The Minister of Interior, Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, has declared illegal the N5,000 “compliance fee” charged by some personnel of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) in some passport offices to help applicants process their passports.

Tunji-Ojo made the declaration while responding to questions from reporters.

“Compliance fee? I am hearing it for the first time. We will plead with Nigerians to assist us in succeeding. Do not pay the compliance fee if there is anything like that. Do not pay for your rights. There is nothing in the books that is a compliance fee. Please, let us educate our people,”, he stated.

Upon taking office, the minister questioned the huge lines at immigration passport offices, stating that the situation had devolved into Nigerians queuing for passports to paradise.

While emphasizing the importance of reducing the time it takes to obtain an international passport, the minister stated that even as a federal lawmaker and Chairman of the Committee on Niger Delta.

His predecessor, Rauf Aregbesola, had imposed a three-week turnaround period for passport renewals and a six-week turnaround time for new applications. However, there were more than 204,000 unprocessed applications as of September 2023.

Acting Comptroller General of Immigration, Caroline Wuraola-Adepoju, detailed the reasons for the rising backlogs, stating that the desire of young Nigerians to leave the country, dubbed the “Japa Syndrome,” has resulted in an increase in applications since 2021.

“My daughter waited for six months to get her passport booklet. I was the House committee chairman on the NDDC. I faced this. Tell me what an average Nigerian would face. It is like we are waiting for a passport to heaven,” said Tunji-Ojo.

As a result, he directed that the backlogs be addressed within two weeks. Working with technical partners and with the minister’s leadership, the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) was able to remove the backlogs in just over two weeks. Surprisingly, more than half of individuals who applied before September of this year and whose passport booklets are now ready have declined to pick up their documents.

Development Commission (NDDC), her own daughter waited for six months to obtain her passport, leaving her to wonder what the fate of the average Nigerian would be.

By Biola Lawal

Gusau (Flowerbudnews): The Federal Government under President Tinubu, has delivered 40 houses to displaced persons in Gusau as part of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s efforts to address pressing humanitarian challenges in the country.

Federal Government expressed its commitment to address pressing humanitarian challenges in the country including providing decent homes for the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).

Minister for Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr Betta Edu handed over the  fully completed houses at the resettlement city built by the Refugees commission to the IDPs at Gidan Dawa area of Gusau, Zamfara State.

This was disclosed in a statement by Rasheed Olanrewaju Zubair, (ANIPR), Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to Honourable Minister, MHAPA, a copy of which was made available to Flowerbudnews in Abuja

Dr Betta Edu said that the buildings were testimony to the commitment of the present administration to ameliorate humanitarian challenges in the country by providing decent homes for the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), among others.

It would be recalled that several persons were displaced in Zamfara, including a visibly old mother of four who was thrown out of their abode as a result of banditry attacks in their communities and lived with her grand children and community in the forest for months.

Their stories have however changed with the new homes given to them by President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope intervention from the Refugee commission.

The Minister said president Bola Ahmad Tinubu was determined to provide more shelter to IDPs across the country, stressing that a new dawn has birthed and their story will change moving forward.

Edu who made the presentation to the Zamfara State Governor, Dauda Lawal, in the presence of the High Federal Commissioner Hon. Tijani Ahmed called on the International Communities, Private Establishments and Public Spirited Individuals to support humanitarian response in the State.

“This Resettlement City Project is not just a physical endeavour; it is a beacon of hope for the beneficiaries and the State.

“We are going to provide more lighting to this environment to further illuminate this new city as part of security measures, this is with immediate effect.

Responding to the Governor’s request to build more homes and cities for the Internally Displaced Persons in other parts of the Senatorial district, the Minister said;

“Mr Governor, all you need to do is to provide us with lands and other requirements at the State level that will enable us to build as requested,” she said.

In his remarks, the Governor of Zamfara State, Dr. Dauda Aliyu Commended the federal government for her interest in security situation in the State.

“Zamfara is in dire need of support. The provision of an IDP resettlement
facility in the State Capital, Gusau, is indeed a welcome development. We appreciate the
collaborative efforts of the Federal Government in alleviating the suffering of our people. In this regard, the Government and the good people of Zamfara State remain grateful for this kind gesture.

“We request for more support particularly, we request that the Honorable Minister use her good offices to construct two
more of these projects, one each in the remaining two zones, Zamfara North and West
Senatorial Districts. This is to fulfil the initial plan of these vital intervention projects,” the Governor said.

Also Speaking at the event, the Honourable Commissioner, National Commission for Refugees Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), Alhaji Tijjani Aliyu Ahmed said the handing over of the houses was part of the
Renewed Hope Agenda of President Ahmed Bola Tinubu which underscores the paramount importance of the welfare of Internally Displaced Persons in his government.

He said with the Minister’s approval, more programmes, projects and opportunities will come to the state under his Commission. (Flowerbudnews)

By Biola Lawal
Abuja (Flowerbudnews): The Federal Government says the current temporary suspension of the N-power programme was to facilitate a detailed investigation into the operations of the N-Power in the last twelve months.

Dr. Akindele Egbuwalo National Programme Manager, N-Power, said in a statement on behalf of the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs that the total number of persons enrolled on NPOWER since inception to date is 960,000 people.

He disclosed that most of them have exited from NPower 1.0 and NPower 2.0 batch A and B, enhance the need to establish facts

Full statement below:

It is imperative to inform Nigerians, particularly beneficiaries of the N-Power programme across the country, of the temporary suspension of the programme

This action has become necessary to give room for a detailed investigation into the operations of the N-Power in the last twelve months.

The total number of persons enrolled on NPOWER since inception to date is 960,000 people. Most of them have exited from NPower 1.0 and NPower 2.0 batch A and B

There is a need to audit the number of people in the programme, those who have exited the program, those who are being owed, whether the reported to work or not and how funds have been utilised over this period of time.

Recently, we discovered instances of programme beneficiaries whose participation has lapsed since 2022 but have remained on and continue to expect payments from the government.

In addition, some beneficiaries must honour their obligation to the programme: They do not report to their places of primary assignments as required but still receive monthly payments. Some have other jobs and have left this bracket but are still benefiting from the payments, while those who truly worked are not paid

These instances have made the need for a thorough audit imperative, as we also look into claims of those being owed for up to eight to nine months’ stipends to ascertain the veracity of their claims.

The graduates & non-graduate volunteers Batch C1 & C2 are in this category. We want to establish the exact number of people owed and the total amounts, thereby eliminating ghost beneficiaries.

Preliminary findings of our audit have shown that some consultants are holding on to beneficiaries’ funds disbursed to them long ago, even when their contract ended in March 2023 without any renewal.

We condemn this practice and will not tolerate it going forward. Work is ongoing to identify those involved, understand why the payments didn’t get to the final beneficiaries, and recall the funds to pay those owed.

We appeal to Nigerians to understand the rationale behind the temporary suspension and investigation of the programme as we work to restore the nation’s confidence in the programme and for the new N-Power to serve Nigerians better. Things have to be properly done for us to move forward.

This restructuring and transformation will also birth an expanded programme to reach beneficiaries aged 18-40 (the previous age limit was 35). We are targeting 5 million beneficiaries in 5 years at a pace of 1 million per year under the graduate and non-graduate stream.

In addition, the restructuring will accommodate some new programmes, in Education, Health, Works, Agriculture, Technology, fashion, entertainment, and other relevant areas of skill acquisition and employability.

To earn the confidence of Nigerians in the expanded programme, transparency and accountability will be the benchmark. It shall no longer be business as usual as we make concerted efforts to put the nation on the right footing, ensuring that no one directly or indirectly unleashes suffering on Nigerians.

We assure all beneficiaries with genuine claims that we will resolve their cases once we complete the verification exercise and honour all valid outstanding obligations. Nobody will be owed. (Flowerbudnews)

By Flowerbudnews
Enugu: The South Saharan Social Development Organization (SSDO) and ActionAid Nigeria have fashioned out a work plan to improve education in rural communities in Enugu State.

The two Non-Governmental Organisations have decided to ensure that rural indigent children attend school notwithstanding their parents’ poverty or marginalised economic status.

Speaking on the Child Education Sponsorship Initiative, the Programme Manager of SSDO’s Local Rights Programme, Miss Priye West, told newsmen on Sunday in Enugu that it targets indigent children between the ages of three and eight.

According to West, research shows that over 90 million Nigerians live below the poverty line and a good percentage live in rural and marginalised communities.

She said that these communities are characterised by poor access to education and healthcare, lack of infrastructure, and low income levels; adding that “this affects their standard of living and quality of life, of which kids are the biggest victims”.

“Understanding this reality, South Saharan Social Development Organization (SSDO), in partnership with ActionAid Nigeria through the Local Rights Programme, is doing its part to improve education in marginalised communities.

“The initiative (programme) aims to reduce poverty by increasing its engagement with the poor and marginalised in selected communities through its Child Sponsorship mechanisms.

“The child education sponsorship initiative identifies vulnerable children aged between three and eight years and attaches them to sponsors,” she said.

West revealed that over the past collection period, the team for the initiative collected over 740 child messages across eight communities in Enugu State.

She said: “Our motivation is to see the children and the communities at large are all that they can be.

“This activity allowed the team to keep tabs on the kids and monitor their development process. As well as get feedback from the kids to the sponsors.” (Flowerbudnews)