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  • UN official want Nigeria to tax vacant houses

    (flowerbudnews) Ms Leilana Fartha, UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Adequate Housing, on Monday urged the Federal Government to impose vacant home tax with a view to addressing housing challenges in the country.

    Fartha at a news conference in Abuja, expressed concern over human rights crisis presented by poor living conditions in Nigeria’s informal settlements.
    According to her, the informal settlements house about 69 per cent of the urban population.

    She said: “Most residents in Nigeria’s ballooning informal settlements live without access to even the most basic services, like running water.

    “And they lack any security of tenure, forcing them to live in constant fear of being evicted.

    “My 10 days fact findings visit to Nigeria has presented an economic inequality in the country, which has reached extreme level and is playing itself out clearly in the housing sector.

    “There is an estimated housing shortage of 22 million units.

    “At the same time, newly built luxury dwellings are springing up throughout cities and made possible often through the forced eviction of poor communities.

    “These units do not fulfill any housing need, with many remaining vacant as vehicles for money laundering or investment,’’ she said.

    While urging the Federal Government to take urgent measures to address homelessness and poverty, Fartha advocated for a declaration of a nation-wide moratorium on forced evictions.

    “Government must address the grossly inadequate housing conditions with the urgency and rigour befitting a human rights crisis of this scale.

    “Apart from establishing a national commission to investigate gross human rights violations in the context of forced evictions, government should provide basic services to all informal settlements.

    “And must increase the number of shelters for persons in situations of vulnerability,’’ Fartha said.

    She further expressed worry that the Bill for an Act to provide rent control failed in the National Assembly.

    According to her, when the bill for rent control first hit the National Assembly, it wasn’t ripe

    “It is unfortunate that the bill died in NASS.

    “The idea of controlling rent caps is hotly debated in many countries.

    “New York just tried to have rent control laws passed; Barcelona is close to getting rent free as rent is actually frozen for some period of five to seven years.

    “So, in many jurisdictions, they have started to impose vacant home tax.

    “I support that kind of move from human rights point of view only where that money from the tax is directly put into the creation of affordable housing.

    “In the case of Nigeria it could be used as fund to upgrade informal settlements.

    “I don’t like a tax and you never see where the tax is going.

    “There are other measures that can be explored, there are situations that homes are misappropriated given that the government has all the lands in trust,’’ she stressed

    News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Fartha will present a comprehensive report of her visit to the UN Human Rights Council in March 2020. (NAN)

  • Beware: DSS Has No Twitter Account

    (FLOWETRBUDNEWS) The Department of State Services (DSS) on Monday said it did  not own, use or operate any official twitter handles and therefore, urged Nigerians to disregard twitter messages linked to the service.

    The Public Relations Officer of the service, Dr Peter Afunanya, disclosed this in a statement in Abuja.

    He said the attention of the service had been drawn to messages on social media, claimed to  have emanated from the official twitter handles of of the service.

    “The Service, therefore, disowns the ones, notably DSS 255 and DSS_NG_, currently in circulation.

    “These twitter handles which also bear the Service’s symbols are not only fake but designed by their creators to deceive, misinform and defraud unsuspecting persons.

    “It is also believed that such handles were desperately created by subversive elements to spread fake news and falsehood,” he said.

    Afunanya, therefore, urged the public to disregard the twitter handles and any message(s) emanating from them.

    He, however, added that a detailed investigation had begun to ensure that the suspects were apprehended and prosecuted. (NAN)

  • Ganduje pledges unflinching support for attainment of universal health coverage

    Abdullahi Ganduje, Governor of Kano State has declared his unflinching support for the implementation of all health sector reforms towards achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in the state.

    Ganduje, represented by Nasir Gawuna, the Deputy Governor of Kano State, made the pledge at a three-day workshop for all states’ social health insurance agencies on Monday in Kano.

    He said the workshop was timely and had come when the Nigerian population was clamouring for access to affordable and qualitative healthcare.

    Ganduje said Kano state had commenced the implementation of contributory healthcare scheme over one and a half years ago and had become successful with over 370,000 enrollees accessing healthcare.

    “The scheme is currently operating in 245 healthcare facilities, comprising l34 primary healthcare facilities, 37 secondary healthcare facilities and 74 private healthcare facilities.

    “We have provided the legal framework for the scheme, renovated and furnished the Agency’s office accommodation, amounting to N85 million.

    “We have also approved a grant of N250 million for the provision of ICT infrastructure and released Nl00 million as necessary requirement for Kano state,’’ he said.

    Ganduje noted that the contributory healthcare scheme population coverage throughout the country had remained low.

    He added that this had challenged most states of the federation to domesticate the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) based on their religious beliefs and traditional value system.

    The governor however said access to affordable healthcare had continued to be a challenge for most households due to the high level of poverty and significant reliance on out-of-pocket expenses.

    Ganduje further explained that the participation in Basic Healthcare Provision Fund (BHCPF), in line with the state’s policy, drove to strengthen the state’s health system.

    He said five per cent of the state’s internally-generated revenue and one per cent of the local government areas’ statutory allocation have been dedicated to the health sector under the Kano State Health Trust Fund (KHETFUND).

    “The state is considering scaling up its free Maternal and Child Health programme by covering additional vulnerable groups, particularly, pregnant women, children under five and retired civil servants, under the Kano State Contributory Health Scheme.

    “These are part of government’s intervention towards a sustainable health system that will drive the process of achieving UHC by ensuring all Kano State residents have access to effective, quality and affordable health care,’’ the governor said.

    The Executive Secretary of NHIS, Prof. Mohammed Sambo, while speaking, said the workshop was aimed at aligning State Health Insurance Schemes to the NHIS.

    He said this was highly necessary, “because, in the year 2000, Nigeria was ranked 187 out of 191 in performance in health care systems globally”.

    Sambo noted that this was not good enough for Nigeria’s image among the comity of nations.

    He said the global target of attaining the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015 became a national momentum  generated to confront the challenges.

    “One of the viable options was to develop a National Health Bill that would transform the health sector so as to be more responsive to meeting the yearnings and aspiration of the citizens.

    “It took more than a decade to get this Bill passed into law, which became the current National Health Act that we are all celebrating today.

    “One appealing feature of this Act is the provision, that not less than one per cent consolidated revenue shall be dedicated to the health sector, out of which half of that fund is intended to improve financial access to health care services to the citizens through the National Health Insurance,” the NHIS executive secretary said.

    He further stated that the programme had become a reality, adding that many states lagging behind had successfully keyed into the programme.

    Sambo said NHIS disbursed the first tranche of N6.5 billion  of Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) to 15 states and FCT in the last two weeks.

    He added that NHIS intends to develop a comprehensive coordination platform between it, states’ agencies, partners and other stakeholders in order to make health insurance the best programme in Nigeria.

  • Dangote Cement in Tanzania now runs on gas turbines

     

    Management of Dangote Cement has revealed that its Pan African sales increased by 2.7 per cent to nearly 4.7 million tons for the six month ended on June 30th 2019.

    To the delight of its investors, the company also revealed that its Tanzania Plants now runs on gas turbines, just as sales volumes from its Senegal Plants are more than 100% of its rated capacity.

    All in all, these surely are good signs of better days ahead for the company’s investors. It would be recalled that the company paid a whopping N272.6 billion as dividends to its shareholders last financial year, translating to N16 per 50kobo share,, an increase of 52.4 per cent against total dividend of N178.9 billion or N10.50 per share paid by the company for 2017 financial year.

    Chairman of the company, Aliko Dangote had recently said its cement terminals in Lagos State and Onne, Rivers, would be concluded before the end of 2019, as a way of further improving its market share.

    He promised that the terminals, which were delayed by equipment suppliers, would rake in about $700 million in foreign exchange through cement exportation to sub-Saharan Africa.

    He said the company would be opening export facilities within the terminals to export clinker and cement to its existing facilities both in Cameroun and other African countries.

    According to him: “Later in 2019, we will open export facilities in Lagos and Port Harcourt that will enable us export clinker initially to our grinding facility in Cameroun and then to new grinding plans we are building in West Africa…Not only will these generate useful foreign currency for Dangote Cement to support other expansion projects outside of Nigeria, they will also help to increase the output of our Nigerian plants,” he said.

    He further revealed that the company would be exporting cements through the terminals to Ghana, Cameroun, Sierra Leone and Congo, among others and as such make Nigeria the biggest exporter of cement in sub-Saharan Africa.

    Noting that the project will improve job creation and increase prosperity of the country, he said the company’s capacity will also increase on the completion of the terminals.

    Dangote Cement is Africa’s leading cement producer with nearly 46Mta capacity across ten countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. A fully integrated quarry-to-customer producer, it has a production capacity of 29.25Mta in Nigeria. Its Obajana plant in Kogi state, Nigeria, is the largest in Africa with 13.25Mta of capacity across four lines; its Ibese plant in Ogun State has four cement lines with a combined capacity of 12Mta, while its Gboko plant in Benue state has 4Mta.

    Through its recent investments, Dangote Cement has eliminated Nigeria’s dependence on imported cement and has transformed the nation into a net exporter, serving neighbouring countries that lack the limestone necessary for cement manufacturing.

     

  • El-Rufa’i keeps promise, enrols son in public primary school

    Gov. Nasir El-Rufa’i of Kaduna State on Monday enrolled his six-year-old child, Abubakar into primary one in Capital School Malali, Kaduna, a public school, in fulfillment of a promise he made in 2017.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that El-Rufa’i had in a state broadcast in December 2017, promised to enroll his child in a public school when he turns six years.

    “The move is part of reforms to revamp public schools in the state to make them more competitive.

    “We are determined to fix public education and raise their standards so that private education will become only a luxury.

    “As we make progress, we will require our senior officials to enroll their children in public schools.

    “And I will by personal example ensure that my son that will be six years of age in 2019 will be enrolled in a public school in Kaduna State, by God’s grace,” El-Rufa’i had said.

    Briefing newsmen shortly after he enrolled the child, El-Rufa’i explained that it was a commitment that had been fulfilled.

    “I made that commitment because I believe that it is only when all political leaders have their children in public schools that we will pay due attention to quality of public education.

    “I went to a public school like this. In fact, the school I went to is not as good as this one, but here I am, because of the quality teaching I got.

    “My intention is to ensure that all our public schools offer quality education, and so we are encouraging all our senior public servants to send their children to public schools.

    “Once the public schools are improved to a point they are nearly as good or even better than private schools, no one will waste his money taking his child to private school,” he said.

    Ummi El-Rufa’i, the mother of the child said: “l am glad that we are able to send a strong message to our leaders and the elites, that we need to start making things work from within our homes.

    “By the time we start attending public hospitals and send our children to public schools, the system will get better. This is a very huge step,” she said.

    On his part, the little child said: “I am sad that I will miss my old school, my friends and my teachers. But I have to help my father keep his promise” .

    NAN

  • 5-year-old marriage dissolves, husband married in Germany

    An FCT High Court, Jabi on Monday dissolved a five-year-old union between Lynda Dike and her husband Jude Ajaero, on grounds that he was legally married to another woman in Germany.

    Dike in her petition sought for the dissolution of the purported marriage through Sections 3 (1) (a) (d) and 34 of the Matrimonial Cause Act.

    The sections which stipulated that any marriage purportedly celebrated when one of the parties was lawfully married to another when consent was obtained either by fraud or duress would be void.

    The Act further stipulated that a petition for nullity can be instituted by the ailing party.

    Delivering judgment, Justice Charles Agbaza, held that the sole issue to be determined by the court was whether the petitioner had successfully made out a ground for the court to grant the relief she sought.

    The judge further averred that Ajaero, the respondent who was served with court processes , hearing notices did not file nor answer to the petition, but had legal representation and neither did he challenge the evidence of the petitioner, rather he rested his case on that of the petitioner

    According to Agbaza, ” the implication of this is that the court will deem the unchallenged and uncontroverted evidence of the petitioner as true,correct ( as long as it is credible) and act on it”.

    Agbaza concluded and said “because the evidence brought by the petitioner was not challenged by the respondent,

    “this petition succeeds and judgment is accordingly entered in favour of the petitioner in the following terms

    “The court hereby pronounce a Decree of Nullity of the purported marriage conducted between Lynda Dike and Jude Ajaero on Oct.2,2014 at the Federal Marriage Registry, Abuja, on the ground that the marriage is void.

    ” The court hereby grants an order nullifying the said marriage”, he added.

    In her petition, Dike said that when she married the respondent, he told her that he was not married.

    She further submitted that however, when she traveled to Germany to see the respondent and instead of taking her to the address she knew he lived, he took her to a different address..

    According to the petitioner, when she demanded to be taken to the address of where he lived, she was beaten up by the respondent.

    She said this action prompted her to tail the respondent to the aforementioned address and that was when she discovered that he lived there with his German wife.

    Dike added that she confronted the respondent and he admitted that he was married to the German woman and that they had been married for over a year before he came to Nigeria to marry her.

    NAN

  • Nigerians have wrong impression about GMOs – Biosafety boss

    By Okeoghene Akubuike
    Dr Rufus Egbeba, the Director General, National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA) has debunked the notion about Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs), saying people have the wrong impression about the products.

    Egbeba made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Monday.

    He said that presently, all the food people consumed had been altered one way or the other, either through conventional breeding methods or through genetic engineering.

    “Genetic engineering is an advanced alteration which is basically the movement of one gene of interest into another organism to perform a particular function.’’

    He said that the conventional breeding method of tissue culture, budding and grafting involved one gene or another being moved into related specie.

    He said that genetic engineering went beyond related specie, as gene could be moved from animal to plant and from plant to animal.

    “Let me say that most of the crops we have presently in our farms and the markets have actually been altered in one or the other by scientific process.

    “Either through conventional breeding methods or the few ones that we have that are genetically modified, those ones have been screened for safety.

    “So the fear of whether GMOs is harmful or not should not be there because we ensure they are safe before they are released into the market.’’

    Egbeba also debunked the idea that some crops had been genetically modified in Nigeria like the Nigerian pawpaw, orange and mango, saying that they had only been improved upon through conventional breeding method.

    “So, the few ones we have that are genetically modified are not yet on commercial level in the country like the cotton and cowpea; there are still other processes that are ongoing before they get into the market on commercial scale.”

    The director general said one of the major developments in the biosafety sector was the new act signed by President Muhammadu Buhari in July, which is an amendment to the 2015 Act.

    He said that the amendment was an additional mandate to the agency to accommodate the regulation of emerging aspects of biotechnology in the area of synthetic biology, genome editing and gene drive and bio-security.

    He said the agency had also received an application from Institute of Agricultural Research, Zaria on Water Efficient Maize for Africa (WEMA).

    WEMA is a public private partnership that was formed to develop drought-tolerant maize for use by smallholder farmers and Confined Field Trials (CFT), which are already being conducted on it in some countries like Kenya and Uganda.

    CFT are small scale field experiments to evaluate the performance of a GM plant.

    Egbeba said the applications were being reviewed by the agency and the results would be posted on the agency’s website, adding that there would be a public notice before the process was completed.

    He said the agency was constantly monitoring applicants – that is the institutions and the GM crops that were undergoing CFT in the country, such as the BT cotton and the PBR cowpea.

    “We do a lot of monitoring; what we do is inspection and compliance to ensure that the terms and conditions are properly complied with.

    “We send some staff to visit the institutions to ensure they are complying with our terms and conditions and the law.’’

    The biosafety boss assured Nigerians that the agency would continue to ensure that no unsafe GMO would be allowed into the environment.

    He, however said that the fear of GMOs would be there for a long time because of those who deliberately create it “and those also excising the fear because of ignorance’’.

    “We want to assure Nigerians that the practice of modern biotechnology will be safe before we will allow the products into the environment, the market or for consumption by Nigerians.

    “NBMA is here to ensure Nigerians are protected from any harmful effects of GMOs, we are also going to make sure that our environment is also protected, we have that responsibility and we will discharge it for the interest of the country,’’ Egbeba.

    NAN

  • Akeredolu appoints Senior Aides on New Media, others

    Gov. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State on Monday approved the appointment of Mr Gani Mohammed as his Senior Special Assistant (SSA) on New Media.

    Mr Segun Ajiboye, Chief Press Secretary to the governor, disclosed this to news men in a statement in Akure.

    Ajiboye said Akeredolu also approved the appointment of Alhaji Yinusa Omotosho as SSA on Community Mobilisation, Northern Senatorial District.

    “Akeredolu also approved the appointment of Mr Tayo Abidakun as SSA on Community Mobilisation, Central Senatorial District, and Mr Kele Bolodeoku as SSA, Southern Senatorial District.“The appointments take immediate effect as the governor congratulate the new appointees,” Ajiboye said.

    NAN

  • Plateau SUBEB boss decries absence of N-power teachers in schools

    The Plateau State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) has decried the absence of teachers posted to the Federal Government’s N-power scheme to teach in public primary schools in the state.

    Prof. Mathew Sule, the Executive Chairman of the board, who made the remark while monitoring resumption of schools at Obasanjo Model School, Hwolshe, on Monday in Jos, said the teachers’ truant act was detrimental to the objective of the scheme of complementing the state government’s efforts at improving the standard of education.

    “This is morally wrong, where people are posted to schools and they do not attend to their responsibilities, we have no choice but to report them to the appropriate authorities.

    “If they cannot come to school, they should be taken to other places, we want orderliness, they must go by the school rules and create a conducive learning environment for the children,” Sule said.

    He alleged that some of the N-power teachers has multiple engagements, thus unable to have time for the teaching scheme, saying they were not justifying government resources given to them through the project.

    He, therefore, advised them to disengage from the scheme if they could not cope with its responsibilities, saying they must justify the allowances given to them as many unemployed persons were looking for such opportunities.

    The chairman, however, commended parents for the large turnout of pupils in the schools, saying it was an evidence that they heeded to the board’s plea for early resumption and immediate take off of the 2019/2020 new school session.

    He urged the pupils to be punctual to school, be of good conduct, respect their teachers and study hard to improve on their last session’s grades.

    He said he would ensure that the teachers adopted the improved pedagogical skills to improve learning and enhance SUBEB’s monitoring exercises, to ensure good performance by teachers.

    In her response, Mrs Martha Gyang, the head teacher of the School, pledged their commitment to discharge their duties diligently and report teachers who failed in such compliance.

    Blessing Marcus, a Grade four pupil of the school, thanked her parents for providing her with text books while promising to get better grades in the new session.

    News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the SUBEB boss monitored school resumption in Obasanjo Model School Hwolshe compromising of Schools A, B and C in Jos South Local Government Area.

    NAN