees, promised to deliver their duties diligently.

Intelligence Agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the Nigeria Police, among others to ensure a seamless process, while establishing regulations on deploying the 5G network.

The minister also said that 5G network cannot be deployed across the country yet due to some gaps in citizens being unable to access 2G, 3G and 4G networks.

“At the pace we are moving, some places do not even have 2G, there are over 200 cluster areas in the country and with this you cannot say we can move to 5G when some people are yet to access 2G, 3G. “The gaps are already there, it is not a new one but you cannot delay advancement because other people are not benefiting, what we should do is to bridge the gap.’’

He added that Nigeria was not doing badly in technology, however, patriotism and confidence in indigenous products and services was lacking.

Pantami recalled that a Nigerian in the UK was the first person globally to develop, build and design first real time 5G network dedicated to selforganised networks in the UK , using general purpose processors.

According to him, we usually fail to deploy what we produce, we are so much addicted to foreign products and whenever we hear anything local it appears to us as inferior.

“That perception of undermining our effort is what we need to change.’’

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Nigeria Postal Service, Nigeria Communication Satellite Limited, Nigeria Petroleum Exchange Commission, Petroleum Equalisation Fund Management Board are some agencies representing the country at GITEX. (NAN)

38 drown in Bauchi River From Ahmad Bauchi

3

Mohammed,

8 people have drowned in Kirfi River, Kirfi Local Government Area of Bauchi State.

Chairman of Kirfi Local Government Alhaji Bappa Abdu Bara disclosed this on Monday in Bauchi while answering questions from reporters.

He said, “Today 7th October 2019, I want to commiserate with the people of Kirfi, Bauchi State and Nigeria as a whole over the loss of our brothers on their way to their farms. About 40 of them entered canoe and unfortunately 38 of them were drowned while two people escape.

PAGE 15

PEOPLES DAILY, Wednesay October 9, 2019

10 bills scale first reading in senate

By Musa Adamu

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he Senate’s Ad-Hoc Committee investigating a case of assault against Senator Elisha Abbo on Tuesday submitted its report to the upper chamber.

The report was presented during the plenary by Chairman of the AdHoc committee, Senator Sam Egwu (PDP, Ebonyi North).

The Senate had on July 3, 2019 set up a committee to investigate Senator Abbo (PDP, Adamawa North) for allegedly assaulting a lady at a sex toy shop in Abuja.

The lawmaker was seen in a video clip which was widely circulated online having an altercation with the lady in question.

Abbo allegedly assaulted the woman for taking side with the shop owner whom the lawmaker had accused of insulting him.

The incident reportedly happened on May 11, 2019 exactly one month before the 41-year-old lawmaker was sworn into the 9th Senate.

Meanwhile, 10 bills on Tuesday scaled first reading on the floor during plenary.

The bills are: Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection Act (Repeal and Reenactment) Bill, 2011, sponsored

by Sen. Ajayi Boroffice (APC, Ondo North); Federal University Gusau Bill, 2019, sponsored by Sen. Sahabi Alhaji Ya’u (PDP, Zamfara North);

Federal University of Medicine and Medical Sciences, Abeokuta Ogun State Bill, 2019, sponsored by Sen. Ibikunle Amosun (APC, Ogun Central); NDDC Act (Amendment) Bill, 2019, by Sen. Barinada Mpigi

(PDP, Rivers South East); and Terrorism Prevention and Prohibition Bill, 2019, by Sen. Istifanus Gyang (Plateau North).

Others are: Nigeria Metallurgical Industry Bill, 2019, sponsored by Sen.

Theordore Orji (PDP, Abia Central); Federal Polytechnic Orogun Delta State Bill, 2019, Sen. Ovie OmoAgege (APC, Delta Central); Dormant Account Funds Management Bill, 2019, Sen. Ovie Omo-Agege (APC,

Delta Central); Social Assistance Bill, 2019, by Sen. Chimaroke Nnamani (APC, Enugu East); Federal Polytechnic Silame, Sokoto State Bill, 2019,by Sen. Aliyu Wamakko (APC, Sokoto North).

L-R: President Muhammadu Buhari, President of the Senate Chairman, Ahmad Ibrahim Lawan and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, during the 2020 Budget presentation by the President at the National Assembly, yesterday in Abuja. Photo: Mahmud Isa

Defend your budget estimates this October - Lawan tells MDAs

By Ikechukwu Okaforadi

P

resident of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan said on Tuesday that only this October is set aside for all government agencies to defend their 2020 budget estimates to enable the passage of the document in December.

In his remarks during the presentation of the 2020 budget

by President Muhammadu Buhari, Lawan said the National Assembly committees are ready to receive the ministers and other heads of government agencies for the defence

of their budget estimates.

Lawan said all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) are expected to appear before the Committees for the defence of their Budget estimates within the month of October in order for timely passage of the budget.

“We have earmarked the month of October to be the sole window for all Budget defense activities in this year, by all MDAs. “In this regard, our Committees will be expected to conclude their work on Budget defense within October, this year.

“The subsequent necessary legislative work will be carried out in November and December, leading to eventual passage before the end of this year,” Lawan said.

The Senate President said the 9th National Assembly has shown capacity, commitment and willingness to treat legislative matters that will impact on the lives of the citizens with dispatch and every sense of urgency.

This, he said, was clearly demonstrated last week, when the Assembly received, processed and passed the request of Mr. President

on the 2020-2022 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper (MTEF/FSP).

Lawan gave assurance that the National Assembly will treat the 2020 Budget Estimates with the same commitment or even more.

“In our effort to pass the Budget, we will also be guided by the legislative requirement of a thorough scrutiny,” Lawan said.

Lawan however warned that the budget estimates “will remain what they are, estimates, until we are able to generate and receive the necessary revenues to fund and foot

the bills.

“It is imperative therefore, that our revenue generating agencies be more alive to their responsibilities, more innovative and focused on how to meet their revenue targets.”

Lawan said the National Assembly will continue to review how the revenue generation, collection and remittance would be more effective and efficient.

Against this backdrop, Lawan said there is need to review the laws establishing the agencies responsible with a view to enhancing their capacity and capability.

Senate President harps on collaboration in governance

P

resident of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, has said a partnership between State Governors and the National Assembly would redefine good governance in the interest of Nigerians.

Lawan stated this when members of the Progressive Governor’s Forum comprising the All Progressives Congress (APC) Governors met with the leadership of the Senate and House of Representatives on Monday at the National Assembly in Abuja.

According to Lawan, bridging the gap in governance would in no small measure ensure the security, safety and welfare of citizens.

Lawan, in his welcome address moments before going into a closed

meeting with the delegation, thanked members of the Forum, for their roles during the leadership contest in the National Assembly.

He said: “It is a fact and truism that our party, particularly our governors worked so hard to ensure that the leadership of the National Assembly emerged with little or no hitch in the 2019 leadership contest.

“We want to take this opportunity to thank you for that show of trust.

We intend to remain very resolute and loyal to the party and the principles it stands for.

“We intend to remain committed and dedicated to Nigerian ideals of making sure that Nigeria provides all the necessary services, especially

when it comes to the area of ensuring the security, safety and welfare of citizens.

According to Lawan, the emergence of the Senate and House leadership was the product of a bipartisan combination between the majority and minority parties.

“The opposition parties, in the Senate particularly, the PDP and YPP have done so much to ensure that they give that kind of support.

“So far in the National Assembly, the journey has been very good; we have been working in a bi-partisan manner, and all those things that we felt were very necessary to be achieved in the national interest have been done across party lines.

Stressing the need for a partnership between the executive arm of government and the Legislature, Lawan assured the state governors of the willingness of the National Assembly to give its support on matters of National interest.

“I believe that this kind of partnership will continue. It is necessary that all levels of government work together. We have certain issues that we cannot do alone at the National level.

“I want to assure our governors here that you have partners in the National Assembly. We believe that we can do far better and more when we work together.

“I think there’s need for us to continue to have this type of interaction so that we are able to bridge the gap and continue to define and redefine the dynamics of how good governance can be sustained”, Lawan said.

Earlier, the Chairman of the Progressive Governors Forum and Governor of Kebbi State, Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, who spoke on behalf of the delegation, said the Forum has two sub committees; one on governance, and the other on legislative programmes.

He added that the Forum was satisfied with the way the leadership of both chambers have so far handled issues in the interest of the nation.

PEOPLES DAILY, Wednesay October 9, 2019

PAGE 16

POLITICS

Reps to pass Governor Akeredolu sacks 2020 budget aide over Facebook post ‘first week of T December’

T

he House of Representatives says it would pass the 2020 budget presented to it on Tuesday by President Muhammadu Buhari in the first week of December.

The president presented the 2020 budget proposal of N10.73 trillion to a joint session of the National Assembly.

While presenting the budget, Mr Buhari said the federal government is targetting a revenue of N8.155 trillion comprising N2.64 trillion oil revenue, N1.8 trillion non-oil tax revenue and N3.7 trillion other revenues.

Speaking to journalists at the National Assembly, the spokesperson of the House, Benjamin Kalu, reeled out arrangements it has for the budget passage.

“The House will debate on the general principles of the bill on Wednesday and Thursday,” he said.

He said budget hearing and engagements with ministries, departments and agencies will hold from October 10 to 29.

He also said the “biblical hearing” of the budget holds October 21 – 22.

“The submission and defense of budget to Appropriations Committee holds from October 30th – November 5th.

“Collation and harmonisation of reports by the Appropriations Committee will be between 6th – 27th November.”

The Abia state lawmaker said the House would be done with the budget by November 28 and the reports of the budget presented and passed by the first week of December.

“I want to assure the general public that this is how it is supposed to be where nation-building is a joint task,” he stated.

The president, while presenting the budget, said oil benchmark is set at $57 at 2.18m barrels per day production, with capital projects gulping N2.46 trillion.

he Governor of Ondo State, Rotimi Akeredolu, has fired an official over a post he made on Facebook while congratulating the wife of the Deputy Governor on her birthday.

The aide, Augustine Pelemo, is Akeredolu’s Special Adviser on Political Matters in the Office of the Deputy Governor.

A statement by the Commissioner of Information, Donald Ojogo, said the governor had directed Mr Pelemo to cease to function forthwith.

“This directive is with immediate effect; and it underscores the need to instill sanity and nip in the bud, divisive acts and tendencies inimical to the existing cordiality and cohesion

in the administration led by the Governor,” the statement read.

“While wishing him well in his future endeavours, Mr Governor further directs Pelemo to hand over every government property in his possession to the Deputy Chief of Staff without further delay.”

Although the statement did not mention the actual reasons for Mr Pelemo’s sack, facts emerged on Monday that the aide who works directly with the Deputy Governor, Ayoola Ajayi, now Acting Governor, was fired after referring to the wife of the Deputy Governor, Ajewole Agboola Ajayi, as “Acting First Lady” on Sunday on a post on Facebook.

Akeredolu is currently on his annual leave and had handed over

to his deputy, Ajayi.

But the deputy governor under whose office he worked, has reacted to the sack.

It said the governor had the powers to fire any of the SAs. A statement by the Deputy Chief Press Secretary, Tope Okeowo, said the Deputy Governor was aware of the sack of Mr Pelemo.

“The Governor, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu SAN who has the power to hire all his aides including that of his Deputy, also has the power to sack them. That of Pelemo is not an exception,” the statement read.

“Hon Ajayi wishes Pelemo well in his future political and other endeavours.”

There has been a recent squabble within the cabinet over the loyalty of Mr Ajayi as the 2020 governorship election draws near.

Rumours thickened that the deputy governor was planning to run against his principal in the coming contest, creating anxiety in the state government and with the ruling All Progressives Congress.

But the deputy, who is currently running the affairs in acting capacity, has come out to debunk the allegations.

The “Acting First Lady” post is drawing flaks from the government on the strength of the already heightened fears of disloyalty within the corridors of state power.

L-R: Deputy Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs of The Gambia, Mrs Juldeh Ceesay; Principal Manager, International Relations Division, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Mr Tony Iloka; and Senior Bank Examiner, Central Bank of The Gambia, Mrs Mariama Conateh-Gaye, during a meeting between SEC and Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs of The Gambia, yesterday in Abuja. Photo: NAN

Senate begins production sharing contract Act amendment

By Ikechukwu Okaforadi

T

he Senate on Tuesday commenced move to amend the Production Sharing Contract Act, following consideration of a bill to that effect.

The bill titled “Deep Offshore and Inland Basin Production Sharing Contract 2004 (amendment) Bill 2019” passed the second reading on Tuesday.

It was consequently referred to the Senate Committees on Petroleum (Upstream) and Finance for further legislative work.

Senator Albert Bassey Akpan (PDP, Akwa-Ibom North East), the sponsor, said the bill seeks to amend section 5 of the PSC Act to bring the provisions of that section into conformity with the generality of the provisions of the Act and into congruence with the intendment and essence of Production Sharing

Contracts.

He added that “The PSC arrangement was offered by the Federal Government of Nigeria as a contractual arrangement for the exploration and production of petroleum in the 1991 licensing round.”

He explained that the fiscal incentives from the arrangement are distinct and absent from the provisions of the Petroleum Act and the Petroleum Profit Tax Act which regulates the fiscal regime of other types of petroleum exploration and production arrangements.

Senator Akpan further stated that “the Act provided in section 16 that where the price of crude oil exceeds US$20 per barrel, the PSC Act will be reviewed to ensure that the share of the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) in the additional revenue is adjusted to the extent that the PSCs shall be economically beneficial to the FGN and that in any event, the PSC Act shall

be liable to be reviewed after 15 years from its commencement in 1993 and every 5 years thereafter.”

“This amendment alters the royalty payable by the PSC contractors so that whenever oil and gas price increases the share of government increases with the automatic inception of the newly introduced royalty by price mechanism”, Senator Akpan added.

Meanwhile, the Senate on Tuesday urged the federal government to give priority attention to the development of the Oloibiri Oil and Gas Research Centre and Museum.

The call was made by the upper chamber in resolutions reached after consideration of a motion on “The need to ensure immediate commencement of the Oil and Gas Research Centre and Museum, Oloibiri, Bayelsa State -Nigeria’s first oil field”.

Sponsor of the motion, Senator Biobarakuma Degi-

Eremienyo (Bayelsa East) said in exhibition of the importance of the first oil field and the need to develop the foreign exchange earning tourism potentials of the area, the idea to build a world class museum of oil and gas was conceptualised, designed and foundation stone laid by President Shehu Shagari in 1953.

According to him, though the federal government removed the project from the National Commission for Museum as rewarded and domiciled with the Petroleum Technology Development Fund in 2011, the project still remains moribund.

The Senate, therefore, urged the Federal Government to direct PTDF and contractors to mobilise to site to commence the construction of the Oil and Gas research Centre and Museum.

It also directed relevant Senate committees to carry out intensive oversight on the implementation of the project.

PAGE 17

PEOPLES DAILY, Wednesay October 9, 2019

POLITICS

Dickson to Sylva: Use federal might to attract devt. to Bayelsa, not violence

By Ikechukwu Okaforadi

Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State has urged the Minister of State for Petroleum, Timipre Sylva, to use his position to attract development to the state and not use ‘federal might’ to cause violence during the November 16 governorship election.

Dickson stated this on Monday in Yenagoa, the state capital during the official flagoff of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship campaign in the state.

He urged Sylva, a former governor of the state, to realise that it was time to bring back the Brass NLNG, Brass fertilizer project and other infrastructure, which would impact positively on the lives of an average Bayelsan.

The governor insisted that PDP would win the governorship election, based on his achievements and performance in governance, which, he said, had made the party very popular among Ijaw people.

He explained that the party’s governorship candidate, Douye Diri, a serving senator, had garnered the requisite experience in governance and was, therefore, prepared to take over the mantle of leadership and continue with the giant strides that PDP was known for in the state.

Mr Dickson said: “I want to advise the leader of APC, Timipre Sylva; while we know he is a politician, let him not forget to bring our needed development to us.

“This is the time to bring back Brass NLNG, which is in his local government, and the Brass Fertilizer; this is the time to work with me and the government of Bayelsa to bring infrastructures to this state.

“Let him not use ‘federal might’ for politicking only; federal might is meant for development. We, on our part, are doing our best; everything you have here is courtesy of the PDP government.

“From Alamieyesigha to our former president; and even Sylva, some of the good things he did was done under the PDP government; since he went to the other side, he has not added any value to our state.

“But he has the opportunity now, and we thank the president for appointing him.

Let him not use that federal might to bring soldiers and

police to kill and intimidate us during election again as it was used in 2015.

“We heard people saying that Bayelsa can be won by APC; what you see here is a tip of the iceberg. It will take you one hour to get here; it’s like this in every local government, ward and community; this state is totally PDP”.

The governor cautioned

the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and security agencies against intimidation and harassment of the electorate.

“Please don’t use your power to advance the evil ambition of any politician; our state has been peaceful, and we will continue to work with security agencies to make it even more peaceful,” he said.

Mr Dickson asked the people of the state to form themselves into units, adding “that is how we will continue to defeat the ‘federal might’.

“This time, we will do that in greater number; at the unit, community and ward levels; PDP will win with wider margin than what we had in 2015,” he said.

The PDP governorship

candidate expressed appreciation to the people of the state for standing by the party since 1999 and promised not to disappoint them.

Mr Diri promised to harness the aquatic wealth of the state for the good of the people and ensure youth empowerment, while continuing to attract investments into the state to boost its economy.

L-R: Chairman of the occasion, Mr Adokiye Amiesimaka; representative of the Governor of Rivers, Mr Tammy Danagogo; President, Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN), Mr Honour Sirawoo; and President, International Sports Press Association (AIPS), Mr Mitchel Obi, during the 2019 National Triennial Delegates Congress of SWAN, yesterday in Port Harcourt. Photo: NAN

Benue guber: APC to appeal tribunal judgment

E

mmanuel Jime. the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in the 2019 election in Benue State, has said he will appeal the Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal judgment which upheld Governor Samuel Ortom’s election.

Mr Jime, who was reacting to the judgement on Tuesday, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Makurdi, the state capital that the tribunal was not fair to him and his party.

The Justice Henry Olusiyi-

led tribunal had, in a ninehour judgment on Monday, dismissed Mr Jime’s petition and upheld the election of Mr Ortom.

The APC governorship candidate said the tribunal, in its judgment, failed to give justice to the suffering Benue masses.

“The tribunal did not deliver justice to the suffering people of Benue State. I am determined to get justice for our people.

“Accordingly, I have instructed our legal team to proceed to the Court of Appeal

to interrogate this judgment.

“I urge all men and women of goodwill and lovers of Benue to keep the faith. Our vision for a peaceful and prosperous Benue lives on,” he said.

Mr Jime and the APC had challenged the return of Mr Ortom of the PDP by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on the grounds of substantial noncompliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2010 (as amended).

They also asked the tribunal to either declare him winner of

the March 2019 governorship election or nullify Mr Ortom’s election and order the conduct of a fresh election in the state.

The governor has, however, extended his hands of fellowship to Mr Jime and others, urging them to join hands with him to develop the state.

“Politics is over; it is now time for governance. This administration is willing to collaborate with everybody, irrespective of political, ethnic and religious differences,” he said. (NAN)

PAGE 18

Health

PEOPLES DAILY, Wednesay October 9, 2019

By Tobias Lengnan Dapam

Periods: Can women sharing stories break down taboos?

Fake online NNPC, Afreximbank to partner on refineries Scholarship rehabilitation, downstream infrastructure financing announcement, By Etuka Sunday Mr. Amr Kamel, and other top “We have a number of bank. officials of the bank who paid financing needs, it depends on He said the bank’s he Nigerian National him a business visit at the NNPC how much you are bringing management team thought it ploy to defraud Petroleum Corporation Towers, Abuja. to the table. We need support imperative to interact with NNPC, (NNPC) has expressed A release by the NNPC in refineries being a key player in one of the Nigerians -PTDF readiness to collaborate with the Acting Group General Manager, particularly rehabilitation, depot optimization most viable sectors of the Nigerian

T

By Etuka Sunday

T

By Hazel Shearing BBC News

F

rom helping friends insert tampons to panicky confessions on first dates, people have been sharing stories about periods on social media.

It is part of an initiative using the hashtag #FreePeriodStories, which campaigners hope will help to tackle stigma around menstruation.

So what are people sharing, and why is it important?

For some, it is stories about awkward encounters with friends.

That time when you help your friend put their first tampon in, by verbally directing them outside the loo and then they come out, worried something isn’t right, you take a look and realise it’s too far back....yeah that #freeperiodstories @thedigifairyz @ AmikaGeorge @_NatashaDevon Once on a date I dropped my bag and about seven tampons spilled out on the floor.

As my date bent down to help me scoop up my belongings I panicked and shouted ‘THEY’RE NOT MINE!’. What are your #freeperiodstories? @freeperiods But as well as funny tales, some stories have highlighted when awkwardness can lead to something more serious. #FreePeriodStories Had my first age 10, and last one at 37 before my Hysterectomy.

My periods were always very heavy+extremely painful due to #endometriosis. I remember bleeding through my underwear and onto my clothes at school, and had to wrap a jumper around my waist all day.

‘We deal with them alone’ The hashtag was launched by teenage period poverty campaigner Amika George.

This year she successfully helped spearhead a campaign to introduce free menstrual products in primary and secondary schools.

We need you to share a short a video or a story in a tweet and nominate 3 friends to do the same Don’t forget to tag me @AmikaGeorge and @thedigifairyz and use the hashtag #FreePeriodStories Lets beat the stigma that surrounds periods ‼️‼️ She says that she started the initiative because the conversation about periods “has to keep going” in the wake of that success.

“From a young age, we’ve been told to whisper about them, say as little as possible on the subject to anyone, even our friends. We deal with them alone,” she says.

“We need to change the narrative that they are gross, and that periods are not something for discussion in a public space.”

She adds that a pervasive stigma surrounding periods has meant that she has been “shut down” in the past.

“I’ve had people make excuses and wander off the minute I start talking about period

poverty,” she says.

‘We need to share facts at an early age’ For Celia Hodson, who founded Scottish period poverty initiative Hey Girls, sharing stories can help break down this stigma.

“One girl told us that her boyfriend asked why she couldn’t wait until she got home to have her period,” she says.

Research carried out by Hey Girls, which offers a “buy one give one” model for period products, suggests that 48% of girls and women are embarrassed to talk about their periods.

She thinks that change can come through education.

“Only by having the conversation and sharing facts at an early age can we begin to dismantle the taboos,” she says.

How humour can help Gabby Edlin, founder of period poverty project Bloody Good Period, says that laughing about periods can relax people and encourage healthy conversations.

She adds that not being able to afford tampons and pads is not the only problem - a lack of discussion can be damaging.

“If a taboo is erased, that’s to say you can talk about periods in a newspaper without anyone batting an eyelid, but the stigma means that people’s lives are still affected,” she says.

“Down to somebody not being able to concentrate in class because a teacher says ‘you can’t go to the toilet’, but they don’t feel

comfortable saying ‘I need to change my pad’.”

Does ‘sanitary’ sound like a dirty word?

Chella Quint, a menstrual activist who campaigns to improve education about periods, says talking about periods allows people to “compare notes”, and that she found sharing her own “leakage horror story” cathartic.

She believes that language itself can perpetuate stigma surrounding periods, and has developed guidelines to help institutions and communities improve their “menstrual literacy”.

“Sanitary implies we are dirty without disposables, and protection says we’re unsafe without them,” she says.

Affi Parvizi-Wayne, campaigner and founder of organic period product company Freda, also disagrees with some of the terminology used.

“Periods, like any other bodily function, are private, not secret,” she says.

She says that some potential investors in her company had displayed a “lack of basic knowledge”, questioning why her business predictions factored in bank holidays and weekends.

“I had to explain that periods don’t really care about holidays!”

“The conversation needs to change so period products can be seen as essential as toilet paper,” she says..

True change, she says, will come when they are in “every bathroom outside the home”.

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PEOPLES DAILY, Wednesay October 9, 2019

he Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) yesterday alerted that the online publication by fraudsters calling on interested Nigerians to apply for scholarship award by uploading their information on their site. https://www.pdfscholarship.eu was fake.

PTDF said, the publication was only a ploy to mislead and extort vulnerable Nigerians through the cloning of PTDF application format.

The Head Press & External Relations, PTDF, Kalu Otisi in a statement said, “the deceptive publication titled “PETROLEUM DEVELOPMENT FUND (PDF) SCHOLARSHIP 2019/2020 FOR UNDERGRADUATE & POSTGRADUATE AWARDS IN NIGERIAN COLLEGES OF EDUCATION, POLYTECHNICS AND UNIVERSITIES” is a ploy to mislead and extort vulnerable Nigerians through the cloning of PTDF application format.

“The general public especially those who might have interest in the PTDF Scholarship Scheme should not be misled by the publication and fall victim to the illicit intentions of the imposters.

“The process of the PTDF 2019/2020 Scholarship had long been concluded and PTDF will as always make known when the portal is open for the next scholarship application.

“All those interested in PTDF scholarship are strongly advised not to respond to this scholarship solicitation as the criminal intentions of the purveyors are manifested in the publication by attempting to confuse PTDF with PDF. “PTDF operates an opendoor policy and anyone seeking further clarification on any of our intervention programmes can visit our website at www. ptdf.gov.ng Facebook page www.facebook.com/ptdf1, and other social media platforms Twitter @ptdf_nigeria or visit the PTDF Corporate office at PTDF house, Plot 1058 memorial drive, central business district, Abuja,” the statement said.

African Export and Import Bank (AFREXIMBANK) or any financial institution willing to finance its critical projects, especially refineries rehabilitation, Downstream infrastructure, including pipelines.

The Group Managing Director of the Corporation, Mallam Melle Kyari, stated this when he played host to the Executive Vice President of AFREXIMBANK,

Group Public Affairs Division, Mr. Samson Makoji stated that speaking in response to the AFREXIMBANK boss’ desire to participate in the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry, Mallam Kyari said the corporation was open to financial and technical partnership with reputable financial institutions like the AFRIXIMBANK to develop the Industry.

and pipelines financing”, the GMD stated.

He assured the team of his readiness to work with the bank, adding: “We will provide you with basic information. We are ready to talk to you”.

Speaking earlier, Amr Kamel said he was in NNPC to congratulate the GMD and his management team on behalf of the board and management of the

economy which is the largest in Africa, with a view to seeking collaboration on ways to further grow the oil and gas sector.

Apart from financing of refineries rehabilitation and other Downstream projects, the AFREXIMBANK boss expressed interest in participating in some other projects such as the Ajaokuta-Kaduna- Kano (AKK) pipeline system.

The Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele (seventh from left) flanked by the Chairman, Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), Engr.

Elias Mbam (sixth from left); the Deputy Governor (Corporate Services), CBN, Mr. Edward Lametek Adamu (sixth from right) and Commissioners of the RMAFC, when the management of the Commission paid a courtesy visit to the CBN Governor, yesterday in Abuja.

NITDA announces strategic partnership with European Data Protection Office

By Etuka Sunday

T

he National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) said it has entered into a strategic partnership with the European Data Protection Office (EDPO) to enable Nigerian businesses comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

NITDA said, the partnership was sealed at the Gulf International Technology Exhibition taking place in Dubai, UAE. The agency said, the partnership was a huge step forward in Nigeria’s drive towards compliance with data protection.

Nigerians would recall that

NITDA issued the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR) in January 2019 with the objective of protecting personal data, improve ease of doing business in Nigeria and to create jobs for over 300,000 Nigerians through the unique implementation model of the NDPR. The outcome of the meeting which had in attendance top NITDA officials and Ms. Lucia Canga, the Head of the EDPO delegation are as follows: 1. NITDA has been designated as the contact point for Nigerian entities that seek to comply with the GDPR. 2. EDPO would facilitate Nigeria’s aspiration to become the first African country to meet

the European Union’s GDPR adequacy requirement which would open Nigerian businesses to opportunities in the European market.

3. NITDA would through its licensed Data Protection Compliance Organisations (DPCOs) assist Nigerian entities to be fully compliant with the GDPR thereby ensuring global competitiveness and business continuity.

The EDPO Representative also had a meeting with the Honourable Minister of Communications, Dr. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami who reaffirmed Nigeria’s readiness to partner with EDPO to actualize the country’s objective of improving ease of doing

business in Nigeria and to make Nigerian companies have global relevance in line with President Muhammandu Buhari GCFR economic diversification agenda.

NITDA is empowered by Section 6 (c) of the NITDA Act of 2007 to develop guidelines for electronic governance and monitor the use of electronic data interchange and other forms of electronic communication transactions as an alternative to paper-based methods in government, commerce, education, the private and public sectors, labour, and other fields, where the use of electronic communication may improve the exchange of data and information.

PEOPLES DAILY, Wednesay October 9, 2019

Page 20

Pension /Insurance

Igbiti Now Niger Insurance MD/CEO

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he Niger Insurance Plc has approved the appointment of Mr Edwin Igbiti as substantive managing director.

Igbiti before prior to his appointment was the immediate past Group Managing Director/ CEO of Aiico Insurance Plc. He also served and gained vast experience in insurance from Phoenix Insurance Company, where he worked for several years.

He is a seasoned professional with an inestimable depth and wealth of technical experience that is acknowledged across the industry.

He has managed relationships between the company and several international partners and affiliates and is a solution proffering, team-spirited leader with excellent interpersonal skills. Educational Background Mr. Igbiti holds an MBA from the University of Ado-Ekiti (2005) and an Advanced Diploma in Management from the University of Lagos.

He is a Certified Insurance practitioner with the Chartered Insurance Institute of London and a Fellow of the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria.

Aside from being professionally affiliated to the Nigerian Institute of Management, Chartered (NIMC), he is also a certified Business Continuity Systems Lead Auditor from the British Institute, UK and an alumnus of the Howard University Business School, U.S.A. He currently seats on the Governing Council of the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN).

Insurance Industry Life Annuity records N323bn

From Lagos

T

Ngozi

Onyeakusi,

he insurance industry life annuity fund portfolio has grown to N322.9 billion as at the end of second quarter of 2019.

This showed a growth rate of 17.4 per cent when compared with N274.9 billion recorded as

at end fourth quarter of 2018.

Within the same period under review, the cumulative total Retiree Life Annuity (RLA) payouts stood at N122 billion as at the end of second quarter of 2019.

The RLA market has been in existence since the advent of the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS).

The RLA portfolio so far has recorded 73,554 contracts purchased for a total premium of N341. 6 billion as at end of second quarter of 2019.

This represents a 13.02 per cent and 6.21 per cent growth in count and volume respectively in 2019 from end of fourth quarter 2018.

The growth during the last

three years for RLA business has averaged 34.28 per cent and 34.12 per cent in count and volume respectively, while RLA fund portfolio growth has averaged 27.46 per cent notwithstanding the RLA payout made (i.e. cumulative total payments of N22 billion as at end of second quarter of 2019).

chemicals in Jabi Lake

By Stanley Onyekwere

F

ishermen at the Jabi Dam site fishers’ village has warned against the use of chemicals in the lake, as it portends mortal dangers to the society.

Making this point, Director, Animal Production, Mrs. Ifeoma Okeke when she led a team of officials from the Agriculture and Rural Development Secretariat (ARDS), to supervise the cleaning of the lake by the Fishermen.

Okeke, who cautioned fishermen on the health hazards associated with poor sanitation, called on them to maintain a clean and healthy environment.

While addressing the fishermen at the start of the exercise, Mrs. Okeke stressing that as their source of livelihood, they are the risk of contacting food and water borne diseases which can easily be spreads to other members of the community.

According to her, “We have received reports that some of you

make use of chemicals to catch fish.

“This is really a dangerous practice and we have the permission of the authorities to take punitive action against any fisherman caught using chemicals to fish.”

She assured them that while the Secretariat will take measures to address the issue of water weeds, the fishermen should avoid dumping of waste materials in the waters as they constitute deadly contaminants that can endanger

both marine and human lives.

On the issues of encroachment, the Director assured them that Secretariat look into it so that the fishing site will not be convenient for miscreants to operate. She advised the executives of the Fishermen to sustain the exercise to be on a weekly basis.

In his remarks, he Head of the Fishermen Mr.Audu Bako thanked the Agric. Secretariat for the initiative assuring the readiness of the fishermen to comply with the all the regulations

Page 21

as set by the FCT Administration.

“We want to use this opportunity to thank the FCT Administration for the privilege of allowing us earn our living in Jabi Dam site.

“The initiative is highly commendable because it helps us maintain good health to enjoy the sweat of our labour,” he said.

During the exercise the fishermen cleared the water hyacinths as well as blocked drainages in the surroundings in the community.

Peaceful coexistence: Christians tasked on exemplary lifestyle

By Stanley Onyekwere

C

hristians have been implored to always live by example, love each other and embrace peaceful coexistence, irrespective of background. resident, Church of Christ in Nations (COCIN), Rev. Dachollom Datiri, who made the call, urged all Christians to shun acts that do don’t represent Christ.

Speaking at the recent ordination of pastors of the church in Gwagwalada-Abuja, Datiri attributed the present roblems bedeviling the country to human nature and its sinful tendencies.

He noted that the only way out of the problems is when Christians begin to live like Jesus Christ in all their dealings.

Earlier in a remark, the chairman of COCIN-RCC FCT, Rev. Chrysanthus Bala, said he was happy seeing the new development of the church in Gwagwalada.

According to him, “as a community of faith we owe the society certain obligations that must be fulfilled.

“We must live by example, love each other and embrace peaceful coexistence, irrespective of one’s background, for effective furtherance of the gospel of our Lord Jesus.

Highlight of the occasion was the ordination of 11 pastors by the COCIN president, Rev. Dachollom Datiri, which was witnessed by dignitaries from all works of life, including the representative of the Aguma of Gwagwalada, Alhaji Muhammadu Magaji and that of the Area Council chairman, Alhaji Mustapha Adamu Danze.

P

L-R: Proterm Chairman, Nigerian American Chamber of Commerce (NACC), Chief Ifeanyi Ugochukwu; Vice Chairman of NACC, Mrs Winifred Okeke; A member of the Chamber, Mr Kenneth Udichi and Secretary of the Chamber, Mr Arinze Emenike, during the first meeting of NACC inauguration committee , yesterday in Enugu. Photo: NAN

PILA trains young professionals in insurance From Ngozi Onyeakusi, Lagos

T

METRO Fishermen warned against using

PEOPLES DAILY, Wednesay October 9, 2019

he Professional Insurance Ladies Association (PILA) is set to hold a career talk aimed at encouraging and nurturing students towards a career in insurance.

The President of the association, Mrs. Ose Oluyanwo, noted that the programme with the theme: Together We Can, The Youths and Insurance, is scheduled for October 10, 2019 at the University of Lagos.

She noted that the programme aims to go beyond its initial intention and expand to involve the youths in driving the technological growth within the Nigerian Insurance Industry, adding that the

association hopes that at the end of this year’s series, it will be looking at a new generation of Insurance practitioners, who are poised to take the industry by storm bringing in to bear, their love and knowledge of technology, innovation and dedication.

“This year’s theme is tagged: Together We Can, The Youths and Insurance. It is instructive, as the global market today is being driven by technological capability to drive competitive advantage, which is hinged on the youths, our millennials. It is thus, a pleasure to address these group of distinguished secondary school students.

Permit me to refer to them as “The future of Insurance in Nigeria”.

“The PILA career talk is a programme

with a strong responsibility to encourage and nurture students towards a career in insurance.

This edition of PILA Career Talk is highly historic. It marks the 30th Anniversary of the programme.

The first was held on 16th August 1989 at Queens College, Yaba, Lagos. We at PILA take it upon ourselves in conjunction with the CIIN to encourage students to embrace insurance as a career,” she added.

She maintained that the association has ever remained a partner in progress both to CIIN, the society and other arms of the insurance industry since 1973 and that it has been complementing efforts in the following areas: Educating, guiding and attracting young career seekers into

the insurance profession through our Career Talks for Secondary Schools; creating awareness for insurance at the microeconomic level of the nation through our market outreach programme for market women and upgrading and updating the competencies of our members through various manpower development programmes (Education and Training).

She posited that the body had on February 6, 2018, launched the Students Mentoring Scheme at Mutual Benefits Assurance Company Limited in Lagos, which was aimed at preparing the future generation of insurance professionals for the practicalities of the profession ahead of time.

Newly elected executive members of Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN), taking oath of office before a Notary Public, Rosemary Hamidu, after their national elections, yesterday in Abuja.

FCTA DOT, Ismaila receives Presidential civil service Merit Award

By Stanley Onyekwere

T

he Director Department of Treasury (DOT) in the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), Mr. Isiyaku Ismaila has been honoured with the prestigious Presidential Civil Service Merit Award for his excellent track record in the civil service.

The Award was presented to Mr. Ismaila at a dinner and award ceremony held to mark the end of the 2019 civil service week at the State House Conference Centre recently, in Abuja.

According to the Acting Head of Service of the Federation, Dr

(Mrs.) Folasade Yemi-Esan, the award is in recognition of the DOT’s outstanding contributions to the Civil Service.

Dr. Yemi-Esan noted that the recognition was in line with President Muhammadu Buhari administration’s vision and policy of recognizing hard work and integrity as well as improving service welfare.

She explains, “It is expected that this will spur other officers to exhibit similar virtues of the recipients and be more dedicated.

“Therefore, I wish to extend the appreciation of the entire civil service to Mr. President for being so gracious in hosting this

event,” she said.

She also restated the commitment and loyalty of the civil service to the mandate handed down by President Muhammadu Buhari administration to deliver on all its priority areas for the enhanced development of the country.

“This, we will achieve through Your Excellency’s continued support and the eight priority areas in the 2017–2020 Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan FCSSIP), particularly in the area of Driving Innovation in the Service for development,” she added.

On his part, recipient of the Presidential Merit Award, which is to recognise the directorate cadre officers, who was represented at the occasion by the Director, Capital Expenditure, FCT Treasury, Mr. Salawu Lawan, appreciated the Head of Service for carefully selecting him for special recognition.

He therefore pledged to put more efforts into the service to ensure its success.

Other recipients of the award include the FCTA Director of Human Resources, Dr. Lazarus Gaza, the Director in the Office of the Permanent Secretary, Mr. Udo Attang among others.

PEOPLES DAILY, Wednesay October 9, 2019

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world news Gordon Sondland: US envoy skips Trump impeachment probe

N international_peoplesdailyng@yahoo.com

Trump Defends Troop Withdrawal from Syria, but Sends Stern Warning

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he Trump administration has blocked the US ambassador to the European Union from testifying to a congressional impeachment investigation.

Gordon Sondland was due to meet behind closed doors on Tuesday with staff from three Democratic-led House committees.

But the envoy was directed by the Department of State not to attend.

Mr Sondland was set to be grilled about any role he played in prodding Ukraine to investigating President Donald Trump’s political rival Joe Biden.

Mr Trump said Mr Sondland would only have been testifying to a “kangaroo court”.

I would love to send Ambassador Sondland, a really good man and great American, to testify, but unfortunately he would be testifying before a totally compromised kangaroo court, where Republican’s rights have been taken away, and true facts are not allowed out for the public....

The Democratic-led impeachment inquiry is trying to establish whether the Republican president withheld nearly $400m in aid to nudge Ukraine’s president into launching an inquiry into Mr Biden, whose son, Hunter Biden, was on the board of a Ukrainian energy company.

In a phone call on 25 July, Mr Trump asked the newly elected Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate the former US vice-president, who is a leading Democratic White House contender in next year’s election.

A whistleblower raised concerns about the phone call, and the Democratic leader of the House of Representatives, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, announced a formal impeachment investigation last month.

In a statement released through his lawyer, Mr Sondland said he was “profoundly disappointed” he would not be able to testify.

“Ambassador Sondland believes strongly that he acted at all times in the best interests of the United States, and he stands ready to answer the Committee’s questions fully and truthfully,” said the statement.

This should just about settle it. The Trump administration is not going to co-operate with the congressional impeachment inquiry. Not at all. Not one bit.

Source: BBC

President Donald Trump walks towards the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Sept. 26, 2019.

U

.S. President Donald Trump sent out a stern but conflicting warning Monday saying that U.S. troops would step aside for an expected Turkish attack on the Kurds, but he threatened to destroy the Turkish economy if they went too far.

“If they do anything outside what we think is humane,” Trump told reporters Monday afternoon, “they could suffer the wrath of an extremely decimated economy.”

The president’s Republican allies expressed outrage at the prospect of abandoning Syrian

Kurds who had fought Islamic State alongside U.S. troops.

One of Trump’s most loyal supporters in the Senate on Monday called the decision “shortsighted and irresponsible.”

Sen. Lindsey Graham, speaks to reporters after a briefing on Capitol Hill in Washington, May 21, 2019.

Appearing on the morning show “Fox & Friends,” Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham was asked whether he supported the president’s move.

“Absolutely not,” he said, claiming the move was a “big win

for ISIS.” Graham said the Kurds in the area will align with Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad because they’d have no choice. “So, this is a big win for Iran and Assad.”

In response to a question from VOA about bipartisan concerns that Trump is effectively clearing the way for a Turkish massacre of the Kurds in Syria, a senior administration official said the U.S.’s action “is not a green light,” and such assertions are “irresponsible.”

Key lawmakers of both U.S. major political parties strongly condemned the president’s

decision.

Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued separate statements criticizing the move.

“A precipitous withdrawal of U.S. forces from Syria would only benefit Russia, Iran, and the Assad regime,” McConnell said Pelosi called it a “deeply disturbing development that betrays our Kurdish allies who have been instrumental partners in our mission to eradicate” Islamic State. “...It is time for us to get out of these ridiculous Endless Wars, many of them tribal, and bring our soldiers home. WE WILL FIGHT WHERE IT IS TO OUR BENEFIT, AND ONLY FIGHT TO WIN,” Trump tweeted on Monday.

“Turkey, Europe, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Russia and the Kurds will now have to figure the situation out, and what they want to do with the captured ISIS fighters in their neighborhood,” Trump said.

A senior administration official told reporters Monday it would be Turkey’s responsibility to both maintain the captivity of Islamic State fighters and to deal with “any sort of reconstitution of ISIS” that may occur.

After the widespread criticism that followed the administration’s announcement Sunday that Turkey would be going forward with a Syria operation, Trump appeared Monday to reverse what was being viewed as his greenlighting of Turkish military action.

German lorry attack in Limburg seen as ‘act of has been living in Germany since 2015, local reports say.

Public broadcaster ZDF quoted sources as saying the incident was being treated by investigators as having a “terrorist background”, although Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said on Tuesday he could not yet say how the incident was being classified.

Police searched a flat in Langen, south of Frankfurt, early on Tuesday and said it was linked to what had happened in Limburg, local reports said.

The lorry driver described being dragged from his cab before it was driven into a queue of traffic An attack on motorists in the western town of Limburg is being investigated as terrorism, security sources have told German media.

On Monday, a man hijacked a lorry and ploughed into eight vehicles waiting at a traffic light, injuring eight people. Seven were treated in hospital.

PEOPLES DAILY, Wednesay October 9, 2019

A thirty-two year-old suspect has been arrested.

Originally from Syria, the man

Media captionAuthorities work to secure the scene of the attack in Limburg, Germany Prosecutors are also investigating whether the attacker had any mental health concerns.

The suspect was due to appear before a judge on Tuesday, reports

e w s F r o m UNHCR: Global Forced Displacement Crisis Must be Addressed and Resolved

Filippo Grandi, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR.

T

he U.N. high commissioner for refugees is calling for urgent action to resolve the global forced displacement crisis as increasing numbers of people flee conflict, natural disasters and grinding poverty. Filippo Grandi was speaking at the opening of UNHCR’s annual weeklong refugee conference.

Forced displacement has reached record highs. In recent years, nearly 71 million people have been uprooted from their homes. More than one-third are refugees; the rest are displaced within their own countries.

U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi says the issue of forced displacement is far more complex now than in 1951. That was when the United Nations adopted the Refugee Convention to protect and assist millions of refugees who survived the horrors of World War II. Displaced Rohingya are seen in a fenced-in camp during a government-organized media tour to a no-man’s land between Myanmar and Bangladesh, near Taungpyolatyar village, Maung Daw, northern Rakhine State, Myanmar, June 29, 2018.

Grandi says refugee protection since has become more complex.

He notes the world now is faced with what he calls mixed flows of refugees and migrants.

The commissioner also says putting economic migrants and asylum seekers into the same category is eroding protections for refugees, who are people fleeing from war, persecution and violence.

In Mexico last week, he says he saw examples of refugee integration coupled with increasing migratory pressures from the region, but also from Africa.

“Saving lives and safeguarding the dignity and rights of all those on the move must remain central, together with access to international protection for those with valid claims,” Grandi said. “There and elsewhere, legal migration pathways would help prevent the abuse of asylum systems as substitutes of migration channels.”

Grandi says climate change is creating a new form of forcible displacement, an issue that did not exist when the Refugee Convention was conceived.

Malawian migrants found in container lorry in Mozambique

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olice in Mozambique scuttled an attempt to traffic 42 illegal migrants from Malawi in a container lorry heading to South Africa.

They had been travelling in the lorry for three days before being intercepted in the capital of Gaza province, Xai-Xai, police spokesman Carlos Macuacua said.

The detained migrants told authorities they had been assured of employment in South Africa.

Police are working with the Mozambique migration authorities to repatriate them to Malawi, Mr Macuacua said: Quote Message: This is an illegal immigration case. They

hold no identity cards and they were being carried in inhumane conditions.

This is an illegal immigration case. They hold no identity cards and they were being carried in inhumane conditions.

Quote Message: There’s work still to be done together with the immigration authorities and the national investigation service to find out the true masterminds of this trafficking.”

There’s work still to be done together with the immigration authorities and the national investigation service to find out the true masterminds of this trafficking.”

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f r i c a

Kenya’s Sengwer People Demand Recognition of ‘Ancestral Land’

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he Sengwer, an indigenous hunter-gatherer community in western Kenya, presented a petition Monday morning to the government in Nairobi demanding the return and protection of what they call their ancestral lands. The community says it faces threats of eviction as Kenya’s government takes over conservation of the country’s forests and water supplies.

Hundreds of members of the Sengwer, a community that lives in the Embobut forest, spent two days marching from their ancestral land in Kenya’s North Rift Valley to Nairobi in hopes of meeting President Uhuru Kenyatta.

Dressed in traditional regalia, they sang traditional songs as they arrived in Nairobi with the petition to the government.

Leleu says, “As a community, we are yet to be recognized as a Kenyan tribe. That’s one of the main reason we are here.

The second is that we have been evicted several times from our ancestral land. We are now living in a small portion in these lands and still face imminent eviction.

We want to go back to the areas we have been evicted from and be recognized as the owners of our ancestral land.”

Hunter-gatherer communities

in Kenya are facing threat of eviction as the government takes over management of the country’s forests and water catchment areas.

Embobut forest is listed as one of the five most important water catchment areas in Kenya.

Since the 1970’s, Kenya’s government, through its Forest Service guards, has carried out a series of forceful evictions of the Sengwer in Embobut.

An Amnesty international report said that during evictions in 2017, forces burned more than 300 houses, injured hundreds and killed a Sengwer man.

Amnesty International’s director in Kenya, Irungu Houghton, walked with the Sengwer in Nairobi Monday.

“Their community is not considered by the economists to have economic value to this country nor are they considered to be politically very powerful.

But they are Kenyans and they deserve their rights like other Kenyans. But in addition, they are indigenous people, which means they have a responsibility to the Earth that is very different from the rest of us. Their land is ancestral; they have for centuries been responsible for taking care of the forests in places like Embobut in Elgeyo Marakwet,” Irungu said.

Speaking to VOA, a senior Kenya Forest Service official said Embobut forest was “a government-gazetted forest and not an ancestral land. The official said the Sengwer were not a tribe but a “clan within another community that is not laying claim to the forest.”

The Embobut forest is not the only area witnessing disputes between indigenous people and the government.

In August, the government announced plans to evict thousands they considered “encroachers” in sections of Kenya’s Mau Forest, arguing that the move was to save the Mau ecosystem, which is threatened by heavy deforestation and encroachment.

In a report last month, Human Rights Watch asked the government to stop the “excessive use of force” during the Mau evictions and uphold proper guidelines in the ongoing process.

Kenya’s Ministry of Environment and Forestry set up a task force late last year to advise the government on how to resolve disputes regarding indigenous people’s claims to forest lands that are critical to Kenya’s conservation efforts. The task force is set to present its findings to the ministry this month.

Rwanda launches ‘first made-in-Africa’ smartphones

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worker operates a Mara X smartphone during the launch by Rwanda’s Mara Group in KigaliImage caption: A worker operates a Mara X smartphone during the launch by Rwanda’s Mara Group in Kigali Rwanda has opened Africa’s first smartphone manufacturing plant in the capital, Kigali, in an event attended by President Paul Kagame.

Manufactured by technology company Mara Group - the Mara X and Mara Z smartphones - will use Google’s Android operating system and cost 175,750 Rwandan francs ($190; £155) and 120,250 Rwandan francs ($130;£106) respectively.

“This is the first smartphone manufacturer in Africa,” Mara Group CEO Ashish Thakkar told news agency Reuters during a tour of the plant on Monday.

The company was targeting customers willing to pay more for quality, Mr Thakkar said.

But most phones sold in Africa are from Chinese companies, which offer dual SIM cards and are cheaper than Mara’s planned price point.

President #Kagame on the launch of @ MaraPhones: The smartphone is no longer a luxury item. It is rapidly becoming a requirement of everyday life. That trend is bound to increase in the years to come, as more and more services migrate to digital platforms.https://www.newtimes.co.rw/ news/kagame-mara-phone-milestone-rwanda …

ReportReport this social embed, make a complaint Companies assemble smartphones in Egypt, Ethiopia, Algeria and South Africa, but import the components, Mr Thakkar said.

“We are actually the first who are doing manufacturing. We are making the motherboards, we are making the sub-boards during the entire process... There are over 1,000 pieces per phone,” he added.

He said the plant had cost $24m and could make 1,200 phones per day.

President Paul Kagame said he hoped the phone would increase Rwanda’s smartphone usage, currently at around 15%.

PAGE 24

PEOPLES DAILY, Wednesay October 9, 2019

N e w s F r o m A SI A Hearthstone gamer banned for Hong Kong protest

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lizzard has placed a 12-month ban on a Hong-Kong-based professional gamer who staged an antigovernment protest during a post-match interview.

Ng Wai Chung put on a gas mask and shouted: “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our age,” after a Grandmasters Hearthstone tournament.

Blizzard said the ban was for breaking tournament rules that players must not offend people or damage its image.

The interview aired on the official Hearthstone Taiwan video stream.

The stream was reportedly cut immediately after his statement and switched to showing adverts.

Hearthstone is played with a deck of virtual cards featuring heroes, relics and spells based on Blizzard’s Warcraft titles.

Chung, who plays under the name Blitzchung, has been a regular top-10 player in the Asia-Pacific region since 2015 and has featured in Blizzard’s roster of top Hearthstone players.

Many other players have taken now to social media to complain about Blizzard

“caving in” to China.

Blizzard issued a statement, saying: “Grandmasters is the highest tier of Hearthstone e-sports and we take tournament rule violations very seriously.

“While we stand by one’s right to express individual thoughts and opinions, players and other participants that elect to participate in our e-sports competitions must abide by the official competition rules.”

As well as the year-long ban and loss of prize money Chung has been removed from the Grandmaster list that made him eligible to take part in top tournaments.

Blizzard said it would also stop working with the two video presenters who conducted the interview.

In a statement given to gaming news website InvenGlobal, Chung said his comments had been “another form of participation of the protest”.

He added: “It could cause me a lot of trouble, even my personal safety in real life.

“But I think it’s my duty to say something about the issue.”

By Mashe Umaru Gwamna

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he Nigerian Institute of Town Planners (NITP),said the institute’s 50th annual conference and annual general meeting is slated to hold from 28th October to 1st of November 2019 in Ibadan, Oyo State.

This was contained in a statement signed by the National Public Relations Secretary, Tpl Sani Daniel,said that the annual conference has the theme “Regenerating Nigerian Cities” .

The statement explained that” the purpose of this meeting is to appreciate the courage and doggedness of our members through the

By Mashe Umaru Gwamna

Many protesters wear gas masks to hide their faces and avoid being affected by tear gas

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countries worsened over a number of issues.

Later when expanding on his “off limits” tweet, Mr Trump said Turkey should “not do anything outside of what we would think is humane”.

He also said there would be “big trouble” if “any of our people get hurt”.

In a statement, Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman said “the Department of Defense made clear to Turkey - as did the president - that we do not endorse a Turkish operation in Northern Syria”.

What does Turkey want to do in Syria?

At the recent UN General Assembly, Mr Erdogan produced a map showing a 480km (300 mile) long and 30km deep “safe zone” that he wants Turkey to control along its border with Syria.

This would resettle up to two million of the more than 3.6 million Syrian refugees currently living in Turkey.

On Monday, Turkey’s defence ministry said that “all

preparations for the operation have been completed,” adding the establishment of such a zone was “essential” for Syrians and for peace in the region.

But Turkey has also repeatedly threatened to attack Kurdish fighters across the border in northeastern Syria.

Who are the Kurds?

Turkey considers the Kurdish YPG militia - the dominant force in the SDF - an extension of the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party, which has fought for Kurdish autonomy in Turkey for three decades.

Separately on Tuesday, Iran said it opposed any Turkish military action in Syria.

Here in Akcakale there is no sign of any Turkish military build-up, but on both sides of the border wall there is a sense that an offensive is coming, and probably soon.

There is no indication that the crescendo of international concern is altering Turkey’s plans for establishing a “safe zone”.

Dozens of TV cameras - local and international - are now trained

on the border wall. For civilians and refugees on the other side, in northeastern Syria, there are real fears of what a Turkish invasion could mean. Even if it’s limited in scope and it’s unclear if it will be - it could cause massive displacement.

And what of the thousands of Islamic State prisoners being held in Kurdish-run detention centres?

A spokesman for the SDF told the BBC that if the attack happened they would have to focus on defending themselves and would have to withdraw some of their forces from the jails, and from areas recently liberated from IS. What is the camp situation on the border?

SDF forces operate a number of refugee camps for displaced people and holding camps for the families of suspected IS fighters both inside and outside Turkey’s proposed “safe zone”.

Relatives of suspected IS fighters are held at Ain Issa and Roj within the zone, although by far the biggest such camp is at al-Hol, close to the Iraqi border and about

60km south of Turkey. Al-Hol holds 70,000 people, more than 90% of them women and children, including 11,000 foreign nationals.

Some 12,000 suspected IS fighters, a third of them foreign nationals, are held in seven prisons further south, near the city of Raqqa.

The Kurdish-led authorities say they will not prosecute the women and children being detained and there has so far been very little action in the international community to repatriate any foreigners.

If Turkey takes over areas controlled by the SDF, the White House has said Turkey will be responsible for all IS fighters held there.

But if SDF fighters guarding camps and prisons are attacked in a Turkish offensive, their ability and desire to remain in place would clearly be called into question and European governments in particular fear jihadists and their families could slip out and try to return home.

Source: BBC

Overloaded Kiribati ferry where 95 died had drunk crew

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ferry that sank off the Pacific nation of Kiribati - killing 95 people - was overloaded, had a drunken crew, and was not allowed to carry passengers at sea, an inquiry has found.

Of the 102 people aboard the MV Butiraoi last year, only five passengers and two crew survived.

After the boat sank, it was eight days before the alarm was raised, and most victims died at sea from hunger, dehydration and hypothermia.

One woman died while giving birth.

The 17m (57ft) catamaran departed Nonouti island on 18 January last year for a routine twoday trip to the capital, Tarawa.

It was due to cover 260km (160

miles) of Pacific waters in the archipelago country.

But it set off without notifying authorities, and did not issue a distress signal when it began to fall apart hours after leaving shore.

It did not have a working or activated radio beacon - meaning it was days before anyone realised the ferry was missing.

When the alarm was finally raised, an international search effort got under way, with aircraft from New Zealand, Australia and the US scanning the ocean.

On 27 January, a New Zealand military plane found one of the ferry’s aluminium boats carrying seven survivors, among them a 14-year old girl.

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he Minister of Works and Housing,Babatunde Fashola,said that the number of roads seeking government’s attention for completion and rehabilitation keeps increasing on daily basis while the resources required to fix them remained grossly inadequate.

Fashola disclosed this in Abuja during an interactive session of the Senate Committee on Works with the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing and its agencies.

A statement signed by Stephen Kilebi DD (Press), said the minister maintained that it was the responsibility of his Ministry and its agencies to ensure that the roads in Nigeria were in good condition.

He also noted that the inability to complete the various road projects across the country was as a result of inadequate budget and release of funds.

While describing roads as national assets of any nation, Fashola called on all stakeholders in the Works Sector to come up with a hard decision on prioritization of roads for completion and rehabilitationon the basis of social and economic importanceto Nigerians.

The Minister recommended the prioritization ofmajor link roads across the states and the roads to the various sea and airports across the country.

The minister who was enthusiastic with the calibre of the Senators that constituted the Committee on Works whom he described ascapable and tested men of proven integrity, added that with their support, the challenges on Nigerian roads would be overcome.

Earlier, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Works, Senator Mohammed Adamu Aliero stated that members of his Committee would collaborate with the Executiveto do the needful

electioneering process and to celebrate their successes. It is also intended to encourage them on making use of basic principles of the profession to manage their offices to achieve excellence and enable the electorate enjoy dividends of democracy”.

The National President of the Institute Tpl Lekwa Ezutah, FNITP will host and celebrate all town planners who were elected in the last general elections and members who have been

appointed to political offices in the current dispensation.

The Oyo State Governor,Oluwaseyi Abiodun Makinde is expected to declare the conference open on October 28th .

Also,Tpl.Hon. Uko Nkole,Member Federal House of Representatives has been appointed to coordinate this event.

Other expected members at this annual conference are : Tpl. Darius D. Ishaku,Tpl Uko

T A file picture of the MV Butiraoi in the harbour The inquiry was ordered by the Kiribati government. It found: The use of alcohol “gave every drunken crew [member] the feeling of grandeur and power to make decisions alone”.

The inquiry made a number of recommendations, including a national standard on boat building; a ban on alcohol for crew during working hours; and a strengthened code of ethics.

in addressing the challenges in the works sector.

As an option to address the funding challenge in the works sector, Senator Aliero, suggested sourcing for fund through local and foreign investors by concessioning some of our major roads. “ I believe if we concession some major roads and get the contractors to construct those roads to international standards, they can recoup their investments within reasonable time by tolling the roads.

This will gradually reduce government involvement in road construction and allow the ministry focus on being the regulator in line with what is obtainable in many countries in the world.”

“I am very optimistic that the government of President Mohammadu Buhari and the 9th Senate will deliver roads of international standard to the people of Nigeria and in no distant time, they will notice qualitative transformation in the works industry,” the chairman added.

Other members of the committee in attendance at the interactive session amongst others include, Senators Abdullahi Adamu, Ike Ekweremadu, Orji UzorKalu, Kashim Shetima, Kabiru Gaya and Danjuma Goje.

On the minister’s entourage was: the Minister of State for Works and Housing, Engr.

Abubakar D. Aliyu, the Permanent Secretary, Mohammed Bukar and directors of the Ministry.

Minister of Works and Housing , Babatunde Fashola ( middle) , (L) Minister of Works and Housing for State Abubakar Aliyu and Permanent Secretary of Works and Housing Mohammed Bukar at NASS recently.

Building Collapse: Fashola wants cases investigated, culprits prosecuted

By Mashe Umaru Gwamna he Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, said that cases of collapsed building should be investigated, culprits prosecuted and punished.

He explained that, this will curtail the incessant occurrence and protect lives and property.

Fashola made the disclosure recently,when a delegation of the National Building Code Advisory Committee visited him in Abuja to update him on the activities of the committee.

He minister said the committee should come up with measures that would ensure that people who were involved in erecting buildings that collapsed were investigated, prosecuted and punished to send a message that people could be held accountable for their action.

“The ugly incident kept recurring because nobody had been punished and made an

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NITP set for 50th annual conference in October

More roads seek government attention - Fashola

Turkey-Syria border: Trump threatens to ‘obliterate’ Turkish economy

resident Donald Trump has threatened to destroy Turkey’s economy if the country goes “off limits” following his surprise decision to pull US forces out of north-eastern Syria.

In a series of angry tweets, Mr Trump defended his move, which could open the way for Turkey to launch an attack on Kurdish fighters across the border.

The withdrawal was heavily criticised even by Mr Trump’s Republican allies.

Kurdish forces were key US allies in defeating Islamic State (IS) in Syria.

But Turkey regards the Kurdish militias, which dominate the USallied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), as terrorists.

The US has some 1,000 troops across Syria, but only about two dozen had been pulled out from the border area, according to a senior state department official.

What is President Trump’s position?

Mr Trump initially tweeted on Monday he had been elected on “getting out of these ridiculous endless wars” and that “Turkey, Europe, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Russia and the Kurds will now have to figure the situation out”.

This had followed a phone call on Sunday with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, after which the White House said Turkey would be “moving forward with its longplanned operation into northern Syria” and US forces would “no longer be in the immediate area”.

Following accusations from US Kurdish allies they had been “stabbed in the back” and criticism from across the US political spectrum, Mr Trump sent out more tweets later on Monday, warning Turkey not to take advantage of his decision, saying he could “destroy and obliterate” its economy.

Last year, the US raised tariffs on some Turkish products and imposed sanctions on top officials as relations between the two Nato

Property

PEOPLES DAILY, Wednesay October 9, 2019

example of wrong doing.

“After every unfortunate incident somebody has not been prosecuted.To show that people are answerable when they do not comply with laws.

“There must be consequences for the lives lost and property destroyed, so you do it at your own peril so that a lesson would be learnt and this is how we can protect our people”,Fashola said.

He pointed out that “If cases were been investigated to a conclusive end and findings were made and culprits brought to book and punished to the knowledge of all the trend will end”.

The minister commended the committee on their work on Liquefied Petroleum Gas Piping to homes, saying that it would contribute to energy generation for the country and ultimately eliminate the era of gas flaring.

The minister said that it would enable many people that fear that gas was unsafe to use it and therefore, boost the economy.

Earlier, the Chairman of the committee, Mr Mohammed Fawaraja said the draft guidelines on the inclusion of liquefied petroleum gas piping in construction of houses into the Nigerian National Building Code has been produced and reviewed by the committee.

He added that the committee monitored new development with regards to policies, programmes and happenings as they concern building, construction nationwide.

Fawaraja said this was to keep members conversant with recent building activities within Nigeria and at the international level to facilitate quality contributions in the discharge of the committee’s assignment.

The chairman noted that the information gathered was helpful in making provision in the building code in the future having noted that Nigeria was prone to seismic challenges.

It would be recalled that the committee was inaugurated on July 26, 2018 to provide national instrument with guidelines for regulating the building construction across the country.

Nkole Ndukwe, Tpl. Dr. Ramatu Tijani, Tpl. Dr. Idris S. Okanla, Tpl. Prof Ahmed Adamu,Tpl Chief Steve Onu, Tpl Ibrahim Hussein, Tpl Prof Mrs Opunuebo Owei and other members already invited.

The statement said the choice of Ibadan as the hosting State capital for the National Conference is as a result of its strategic historical relevance being the cradle where the professional body was formed in 1966.

Sales slump in 2019 was mostly in the South of England, analysis shows

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he residential property sales slump largely affected the South of the UK, with 62% of areas that saw falling transactions in 2019 in that part of the country, according to new research.

Indeed, most parts of the UK actually saw transaction volumes grow last year, the analysis by property developer Southern Grove found.

It says there was a ‘piggy bank’ mentality and rising stamp duty exacerbated the issue.

Sales volumes began to collapse on an annual basis in May after the country experienced a Brexit wobble. But it was in the South where stretched valuations made the region acutely vulnerable to the risks associated with the political deadlock.

This meant that a widespread decline in sales with much of Southern England and Southern Wales skewing the overall picture.

The slump first appeared in June’s HMRC figures which showed sales volumes had dropped 11.3% in the 12 months to May 2019 as home owners and buyers shelved their plans pending Britain’s exit from the European Union on March 29.

The analysis shows that of 406 local authority areas in the UK, some 168 or 41.4% saw transactions fall between May 2018 and May 2019 and 104 of these places, 62%, were in the South.

The collapse in the year on year sales figures later worsened, reaching a 16.5% fall in June and 12.4% drop in July before largely recovering in August. Southern Grove believes unrealistic vendors and costly stamp duty exacerbated the slowdown.

Worst affected areas included North Dorset with a fall of 35.4%, Harrogate down 33.9%, East Cambridgeshire down 29.6%, Broxbourne down 27.8%, East Hertfordshire down 27.4%, Slough down 27.3%, Camden down 27.2% and Hammersmith and Fulham down 25.9%.

In the year to May 2019, Wales saw sales volumes climb 5.3% on average with nine of 22 local authority areas, 41%, seeing declines.

In England, transactions increased by 2.9% on average but fell annually in 157 of 352 areas, 44.6%. In Scotland, just two of 32 local authorities, 6.3%, saw a fall in sales and the entire country actually recorded a 20.5% rise in transactions.

‘This is an eye-opening dissection of a collapse in sales that was clearly weighted towards the South. It’s a region that has seen huge price growth over the past five years so it’s no accident,’ said Andrew Southern, Chairman of Southern Grove.

‘Home owners in more expensive areas clearly felt it was better to ride out the storm, as any subsequent purchase would carry a hefty stamp duty bill at a time when they couldn’t be confident property values would be bulletproof in the medium term,’ he pointed out.

‘In that situation, it is only human to wait and see what happens. High valuations give homeowners a taste for the piggy bank they

PEOPLES DAILY, Wednesday, October 9, 2019

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PEOPLES DAILY, Wednesay October 9, 2019

CLASSIFIED

Cameroon’s conflict: Will the National Dialogue make any difference?

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ife in Cameroon’s two Englishspeaking provinces has been brought to a standstill by three years of conflict, which has cost about 3,000 lives and forced 500,000 from their homes.

The dispute had been simmering for decades, but boiled over in 2016, when teachers and lawyers started to protest against the use of French in schools and courts.

The government in the majority French-speaking country responded with lethal force, provoking rebels to declare independence for the region they call “Ambazonia”, which in turn led to an even stronger military crackdown.

In an attempt to end the crisis, President Paul Biya called for talks, dubbed the National Dialogue, this week.

Some were encouraged by this, but others dismissed it as a sham. So what has it achieved?

The National Dialogue made a series of proposals: • the adoption of a special status for the two Anglophone regions • the restoration of the House of Traditional Chiefs • the election of local governors • the immediate relaunch of certain airport and seaport projects in the two regions • the rapid integration of excombatants into society • the name of the country be returned to former name, the United Republic of Cameroon • implement the law that government officials declare their assets, in order to tackle corruption Why do these proposals matter?

A return to the name United Republic of Cameroon is significant as it would go some way towards recognising the different histories of the different parts of the country.

At independence, the Southern Cameroons (colonised by Britain) voted in a UN-organised plebiscite to be united with the Republic of Cameroon (formerly colonised by France).

The new country the two entities created was called the Federal Republic of Cameroon. But the federation was scrapped in 1972 in a controversial referendum, giving rise to the United Republic of Cameroon.

“It is the abolition of this federal structure that lies at the core of the Anglophone problem,” opposition leader John Fru Ndi told the BBC. John Fru Ndi (right) wants a return to Cameroon’s federal structure In 1984, President Paul Biya worsened the situation by scrapping the word “united” from the name of the country, and it became known simply as the Republic of Cameroon, which was the same name given at independence to the part of Cameroon colonised by France.

“What that meant was that the Anglophone entity had been annexed,” Mr Fru Ndi said.

What difference would they make?

A return to the United Republic of Cameroon has been welcomed, although Mr Fru Ndi would have preferred a return to a federal system of government.

The prospect of electing local governors has also been welcomed by many. Jean

Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute (centre) was at the opening of the dialogue in the capital, Yaoundé

John Fru Ndi (right) wants a return to Cameroon’s federal structure

Dozens of people came for the dialogue off the agenda Emmanuel Pondi, a professor of political science, told the BBC that “for Anglophones, it is a return to normalcy”.

He said that locally elected officials would mean decisions being taken closer to

but critics say important issues were left

the people.

“It used to be an administration of proximity where things are done by the people, for the people, and in the right moment,” Prof Pondi said.

“The problem with the centralisation of power is precisely that things are done miles and miles away, by people who have no idea of the consequences of the decisions they are taking.”

He said giving more autonomy to the regions would also “accelerate their dimension of good governance, because you have to be accountable immediately, or else, you are not elected”.

The proposals will be forwarded to President Biya, with the expectation that he will order them to be implemented.

Cameroon - still divided along colonial lines: • Colonised by Germany in 1884 • British and French troops force Germans to leave in 1916 • Cameroon is split three years later - 80% goes to the French and 20% to the British • French-run Cameroon becomes independent in 1960 • Following a referendum, the (British) Southern Cameroons join Cameroon, while Northern Cameroons join English-speaking Nigeria What has the reaction been?

Opinion has been sharply divided.

Backers like Elvis Ngolle Ngolle, a senior figure with the ruling party, thinks that it is a “decisive step in the right direction”.

“It will enhance participatory development across the country,” he told the BBC. “We believe that these proposals will calm down minds and restore peace.”

But Akere Muna, a political leader and former Cameroon representative of Transparency International, walked out of the talks in protest over what he said were attempts to stifle debate.

“Speakers were pre-arranged. You couldn’t even ask a question. It was stagemanaged. So they were actually looking for spectators, not participants,” Mr Muna told the BBC. Dozens of people came for the dialogue but critics say important issues were left off the agenda Noting that the debate in the two English-speaking regions was about “secession and separation,” he questioned why there was no commission to examine those alternatives.

“So, I thought that the prescription had nothing to do with the illness,” he said.

On Thursday, in what appeared to be a goodwill gesture President Biya ordered all charges dropped against more than 300 people detained in connection with the Anglophone crisis.

But the decision failed to appease critics who say thousands more are locked up on trumped-up charges.

What do the separatists say?

They have pledged to keep fighting until “Ambazonia is freed”.

Ivo Tapang, a spokesman for 13 armed groups called the Contender Forces of Ambazonia, has made it clear that the concessions made so far are not enough to deter them from their fight for freedom.

“We will not accept an olive branch from someone whose troops are still in our territory,” he said. “We will intensify our struggle with guns and bullets.”

Source: BBC

Missing steps on agric, oil and sundry matters Cont. from page 32 have been provided for our teeming unemployed youths. We will surely get there if only we will all agree to bear the pains of today.

Another major problem of Nigeria is the poor management of our oil and gas resources. Since the discovery of crude oil globally, development of nations have taken a new turn. Massive oil income from the sector has been the catalyst turning nations into the super civilization of the present generation. Since 1957, when we drilled our first oil well at Oloibiri, the easy money has been having all the negative effects on us; we had neglected agriculture; we had raised monsters among us who took more for themselves at the expense of all; we have become enemies for what should unite us.

Nigeria is so blessed with crude oil. As at 2019, we have an estimated 37.5 billion barrels proven reserve of oil and 187 trillion standard cubic feet (tscf) of gas.

This is excluding the limitless unproved reserves and the prospects of successful continuous exploration for the natural resources. As an oil producing nation, we are in the league of Malaysia and United Arab Emirates. Nigeria produces an average of 2.0 million barrels/per day of crude oil over the last 20 years at an average cost of $60 per barrel, so the country has raked in approximately US$876,000,000,000 in the last 20 years from crude oil sales. Malaysia produce an average of 636,099 barrel/ per day over the same period, so Malaysia has earned approximately $278,611,362 over the last 20 years. The United Arab Emirates produces an average of 2.4 million barrels/ per day over the same period and has earned approximately $1,051,200,000,000.

Today these are the countries we envy and somehow, we would want to know what the difference is? Where did we take the wrong turn? How did Malaysia and the UAE become what they are today and we are still here struggling? The answer is simple, we produced but we destroy our refining power and no oil producing nation really benefit from the nature’s gift without refining it. Malaysia has six refineries functioning at full capacity while

UAE has over 60 functioning refineries.

It is the quality of a country’s refining power that determines its take from the whole lot of the benefit of the large industry. For whatever reasons, when we export crude oil and buy finished products, we lose the entire value chain benefits of refining. We lose the whole capital flow in the refining process, we lose over one hundred by-products of refining, we lose the whole lot of potential raw materials that naturally birth manufacturing industries and above all, we lose out on the millions of potential employment opportunities that come with full refining power.

What is currently happening to Nigeria is that the oil producing company producing our crude and pay us stipend for allowing them, then we sell at ridiculous price at the international market. The crude is sold to other countries where it is refined to give almost fifty products.

We then return and buy three of these products at very exorbitant prices leaving the refining country to enjoy the benefits of all the remaining products.

What is the way forward for the industry?

This is not a technical paper so detailed analysis may not suffice here but we must make the decision to localised workforce for all the industrial processes from prospecting, reservoir analysis, drilling, completion, production, to refining and all upstream/downstream operations. We must make the needed decision for the construction of at least three new national refineries knowing that continuous turnaround maintenance of those moribund existing refineries are waste of resources and fake hopes.

We must open up the industry for private investors. We must block all designed leakages and leakage regimes: re-appraise the subsidy regime with a futuristic plan to permanently stop it. We must revisit all production agreement with producing companies, enshrined and fully implement the local content goals, restructure the NNPC to be more commercially inclined. We must see to a smooth, speedy and whole passage of the PIB and the implementation of the Gas Master Plan as well as ensure a total and

final stoppage of gas flaring.

It is my candid opinion recommended that we return to the table to reconsider all efforts to review the NNDC policy and framework with the sole aim to develop the oil producing states and re-strategize to get real results. When this is done, sabotaging of oil and gas facilities and systems would naturally end. We must know that the simultaneous development of both the agricultural and petroleum industry would lift the country out of economic strangulation and produce tons of millions of jobs.

Lastly, for the purpose of this piece, a problem we must take seriously and ensure its timely resolution is our economic relationship with all our bordering nations. The recent closure of the Nigerian border with Benin, Niger, Cameroon and Chad has opened our eyes to the whole lot of economic parasitic relationship we share with all these countries. It has become very clear that the concept of ECOWAS free trade charter has disadvantages to Nigeria.

Imagine the exposure of Benin Republic with a population of 12.1 million (6% of Nigeria’s population) being the 6th largest importer of rice globally importing about 1.9 million metric tons of rice annually worth approximately $936,122,000. The government of Benin are duly paid import tariffs for the imports and then by some means unexplainable, about 90% of the rice are smuggled into the “Big Brother Nigeria(BBN)” with no revenue accruable to the Nigerian government, our market become flooded with the smuggled products: the local farmers are literally forced out of business and government attempts to revamp the rice industry betrayed.

Not limited to that, Nigeria imports finished petroleum product into the country, the government subsidized the product and before you say “jack”, hundreds of trucks load of the product are smuggled into these countries on daily basis. Nigeria has been the fool, losing on all fronts; their economy is booming while we continue to groan. It is not surprising that the World Bank report on Benin Republic would aptly capture the country’s survival challenges as “Benin is

vulnerable to exogenous shock: adverse weather conditions, varying terms of trade (cotton and oil prices), and developments in Nigeria- its main trading partner and the main source of its economic activities as 80% of Benin imports are destined for Nigeria. The economic recovery in Nigeria, where the recession officially ended in September 2017, fuelled growth in Benin”.

We cannot continue like this. We must produce what we eat and eat what we produce and would not under any guise, any longer condone any form of sabotage coming from any of those nations. We have closed the border for just few weeks and the result is unbelievable: our daily consumption of PMS and AGO dropped significantly, local rice gaining more recognition and processing capacity increasing nationwide, even crime especially banditry has dropped and our income through legitimate importation on an unimaginable rise.

We cannot continue like this: the borders cannot be permanently closed.

The Regional Bodies, ECOWAS in particular, must return to the table; the spirit of the free trade protocols must be re-assessed. Countries cannot be turned into dumping grounds because of some unfavourable agreement. What becomes of mutual symbiotic economic relationship among nations? Germany is a big brother providing shelter for several nations surrounding it, yet none of those nations is taking undue advantage of Germany to develop. The EU agreement does not allow Italy, France, Portugal, Spain and others to negatively impact Germany’s local economy.

When the terms of inter border trades and relationships protocols between Nigeria and these countries are amended through the ECOWAS Parliament and relevant sub-regional bodies, the borders should be opened for mutual benefit of all.

There are hurdles to be crossed, decisions to be made and actions to be taken before we reach the Eldorado, where we will altogether be able to say like Julius Caesar “Veni Vidi Vici” (We came, we saw and we conquered).

God Bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria!

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PEOPLES DAILY, Wednesay October 9, 2019

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PUBLIC NOTICE

BREAKING BARRIERS TO JUSTICE INITIATIVE

ALHERI INITIATIVE FOR PEACE AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

PUBLIC NOTICE

GANA DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE THIS IS TO INFORM THE GENERAL PUBLIC THAT THE ABOVE NAMED HAS APPLIED TO THE CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION (CAC), ABUJA FOR REGISTRATION UNDER PART ‘C’ OF COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT, 1990.

THIS IS TO INFORM THE GENERAL PUBLIC THAT THE ABOVE NAMED HAS APPLIED TO THE CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION (CAC), ABUJA FOR REGISTRATION UNDER PART ‘C’ OF COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT, 1990.

THIS IS TO INFORM THE GENERAL PUBLIC THAT THE ABOVE NAMED HAS APPLIED TO THE CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION (CAC), ABUJA FOR REGISTRATION UNDER PART ‘C’ OF COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT, 1990.

THE TRUSTEES ARE : 1. ESTHER ENIBOKUN AKUGUE (2.) DENNIS ADONIS OBAZEE ALEOBUA

THE TRUSTEES ARE : 1 HUSSAINI USMAN UBA 2. SANI HUSSAIN ANGALE 3. SHUAIBU USMAN MADABO

THE TRUSTEES ARE : 1. WAZIRI MUHAMMAD NAZIR 2. MUHAMMAD ZAINAB SURAJ 3. MUHAMMAD HAFSAT WAZIRI 4. MUHAMMAD SAGIR WAZIRI

THE AIM AND OBJECTIVE : 1.To promote health and education among the society.

THE AIM AND OBJECTIVE : 1. TO PROMOTE AND PROVIDE WOMEN, CHILDREN AND YOUTHS WITH HEALTH AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.

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ANY OBJECTION TO THIS REGISTRATION SHOULD BE FORWARDED TO THE REGISTRAR GENERAL CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION, PLOT 420 TIGRIS CRESCENT, OFF AGUIYI IRONSI STREET, MAITAMA, ABUJA WITHIN 28 DAYS OF THIS PUBLICATION.

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THIS IS TO INFORM THE GENERAL PUBLIC THAT THE ABOVE NAMED HAS APPLIED TO THE CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION (CAC), ABUJA FOR REGISTRATION UNDER PART ‘C’ OF COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT, 1990.

THIS IS TO INFORM THE GENERAL PUBLIC THAT THE ABOVE NAMED HAS APPLIED TO THE CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION (CAC), ABUJA FOR REGISTRATION UNDER PART ‘C’ OF COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT, 1990.

THE TRUSTEES ARE : 1.Olaolu Olusegun Samuel 2.Epetade Olutope Olaoluwa 3.Olanrewaju Adewale Debo 4.Odetayo Yinusa Olawale 5.Jamiu Kazeem Babatunde 6.Kolawole Surajudeen Olawale

THE TRUSTEES ARE : 1. Bilkisu musa yar’adua -- CHAIRMAN 2. Badiatu Bala -- secretary 3. Aisha musa yar’adua 4. Muhammad ahmad Dalira 5. Laylah junaidu maina 6. Muhammad Bashir isma’il

THE AIM AND OBJECTIVE : 1.To collaborate with the leadership of community high schools to identify gaps impacting students’ success rate in Senior School Certificate Examinations.

THE AIM AND OBJECTIVE : 1.To provide educational financial aid for under privileged children and young adults.

ANY OBJECTION TO THIS REGISTRATION SHOULD BE FORWARDED TO THE REGISTRAR GENERAL CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION, PLOT 420 TIGRIS CRESCENT, OFF AGUIYI IRONSI STREET, MAITAMA, ABUJA WITHIN 28 DAYS OF THIS PUBLICATION. SIGNED : SECRETARY.

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THE TRUSTEES ARE : 1. Williams, Greg Wale 2. Ojobi Edache Victor THE AIM AND OBJECTIVE : 1.To cater for welfare of members.

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THE TRUSTEES ARE : 1.Eboatu Eunice Agbobhakhamen (National co-ordinator) 2.Akubuo Chinonye uchenna (Deputy National co-ordinator) 3.Thelma Lilian Tony-Nneji( Treasurer) 4.Felicia ogwuche(financial secretary) THE AIM AND OBJECTIVE : 1.To help the vulnerable women in the society.

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THE TRUSTEES ARE : 1. Muhammad Bello Muhammad 2. Ibrahim Khalil Musa 3. Muhammad Al-Hadu Yunus.

THE AIM AND OBJECTIVE : 1.To promote innovation and learning amongst the youths in Nigeria.

ANY OBJECTION TO THIS REGISTRATION SHOULD BE FORWARDED TO THE REGISTRAR GENERAL CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION, PLOT 420 TIGRIS CRESCENT, OFF AGUIYI IRONSI STREET, MAITAMA, ABUJA WITHIN 28 DAYS OF THIS PUBLICATION. SIGNED : SECRETARY.

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29

sports@peoplesdailyng.com, SMS- 08142929046

Wednesay October 9, 2019

Players to watch as Brazil battle Nigeria in friendly

By Akoto Report

T

Albert

with

Agency

his weekend international football in the Southeast of Asia will be busying as the Super

Eagles take on Brazil at the National Stadium in Singapore, games hardly come any bigger surely.

This one undoubtedly has all the trappings of a high-profile clash and aside the glut of scouts who will come

THIS IS TO INFORM THE GENERAL PUBLIC THAT THE ABOVE NAMED HAS APPLIED TO THE CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION (CAC), ABUJA FOR REGISTRATION UNDER PART ‘C’ OF COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT, 1990.

THIS IS TO INFORM THE GENERAL PUBLIC THAT THE ABOVE NAMED HAS APPLIED TO THE CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION (CAC), ABUJA FOR REGISTRATION UNDER PART ‘C’ OF COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT, 1990.

THE TRUSTEES ARE : 1. OLA JAMES AINA - CHAIRMAN 2. ZAINAB SALEH - SECRETARY 3. EMMANUEL UMEZURIKE METU 4. DR. BRASCA EMMANUEL IFEADI 5. ALFRED IMOHISIMI OHIMAIN 6. ABDULAFEEZ ALARAN 7. ROBERT ADETOKUNBO BAMGBOYE 8. OMOLOLU MICHAEL BELLO 9. OLUSEGUN DAVID AKINOLA THE AIMS AND OBJECTIVES ARE : 1. TO IMPROVE KARATE SPORT IN NIGERIA 2. EMPOWER SPORT DEVELOPMENT ANY OBJECTION TO THIS REGISTRATION SHOULD BE FORWARDED TO THE REGISTRAR GENERAL CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION, PLOT 420 TIGRIS CRESCENT, OFF AGUIYI IRONSI STREET, MAITAMA, ABUJA WITHIN 28 DAYS OF THIS PUBLICATION.

THIS IS TO INFORM THE GENERAL PUBLIC THAT THE ABOVE NAMED HAS APPLIED TO THE CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION (CAC), ABUJA FOR REGISTRATION UNDER PART ‘C’ OF COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT, 1990.

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THE TRUSTEES ARE : 1.PROPHET RICHARD IORTYOM, 2.CHIEF DANIEL IJAH, 3.AYUA TERKIMBI, 4.DAVID BITO.

to feast their eyes on the abundance of talents sure to be on show, soccerloving Nigerians will monitor proceedings and hope their team come off with their heads held high from the encounter.

Nigeria manager, Gernot Rohr has gone about assembling the best of the country’s crop at his disposal for this clash and here, we will look at five of them who will most likely be turning on the style,

Victor Osimhen: The numbers Osimhen is swiftly accruing since his summer switch to France is simply impressive, to say the least. So much has been said as regards his fast bedding into the rhythm of the play in Ligue 1, and it is already a wide belief he has done enough to be installed as the rightful heir to Nigeria’s striking position.

He’s already started the procession himself and after getting off the mark for the Super Eagles versus Ukraine, it could be the South Americans who next gets to feel the pain of his clinical composure and quick limbs.

Ramon Azeez: Azeez has been in the international wilderness for over five years but is back following a string of solid displays for Granada in La Liga and it is easy to guess viewers will be eager to see more what he has in his locker room should he get game time here.

While the midfielder has put his resurgence down to his team’s support and the faith Diego Martinez has shown in him, this could be the perfect opportunity to win such measure of belief for himself in the national team.

Tyronne Ebuehi: Back in the fold after fighting a severe injury cropped since 2018, the youngster will be itching to force his way into the team yet.

His talents are never in doubt and are ever made more plausible considering Benfica’s stance on him notwithstanding the troubles he’s had.

He’s yet to feature for the senior side in the Primeira Liga this season but that could change if he justifies his readiness in this very important game.

Wilfred Ndidi: It is no secret that the very lucid thing Ndidi excels at needs no extra touch. Simply put, his displays in the middle of the park for his team are uniquely stereotypical.

Quite why the Super Eagles failed to kill off a game after being two goals up at half time albeit in their last game brings us all back to the knowledge of not having the Leicester City man in action on the day.

With him in the side now, the team can now afford to manage the tempo of a game when in winning positions, thanks to his tailored approach and gamereading brilliance.

THE AIM AND OBJECTIVE : 1.TO PREACH THE GOSPEL OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST. ANY OBJECTION TO THIS REGISTRATION SHOULD BE FORWARDED TO THE REGISTRAR GENERAL CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION, PLOT 420 TIGRIS CRESCENT, OFF AGUIYI IRONSI STREET, MAITAMA, ABUJA WITHIN 28 DAYS OF THIS PUBLICATION. SIGNED : SECRETARY.

THIS IS TO INFORM THE GENERAL PUBLIC THAT THE ABOVE NAMED HAS APPLIED TO THE CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION (CAC), ABUJA FOR REGISTRATION UNDER PART ‘C’ OF COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT, 1990.

THE TRUSTEES ARE : 1. OGUCHE MATEJUOJO JOHN 2. APEH OTITI OGUCHE 3. ENEMONA JEREMIAH OGUCHE APEH 4. VICTOR OJOCHENEMI ADEJOH 5. GLORIA OJONUGWA SAMUEL 6. OJOMA OTITI OGUCHE THE AIM AND OBJECTIVE : 1.TO ENSURE THE ABUNDANT AVAILABILITY OF FOOD AND HERBS IN THE SOCIETY. ANY OBJECTION TO THIS REGISTRATION SHOULD BE FORWARDED TO THE REGISTRAR GENERAL CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION, PLOT 420 TIGRIS CRESCENT, OFF AGUIYI IRONSI STREET, MAITAMA, ABUJA WITHIN 28 DAYS OF THIS PUBLICATION. SIGNED : BARR. FRANCIS ADEJOH.

Alex Iwobi: It must be said that the glitz and urgency the Big 17 put up in the opposition final third in games upon the start of his Everton career has all but faded.

Now, the romance has ended and The Tofee Blues have suffered ever since.

The losses are piling up more than the victories and whilst it is not particularly his fault, if there is one criticism of Iwobi which has lingered irrespective of his evident maturity, it is that he does not hurt the opposition often enough.

Will his adventure against the world football powerhouse be some sort of renaissance, and the start of that extra spark missing from his games for Everton?

Platini returns to football as Infantino declines comment

Page 30

PAGE 30

S

PEOPLES DAILY, Wednesay October 9, 2019

p

Eagles hit Singapore today For Brazil friendly

r

O

rganisers of the annual Lagos Beach Soccer tournament have revealed that global football super powers, England and Brazil will participate in this year’s edition of the tournament.

The event holds at the Eko Atlantic Beach, from November 1-3, 2019.

Also slated for the three day tournament are Senegal and host country, Nigeria.

The body took to their twitter handle on Tuesday to confirm the participation of the Samba Boys as well as the

CLASSIFIED

t

Brazil, England set for Copa Lagos 2019 Beach Soccer Tournament

By Akoto Albert

PAGE 31

PEOPLES DAILY, Wednesay October 9, 2019

Three Lions at the event.* “Its real, Brazil, England, Senegal and hosts, Nigeria for CopalagosBS”, it wrote on its twitter page.

It will be the first time Brazil and England would be at the breezy Eko Atlantic beach for the CopaLagos showpiece.

PUBLIC NOTICE

winding up

INTENSIVE BIBLE TEACHING MINISTRY

SHEIKH SALIHU MALAMI FOUNDATION

This is to inform the general public that the above named has applied to the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), Abuja for Registration under Part 'C’ of Companies and Allied Matters Act, 1990.

THIS IS TO INFORM THE GENERAL PUBLIC THAT THE ABOVE NAMED HAS APPLIED TO THE CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION (CAC), ABUJA FOR REGISTRATION UNDER PART ‘C’ OF COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT, 1990.

THE TRUSTEES ARE : 1. AUWAL SALIHU MALAMI 2. MUHAMMAD SANI MUSA MALAMI 3. SALIHU MUSA ANUNU 4. KABIR ADAMU MALAMI 5. NAZIRU SALIHU MUSA MALAMI 6. IBRAHIM SALIHU MALAMI 7. MAGAJI MUSA RINGIM 8. AWWAL IBRAHIM DANBATTA THE AIM AND OBJECTIVE : A) Undertake in the charitable work of sponsoring education for the less privileged , provision of health care and sanitary products, repair of mosques, taking care of orphans, vulnerable and destitute in the society, sponsorship of publication and write ups for the propagation of Islamic knowledge, in the study and printing of prayer time almanac as a guide to Muslim faithful, engage in such other activities of spreading Islamic teachings and literature among the Muslim Umma.

B) Raise funds towards achieving its goals from the trustees , general public and legally recognised organisations; Gather, Collate and disseminate information, ideas and material relating to Islamic timing and general Islamic knowledge.

C) liaise and collaborate with municipal authorities, local, state and federal governments in the attainment of the objectives of sheikh Salihu malami foundation, liaise and collaborate with non-governmental organisations, community based organisations and individuals that share the same or similar objectives with the activities of sheikh Salihu Malami foundation.

ANY OBJECTION TO THIS REGISTRATION SHOULD BE FORWARDED TO THE REGISTRAR_ GENERAL, CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION, PLOT 420, TIGRIS CRESCENT , OFF AGUIYI IRONSI STREET , MAITAMA , ABUJA WITHIN 28DAYS OF THIS PUBLICATION. SIGNED : SECRETARY

TRUSTEES ARE: 1. EDORHE EGUARE JOHN -FOUNDER/PRESIDENT 2. AMU GABRIEL IDOGBO- MEMBER 3. EDORHE BLESSED - SECRETARY. 4. AIBANGBE GODSPOWER OGBENI- MEMBER. 5 .OMINU MARTINS UMAISABOR- MEMBER. AIMS & OBJECTIVES ARE: TO PREACH THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST. Any objection to this Registration should be forwarded to the Registrar General, Corporate Affairs Commission, plot 420, Tigris Crescent, Off Aguiyi Ironsi Street, P.M.B 198, Maitama, Abuja within 28 days of this publication.

SIGNED: BARR. OLA JOHN OGBALE TEL: 07061110288

Eagles and officials

By Akoto Albert

P

layers and officials of the Super Eagles are expected to Singapore today for Sunday’s friendly encounter against fivetime world champions, Brazil.

The team will be lodged at the Fairmont Hotel, Singapore.

The game which is billed to hold at the Singapore National Stadium, Kallang will kick-off at

1pm Nigerian time.

Head coach of the side, Gernot Rohr is expected to lead the team out for their first training session ahead of the game on Wednesday.

Brazil defeated the Super Eagles 3-0 the last time both teams met in a friendly encounter in 2003 at the Moshood Abiola Stadium, Abuja.

The Selecao will first square up against the Teranga Lions of Senegal on Thursday, before doing battle with the Super Eagles three days later.

F

The former France captain and national coach went on to become one of the game’s most prominent administrators when he was elected president of European football’s governing body in 2007.

A triple Ballon d’Or winner, Platini was expected to succeed

Sepp Blatter as FIFA president in 2016 but fell spectacularly from grace a few months earlier.

He was banned from football for receiving a two-million Swiss franc (1.8 million euros, $2 million) payment from the head of the world game, with Blatter banned for eight

Akwa United signs Chikatara, Ifeanyi for 2019/2020 NPFL football season

F

ormer CHAN Eagles duo, Chisom Chikatara, a striker and Ifeanyi Ifeanyi, a midfielder, have returned to the domestic top flight, Nigeria Professional Football League, NPFL, after spells abroad and have penned deals with Akwa United, an official of the Promise Keepers has confirmed.

Chikatara, who will be 25 on November 24, alongside Ifeanyi, 24, were part of Nigeria’s home based Super Eagles team that featured in the 2016 Championship for African Nations, CHAN, held in Kigali, Rwanda.

Chikatara spent four seasons at Abia Warriors (2012-2016) before a move to Moroccan side, Wydad

Athletic Casablanca, WAC (20162018).before a move to El Gouna of Egypt in 2018, spending the 2019 season on loan at Tala’ea El Gaish, also of Egypt.

In 2014, Chikatara made the U23 national team cut before he was called up to the CHAN Eagles squad in 2015.

Similarly, Ifeanyi, midfielder, started off with MFM of Lagos in2016 before switching his career service to Akwa United in 2017.

After two seasons that was made remarkable with the 2017 Federation Cup win with the Promise Keepers, and a stint in the CAF Confederation Cup in 2018, Ifeanyi moved to Algerian giants, Entente Sportive Setifienne, in early 2019.

PUBLIC NOTICE

FATIMA

THE VICTORY COMMUNITY BAPTIST CHURCH

ONION PRODUCERS, PROCESSORS AND MARKETERS ASSOCIATION OF AFRICA

I, FORMERLY KNOWN AS FATIMA DAHIRU LADAN. NOW WISH TO BE KNOWN AS FATIMA ADAMU MUSA. ALL FORMER DOCUMENTS REMAIN VALID. ALL AUTHORITIES CONCERNED AND GENERAL PUBLIC PLEASE TAKE NOTE.

This is to inform the general public that the above named has applied to the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), Abuja for Registration under Part 'C’ of Companies and Allied Matters Act, 1990.

TRUSTEES ARE: 1.Kamba Mukhtar Haruna - Chairman 2. Alh Ahmad Ibrahim Suru - Secretary 3. Muhammad Aminu Goronyo 4 . Muazu Shehu 5. Yahaya Abdurrahman Kambaza 6. Kubah saleh Alhassan 7. Ibrahim muhammed Tukur 8. Na-dange Ahmed Rufai Mohamed 9. Shanono Isa Suleiman AIMS & OBJECTIVES ARE: 1.To promote the development of viable Onion growing, processing and marketing industry in order to improve the standard of living and enhance Onion farming especially in rural communities.

Any objection to this Registration should be forwarded to the Registrar General, Corporate Affairs Commission, plot 420, Tigris Crescent, Off Aguiyi Ironsi Street, P.M.B 198, Maitama, Abuja within 28 days of this publication.

SIGNED: Mohammed Attahiru Esq.

SULE I, FORMERLY KNOWN AS SULE LAWAL DANZABUWA NOW WISH TO BE AND ADDRESSED AS SULE LAWAN DANZABUWA. ALL FORMER DOCUMENTS REMAIN VALID. AUTHORITIES CONCERNED AND THE GENERAL PUBLIC SHOULD PLEASE TAKE NOTE.

Platini returns to football as Infantino declines comment

ormer UEFA president Michel Platini is finally free to return to football next week when his four-year ban for ethics violations ends, although he remains linked to a corruption investigation in his home country relating to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

PUBLIC NOTICE This is to notify the general public that the above named, has applied to the Corporate Affairs Commission for Change of Trustees and Amendment of their Constitution under Part "C" of the Companies and Allied Natters Act 1990.

CLAUSES TO BE AMENDED ARE: THE AIMS AND OBJECTIVES AND ARTICLES OF ITS CONSTITUTION AS FOLLOWS: PREAMBLE, ARTICLES 1, 2, 3, 4,5.

BYELAWS ARTICLE 1, 2,3 SECTION 1 (a-d) SECTION 3-15,ARTICLE 4 AND ARTICLE 7 SECTION 1-6 ARE EXPUNGED; WHILE ARTICLE 1, 2, 6,7,8 AND 10 BE AMENDED AND ARTICLE 5 BE RENUMBERED AS ARTICLE 4.

THE OLD TRISTEES ARE: 1) UDODIRIM CHRIS-MADU (Removed) 2) EMMANUEL OGBONNA (removed) 3) PHOEBE OGBONNA (removed) 4) RICHARD ELEKWA OKEREKE (removed) 5) SAM OGULU (removed) 6)UZOMA NWAFU (Secretary) - Retained THE NEWLY APPOINTED TRUSTEES ARE: 1) HARRISON OYINKARE ESTHER 2) CHRIS-MADU VICKY NWANYIEZE 3) AFOHRON-SEKOBE ESEOGHENE ENA 4) RIM-RUKEH MERCY GOMA 5) AKPORUVWEKU NATHANIEL 6) TARIAH ABIYE (Chairman) 7) MINIMAH DENNIS TAMUNOIPIRINYE 8) ILOBA ONYEISI 9) BAGUDU GIDEON BALA Any objection to this Changes should be forwarded to the Registrar General, Corporate Affairs Commission, Plot 420, Tigris Crescent, Off Aguiyi Ironsi Street, Maitama, Abuja within 28 days of this publication Signed: Secretary

Nigerians against Brazilians

Chisom Chikatara

years, later reduced to six, for his part.

The payment, made in 2011 when Blatter was seeking reelection as president, was related to work carried out by Platini between 1999 and 2002.

The pair were found guilty of

“abusive execution” of their powers and a conflict of interests.

Platini, now 64, has been battling to clear his name ever since, although his ban was reduced to four years from an initial six, leaving him free to work in football again when the suspension expires on Monday.

Price to fight Chisora in allBritish heavyweight fight

D

ereck Chisora will face David Price on 26 October in a British heavyweight bout where both men will risk their careers, says promoter Eddie Hearn.

Chisora, 35, was set to face Joseph Parker until the former world champion withdrew following an illness he believes stemmed from a spider bite.

Price, 36, has stepped in and enters the bout off a run of three victories.

The bout, at London’s O2 Arena, will form part of the

undercard to the world title fight between super-lightweights Josh Taylor and Regis Prograis, which is the final of the World Boxing Super Series.

Chisora has previously expressed his displeasure at not being the night’s main event and threatened to walk away from competing if he was not paid more.

Price - who has 25 wins from 31 outings - and Chisora - with 31 wins from 40 contests - have both built momentum in recent fights with strong displays.

PUBLIC NOTICE

Nchu I formerly Nchu Fidelis Friday now wish to be known and addressed as Nchu Fidelis Harrison.

All former documents remain valid. Authorities concerned and the general public should please take note.

ONYEANUSI I, FORMERLY KNOWN AS ONYEANUSI OGECHUKWU. NOW WISH TO BE KNOWN AS ONYEANUSI OGOCHUKWU FAVOUR. ALL FORMER DOCUMENTS REMAIN VALID. ALL AUTHORITIES CONCERNED AND GENERAL PUBLIC PLEASE TAKE NOTE.

PUBLIC NOTICE

Aliyu I formerly known as Aliyu Mu'azu Muhammed and Aliyu Mu'azu Muh'd now wish to be addressed as Aliyu Mu'azu Muhammad, born on 12/06/1980 not 03/01/1980 and 20/02/1980, all former documents remain valid, general public and concerned authorities to note.

lawal I, wishin to imform the general public that lawal muhammadu idirisu and lawal mohammed idris is one and the same person.

ALL FORMER DOCUMENTS REMAIN VALID. ALL AUTHORITIES CONCERNED to TAKE NOTE.

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THE THRONE CHURCH OF ALL NATIONS

This is to inform the general public that the above named has applied to the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), Abuja for Registration under Part 'C’ of Companies and Allied Matters Act, 1990.

TRUSTEES ARE: 1) To increase awareness for mental health and mental health issues in particular, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in Africa.

2) To help and provide support services to carers of persons with mental health illnesses.

3) To provide awareness and support on mental health issues for service men and women 4) To organise Seminars, conferences, symposiums and support group meetings to create awareness on mental health issues.

5) To help individuals deal with personal problems that could adversely impact workplace performance, health and wellbeing..

Any objection to this Registration should be forwarded to the Registrar General, Corporate Affairs Commission, plot 420, Tigris Crescent, Off Aguiyi Ironsi Street, P.M.B 198, Maitama, Abuja within 28 days of this publication.

This is to inform the general public that the above named has applied to the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), Abuja for Registration under Part 'C’ of Companies and Allied Matters Act, 1990.

TRUSTEES ARE: 1) Awolo Chukwudifo Pius. (CHAIRMAN) 2) Awolo Racheal Ekene (SECRETARY) 3) Awolo Emeka Angel.

AIMS & OBJECTIVES ARE: 1) TO PREACH AND PROPAGATE THE GOSPEL OF OUR LORD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST. 2) TO ENGAGE IN EVANGELISM OF THE WORD OF GOD BY THE ACT OF CARING, TEACHING AND FEEDING THE FLOCKS AS DIRECTED AND TAUGHT BY JESUS CHRIST 3) TO ESTABLISH AND MAINTAIN BRANCHES AND MISSIONS IN NIGERIA AND OVERSEAS FOR WORSHIP. 4) TO ORGANIZE AND HOST CRUSADES FOR HEALING AND DELIVERANCE. 5) TO PREACH THE GOSPEL THROUGH AUTHORIZED NETWORKS SUCH AS RADIO, TV, CABLES, CD, DVD, TRACKS AND PUBLICATIONS. Any objection to this Registration should be forwarded to the Registrar General, Corporate Affairs Commission, plot 420, Tigris Crescent, Off Aguiyi Ironsi Street, P.M.B 198, Maitama, Abuja within 28 days of this publication.

PUBLIC NOTICE

SIGNED: Akonor Kele-Ilom ESQ 07039245360

SIGNED: IFESINACHI CHARLES OKONJI ESQ 08139419496.

Ositadima I, FORMERLY KNOWN AS NWOBODO OJAY OSITA. NOW WISH TO BE KNOWN AS Ositadima Job Nwobodo. ALL FORMER DOCUMENTS REMAIN VALID. ALL AUTHORITIES CONCERNED AND GENERAL PUBLIC PLEASE TAKE NOTE.

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. . . putting the people first

Wednesay October 9, 2019

SPACE FOR SALE

SPORTS Missing steps on agric, oil and sundry matters latest

Schweinsteiger retires from football at 35

F

ormer Germany, Manchester United and Bayern Munich midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger has retired.

The 35-year-old announced his decision two days after the end of the Major League Soccer season. His club, Chicago Fire, finished 17th.

Schweinsteiger won the 2014 World Cup with Germany, as well as eight Bundesliga titles with Bayern.

The midfielder played 500 times for Bayern - where he also won the Champions League - before joining Manchester United for £14.4m in 2015 but failed to adapt to the Premier League, making 13 league starts in two years.

Meadow retains LPGA Tour card after dramatic finish in Texas

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orthern Ireland’s Stephanie Meadow retained her LPGA Tour card for 2020 after a dramatic finish to the Volunteers of America Classic.

Meadow, 27, birdied her final two holes at the tournament in Texas to secure her playing privileges for next season.

That included a 25-foot putt on the last that meant the Jordanstown native finished in a tie for sixth, eight shots behind winner Cheyenne Knight.

Meadow, needing to finish in the top 100, was 99th on the money list.

Having made a fast start to the week with an opening round of 63, Meadow faded slightly following rounds of 71 and 73.

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ast week, we were in a celebration mode but not without retrospectively recollecting factors: not few but many of them that would not allow us to joyously celebrate the new age of our dear nation. I had taken a tour of some of the factors that have, over the decades, kept us crawling as a nation; factors that have denied us the benefits of our rich heritage, natural endowments and productive utilisation of our population size. I concluded that our anger at the current situation of things in our country must only spur us to take decisive action to return to the table and plan to make Nigeria work. If Nigeria must return to the path of glory, we must altogether (all of us, across all boundaries and political affiliation), agree that we have a common problem and be ready to work together towards solving our many problems.

The process of solving a problem begins with the acceptance of the existence of the problem. Nigeria does have a number of problems and the social media is littered already with a lot of such: everyone is busy listing and counting the problems and cursing under the burden of the problems. We run the streets with the anger of myriad of problematic issues; we rarely remember that the problem and challenges would remain eternally with us except we begin to proffer workable solutions to them.

Opposition leaders, who should have taken the position of prescribing alternatives and superior solutions to national problems, have taken a detour from what is right to enjoying their daily cataloguing of problems to discredit the sitting government without suggesting possible solutions. We have become experts at comparing our country and ourselves with nations and people who are obviously doing better than us without taking cognizance of the fact that they were once having the same problems we have now and took the right path to where they are today.

So where do we begin?

Our problems are many and multifaceted but it is also true that there is no problem without solution. An anonymous writer rightly said “when you find no solution to a problem, it’s probably not a problem to be solved, rather a truth to be accepted”.

Every problem has a solution.

Our problem as a nation over the years has been that we have concentrated absolutely on the problems instead of identifying the problems and concentrating

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WEDNESDAY COLUMN By

USSIJU MEDANER info@medaner.com, justme4justice@yahoo.com our energies on the solutions. We resorted to blame game heaping more problems on the fabric of our nation which has been threatening our togetherness.

I intend to, in the course of this write-up, single out three (3) of our major problems. These, I consider sensitive because of their direct bearing on almost every other difficult situation we face as Nigerians. I will begin with a discourse on agriculture and the failure of Nigeria to be better and great as a consequence of near total neglect of this very sensitive sector of the economy.

We must all begin from the point of realization that every developed nation did not become developed until they first attained agricultural development.

Agricultural development comes first with food sufficiency which is the primary need of individuals and nations but it doesn’t end there: with food security comes raw materials for industries. When a nation maximally develops its agricultural sector, processing industries naturally spring up to process the farm produce into finished products: jobs will created, crimes become minimal and people complain less.

At independence the major contributors to Nigeria’s GDP and individual incomes, the major employer of labour and the major source of raw materials to several industries is agriculture.

The regions were self-sufficient with incomes generated form agricultural practices. The west was the cocoa producing region; every village in the region was a beehive of activities, the product turned out in tons and the mighty cocoa house in Ibadan completes the story. Hundreds of thousands of westerners were doing really well. Today, we ask, where is the cocoa house? Where are the acres of cocoa plantations all over the south west? What has become of the value chain of opportunities along the cocoa business? The jobs created and the prospects of cocoa processing industry in Nigeria. They are gone down the drain.

The groundnut pyramids, the cotton and textile industries and essential farm produce of

the north have become only a theoretical subject in Nigeria.

Once, we pride ourselves as the largest producer of palm oil in the world but who are we now.

The south eastern Nigeria that used to be the beacon of palm oil production does not remember how to plant and process oil palm any longer.

The attention of everyone including successive government was off the sector. Even the agricultural extension officers that were a common sight in all our villages do not exist any longer. We have lost so much by abandoning the sector( over the years ). Today we are faced with the burden of unemployment when a flourishing agricultural sector alone can employ over 40% of our population along all its value chain.

Nigeria, a country of about 200 million people blessed with good arable soil that supports almost all crops suddenly became a zero producing and 100% food and drinks importing nation.

We consume approximately 7 million tonnes of rice yearly yet we don’t produce rice,if not for the recent rice initiative of the present administration.

Successive governments ignores our capacity to be self-sufficient in rice production and still cater for almost all nations in our subregion and become the dumping ground for Thailand: a country with one-third of our population.

If not of recent initiative The list is endless, we import rubber tyres to the tune of US$309 million annually while our rubber producing capacity lay wasted. Nigeria, once a palm oil giant, now imports palm oil to the tune of US$199 million yearly. We import raw sugar to the tune of US$406 million yearly. We even import wheat ( that we can plant easily cultivate in the arable soil of north) to the tune of US$1.09 billion yearly, needless to talk about fish, pork, beef and poultry importation. Between 1990 and 2011, record shows that we spent about ₦1.0 billion per day on imported food and drinks.

So, what is the way forward?

What are the decisions that must be made? I think we must unanimously agree that we must,

at all cost, attain sufficiency in basic food production, increase local processing of export crops, increase production of agricultural raw materials for local industries and export, generate gainful employments through agriculture and grow to rationally utilize all our agricultural resources among others.

How do we achieve these? We must know and agree that we can produce almost all the food we eat because we possess the capacity.

We must all become serious, beginning with the government at all levels. We must identify all the food items we import and give time frame for total stoppage of their importation and we must encourage, mobilise and incentivize farmers to the farm.

We must make effective usage of graduates of departments and institutes of agriculture.

The NYSC scheme should be restructured to harness the knowledge of these graduates.

Massive NYSC farm settlements should be established across the country and all corps members with biases in agriculture should be sent to the farms to produce food for the nation. Finally, every graduate willing to go to the farm must be fully supported by the government. I suggest a partnership that guarantees land availability, resources, market, storage, conversion and processing facilities.

Then we all must be patient. I have seen Nigerians complaining that they prefer the imported products because they claim locally produced items are more expensive and not readily available. Yes, they may be more expensive today due to lack of abundance in the market but they are our own and if we persist on the right wayslĺ, soon, the prices will come down and jobs would Cont. on page 27

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