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  • Obaseki To Acquire 100 New Buses Ahead Of 2020 National Sports Festival

    The Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki has concluded plans for the acquisition of over 100 new buses, which will be added to the Edo City Transport Service (ECTS) fleet in anticipation for the 2020 National Sports Festival (NSF).

    The governor said this after inspecting one of the 40 ECTS buses being refurbished by the state government at the Government House in Benin City.

    He said the state is already finalising talks with relevant stakeholders to finance and order for the vehicles.

    Obaseki noted that his administration has undertaken a state-wide transportation master-study, with a view to making replacement of old buses in ECTS’ fleet.
    He said the management of ECTS would make arrangement to employ more drivers for the additional buses.

    “My expectation is that at the end of next year, we will have nothing less than 200 to 250 buses in ECTS’ fleet”, the governor added.
    Managing Director (MD) of ECTS, Mrs. Edugie Agbonlahor, said the governor approved the refurbishment of 40 buses to meet the increasing transport needs in the state.

    “He approved 40 new engines for 40 buses; the engines have been installed and the buses have been refurbished”, she noted.

    She added that the ECTS was prepared to provide intercity transport services during the National Festival for Arts and Culture (NAFEST) and NSF, holding in the state, noting that no fewer than 75 buses have been branded and carrying the NAFEST Logo

  • E-Id Card: NIMC Urges Nigerians To Report Cases Of Extortion

    (FLOWEDRBUDNEWS) Hadiza Dagabana,General Manager Legal Service. National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), says Nigerians should always follow due process and report cases of extortion while trying to collect their National Identity Cards to curb fraud.

    Dagabana told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at the NIMC office in Abuja that the report circulating that the Commission demands money for collection of ID-cards is ‘fake news’.

    The General Manager said that the Commission was established by law to carry out identity management, and therefore, advised Nigerians who have registered to go and obtain their ID-cards free of charge.

    According to her, we have currently established 164 locations for the national identity management registration processes at both Federal and State levels.

     

    “The standard is to have an enrollment centre within a population of 50,000 people, when we enroll the first thing a person is issued is that National Identification Number that is mandatory for us to issue and we issued it free of charge

     

    “ We do not charge for enrolment and issuance of national identification number, we have received reports from some locations and schools where some individuals have approached them asking them to pay a thousand or five hundred or five thousands naira for them to enroll their students that is not from NIMC.

     

    “ We would encourage any person that is approached to pay money to please write to the DG NIMC and submit those complaints or go our website and report those kind of incident and it would be dealt with

     

    “We will encourage Nigerians that were approached to make sure they take information of those people may be their picture, number or verifiable contact number of those people, so that we will be able to trace those persons and act accordingly.

     

    “Nigerians also should support us and be our watchdog to make sure that we deliver our services according to the rules and regulations of the land

     

    “We have a small bureau that we are printing, as I am telling you now we have over 700,000 cards that are lying down in our offices that Nigerians had not come to claim.

     

    “Because when you register with us you provide a contact number and email address we have spent money sending SMS to the numbers that were provided for us,” she said.

     The General Manager also said it is not mandatory for any person to go about with national ID-cards, saying the world had gone past people carrying cards.

    She noted that people should always take note of their National Identification Number (NIN), which is the number encrypted on the card to avoid problem of any sort.

    Dagabana said the commission has also made its services easy for everyone to access; verification on our data-base is trapped and authenticated.

    “If you want to re-issue or retrieve your NIN, dial *346# with the phone number you gave us on your data base with just N20, you will get back your identification number.”

    She said that the Commission is partnering with other development-based organisations to promote funding of digital identity management.

    She listed the World Bank and European Union (UN) to be among other key development agencies under the UN Sustainable Development Goals assisting the commission.

    “Identity management is one of the key points in development goals, and we are working towards achieving targets,” she said.  (NAN)

  • Over 700, 000 e-ID cards yet to be collected.

    (FLOWERBUDNEWS) The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) says it has over 700, 000 National e-ID cards yet to be collectedby Nigerians from its offices nationwide.

     

    Mrs Hadiza Dagabana, the General Manager Legal Services  National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.

    Dagabana urged all concerned applicants, who are yet to collect their card, to request for their Identity card nationwide, or request for its transfer to their new location.

     

    She said that the Commission has registered over 37 million Nigerians in its National Identity Database out of over 200 million Nigerian populations.

    She called on enrollees, who have changed location in which they registered for the National Identification Number (NIN) to apply for the transfer of their National e-ID card.

    The director general said that the process allows successful enrollees to request for the transfer of their National e-ID Card to any NIMC Registration and Card Collection Centres of their choice for collection.

    Dagabana said that the transfer request could be made from any of the NIMC Registration and Card Collection Centres nationwide, other than where the individual enrolled for the National Identification Number.

    The acting director-general explained that some have either relocated from the locations where they enrolled, or have changed the phone numbers they provided at the point of enrolment into the National Identity Database (NIDB).

    “As I’m telling you now, we have over 700, 000 cards that are lying there in our offices, that the owners have not come to claim.

    “Because when you registered with us you provide a contact number and email address.

    “We have spent money sending SMS to the numbers that were provided for us.

    “Some people have moved, some have changed their numbers, they have not come to our database to update their numbers, so how are we going to know that you have changed your numbers?’’ she said.

    Dagabana, therefore, called on such persons to visit any NIMC office closest to them to request for a card transfer form, which they would fill and submit to the State Coordinator or Local Government Supervisor for processing.(NAN)

  • NIMC DG suggests adoption of NIN to curb exam malpractice

    (flowerbudnews) The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) says the adoption of the National Identification Number (NIN) as criteria for all examinations in the country will tackle malpractices such as impersonation and promote transparency.

     

    Hadiza Dagabana, NIMC General Manger Legal Service, Hadiza Dagabana made the suggestion in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.

     

    She said although registration for NIN has already started at the Primary School level of education across the country, it should be encouraged to further enhance confidence in the nation’s examination system.

     

    According to her, doing so will help to stop impersonation, adding that registration processes for NIN should become mandatory before enrollment for public examinations.

     

    So, in the case of JAMB there are issues, there are impersonation and they were looking at way to remedy those issues and mitigate those issues.

     

    “The only way you can identify a person sitting for JAMB examination, is with his identification number issued by JAMB.

     

    “The communication is before you go and register for JAMB make sure you have your national identification number (NIN) because that is what will identify you.

     

    “And you know the beauty of that is the moment JAMB and all other educational stakeholders meet and decide to use NIN that means from that period up to the time you get your any certificate in your life that NIN will be attached to you

     

    “So, if you get your ID that is what will tie you to all the things you do in your life.

     

    “For those categories of persons under 16 we tie their enrollment because their biometrics is not yet fully formed with the identity of their parent or guardian.

    “It is only that when you fully reach 16 years, you come back and your finger prints are taken.

    “But any Identity card you get from day one if you are going today and you are taken to register, we register you it is that ID for life.”

    According to her, your NIN must be attached to whatever certificate you get; then if you have your ID-card, it will to be tied to everything you do as Nigerian.

     

    Dagabana decried inadequate investment in the operations of the Commission, and therefore, urged the Federal Government to prioritise identity management to achieve the desired goals (NAN)

  • What Every Youth Must Read, And Beware Of.

    (more…)

  • Food Thought

    (FLOWERBUDNEWS)

    *Mr Kusi Boafo, Ghana’s head of Public Sector Reforms returns from a weeks visit to Rwanda;*

    “The only thing we’ve th an Rwanda is our politicians drive luxurious cars than theirs. From what I saw, Ghana is an embarrassment of a country and a total abomination to the creator”
    “I was there with a 7 member delegation. We stepped out to find food. In fact there was no seller on the streets and everything was in order. With the equivalence of 40cedis, I fed all the 7 people. Rent is so controlled and accommodation is easy. I realized Ghana is in crisis”.

    “Police were not stopping us unnecessarily on our way so I asked the driver and he told me all vehicles are equipped with chips from the Vehicle Licensing. Once your road worthy and license are valid, you just swipe them every morning. If it expires, the police are aware”.
    “There’s so much serenity in the country. I saw a Methodist Church in a village shut down because the building looked weak. Church was told to put it in good shape before they can get permit to reopen. They dont want to wait for it to collapse before they blame God”- Kusi Boafo

    “If we don’t stop worshipping politicians and playing foolish NPP vs NDC politics, we will suffer in future. I admit that I as a Public sector boss from Ghana, I drive a better car than their finance minister. They’ve more ambulances than we have. Ambulances even placed in farms”
    “A minister told me that in 2008, Kagame gave loans to equal number of men & women to do business. They’d account after 5yrs & the women had increased their profit in folds but most of the men didnt survive. This explains why women receive 10% higher salaries in Rwanda than men”
    “We toured the country. Saw lot of big plantations like coffee, tea and others. To my amazement, there were ambulances following farmers to the plantations in case there’s an injury. These small villages had hospitals with very young efficient working medics. I was in awe”

    Was stunned to learn that their minister of Public Sector Reforms schooled at the Univ of Ghana Biz Sch. A lot of them actually school in Ghana. Their free Education ends at the Junior High School Level. The Sec Schools are only subsidized”

  • FG To Sink Fresh N915bn Loan Into Power Sector

    (FLOWERBUNEWS) Despite spending N1.5trillion on the country’s power sector in the last two years, the Federal Government yesterday said it is in the process of investing a fresh $3 billion (N915bn) World Bank loan into the sector.

    The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, disclosed this during an interview with journalists on the sidelines of the World Bank/International Monetary Fund (IMF) meetings holding in Washington DC, United States.

    Vice President Yemi Osinbajo had in September said the federal government invested about N1.5 trillion in intervention fund in the Nigeria’s power sector in the last two years.

    Osinbajo said this at a power sector roundtable hosted by Mainstream Energy Solutions Limited (MESL) at its Kainji Hydropower Plant in Niger State last month.

    The Vice President, who was represented by the Minister of Power, Sale Mamman, said “the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved the third round of intervention funding for the sector, with a total of about N1.5 trillion in the last two years.

    But yesterday in Washington DC, the Finance Minister said she would be holding further discussions with the management of the World Bank to explain how the fresh $3.5bn loan it is seeking would be disbursed for the country’s power project.

    She said based on the plan of the Federal Government for the power sector, the loan would be used for the development of transmission and distribution networks to enhance the delivery of electricity.

    The minister also said the loan would be used in addressing some of the challenges that the country is currently facing in the power sector.
    She said, “There is a proposed $2.5bn to $3bn facility for the power sector development programme in Nigeria and this will include development of the transmission and distribution networks as well as removing the challenges that we currently have now in the electricity sector.

    “We are going to have a full meeting to discuss the power sector recovery programme and back home we have been working a great deal with the World Bank to design how this programme will be implemented.

    “So we have an opportunity now to have a direct meeting with the leadership of the bank and to tell them the plan we have and how much we need from one to five years.”

    The minister disclosed that the government would be disbursing the $3bn facility in two tranches of $1.5bn each.

    When asked to comment on concerns being raised by the IMF about Nigeria’s debt which stands at N25.7tn, the finance minister said, ‘‘Nigeria does not have a debt problem.’’

    She said what the government needed to do is to increase its revenue-generating capacity in order to boost the revenue to about 50 per cent of Gross Domestic Product.

    She said with Nigeria’s current revenue to GDP ratio standing at just 19 per cent, its underperformance is significantly straining the government’s ability to service its debt obligation.

    The minister said, “Nigeria does not have a debt problem. What we have is a revenue problem.
    “Our revenue to GDP is still one of the lowest among countries that are comparable to us. It’s about 19 per cent of GDP and what the World Bank and IMF recommended is about 50 per cent of GDP for countries that are our size. We are not there yet. What we have is a revenue problem.

    “The underperformance of our revenue is causing a significant strain in our ability to service debt and to service government day-to-day recurrent expenditure and that is why all the work we are doing at the ministry of finance is concentrating on driving the increase in revenue.’’

    FG got N1.2trn for power sector projects between 2015 and now

    An analysis by Daily Trust has shown that the federal government took steps to borrow $3.311 billion (about N900bn) externally since 2015 to finance power sector projects.

    The analysis of external funding for the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) being the sole public utility in the power sector value chain indicates that the Company sought loans and grants to raise the transmission wheeling capacity from 8,100 megawatts (MW) to 20,000MW.

    TCN is obtaining $1.661bn (N601.3bn) multilateral loans from five agencies which it said, it is using for the procurement and installation of projects under its Transmission Rehabilitation and Expansion Programme (TREP).

    The breakdown of the fund obtained by this paper indicates that the World Bank is the highest donor with $486m for a fresh Nigeria Electricity Transmission Project (NETAP), and $27m for transmission project tagged, North Core.

    The African Development Bank (AfDB) gave $410m loan for transmission expansion projects; the French Development Agency -AFD and European Union (EU) gave $330m for the northern corridor transmission project.

    While the Japanese International Corporation Agency pegged $238m for Lagos/Ogun transmission project, AFD gave another N170m for the Abuja transmission ring scheme.

    Between 2017 and 2018, the federal government collected a $1 billion (about N362bn) Performance Based Loan from the World Bank to fix the power sector in what it called the Power Sector Recovery Programme (PSRP).
    The World Bank is also processing another $350 million (N127bn) loan for the Rural Electrification Agency (REA).

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in May also announced the disbursement of N120.2bn to different electricity distribution companies (DISCOs), power generating companies (GENCOs), service providers and gas companies, in order to address the liquidity and funding challenges facing the power sector.

    Power firms express dissatisfaction

    But the power Distribution Companies (DisCos) had recently reacted to the borrowing by TCN which it said is not yielding results in the sector.

    In a statement by the Executive Director, Research and Advocacy of the Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors (ANED), Chief Sunday Oduntan said even with the TCN multilateral funding, its poor equipment caused over 100 electricity grid collapses since privatization in 2013, and nine collapses this year.

    ANED said TCN analogue system caused 5,311 interface disruptions in a single DisCo within 18 days of September 2019 and that it was despite the $1.6 billion investment TCN said it has made.
    The DisCos which said they have invested $1.4 billion in their networks, said despite TCN saying it is implementing a Transmission Rehabilitation Expansion Programme (TREP) with the $1.6bn fund, “the reality is otherwise. TCN finds it difficult to move away from analogue-based and informal communications systems and frequent explosions and burnings of transmission sub-stations and transformers.”

    Nigeria records rise in public debt to N25.7trn
    Meanwhile, Nigeria’s total public debt rose to N25.7 trillion as at June 2019, indicating an increase of about N754billion since the Debt Management Office last report in March earlier in the year.

    The document also showed that the CBN exchange rate of N306.40/$ was used in converting the figure.

    The document further indicated that FG accounted for the biggest external debt stock in the country with about N7.01 trillion while states and the FCT accounted for N1.3 trillion.
    The Federal Government also accounts for the biggest domestic debt, accounting for N13.4 trillion, out of the N17.3 trillion, while states and FCT accounted for N3.9 trillion.

    This indicates that the federal government debt stood at N20.4 trillion out of the N25.7 trillion while the states and the FCT accounted for the remaining N5.3trillion.

    The country recorded total debt stock of N24.9 trillion as at March 31 2019 while at December 2018 its debt stock was N24.3 trillion.

    Experts react

    Experts have expressed concern over the country’s high debt profile, worrying that the accruing loans may cost the country in the long run.

    Professor of Development Economics, University of Abuja, Professor Sarah Anyanwu, said the burden of servicing these debts is huge.

    She noted that not all borrowings should be considered good and that government should borrow externally only for projects with guaranteed return on investment that will be able to pay back the loans.

    “It is not the borrowing that is the problem it is the usage of the money. The problem is not taking loans and incurring debt either internal or external, the problem in Nigeria is diversion of the loans to other purposes. If the loans are used for the purposes that they have been stated for then there won’t be a problem. The important thing is that there must be accountability and it must be used judiciously,” she said.

    She also called for revalue orientation for management and usage of the FG loans and not for government officials to believe it is their birth right.

    Also speaking from the same department, Professor Mohammed Yelwa expressed worry over the consistent increase in the debt stock, saying the implication is that the country will get to a point that its revenue will no longer be able service its debt.

  • Amaechi Inspects Trains Built For Nigeria In China, Takes Delivery Of More

    (FLOWERBUDNEWS) Rotimi Amaechi, minister of transportation, is currently in China to inspect some of the locomotives (trains) built for Nigeria by the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCRC).

     

  • Importance Of The Sunnah

    (FLOWERBUDNEWS) Proof of the importance of the Sunnah

    (1) The Qur’aan speaks of the importance of the Sunnah, for example:

    (a) Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): “He who obeys the Messenger has indeed obeyed Allaah . . .” [al-Nisaa’ 4:80] Allaah described obedience to the Prophet (peace be upon him) as being a part of obedience to Him. Then He made a connection between obedience to Him and obedience to the Prophet (peace be upon him): “O you who believe! Obey Allaah and obey the Messenger . . .” [al-Nisaa’ 4:59]

    (b) Allaah warns us not to go against the Prophet (peace be upon him), and states that whoever disobeys him will be doomed to eternal Hell. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): “. . . And let those who oppose the Messenger’s commandment beware, lest some fitnah (trial, affliction, etc.) befall them or a painful torment be inflicted on them.” [al-Nur 24:63]

    (c) Allaah has made obedience to His Prophet a religious duty; resisting or opposing it is a sign of hypocrisy: “”But no, by your Lord, they can have no Faith, until they make you [Muhammad] judge in all disputes between them, and find in themselves no resistance against your decisions, and accept (them) with full submission.” [al-Nisaa’ 4:65]

    (d) Allaah commands His slaves to respond to Him and His Messenger: “O you who believe! Answer Allaah (by obeying Him) and (His) Messenger when he calls you to that which will give you life . . .” [al-Anfaal 8:24]

    (e) Allaah also commands His slaves to refer all disputes to him: “. . . (And) if you differ in anything amongst yourselves, refer it to Allaah and His Messenger . . .” [al-Nisaa’ 4:59]

    (2) The Sunnah itself indicates the importance of the Sunnah. For example:

    (a) Al-Tirmidhi reported from Abu Raafi’ and others that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “I do not want to see any one of you reclining on his couch and, when he hears of my instructions or prohibitions, saying ‘I don’t accept it; we didn’t find any such thing in the Book of Allaah.’” Abu ‘Eesaa said: This is a saheeh hasan hadeeth. (See Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Shaakir edition, no. 2663).

    Al-’Irbaad ibn Saariyah, may Allaah be pleased with him, reported that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “Would any of you think, reclining on his couch, that Allaah would only describe what is forbidden in the Qur’aan? I tell you, by Allaah, that I have warned and commanded and prohibited things that are as important as what is in the Qur’aan, if not more so.” (Reported by Abu Dawud, Kitaab al-Khiraj wa’l-imaarah wa’l-fay’).

    (b) Abu Dawud also reported from al-’Irbaad ibn Saariyah, may Allaah be pleased with him, that “the Messenger of Allaah (peace be upon him) led us in prayer one day, then he turned to us and exhorted us strongly . . . (he said), ‘Pay attention to my sunnah (way) and the way of the Rightly-guided Khaleefahs after me, adhere to it and hold fast to it.’” (Saheeh Abi Dawud, Kitaab al-Sunnah).

    (3) The scholars’ consensus (ijmaa’) affirming the importance of the Sunnah.

    Al-Shaafi’i, may Allaah have mercy on him, said: “I do not know of anyone among the Sahaabah and Taabi’een who narrated a report from the Messenger of Allaah (peace be upon him) without accepting it, adhering to it and affirming that this was sunnah. Those who came after the Taabi’een, and those whom we met did likewise: they all accepted the reports and took them to be sunnah, praising those who followed them and criticizing those who went against them. Whoever deviated from this path would be regarded by us as having deviated from the way of the Companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and the scholars who followed them, and would be considered as one of the ignorant.

    (4) Common sense indicates the importance of the Sunnah.

    The fact that the Prophet (peace be upon him) is the Messenger of Allaah indicates that we must believe everything he said and obey every command he gave. It goes without saying that he has told us things and given instructions in addition to what is in the Qur’aan. It is futile to make a distinction between the Sunnah and the Qur’aan when it comes to adhering to it and responding to it. It is obligatory to believe in what he has told us, and to obey his instructions.

    The ruling concerning those who deny the importance of the Sunnah is that they are kaafirs, because they deny and reject a well-known and undeniable part of the religion.