Flowerbud News

Month: October 2023

  • Ex-Zimbabwean President Mugabe To Be Buried On Sunday

    (FLOWERBUDNEWS) A government statement, on Monday announced that the late former president of Zimbabwe Robert Mugabe will be buried on Sept. 15.

    Mugabe, 95, died on Sept. 6 in Singapore where he had been receiving medical treatment since April.

    He ruled Zimbabwe for nearly four decades until November 2017 when he resigned.

    According to the memo to diplomats accredited to Harare, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said a funeral service for Mugabe will be held on Saturday in the National Sports Stadium, before his burial on Sunday.

    The ministry did not indicate where Mugabe, who has since been declared a national hero, will be buried.

    According to the country’s tradition, national heroes and heroines are buried at the National Heroes Acre, a hill top in the capital Harare although families may opt for another burial place.

    In the memo, the ministry said Heads of State and Government wishing to attend the state funeral service on Saturday should arrive in Harare on Friday.

    “Heads of State/Government are expected to depart immediately after the ceremony taking into consideration that Government authorities will be fully occupied with preparations for the burial service/ceremony reserved for Sept. 15.

    “The full programme for the funeral service will be made available in due course.’’

    The government has said it will send a high-powered delegation led by Vice President Kembo Mohadi to Singapore on Monday to help with the repatriation of Mugabe’s body.

    His body is expected to arrive in the country on Wednesday. (Xinhua/NAN)

  • Adamawa Civil Servants To Own Affordable Houses — Gov. Fintiri

    (FLOWERBUDNEWS) Gov. Ahmadu Fintiri of Adamawa says civil servants working with the state government would soon be able to own houses they can afford being constructed in the state.

    Fintiri gave the assurance during a ground breaking ceremony of the construction of 2,000 housing units  in Yola on Monday.

    He said that construction of the houses was part of the fulfilment of promises made during the electioneering campaign.

    ” The 2,,000 housing units are  mainly for  civil servants, to enable them own houses at affordable cost,”  Fintiri said.

    He said that 1,400 housing units would be built in Yola, 200 in Mubi and the remaining 400 spread   across the state.

    Speaking earlier, Mrs Jummai Barkindo, Permanent Secretary, state ministry of Housing and Urban Development, said that the project was to ease accommodation problems in the state, especially among civil servants.

    Mr Femi Adewale, representative of the construction firm,  Family Homes Fund Limited, said that the housing units would consist of two and three bedrooms.

    Adewale said that the construction period was 12 months from the day of ground breaking.

    He said that the company, if given the opportunity, was willing to construct additional 2,000 housing units.( NAN)

  • Respect our tradition, culture, Gov. Obaseki charges NYSC members

    Gov. Godwin Obaseki of Edo has advised members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) deployed to the state to respect the tradition and culture of Edo people.

    Obaseki, who was represented by his deputy, Mr Philip Shaibu, gave the advice on Monday at Okada, Ovia North

    East Local Government Area of the state at the closing ceremony of the 2019 “Batch B” stream II orientation course.

    While urging the corps members to interact with their host communities freely, he described Edo people as good, peaceful and loving.

    “I want to assure you that the good people of Edo are enlightened, accommodating and God fearing.

    “Let me further assure you all the total support of our people in making your stay in the state memorable and rewarding one.

    “As you move into various communities in the state, you will find the right environment to live and work, get yourselves occupied and avoid unnecessary journeys.

    “Ensure that your positive impact are felt in different sectors of the economy, most especially within your host communities,” Obaseki said.

    The governor, however, enjoined the corps members to impact knowledge they acquired from their various institutions of higher learning to the younger ones and join hands with him in moving the state to higher levels.

    Earlier, the State Coordinator of NYSC, Mr Adebayo Ojo, while presenting the 1,228 corps members duly registered, said majority of them would be posted to rural areas where their services are most needed.

    Ojo urged them to accept their posting in good faith and settle down immediately for the rest part of their service year.

    NAN

  • National Park Service rewards outstanding staff  for discipline 

    (FLOWERBUDNEWS) The National Park Service has rewarded some of its staff with commendation letters and cash for their outstanding performance in the 2019 World Ranger Day’s parade and for general discipline in the Service.
    Mr Yakubu Zull the media assistant to the Conservator-General in a statement issued on Tuesday in Abuja said the  awards were presented to the lucky staff by Ibrahim Musa Goni the Conservator-General of the Service.
    Goni while presenting the best award to the Assistant Park Warden11, Catherine Otegwa Ogwihi commended the staff for on the honour adding that the gesture was meant to motivate her and other staff to further make sacrifices for the Service’s development.
    Other recipients were Senior Park Ranger Reuben Istifanus Dlakwa and Assistant Park Ranger Hansatu A. Ezekiel who came second and third respectively.
    He said that the Bi-weekly parade and physical exercise at the Service’s Headquarters is now compulsory and that henceforth no staff would be allowed to sit for promotion exams until he or she attends the exercises up to ten times during the period of his or her promotion exams.
    He congratulated the award winners for their exceptional work ethic, and urged them to continue striving hard to help in the efforts of the management to transform the Service.
    He urged the awardees to see their recognition as a challenge to do more, and to continue  to brainstorm amongst themselves to find solutions to the various day to day problems of conservation.
    He said that the award is a wake-up call for all staff to do more and move to the next stage of making the Service one of the best in the world.
    He announced that an undisclosed amount of cash has also been given to families of 11 fallen Rangers of the of the Service to support them.
    The CG said the cash given to the awardees and the families of the fallen Rangers was donated to the Service by some philanthropic organizations during the 2019 World Ranger Day.
    He therefore thanked the organizations for the support and urged others to emulate them in appreciating and supporting the critical work of Rangers in protecting the natural resources and cultural treasures of Nigeria.
    The donor organizations are Arm Pensions Ltd, Premium Pensions Ltd, Wildlife Conservation Society(WCS), African Nature Investors (ANI), Backpackers and Jabe Studios.

  • Minimum wage: FG and labour to meet on Sept. 16

    By Chinyere Bassey

    Negotiation between the Federal Government and the Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council (JNPSNC) on the new minimum wage has again rescheduled for Sept. 16.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalled that the last negotiation between the government and the JNPSNC was to hold on Sept. 4, but was suspended.

    Mr Alade Lawal, JNPSN Secretary General, confirmed to NAN on Tuesday in Lagos that the meeting was rescheduled at the instance of the officials.

    The organised labour and the Federal Government have been in conflict over the implementation of the new minimum wage which was signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari on April 18.

    Negotiation between the government and the JNPSNC, representing labour in the technical committee set up to negotiate the consequential adjustment of workers’ salaries as a result of the new minimum wage, had broken down due to unresolved differences in their proposals.

    While the Federal Government proposed 9.5 per cent salary increase for employees on grade levels 07 to 14 and five per cent for those on grade levels 15 to 17, labour is demanding 30 per cent increase for officers on grade levels 07 to 14 and 25 per cent increase for grade levels 15 to 17.

    President of  the NLC, Ayuba Wabba, had told journalists that the congress would support any position taken by the JNPSN on the new national minimum wage.

    NAN

  • Ronaldo scores four times as Portugal rout Lithuania 5-1

    Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo took his international tally to 93 goals when he scored four times on Tuesday.

    The goals helped to give the European champions a 5-1 win away to Lithuania in their Euro 2020 qualifier.

    Playing in his 161st international, the 34-year-old notched his eighth hat-trick for his country and the 54th of his remarkable career.

    But the goals did help Portugal through what had threatened to turn into a frustrating evening.

    Unheralded midfielder William Carvalho completed the rout in stoppage time as Portugal stayed second in Group B with eight points, five behind leaders Ukraine with one game in hand.

    Serbia are a further point behind in third after a 3-1 win in Luxemburg.

    “I scored one goal against Serbia and four today (Tuesday) and what I want most is to continue like this,” said Ronaldo, who converted an early penalty kick and then added three second-half goals.

    Portugal coach Fernando Santos said: “Ronaldo is the best player in the world. This is clear and unmistakable proof”.

    Lithuania, bottom with one point, missed an early chance when Vykintas Slivka fired over from close range.

    They quickly paid the price when Markus Palionis handled a Joao Felix cross and Ronaldo put away the spot kick in the fifth minute.

    Lithuania goalkeeper Ernestas Setkus made an excellent save to prevent Edvinas Girdvainis turning the ball into his own net.

    But Vytautas Andriuskevicius then grabbed a surprise equaliser, rising above his marker to head home from a corner in the 28th.

    Ronaldo set up good chances for Felix and Bernardo Silva, which were wasted, after the break before taking matters into his own hands.

    Just as Portugal were beginning to show signs of frustration, Ronaldo produced a low shot which bobbled twice in front of Setkus in the 62nd minute.

    The Lithuania goalkeeper got his hand to it, but it hit his head and bounced into the net.

    Three minutes later, Ronaldo was left free in the area to sweep home Bernardo Silva’s cross and Silva also provided the pass for Ronaldo to sidefoot his fourth 11 minutes later.

    Carvalho’s goal, his fourth in 60 games, was a fitting reward for a player who keeps the Portugal midfield ticking over without getting much attention.

    “I’m convinced that these players are capable of finishing top of this group,” said Santos.

    Aleksandar Mitrovic scored twice to keep Serbia’s hopes alive with a win in Luxembourg.

    He headed Serbia in front after 36 minutes and Nemanja Radonjic curled in the second 10 minutes after the restart.

    Substitute David Turpel pulled one back and Serbia were on the ropes until Sergej Milinkovic-Savic produced a delightful reverse pass for Mitrovic to fire in the third.

     

  • Security beefed up around Court of Appeal, Abuja

    Security was beefed up on Wednesday within the vicinity of the Court of Appeal, Abuja, as the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal delivers judgment in the petition filed by Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Atiku Abubakar challenging president Muhammadu Buhari’s victory in the Feb. 23 general election.

    News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that security personnel comprising mainly men of the Nigeria Police, the Department of State Services and the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps mounted security checks at both ends of the stretch of the road to the court.

    NAN reports that lawyers and journalists who arrived the court premises located in the Three Arms Zone, were subjected to checks by security personnel.

    NAN reports that tribunal on Aug.21 reserved judgment in the petition after parties adopted their addresses.

    Justice Mohammed Garba, Chairman of the five-man panel of justices had stated that the judgment date would be communicated to parties.

    NAN reports that the president was declared the winner of the election after scoring 15,191,847 votes as against Atiku’s 11, 262,978 votes.

    While adopting his address, Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN, Counsel for Buhari, had described the petition as a sham as it lacked substance and merit.

    “I have handled a few electoral petition cases, this is one petition that yarns for help, for assistance and for evidence but could not get any.

    “Apart from the hype the matter has generated, there is nothing in law to support the allegations before the tribunal, Olanipekun said.

    On the qualification of the president, Olanipekun said Section 131 (b) had settled that matter.

    “I make bold to say that the Constitution and case laws had not compelled the candidates of the election to tendered certificates or attached same to INEC form before submission.

    “The laws only mandate any person contesting election in the country to have gone to school up to Secondary School level,’’ he said.

    On the issue of election results transmission by electronic means, the counsel said the use of such technology must be provided for in the Electoral Act.

    “The allegation on the management of server by INEC is vague. Where is the server? This is a million dollar question that the petitioners could not substantiate.

    “My Lords, this petition was not properly diagnosed, the action was ill-advised, I therefore urge the tribunal not to bow to sentiment or public opinion that does not represent the law.

    “This petition is liable to be dismissed with a considerable cost’’, Olanipekun said.

    On his part, Mr Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, Counsel for All Progressive Congress (APC) said he could not help but take the liberty to align himself with the submissions made Olanipekun.

    “My Lords it is disheartening to see that this petition still remains watery at this stage.

    “The petition made allegations they could not proof. We have done a table showing how the petitioners have proven the case so far.

    “The election took place in 119,976 Polling Units, 8,901 Wards in 774 Local Government Areas across the country.

    “It is sad therefore to see that the petitioners only called 62 witnesses. Out of this figure, only five witnesses gave direct evidence of what happened in polling units on the day of election.

    “I feel sad that this matter has been starved of evidence and therefore deserves to be dismissed,’’ Fagbemi said.

    Also, Mr Yunus Usman, SAN, Counsel for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) urged the panel to uphold all of its objections raised against the admissibility of all pieces of documentary and oral evidence led by the petitioners.

    Usman submitted that the electoral body conducted the Feb.23 presidential election in total compliance with provisions of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended).

    He also urged the panel to disregard the petitioners’ claims that the results of the election were transmitted electronically to a central server managed by INEC, adding that it was the “greatest lie of the century’’.

    He submitted that it was laughable when the petitioners made pleadings that suggested that only the PDP and APC and their candidates contested the election.

    Usman prayed the tribunal to take judicial notice of the fact that the Electoral Act 2010 prohibited the transmission of election results electronically.

    According to him, the law only provides for manual transmission of election results.

    Usman said that all the witnesses presented by the petitioners admitted to the fact that transmission of election results electronically had no placed in the country’s statute books at the moment.

    In countering allegations that INEC abandoned its pleadings by not presenting witnesses, the counsel said the commission simply extracted salient pieces of evidence from the petitioners’ pleadings to solidify its defence.

    “It would have amounted to wasting the time of the tribunal for us to call witnesses when the petitioners could not discharge the burden of proof on allegations they had made,’’ he said.

    Usman thereafter prayed the court to dismiss the petition for lack of merit.

    Meanwhile, Dr Livy Uzoukwu, SAN, Counsel for the petitioners urged the tribunal to discountenance the addresses of the respondents, adding that the petitioners had indeed discharged the burden of proof.

    He said the tribunal must exercise its powers in good conscience to uphold the petition and return Abubakar as president.

    Uzoukwu further said the second respondent (Buhari) was unable to present his Secondary School Certificate before the tribunal in order to rest the allegation.

    “My Lords, we pray the panel to judiciously and judicially evaluate our evidence in context of whether we have justified our allegation against Buhari’s certificate or not.

    On the issue of server, Uzoukwu said INEC had operated, activated and stored the Feb.23 election results in a centrally controlled server.

    NAN reports that the tribunal would have to rule on all pending interlocutory applications filed by parties before delivering judgment on the main appeal.

    NAN

  • Dialogue: Katsina Govt. Releases 6 Bandits In Exchange For 20 Abducted Victims

    (FLOWERBUDNEWS)  Six bandits detained by security agencies have been released by the Katsina State Government as part of a peace deal with bandits terrorising eight local government areas in the state.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Dandume, Sabuwa, Faskari, Kankara, Safana, Danmusa, Batsari and Jibiya local government areas in the state have come under intense bandits attacks for long.

    The situation prompted the state government to initiate dialogue with leaders of the bandits a week ago, during which agreements were reached including the release of some of the bandits held by security agencies.

    Gov. Aminu Masari recalled during the handover of the six bandits that for the last one week, he and Security Chiefs had been visiting the LGAs that shared borders with Rugu forests, which served as hideout for the bandits.

    Masari explained that part of the agreement was the handover of bandits in detention who had not been prosecuted.

    According to him, the bandits would in return, handover to government people they kidnapped and were in their custody.

    He said the process started on Monday, with the release of five people, two females and three males, while 20 more will be released before the end of Sept. 10.

    He added that many more kidnapped victims would be released as part of the peace deal.

    Masari expressed the hope that the process would be completed within the next one or two days, so that government would start the second phase of the peace initiatives which started with his visit to their hideouts.(NAN)

  • Agric: Shehu Sani, others call for more beneficial relations between Nigeria, China

    Sen. Shehu Sani has advised the Federal Government to explore ways of leveraging on the country’s huge agriculture potentials to ensure a mutually beneticial relations with China.

    Sani gave the advise on Tuesday at a seminar organised by the Centre for China Studies in Abuja with the theme “The Development and Achievements of China in 70 years and Opportunities for Nigeria/China Cooperation in the New Era.”

    He said Nigeria should take a cue from how China was able to feed its over one billion population as well as lifting over 800 million of its citizens out of poverty.

    “We can see China playing three roles in our economy presently. China is eminently the largest importer of our crude oil with the discovery of oil in the US.

    “Secondly they give the highest loan with the lowest interest and that has been impacting on our infrastructure development.

    “Thirdly we can see the growing trade relation that exists between the two countries. In all, what matters most is how China can with its experience and progress, help and support Nigeria to rise from where it is.

    “The relationship should not be a creditor, debtor relationship but ensuring that they help us to develop our industry,” he said.

    Sani said there were lots of discussions around debt diplomacy, adding that the concern had been whether or not debt was a threat to the economy.

    “The question is, is debt a stimuli or an incentive for our economic improvement and future?

    “Discussions like this will offer a way forward but most importantly is this, that the mutual relationship that exists between Africa, Nigeria and China, is something that needs to be reinforced by conversation,” he said.

    Mr Du Sheng, Director of Political Science, Embassy of China, said some benefits in the relationship between Nigeria and China was assisting Nigeria to leverage on available technology to develop its agriculture.

    “China is ready to help Nigeria build its infrastructure. It is our hope to bring agricultural technology to Nigeria.

    “It is also your dream to share our experience with Nigeria not only to become the food basket of the world but also a world factory next to China.

    “The magic in China being food sufficient is that we have the right leadership, and the people work with a common goal. We use our technology to satisfy the huge needs of the people.”

    Prof. Nazifi Darma, Director, Centre for Entrepreneurship Studies, said there were key issues to look at in Nigeria and China relations to ensure sustainable development.

    “The first is that the Chinese have self discipline to institutionalise development plan that has succeeded in lifting 800 million of its people out of absolute poverty in the last forty years.

    “In Nigeria we had the culture of development plan and since the national development plan that was abandoned in 1985, we have not had any consistence culture of development plan. I think this is one of the most important lesson we need to learn. The issue of agricultural production.”

    Darma, who is also a lecturer at the University of Abuja, said: “there is also the issue of infrastructure financing and how we need to go about it. Contracting debt from China continuously for infrastructure is not sustainable.

    Prof. Usman Mohammed, Dean, Faculty of International Relations and Diplomacy, Nile University, said Nigeria should learn from how China attain food sufficiency in spite of its population.

    He said: “What I want the Nigerian Government to do is to study how China feeds itself. How was China able to close its borders and able to produce to feed its population.

    “This is very important because food security is about two components. Affordability and availability. If the food is available but people cannot afford it, there will be insecurity.

    “We should look for how China would help us with technology to improve agriculture. We do not want them to give us the technology but how to develop it to help our economy.”

    NAN