Category: Features

The General Officer Commanding 3 Armoured Division Nigerian Army, Major General AE Abubakar, on Wednesday, visited soldiers who were wounded in action during the ongoing Operation Hakorin Damisa IV at the Jos University Teaching Hospital in Jos, Plateau State.

 

The PUNCH reports that the Nigerian Army had in July 2023, launched a new military operation in Plateau state, code-named Operation Hakorin Damisa IV following a series of attacks by gunmen in different communities which left over 300 persons dead and properties destroyed.

 

The Chief of Army Staff, Major General Taoreed Lagbaja, who launched the new operation in Mangu Local Government Area of the state said the aim was specifically to end the spate of attacks and killings in the LGA and other parts of the state.

 

The Media Officer of the Special Task Force, Captain Oya James, who disclosed the visit of the GOC to the Jos University Teaching Hospital in a statement on Wednesday, said he was accompanied by Commanders and Principal Staff Officers from 3 Division headquarters and Operation Safe Haven.

Although the statement did not disclose the number of injured soldiers receiving treatment at JUTH, it disclosed that during the visit, the GOC who is also the Commander, Operation Safe Haven, assured the wounded personnel of adequate medical treatment that would enable them to recover quickly from the injuries sustained.

 

“The nation was proud of their selfless service and continued sacrifices toward maintaining peace in the country.

 

“Lagbaja has directed that comprehensive medical care was imperative for the wounded heroes including further medical therapy overseas should the need arise. He reiterated that the welfare of troops was of utmost importance to the COAS while wishing them quick recovery,” the statement partly read.

The meeting between the Federal Government and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) to avert an imminent strike action ended on Monday without a concrete resolution to the union’s demands.

The Minister of Labour and Employment, Simon Lalong, met with the leaders of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) in Abuja in an effort to stop organised labour from embarking on another industrial action.

 

The meeting is expected to continue at a later date.

 

However, the minister is also expected to hold a meeting with the leadership of the Trade Union Congress (TUC) today.

The nation is in a revenue crisis and require urgent steps change the narrative, the new Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, Dr. Zacch Adedeji, has said.

 

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September 18, 2023

 

We ‘re in revenue crisis- new FIRS boss

We ‘re in revenue crisis- new FIRS boss

…N8.5 trn collected by mid Sept- Nami

 

Emma Ujah, Abuja Bureau Chief

 

 

The nation is in a revenue crisis and require urgent steps change the narrative, the new Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, Dr. Zacch Adedeji, has said.

 

 

 

Receiving handover notes from.his predecessor, Muhammad Nami, in Abuja, this afternoon, Dr. Adedeji said that about 96 percent of the Federal government revenue was spent on debt servicing, last year.

 

The situation, according to him was not sustainable.

 

His words, “We are in revenue crisis. Government revenue is low amid a huge public debt.

 

“Last year, 96 per cent of government revenue went into debt servicing. Where debt has grown bigger than the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and debt servicing faster than revenue, immediate actions have to be taken to remedy the situation.”

 

The outgone Chairman disclosed, however, that the Service was on its to setting a new revenue record in 2023, having collected N8.5 as at September 14.

 

 

 

 

 

By Biola Lawal

Abuja(Flowerbudnews) NAFDAC Director General, Prof Mojisola Adeyeye, has reassured Nigerians that the Agency’s committed promotion of local drug production and its import discouraging policies, among other factors, would continue to cause decline in pharmaceutical imports in Nigeria.

Prof Adeyeye gave the assurance in a press statement which she signed personally to explain detailed Federal Government objectives  and NAFDAC policies encouraging the reduction in medical products importation into Nigeria.

Prof Adeyeye’s statement was in response to a media publication which disclosed that “Nigeria’s Pharmaceutical Import drop 63% in Two Years” and majorly failed to acknowledge the impact of increased local production for this achievement.

The NAFDAC Boss highlighted several regulatory policies and strategies evolved by the Agency to discourage importation and strengthen consistent domestication of pharmaceutical production.

”At the inception of the current NAFDAC administration in November 2017 the overarching goal was to formulate and implement policies aimed at enhancing and promoting local production of pharmaceuticals.,” Prof Adeyeye stated.

The Director General disclosed that one most impactful policy introduced to discourage imports and boost local pharmaceutical production was she called the -The Five + Five (5+5) Policy or Regulatory Directive (RD)

”The 5+5 policy is aimed at migration of previously imported products (that can be manufactured locally) to local manufacturing after the last renewal of five years post the effective date of the RD, i.e., upon renewal of the previous five years before the RD date, the renewal for five years post the effective RD date is the last approval to import.

”By the end of the third year of that last renewal, the importer/manufacturer must present to NAFDAC a plan to migrate to local manufacturing or partner with an existing local manufacturer through contract manufacturing.

”The essence of this policy is to provide the Agency a strong foothold for enhancing local manufacturing and regulatory oversight aimed at improving access to medicines that meet the requirements for quality, safety, and efficacy.

It is a veritable means of curbing importation with the attendant influx of SF medicines into the country.

Outcome of this policy showed that as of July 2023, a total of fifty-seven companies (representing about 30% of total number of local manufacturers) have provided the blueprint for migration to local manufacturing to the Drug Registration and Regulatory Affairs Directorate of the Agency.

”This migration is either to build and erect brand new Pharma manufacturing plants or enter contractual manufacturing partnerships with local drug manufacturers., Prof Adeyeye stated.

Expansion of NAFDAC’s Ceiling list
This expansionist intervention is to reduce the importation of medicines that can be manufactured locally, thereby stimulating the utilization of idle capacity of local manufacturers of essential medicines. The ceiling had nine (9) products prior to 2020 but has now been increased to thirty-four (34). This has invariably led to decline in imports of products listed on the ceiling list.

The Policy on Establishment of New Pharmaceutical Plants in Nigeria
This policy enables companies to get their facility design right before commencing construction, all in a bid to eliminate potential for manufacture of SF medicines resulting from poorly designed manufacturing facilities. As of July 2023, A total of 57 and 18 new manufacturers, many of whom are importers have either received regulatory approval to erect new GMP compliant Pharma plant in Nigeria or have their layouts undergoing reviews respectively.

This is in addition to the fact that 53 of existing local manufacturers have either obtained regulatory approval to build new plants or are currently undergoing regulatory reviews of their layouts. The implication of this is that as of July 2023.

This resurgence of deliberate intent to comply with extant regulatory requirements by importers and local manufacturers will no doubt translate to decline in pharma imports, notwithstanding the exit of fair-weather investors.

It is also important to note that these approvals translate to millions of dollars (USD) as investment into the Nigerian economy.

NAFDAC Tariff Regime on Imported Products
This is one other intervention put in place to encourage local manufacture of essential medicines.

The cost of registration of Imported drugs is several times higher than local products to further discourage drug imports.

International Certification and Risk Based Classification of Local Drug Manufacturers
Attainment of ISO 9001:2015 Standards and WHO Global Benchmarking of Maturity Level 3 (ML3) status presents any National Medicine Regulatory Authority as a functioning and stable regulatory Agency.

The attainment of this status, coupled with risk based classification of local drug manufacturers by the Agency in May 2019 at the first instance, and subsequently in February 2022 is reverberating in that foreign investors and international procurement agencies are beginning to have increasing level of confidence in our regulatory oversight and patronage of made in Nigeria Products for Nigeria Public Health Programs as against importation of products to support domestic public health interventions.

Recently, technical partners (e.g., UNICEF, UNITAID, UNOPS etc.) and sister agencies in Nigeria (e.g., National Health Insurance Authority, NHIA) have relied on NAFDAC’s oversight function to patronize local drug manufacturing concerns, justifying another reason for decline in imports.

It is in our humble opinion that inspite of the multitude of challenges confronting the local pharma industries in Nigeria, local production is the surest means of providing quickest access to quality, safe and efficacious medicines.

This stance is further supported by the recent disclosure by the Special Adviser to the President (Salma Anas-Ibrahim) at a workshop in Nigeria to reduce importation of drugs in Nigeria to 40% as a means of bridging the gap in the health sector.

The journey to achieve this lofty ideal, though a marathon, can be achieved in a very short time if all stakeholder and relevant government agencies in the country collaborate to change the narratives in favor of enhancing domestic production of pharmaceuticals. (Flowerbudnews)

Full Statement Below:

PRESS BRIEFING BY THE DG (NAFDAC) ON REPORTED DECLINE IN PHARMACEUTICAL IMPORTS INTO NIGERIA

The attention of the Management of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has been drawn to publications in online tabloid, specifically the Business Day edition of 24th August 2023 titled “Nigeria’s Pharmaceutical Import drop 63% in Two Years”. While the write up quoted this data from the International Trade Center, a multilateral agency, laid claim to the fact that difficulty in accessing Forex, devaluation of the Naira, attendant high inflation has reduced imports, and this was also corroborated by the immediate past President of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria. While this may be true, the full story was not captured.
The publication provided largely accurate statistics related to reliance on finished drug importation (about 70% of drug consumption), importation of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (100%), huge jump in prices of locally manufactured and imported drugs. The report provided a mixed bag of marginal revenue loss and increase for stakeholders in the Pharmaceutical Sector. In the report, it was not asserted that decline in pharmaceutical imports is partly due to increase in local production even though a lot of boosts in local manufacturing is currently taking place as will be emphasized in the following segments.
As a responsible regulatory agency, it is important that NAFDAC provides a rejoinder to the write up and bring up its perspective within the context of improving access to medicines by Nigerians, even though the Agency is not oblivious of the numerous challenges confronting the pharmaceutical sector in our country. At the recently concluded 74th World Health Assembly, the World Health Organization (WHO) emphasized on the need to strengthen local production of medicines and other health technologies to improve access. (https://apps.who.int/gb/ebwha/pdf_files/WHA74/A74_ACONF1-en.pdf).
The resolution by member countries emphasized that integration of local production into overall health systems strengthening can contribute to sustainable access to quality-assured, safe, effective, and affordable medicines and other health technologies, help to prevent or address medical product shortages, achieve universal health coverage, and the strengthening of national health emergency preparedness and response, as well as minimizing public health hazards.
At the inception of the current NAFDAC administration in November 2017 the overarching goal was to formulate and implement policies aimed at enhancing and promoting local production of pharmaceuticals. The Director General has emphasized this to promote access to quality, safe and efficacious medicines. She explicitly delivered this message at the National Association of Industrial Pharmacists Annual Meeting held in Ilorin in 2018. All these led to the formulation of a number of policies which are beginning to yield the expected outcome. Some of these policies include:
1) The Five + Five (5+5) Policy or Regulatory Directive (RD)
The 5+5 policy is aimed at migration of previously imported products (that can be manufactured locally) to local manufacturing after the last renewal of five years post the effective date of the RD, i.e., upon renewal of the previous five years before the RD date, the renewal for five years post the effective RD date is the last approval to import. By the end of the third year of that last renewal, the importer/manufacturer must present to NAFDAC a plan to migrate to local manufacturing or partner with an existing local manufacturer through contract manufacturing. The essence of this policy is to provide the Agency a strong foothold for enhancing local manufacturing and regulatory oversight aimed at improving access to medicines that meet the requirements for quality, safety, and efficacy.
It is a veritable means of curbing importation with the attendant influx of SF medicines into the country. Outcome of this policy showed that as of July 2023, a total of fifty-seven companies (representing about 30% of total number of local manufacturers) have provided the blueprint for migration to local manufacturing to the Drug Registration and Regulatory Affairs Directorate of the Agency. This migration is either to build and erect brand new Pharma manufacturing plants or enter contractual manufacturing partnerships with local drug manufacturers.
Expansion of NAFDAC’s Ceiling list
This expansionist intervention is to reduce the importation of medicines that can be manufactured locally, thereby stimulating the utilization of idle capacity of local manufacturers of essential medicines. The ceiling had nine (9) products prior to 2020 but has now been increased to thirty-four (34). This has invariably led to decline in imports of products listed on the ceiling list.

3) The Policy on Establishment of New Pharmaceutical Plants in Nigeria
This policy enables companies to get their facility design right before commencing construction, all in a bid to eliminate potential for manufacture of SF medicines resulting from poorly designed manufacturing facilities. As of July 2023, A total of 57 and 18 new manufacturers, many of whom are importers have either received regulatory approval to erect new GMP compliant Pharma plant in Nigeria or have their layouts undergoing reviews respectively. This is in addition to the fact that 53 of existing local manufacturers have either obtained regulatory approval to build new plants or are currently undergoing regulatory reviews of their layouts. The implication of this is that as of July 2023.
This resurgence of deliberate intent to comply with extant regulatory requirements by importers and local manufacturers will no doubt translate to decline in pharma imports, notwithstanding the exit of fair-weather investors. It is also important to note that these approvals translate to millions of dollars (USD) as investment into the Nigerian economy.

4) NAFDAC Tariff Regime on Imported Products
This is one other intervention put in place to encourage local manufacture of essential medicines. The cost of registration of Imported drugs is several times higher than local products to further discourage drug imports.

5) International Certification and Risk Based Classification of Local Drug Manufacturers
Attainment of ISO 9001:2015 Standards and WHO Global Benchmarking of Maturity Level 3 (ML3) status presents any National Medicine Regulatory Authority as a functioning and stable regulatory Agency. The attainment of this status, coupled with risk based classification of local drug manufacturers by the Agency in May 2019 at the first instance, and subsequently in February 2022 is reverberating in that foreign investors and international procurement agencies are beginning to have increasing level of confidence in our regulatory oversight and patronage of made in Nigeria Products for Nigeria Public Health Programs as against importation of products to support domestic public health interventions. Recently, technical partners (e.g., UNICEF, UNITAID, UNOPS etc.) and sister agencies in Nigeria (e.g., National Health Insurance Authority, NHIA) have relied on NAFDAC’s oversight function to patronize local drug manufacturing concerns, justifying another reason for decline in imports.

It is in our humble opinion that inspite of the multitude of challenges confronting the local pharma industries in Nigeria, local production is the surest means of providing quickest access to quality, safe and efficacious medicines. This stance is further supported by the recent disclosure by the Special Adviser to the President (Salma Anas-Ibrahim) at a workshop in Nigeria to reduce importation of drugs in Nigeria to 40% as a means of bridging the gap in the health sector. The journey to achieve this lofty ideal, though a marathon, can be achieved in a very short time if all stakeholder and relevant government agencies in the country collaborate to change the narratives in favor of enhancing domestic production of pharmaceuticals.

Thank you.
Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye
Director General (NAFDAC)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The attention of the Management of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has been drawn to publications in online tabloid, specifically the Business Day edition of 24th August 2023 titled “Nigeria’s Pharmaceutical Import drop 63% in Two Years”

While the write up quoted this data from the International Trade Center, a multilateral agency, laid claim to the fact that difficulty in accessing Forex, devaluation of the Naira, attendant high inflation has reduced imports, and this was also corroborated by the immediate past President of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria. While this may be true, the full story was not captured.

The publication provided largely accurate statistics related to reliance on finished drug importation (about 70% of drug consumption), importation of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (100%), huge jump in prices of locally manufactured and imported drugs.

The report provided a mixed bag of marginal revenue loss and increase for stakeholders in the Pharmaceutical Sector.

In the report, it was not asserted that decline in pharmaceutical imports is partly due to increase in local production even though a lot of boosts in local manufacturing is currently taking place as will be emphasized in the following segments.

As a responsible regulatory agency, it is important that NAFDAC provides a rejoinder to the write up and bring up its perspective within the context of improving access to medicines by Nigerians, even though the Agency is not oblivious of the numerous challenges confronting the pharmaceutical sector in our country.

At the recently concluded 74th World Health Assembly, the World Health Organization (WHO) emphasized on the need to strengthen local production of medicines and other health technologies to improve access. (https://apps.who.int/gb/ebwha/pdf_files/WHA74/A74_ACONF1-en.pdf).

The resolution by member countries emphasized that integration of local production into overall health systems strengthening can contribute to sustainable access to quality-assured, safe, effective, and affordable medicines and other health technologies, help to prevent or address medical product shortages, achieve universal health coverage, and the strengthening of national health emergency preparedness and response, as well as minimizing public health hazards.

At the inception of the current NAFDAC administration in November 2017 the overarching goal was to formulate and implement policies aimed at enhancing and promoting local production of pharmaceuticals.

The Director General has emphasized this to promote access to quality, safe and efficacious medicines. She explicitly delivered this message at the National Association of Industrial Pharmacists Annual Meeting held in Ilorin in 2018.

All these led to the formulation of a number of policies which are beginning to yield the expected outcome. Some of these policies include:    The Five + Five (5+5) Policy or Regulatory Directive (RD)

The 5+5 policy is aimed at migration of previously imported products (that can be manufactured locally) to local manufacturing after the last renewal of five years post the effective date of the RD, i.e., upon renewal of the previous five years before the RD date, the renewal for five years post the effective RD date is the last approval to import.

By the end of the third year of that last renewal, the importer/manufacturer must present to NAFDAC a plan to migrate to local manufacturing or partner with an existing local manufacturer through contract manufacturing.

The essence of this policy is to provide the Agency a strong foothold for enhancing local manufacturing and regulatory oversight aimed at improving access to medicines that meet the requirements for quality, safety, and efficacy.

It is a veritable means of curbing importation with the attendant influx of SF medicines into the country. Outcome of this policy showed that as of July 2023, a total of fifty-seven companies (representing about 30% of total number of local manufacturers) have provided the blueprint for migration to local manufacturing to the Drug Registration and Regulatory Affairs Directorate of the Agency.

This migration is either to build and erect brand new Pharma manufacturing plants or enter contractual manufacturing partnerships with local drug manufacturers. Xxxx

Expansion of NAFDAC’s Ceiling list
This expansionist intervention is to reduce the importation of medicines that can be manufactured locally, thereby stimulating the utilization of idle capacity of local manufacturers of essential medicines. The ceiling had nine (9) products prior to 2020 but has now been increased to thirty-four (34). This has invariably led to decline in imports of products listed on the ceiling list.

The Policy on Establishment of New Pharmaceutical Plants in Nigeria
This policy enables companies to get their facility design right before commencing construction, all in a bid to eliminate potential for manufacture of SF medicines resulting from poorly designed manufacturing facilities. As of July 2023, A total of 57 and 18 new manufacturers, many of whom are importers have either received regulatory approval to erect new GMP compliant Pharma plant in Nigeria or have their layouts undergoing reviews respectively.

This is in addition to the fact that 53 of existing local manufacturers have either obtained regulatory approval to build new plants or are currently undergoing regulatory reviews of their layouts. The implication of this is that as of July 2023.

This resurgence of deliberate intent to comply with extant regulatory requirements by importers and local manufacturers will no doubt translate to decline in pharma imports, notwithstanding the exit of fair-weather investors.

It is also important to note that these approvals translate to millions of dollars (USD) as investment into the Nigerian economy.

NAFDAC Tariff Regime on Imported Products
This is one other intervention put in place to encourage local manufacture of essential medicines.

The cost of registration of Imported drugs is several times higher than local products to further discourage drug imports.

International Certification and Risk Based Classification of Local Drug Manufacturers
Attainment of ISO 9001:2015 Standards and WHO Global Benchmarking of Maturity Level 3 (ML3) status presents any National Medicine Regulatory Authority as a functioning and stable regulatory Agency.

The attainment of this status, coupled with risk based classification of local drug manufacturers by the Agency in May 2019 at the first instance, and subsequently in February 2022 is reverberating in that foreign investors and international procurement agencies are beginning to have increasing level of confidence in our regulatory oversight and patronage of made in Nigeria Products for Nigeria Public Health Programs as against importation of products to support domestic public health interventions.

Recently, technical partners (e.g., UNICEF, UNITAID, UNOPS etc.) and sister agencies in Nigeria (e.g., National Health Insurance Authority, NHIA) have relied on NAFDAC’s oversight function to patronize local drug manufacturing concerns, justifying another reason for decline in imports.

It is in our humble opinion that inspite of the multitude of challenges confronting the local pharma industries in Nigeria, local production is the surest means of providing quickest access to quality, safe and efficacious medicines.

This stance is further supported by the recent disclosure by the Special Adviser to the President (Salma Anas-Ibrahim) at a workshop in Nigeria to reduce importation of drugs in N

 

THE Federal Government has moved the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) back to the Ministry of Interior, its original location when the Commission was established.

 

Nigerian Tribune gathered that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu ordered the relocation from the Ministry of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy to the Interior so as to address the intractable problems associated with the National Identity Numbers (NIN) as one of the major conditions for seamless application and obtaining of International Passports and other travelling documents.

 

Head of Corporate Communications of NIMC, Kayode Adegoke also confirmed the development to Nigerian Tribune, saying the Commission has been moved to Interior.

 

On delays associated with issuance of NIN to Nigerians, especially those with change of birth date and arrangements of a sequence of names, Adegoke said the issues are being addressed.

 

He disclosed that NIMC would launch a mobile application by this weekend as part of several innovations to tackle the problems.

 

On whether NIMC is aware that some persons are using the problems to obtain money fraudulently from Nigerians, Adegoke dismissed the insinuations, saying such persons are certainly not from NIMC.

 

The Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, had on assumption of office vowed to remove all bottlenecks and encumbrances in the process of issuance of the Nigerian travel document by the Nigeria Immigration Service.

 

The Minister had on Thursday last week summoned the Acting Comptroller General, Adepoju Carol and Managing Director of Iris Smart Technologies, Yinka Fisher to his office over the over 200,000 international passport pending applications.

He accordingly gave them

a marching order, demanding the swift clearance of the over 200,000 backlog of passports in two weeks.

 

Tunji-Ojo gave the order in furtherance of his earlier promise to remove “bottlenecks in the acquisition of passports and other immigration documents.”

 

Delays in the processing and enrolment of passports in Nigeria has been a source of frustration for citizens, causing significant delays in obtaining crucial travel documents.

 

He said: “As far as I am concerned, the issue of passport is a national emergency. I keep getting emails daily from Nigerians complaining. We cannot continue like that.

 

“It has become an embarrassment to His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. I represent him here as your minister. That embarrassment is mine now. I am not changing my words. I need the backlog cleared in two weeks.”

 

It was gathered that government was unhappy that a lot of Nigerians suffer unduly and in most cases extorted by some NIMC officials in the process of correcting date of birth or name in their National Identity Card issued by the Commission. The long process of doing this also causes delay in the issuance of passports to applicants by Immigration.

 

During the last administration, the NIMC in conjunction with the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) collaborated for the linkage of NIN with the Subscribers Identity Modules SIM, to fight incidences of kidnapping banditry, and terrorism.

 

Over 100 million Nigerians linked their NIN with SIM within a period of three years.

Nigerian Tribune gathered further that the process of moving out the NIMC to the Ministry of Interior is being accelerated in line with President Bola Tinubu’s administration’s directive to remove all impediments and bottlenecks from obtaining NIN, and Passports.

 

Meanwhile, the Nigeria Immigration Service has disclosed that more personnel are being deployed to all its frontline desks across the country to meet the two-week deadline set by the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo.

 

Tunji-Ojo had a week ago asked the Service to clear the over 200,000 Passport application backlogs in the country. He announced on Tuesday that over 55,000 had been cleared within five days of his ultimatum.

 

The Service maintained that since the Minister handed down the ultimate, the personnel of the NIS worked even at weekends, including Saturdays and Sundays to ensure that the backlogs were cleared.

 

The Public Relations Officer of the Service, Dr Dotun Aridegbe when contacted said the NIS Acting Comptroller General, Mrs Wura-Ola Adepoju has been proactive in responding to the deadline, while all facilities as well equipment are working optimally.

 

Dr Dotun said:” We have been working seriously to meet the deadline. And even before then, the Acting CG has been extremely proactive.

 

“Our personnel are working every weekend at all Passport offices around the country. And the frontline desks are working as well, including on Saturdays and Sundays.

 

 

The Federal Government has given two weeks to the Nigeria Immigration Service NIS to clear over 200,000 pending applications for international passport.

Minister of Interior, Hon. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, gave the order on Thursday during a meeting with top government officials, the Acting Comptroller General, Adepoju Carol, and the Managing Director of Iris Smart Technologies, a third-party company in charge of the production of passport booklets.

Special Assistant on Media to the minister, Babatunde Alao who disclosed this in a statement on Thursday said the order comes in furtherance of his promise to remove “bottlenecks in the acquisition of passports and other immigration documents.”

 

Delays in the processing and enrolment of passports in Nigeria has been a source of frustration for citizens, causing significant delays in obtaining crucial travel documents.

 

The Minister noted that having to deal with about 200,000 backlogs calls for national emergency.

 

He said; “As far as I am concerned, the issue of passport is a national emergency. I keep getting emails daily from Nigerians complaining. We cannot continue like that.

 

“It has become an embarrassment to His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. I represent him here as your minister. That embarrassment is mine now. I am not changing my words. I need the backlog cleared in two weeks.”

 

During the meeting, the Acting Comptroller General, Adepoju Carol, and Managing Director, Yinka Fisher, assured the Minister that all necessary resources and measures would be deployed to ensure the expedited processing of these pending passport applications.

 

Adepoju disclosed that though the number of enrolment as of Thursday morning was over 200,000 across the country, the Service has been able to secure enough booklets to clear the backlog.

Charging both the IRIS team and officers of the NIS, the minister revealed that he receives updates on passport enrolments on a daily basis.

I get daily reports on enrolment from NIS on my phone. This is my best way to be in the know of the situation. Nigerians deserve the best. It is their right to own a passport if they can afford it.

 

“We will also ensure that our debts are cleared by November. My position remains that the delay in the process of obtaining the passport must end,” the Minister added.

 

In a similar development, the Minister held strategic meetings with the Controller General of the Federal Fire Service, Abdulganiyu Jaji; the Controller General of the Nigeria Correctional Service, Haliru Nababa; the Commandant General of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps NSCDC, Ahmed Audi.

 

In the meeting, the Minister issued a directive for the creation of a practical and executable roadmap that entails timelines, approach, deliverables, and methodology

 

Flowerbudnews, Sept. 7, 2024:.   ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ – these two words capture a deep philosophy. It means ‘the world is one family’.

This is an all-embracing outlook that encourages us to progress as one universal family, transcending borders, languages, and ideologies. During India’s G20 Presidency, this has translated into a call for human-centric progress.

As One Earth, we are coming together to nurture our planet. As One Family, we support each other in the pursuit of growth. And we move together towards a shared future – One Future – which is an undeniable truth in these interconnected times.

The post-pandemic world order is very different from the world before it. There are three important changes, among others.
First, there is a growing realisation that a shift away from a GDP-centric view of the world to a human-centric view is needed.

Second, the world is recognizing the importance of resilience and reliability in global supply chains.

Third, there is a collective call for boosting multilateralism through the reform of global institutions.

Our G20 Presidency has played the role of a catalyst in these shifts.
In December 2022, when we took over the Presidency from Indonesia, I had written that a mindset shift must be catalysed by the G20.

This was especially needed in the context of mainstreaming the marginalized aspirations of developing countries, the Global South and Africa.

The Voice of Global South Summit in January 2023, which witnessed participation from 125 countries, was one of the foremost initiatives under our Presidency.

It was an important exercise to gather inputs and ideas from the Global South. Further, our Presidency has not only seen the largest-ever participation from African countries but has also pushed for the inclusion of the African Union as a permanent member of the G20.

An interconnected world means our challenges across domains are interlinked. This is the midway year of the 2030 Agenda and many are noting with great concern that the progress on SDGs is off-track.

The G20 2023 Action Plan on Accelerating Progress on SDGs will spearhead the future direction of the G20 towards implementing SDGs.

In India, living in harmony with nature has been a norm since ancient times and we have been contributing our share towards climate action even in modern times.

Many countries of the Global South are at various stages of development and climate action must be a complementary pursuit. Ambitions for climate action must be matched with actions on climate finance and transfer of technolog.

We believe there is a need to move away from a purely restrictive attitude of what should not be done, to a more constructive attitude focusing on what can be done to fight climate change.

Chennai High-Level Principles for a Sustainable and Resilient Blue Economy focus on keeping our oceans healthy.

A global ecosystem for clean and green hydrogen will emerge from our presidency, along with a Green Hydrogen Innovation Centre.

In 2015, we launched the International Solar Alliance. Now, through the Global Biofuels Alliance, we will support the world to enable energy transitions in tune with the benefits of a circular economy.

Democratising climate action is the best way to impart momentum to the movement. Just as individuals make daily decisions based on their long-term health, they can make lifestyle decisions based on the impact on the planet’s long-term health. Just like Yoga became a global mass movement for wellness, we have also nudged the world with Lifestyles for Sustainable Environment (LiFE).

Due to the impact of climate change, ensuring food and nutritional security will be crucial. Millets, or Shree Anna, can help with this while also boosting climate-smart agriculture.

In the International Year of Millets, we have taken millets to global palates. The Deccan High Level Principles on Food Security and Nutrition is also helpful in this direction.

Technology is transformative but it also needs to be made inclusive. In the past, the benefits of technological advancements have not benefited all sections of society equally. India, over the last few years, has shown how technology can be leveraged to narrow inequalities, rather than widen them.

For instance, the billions across the world that remain unbanked, or lack digital identities, can be financially included through digital public infrastructure (DPI).

The solutions we have built using our DPI have now been recognised globally. Now, through the G20, we will help developing countries adapt, build, and scale DPI to unlock the power of inclusive growth.

That India is the fastest-growing large economy is no accident. Our simple, scalable and sustainable solutions have empowered the vulnerable and the marginalised to lead our development story. From space to sports, economy to entrepreneurship, Indian women have taken the lead in various sectors. They have shifted the narrative from the development of women to women-led development. Our G20 Presidency is working on bridging the gender digital divide, reducing labour force participation gaps and enabling a larger role for women in leadership and decision-making.

For India, the G20 Presidency is not merely a high-level diplomatic endeavour. As the Mother of Democracy and a model of diversity, we opened the doors of this experience to the world.

Today, accomplishing things at scale is a quality that is associated with India. The G20 Presidency is no exception. It has become a people-driven movement. Over 200 meetings will have been organised in 60 Indian cities across the length and breadth of our nation, hosting nearly 100,000 delegates from 125 countries by the end of our term. No Presidency has ever encompassed such a vast and diverse geographical expanse.

It is one thing to hear about India’s demography, democracy, diversity and development from someone else. It is totally different to experience them first-hand.

I am sure our G20 delegates would vouch for this. Our G20 Presidency strives to bridge divides, dismantle barriers, and sow seeds of collaboration that nourish a world where unity prevails over discord, where shared destiny eclipses isolation. As the G20 President, we had pledged to make the global table larger, ensuring that every voice is heard and every country contributes. I am positive that we have matched our pledge with actions and outcomes. (Flowerbudnews)

 

By Biola Lawal

Lagos (Flowerbudnews):  National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has intensified efforts to end rejection of Nigerian food exports by strengthening collaboration with freight forwarders, Clearing Agents and Freight Consolidators at the ports.

A NAFDAC statement by Sayo Akintola, the Resident Consultant, disclosed that the Agency had successfully held discussions with critical trade groups at the ports under the theme: The role of Freight Consolidator in the Export of NAFDAC Regulated Products at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos,

The parley brought together all the major stakeholders in the ports trade at the nations ports to align with the appropriate electronic channel to obtain NAFDAC export certification.

NAFDAC DG, Prof Mojisola Adeyeye emphasised the need for collaboration of the various trade groups in the export business to put an end to rejection of food exports from Nigeria in Europe and the U.S.

Speaking at the stakeholder meeting Prof Adeyeye implored the clearing agents to propagate to the various exporters, cargo operators and handlers, the need to align with NAFDAC guidelines and its appropriate regulatory channels for export certification.

This She noted, would assist the efforts to stop to the embarrassment that rejection of food exports from Nigeria more often than not, brought to the country and the huge losses incurred by the exporters.

She noted that NAFDAC efforts were in line with the Federal Government policy on diversifying the economy through the non-oil export sector and with the policy initiative on the Presidential Enabling Business Executive Council (PEBEC),

Prof Adeyeye pointed out that NAFDAC was one of the key drivers of the noble initiative had stepped up its processes and procedures towards ensuring that all NAFDAC Regulated Products meant for Export meet the required standard acceptable at national and international markets especially with the specifications of buying country

She disclosed that this was now being done through an improved process of Documentation, Laboratory analysis, Inspection, Registration and Certification before products are exported.

The meeting with freight forwarders, freight consolidators, and clearing agents Freight Consolidators in export business was a follow-up to the one the Agency had with Pre-shipment Agents about a month ago.

The Director General,  who was represented by the Head, Export Division, Ports Inspection Directorate of NAFDAC, Mrs. Oluwaseyi Sanwo-olu, called on the export stakeholders of the Agency regulated products for effective collaboration with the regulatory authority to complement its robust regulatory policies geared toward understanding the NAFDAC export processes.

The main objective was collaboration to safeguard a unified exportation procedure and zero rejects of Nigeria export products.

NAFDAC as a Governmental Agency was established by its Enabling Act Cap N1 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria (LFN) 2004 which empowers the Agency as the competent authority in Nigeria, charged with the responsibility of regulating and controlling the manufacture, importation, exportation, distribution, advertisement, sale, and use of food, drug, chemicals, and other regulated products.

Prof Adeyeye noted that the regulatory policy of the agency was geared towards the protection of consumers and promoting public health, by ensuring that regulated products were of good quality, safe, efficacious, wholesome, and accepted in the global market.

”We recognize and appreciate the role of each of the Export Facilitation Stakeholders namely: (Consolidators, freight forwarders, clearing agents, members of the Association of Nigeria Customs Licensed Agents, National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF),Association of Nigeria licensed custom Agent (ANCLA),” She stated.

The National Association of Freight Forwarders and Air Consolidators (NAFFAC) etc.) here represented today as main actors in the export chain, she said, stressing that it is their obligation to sensitize and enlighten the exporters on NAFDAC processes and procedures as well.

She pointed out that by coming together, the Agency and port operators will help make the trade of the non-oil sector be better, more robust, and more consultative.

According to the NAFDAC boss, the following are the Agencys expectations from Consolidators of its regulated products.
Freight Consolidators should be well informed on the nature of the products they are handling and how to keep the products integrity intact.
Guide their clients (exporters) to always factor in, time for processing of export certification in their timeline before planning the next exportation.

Comply with documentation requirements for NAFDAC regulated products before shipment.
Have a requisite understanding of quality, safety and standards of regulated product or consignment they are handling.

A good understanding of proper handling, use of approved packaging material, group-packaging of like products.

Understand the implication of forwarding and exporting products without recourse to NAFDAC processes and procedures.

She said they must always avoid cross-contamination of products (e.g., food products, cosmetics, chemicals), adding that cool temperature that does not allow microbes to grow must be maintained.

Prof Adeyeye urged them to use quality finished and raw material, adding that they should also ensure that personnel handling processes are medically fit to avoid contamination.

She added that NAFDACs door is opened to trade, we encourage and support trade, adding that the NAFDAC Export certification channel is Customer friendly, easy to operate and timely.
According to her, the Agencys leverage is on the commitment to achieve zero export reject.

She said the Agency is sensitive to the peculiarity of export consignment at the MMIA and is willing to guide the erring exporters as well as streamline export requirements for such consignments hence the reason for relocating the Export Division of PID in NAFDAC to the newly built NAFDACs NAHCO at MMIA for easy accessibility to exporters of such consignments.

Prof Adeyeye noted that the Agency acknowledges the importance of having broader and deeper Interactions and collaborations with sister agencies such as Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON), Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service (NAQS), Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Nigeria Custom Service (NCS) etc.

It is worth noting that all exported products that went through NAFDAC export certification process have never been rejected, she said. (Flowerbudnews)

The Lagos State Government has commenced commercial operation of the Blue Line Rail Mass

According to a live broadcast by Channels Television monitored by DAILY POST on Monday, the Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, is taking an inaugural ride from Marina to Mile-2.

Transit years after it was first conceived in 1983.

Recall that former President Muhammadu Buhari commissioned the first phase of the train station in Lagos in January.

The first phase extends from Marina to Mile 2 and is 13 kilometres.

The 27km rail line will transport about 500,000 passengers daily.

The first phase has five stations — Marina, National Theatre, Iganmu, Alaba and Orile station.

The full trip from Marina to Mile 2 will cost N750, while zonal fares — for passengers who are not making a full trip — will be between N400 and N500.

The Blue Line Rail Project was proposed in 1983 during the administration of the former Governor of Lagos State, the Late Alhaji Lateef Jakande.

 

The rail network was flagged off 20 years later, during the administration of Bola Tinubu in 2003.