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Cross River State governor, Sir Ben Ayade, Thursday, presented an appropriation bill of one trillion, one hundred billion, one hundred and sixty seven million, five hundred and seven thousand naira, nine kobo, for the 2020 fiscal year. (more…)

(FLOWERBUDNEWS) Countries and donors have pledged 2.6 billion U.S. dollars to eradicate polio worldwide.

Nearly half of the fund has been donated by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to boost the ‘last mile’ efforts to wipe out the polio viruses.

The funds would be used for immunization of 450 million children facing a threat from the polio viruses.

Globally, extensive vaccination in developing countries eradicated two of the three strains of wild polio viruses responsible for causing the disease, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced early this month.

The African countries have managed to nearly stamp out the disease that cripples lower limbs, mostly among children. Not a single case of polio has been reported from Nigeria since 2016, the last country in the region afflicted with the virus. Authorities are likely to certify the country “polio-free” next year.

The donations from governments and various philanthropies were confirmed during the Reaching the Last Mile (RLM) forum on polio held in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.

“The Global Polio Eradication Initiative is not only moving us closer to a polio-free world, but it’s also building essential health infrastructure to address a range of other health needs,” said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the WHO.

Since 1998, polio cases have declined by 99 percent globally, and only one strain of polio virus afflicts large parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan. According to the WHO, parental refusal to get their child vaccinated led to ongoing transmission of the wild poliovirus in both countries.

In an effort to control the spread of viruses in Pakistan, the Emirates Polio Campaign launched in 2014 delivered more than 430 million vaccines in remote parts of Pakistan.

“We remain firm in our mission to reach every last child and believe together we can consign polio to the pages of history,” said Her Excellency Reem Al Hashimy, UAE Cabinet Member and Minister of State for International Cooperation.

An INEC trained staff and a graduate of Kogi Polytechnic identified as Cooper Fabulous KSP was shot dead yesterday in Kogi State gubernatorial election.

His friend took to social media to mourn him and wrote….

‘God have mercy on us in Kogi State Kogi Poly Just Graduate Student Business Administration.  Fabulous Goes home

It not easy to say God bye. Election why do u go with our brother, Course, Friend, Manager.

Fabulous death is a grate lost to business Students and Kogi Student’s in General .R.I.I. God No why , we love u but God love most’.

APC leaders visit Good luck Jonathan in Bayelsa resident, Otuoke for thank you visit .

(FLOWERBUDNEWS)The Senior Staff Association of Statutory Corporations and Government Owned Companies (SSASCGOC) says federal government must ensure stringent sanctions to curb crime in the country.

The Association in a communique at the end of its National Executive Council (NEC) meeting in Ilorin  said that the rate of crime in the country remained a major threat to the national security.

The communique was signed by Mr Muhammad Yunusa the president and Ayo Olorunfemi, the Secretary General.

“The association notes with dismay the incessant act of crime and its escalation which forms major threats to Nigeria’s national security.

“Stringent sanctioning and deterrence mechanisms are suggested to control crimes where criminal opportunism and impunity prevail over and above deterrence, ” it said.

It appreciated the federal government for the closure of the land borders and called for the support of local famers and manufacturer s to boost local production and the economy.

It urged government to put in place palliatives to ameliorate the suffering of Nigerians living around the border areas.

On the new minimum wage, it commended president Muhammadu Buhari for signing the Act and called for full implementation by all adding that government should try to clear unpaid federal and state staff claims.

On Communication Satellite, it noted that to fight insecurity in the country, government needed to fund the launch of NIGCOMSAT 2 and 3.

“In addition, we call on the federal government to partner NIGCOMSAT as a technology partner to drive the digital and financial inclusion policy for millions of Nigerians in the rural communities.

“There should be enforcement of local content order 003/005 in favour of NIGCOMSAT so that agencies like NTA and NNPC can patronise it instead of using foreign satelite operators,” it said.

The association further commended government on the on going reconstruction of roads and called for speedy completion to reduce sufferings and huge loss of revenue.

“Government at all level need to create economic policies that will genuinely alleviate poverty in the country,” it added.

On governance, it frowned at appointment of politicians as Chief Executive Officers of statutory corporations and government-owned companies as it seemed that they were used for political settlements rather than performance. (NAN)

(FLOWERBUD NEWS) You’re a parent; you’ve left your three teenage kids alone in your semi-duplex and
have gone on a business trip to Abuja with your husband. You co-own a fast-rising
marketing company with him, and this trip is to land a big client at the Presidential
Villa. He requires both your presence. The trip is for a full week. Your kids are grown,
and do not need a nanny- the last one’s ten.
Trip goes fine, client is bagged, you return, but you do not return to your home; no,
you return to what used to be your home. You return to disorganization, lack of
coordination, oil spills, water spills, dust, cobwebs, broken furniture, and kids who all
seem to have caught a cold. You’re the mum, and you switch to ‘super
housekeeper mommy mode’. Dad helps out too.
Step one – scold and warn and scream and shout. Step two – gather all cleaning
equipment. Step three – remove the perpetrators of the mess from the scene. Swear
never to leave them all alone on their own again. Step four – return the house to
how it was before you left it….and then the kids come back and tell you that if you
do not return their freedom, they would have you removed as mother in their lives,
and take legal action against you. They would drag your name all over twitter and
make rubbish of your credibility. They would insist that you even give them more
freedom than they had before. They call you a tyrant with greedy and controlling
inclinations.
If you were mother to these kids, what would you do?
This short story more than exemplifies the last three months at the Nigeria Inter-Bank
Settlement System Plc, a company charged to initiate and develop integrated
nationwide networks for electronic and paperless payments, funds transfer and
settlement of transactions. This basically means that the NIBSS is the nervous system
across all banks and financial institutions in Nigeria. Such a heavy task to bear! Such
a mandate to be 100% perfect in every discharge of their duty. There are several
talks of lackadaisical approach to work in Nigerian federal institutions and
companies; if there was any that should absolutely not let this bad culture encroach
them, it is the NIBSS, because of how key it is to the functioning of money in Nigeria.
Alas, however, the NIBSS was not entirely immune, and slips began to show in their
internal functioning. Good thing these slips were caught quickly before they
became too noticeable by the general public, and talks and efforts to return to a
standard of excellence through a repositioning kicked off.
After a good deal of investigative journalism on my end, I have been able to piece
together a timeline of events that kicked off from these talks of repositioning (which
resulted to the allegations against the NIBSS for foul play which rocked the company
about a week ago), which I lay out in this article. I purpose to describe a timeline
alone and without bias, and without going into the he-said-she-saids of the recent
employment termination scandal.
In May 2019, the first clear step towards bringing about a new face of the NIBSS was
the appointment of Mr. Premier Oiwoh as the MD/CEO. The board of the company
tasked him with the responsibility of repositioning the Company to place it at the
forefront of innovations that would revolutionize the Nigerian payment system. This
entailed a holistic review of operational processes and procedures as well as

resources available to the Company by Executive Management, aimed at devising
action plans that would put the Company back on track to becoming a world-class
payment infrastructure.
Like the mother with the three kids, Mr. Oiwoh’s first step was to observe and
measure. The Human Resources department was utilized effectively and all the staff
of the NIBSS were evaluated. After evaluations, a good number fell above the line,
while others fell below the line. This obviously confirmed the already-known
assessment that there was extra weight holding the company down that needed
shedding off.
One thing a CEO should never do is treat his or her employees as mere numbers or
as service-robots without emotions doing their bidding. Mr. Oiwoh and the board of
the NIBSS knew this, and they wisely took up the next steps of the clean-up with skill,
regard for due process, and a dread for the backlash of creating an atmosphere full
of feelings of disenfranchisement that may arise from wrongful/inhumane
termination from office. This was strategy.
Yes, strategy, because, one, you must know the law and the requirements of law to
do this right; two, you must have company policy at your fingertips to execute
effectively; three, you must ensure that the gap that will be left by those leaving will
either be immediately filled up, or skilfully handled by persons who bear similar
portfolio in the company as the one fired. A lot goes into such strategy and this is the
run-down of how the NIBSS executives, lead by Mr. Oiwoh, executed theirs:

Step One – Scold and Warn and Scream and Shout: Like the mother in our story, the
intentions of the MD/CEO and the Human Resources team at the NIBSS was clear to
everyone, and the repositioning efforts were not hidden.
They had let people who had low appraisals and track-record of underperformance
know of their performance, and some of them resigned voluntarily. The question
now was how to let go of the others who didn’t, twenty-three of them to be exact.

Step Two – Gather All Cleaning Equipment: Severance packages, monies, and
payments. These were the equipment gathered to ensure that cleaning was done
accurately, and without chance for holding the company accountable for unfair
play.
According to the company’s Human Resource policy (Article 3.7.1), the Nigerian
Labour law, and the details of their employment contracts, these twenty-three, were
paid salaries in lieu of notice of termination of contract. The pension contributions in
their Retirement Savings Accounts (RSAs) were paid. The Company’s gratuity
scheme, administered as Additional Voluntary Contribution (AVC) with the pension
fund administrators of the employee’s choice obligated the total payment of

N594,000,000.00 (Five Hundred and Ninety-Four Million Naira Only) to The Twenty-
Three, which was completely paid. The unearned allowances usually paid upfront to

the middle level and senior management among the twenty-three were
accordingly recovered from the employees’ final entitlements. As a palliative even,
the Company upheld a policy that was meant for retiring staff for them – terminated
staffs – as it pertains the release of their company cars. The policy states that assets
that have been used for more than 24 months would be transferred to the exited
staff free of cost; however, assets less than 24 months may be purchased at 10% of

the original cost by the exited employee, and this was upheld. The terminated staff’s
access to National Health Insurance Programme for the unexpired period covered
by the premium already paid by NIBSS was still maintained.

Step Three – Remove the Perpetrators of the Mess from the Scene: It sounds harsh,
but yes. There is no other way to go except this. The warnings had come, the signs
were all over the place, people had resigned, you knew your fate, severance
packages had been paid into your account – again, there is no other way to go
except to take the exit – your services have been appreciated thus far, but then, to
move forward, we need to let you go. This was the NIBSS’s last point of call to clean
up house, and on August 2, 2019, it was executed. Access to the portals of the
exited Twenty-Three staff were closed and their termination letters were issued, first
by email on the 2nd of August, and then handed over to them on August 14th.
Nineteen out of the Twenty-Three exited staff returned to commute their termination
which was favourably considered by the Company Management…until they
stopped, made a complete U-turn, joined up with the Chief Risk Officer (Assistant
Vice-President) of the NIBSS who was exited too, and began a tirade of allegations
against the NIBSS and the new MD/CEO, Mr. Premier Oiwoh.

*

The NIBSS is witnessing a freshness in operations now, and it will only get better. What
is good must be done, and must be done properly. What is good for the nervous
system of inter-banking in Nigeria is absolute perfection and continuous growth and
development, internally (without threat of being pulled down by deadweight), or
externally by positioning itself to become a world-class financial service provider.
There were issues of poor governance (due process was not being followed in
arriving at management decisions – management decisions were being unilaterally
taken as EXCO meetings were not being held), palpable knowledge gaps with no
plans for organizational continuity, inadequate division of labour and skill (processes
revolved around single individuals without backups or continuity in mind), lack of
continuity infrastructure and misuse of existing ones (the development source codes
for NIBSS applications were not stored in a central environment or backed up to
allow business continuity), clear cyber-risk practices indulged in (The staff of the
Company were all using USB devices on their computers, a major cyber risk issue, at
a point), and poor attitude, lack of understanding and poor people orientation by
staff which led to several complaints from banks and stakeholders. The NIBSS truly
needed cleaning up, and at the point of writing this, they have begun stage four.

Step Four – Return the House to Beauty: There are moves to begin staff trainings,
workshops, recruitment of capable hands who fit into the refreshed company
culture, create good performance measurement systems that feed back into
company strategy, and an overall new take to management and governance.
The sky is just the starting point for the new NIBSS, and there is potential to achieve
much more. The company has shown a good example of how to really break the
moulds of nepotism and unsavoury favouritism that eats at the corporate culture in

Nigeria today. It is left for others to follow this stellar example and reach for the skies
themselves too.

Signed,
Aniene Osunde.

(FLOWERBUDNEWS) Grandmother Grace Atinuke (born November 16, 1931) is known to be the first ever Miss Nigeria, having won the pageant — also the maiden edition — in 1957.

Though she hails from Kogi State, Grandma Oyelude was born in Kano to James Adeleye Olude and Marthan Dantu, who both hail from Isanlu, present day Kogi State.

The story of how she became the first Miss Nigeria is as riveting as her enigmatic personality, even in her advanced old age.

Miss Nigeria started in 1957 as a photo contest, whereby contestants posted photographs of themselves to The Daily Times headquarters in Lagos. Finalists were shortlisted, and successful finalists were invited to compete in the live final at the Lagos Island Club.

Then, the Miss Nigeria contest did not include a swimsuit competition.

Then, Oyelude was working at UAC when she represented the then Northern region. After winning the contest, she travelled to England where she studied Nursing. Within months of gaining admission to the School of Nursing in Ashford, she was crowned Miss Nigeria.

She tells her story: “I was living in Kano then. My brother saw the advertisement in the newspapers and advised me to go to Lagos for an interview to be selected as a Miss Nigeria contestant.

“He applied, and the result was that I was supposed to be in Lagos for the Miss Nigeria contest.

“I was working in the UAC then, and they also were also involved in the pageant.

“The following day, they got me on a plane to Lagos and that was it.”

Oyelude currently holds the chieftaincy titles Iyaolu of Isaluland and Iyalode of Okunland. She has many grandchildren.

More recently, precisely on July 16, 2018, her ebullient nephew and a Professor of English Language at Carleton University in Canada, Pius Adesanmi, posted a photograph of the gracefully ageing Grandma Oyelude.