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  • OSGF honours redeployed Permanent Secretary

    OSGF honours redeployed Permanent Secretary

    The Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF) has organised a send off ceremony to honour Mrs Georgina Ehuria who was recently posted to the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development in Abuja.

    Ehuria was the former Permanent Secretary, Cabinet Affairs Office, OSGF who was recently redeployed.

    The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr Boss Mustapha in his remarks thanked Ehuria for the meticulous way she ran the office.

    Mustapha described Ehuria as someone with an excellent spirit, praying that she excelled more in her new office.

    “We will miss you but your new ministry will benefit more from you.

    “I have received a lot of commendation on how the council is prospering but I give her all the credit for the commendations.

    “Our best wishes are with you as you assume duty, keep up the excellent spirit and I pray you excel even more in your new office,” he said.

    Also, Mr Alo Williams, Permanent Secretary Special Duties Office, OSGF described Ehuria as a good team player and very hard working.

    He added that, she was a committed civil servant, a humble person, a loyal friend who is worthy of emulation.

    According to Williams, it is a thing of joy that the OSGF is recognising Ehuria for her dedication to work.

    Similarly, Mr Ugbeda Bello, Director Governance and Security, OSGF said that Ehuria has zero tolerance for truancy.

    Bello noted that she was very hard working and humble, stressing that she does not discriminate in the affairs of staff in her office.

    In her response, Ehuria thanked the members of staff of OSGF for honouring her, stating that she enjoyed her job while it lasted.

    According to her, she is driven by her passion for the job and that she benefited a lot from the work and even got a national honour.

    She appealed to the SGF to motivate the staff in the Cabinet Affairs Office and train them more because of the sensitive nature of their job.

    She thanked her colleagues for the support they gave her in her line of duty.

    Ehuria advised younger civil servants to ensure they get more professional training and acquire more knowledge to enable them reach the peak of their career.

    High point of the event was the unveiling of a monument which contained all the names of the past and incumbent SGFs by Mustapha.

    The monument was donated to the OSGF by a Corp member, Miss Amba Rosemary, who said she was motivated by her quest to enlighten the public and OSGF staff on the past SGFs for posterity. (NAN)

  • Minimum Wage: Labour insists on agreement

    The Organised Labour has insisted that the Tripartite Committee on the new National Minimum Wage has concluded its assignment for onward submission to President Muhammadu Buhari.

    Mr Joe Ajaero, President, United Labour Congress (ULC), said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Abuja.

    Ajaero was reacting to the statement made by Dr Chris Ngige, Minister of Labour and Employment, that there was no agreement yet by the National Minimum wage Committee on the new Minimum wage figure in the country.

    Ngige had said negotiations were still ongoing and the capacity to pay by employers remained the guiding principles.

    NAN also recalled that Mr Ayuba Wabba, president, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) had also stated that the Tripartite Committee on the New National Minimum Wage had completed its assignment for onward submission to President Muhammadu Buhari.

    According to Ajaero, this is all politics; the true story is that at resumption of the hearing of the committee on the first day which was Oct. 4, government did not show any seriousness.

    “So, on Friday, Oct. 5, government came with a proposal of either N20,000 or N21,000 which Labour rejected out rightly; they now moved almost to N24,000 and Labour rejected it again, while the employers were still on N25,000.

    “But the state governments were either on N20,000 or so and there was almost a stalemate. So government then went out for consultation and by the time they came back, they brought about three scenarios.

    “The three scenarios they brought forward were either N38,000, N35,000 or N34,000 but the Organised Private Sector (OPS) appealed to labour on the need to harmonise,’’ he stated.

    Ajaero stated that the OPS noted that they were facing a lot of challenges affecting their businesses and that since they would be at the receiving end there was need to reach a consensus.

    The ULC president further said that based on the private sector request, the sub-committee which Ngige was chairing moved a motion that N30,000 be adopted.

    He added that the meeting agreed that they should go ahead to print clean copy in order for all parties to sign.

    “So, if actually there is anything remaining it is only to sign the clean copy of N30,000,’’ he said.

    He also noted that the committee agreed that on the day the clean copy would be presented to Mr President that all parties should be present to sign.

    He also said that it was agreed that nobody should disclose the figure reached by the committee to the public.
    “That is why none of us or any of the centres of organised labour has been able to disclose the amount.

    “Right now, I would not know what has happened and I would not know why the Minister of Labour would be saying negotiations have not been concluded.

    “Besides that, even the Chairman and members of the committee knew there was no more money and the budget given to the committee has been exhausted even to hold further meetings; this is the situation.

    “I want to say again, that we have discussed and have agreed on certain amount and government should come out and announced it rather than this dilly dally,’’ Ajaero said.

    He, however, said that the N30,000 agreed upon was to ensure that the organised private sector businesses did not collapse.

    He also said that organised labour would soon issue a statement on its position. (NAN).

  • NIM enlightens stakeholders on new trends in healthcare management

    The Nigerian Institute of Management (NIM) on Wednesday organised a programme to acquaint stakeholders in the health sector with new developments in healthcare management.

    Dr Oyabanjo Kale, Consultant Pathologist, said such healthcare tips/lecture were necessary to equip the professional managers for efficient service delivery.

    He said this while making a presentation at the 2018 Health Talk programme of the Institute in Lagos with the theme: ”New Models and Realities in Personal Health Management.”

    He said a healthy lifestyle required keeping abreast of developments in the profession, information and technology.

    According to him, stress is a major factor that disorganises the healthy lifestyle of an individual, saying that lots of people stress themselves with hectic activities without adequate rest and medication.

    Speaking on Models and Realities in Personal Healthcare Management, Kale said resting and sleeping were keys in keeping a healthy lifestyle.

    “Health is the state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing, and not merely the absence of diseases.

    “Access to proper information becomes necessary because many people lacked the adequate knowledge on ways to keep a healthy life.

    “Some people think that doing regular exercise is a way of keeping a healthy life. This is not very true.

    “Maintaining a balanced diet, having enough rest and sleep as at when due and ensuring regular medical screenings and checkups are the possible ways one can be assured of a healthy life,” Kale said.

    Earlier, Prof. Olukunle Iyanda, the President and Chairman of Council, NIM, urged members to keep abreast of developments and innovations in professional health management.

    Iyanda assured of the commitment of the Institute in raising healthy professional managers who would impact the economic development of the country and the world at large.

    “As much as we strive to become professional managers, it is important to learn about what developments have occurred in the care of our health, both by professional healthcare givers as well as by ourselves.

    “As it is widely asserted and believed, ‘health is wealth.’ Hence, it is important for us to take good care of our health in order to build our wealth.

    “Managers do not just manage others and resources but also manage themselves, their relationships, their health and their spiritual acts.

    “We need to remind ourselves of simple but vital activities we need to undertake periodically in order to maintain a good health without which we could not produce any wealth,” Iyanda said. (NAN)

  • Senate committee approves President Buhari’s N242 bn virement request

    The Senate Committee on Appropriation has approved President Muhammadu Buhari’s request for the virement of N242 billion under the 2018 Appropriation Act to conduct the 2019 general elections.

    Chairman of the committee, Sen. Danjuma Goje, who stated this at the committees meeting on Wednesday, said the decision would be laid before the full house for consideration at plenary on Thursday.

    Goje said the decision to approve the president’s request was informed by the urgent need for funds by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to begin preparations for the polls.

    Earlier at plenary, the President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, had read out the president’s request, which came in a letter dated Sept. 19, 2018.

    In it, Buhari asked the lawmakers to consider including the total N242 billion as part of the virements of the 2018 Appropriation Act.

    The amount is being requested by INEC and security agencies to conduct the 2019 general elections.

    In a July 11 request to the legislature, the president had asked that N164 billion out of the N242 billion be vired in the 2018 budget, and the balance of N78 billion included in the 2019 budget.

    But the lawmakers indicated their willingness to accommodate the total amount for virement under the 2018 Appropriation Act, if requested by the president.

    President Buhari said, “In the light of the current realities, and in order to ensure that the 2019 general elections are not affected by the delays in the passage into law of the 2019 budget, I accept this kind suggestion.

    “I look forward to your urgent consideration of this request to ensure that the 2019 general elections are properly conducted. (NAN)

  • NAN pledges support for BRISIN implementation in Nigeria

    The Managing Director, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Mr Bayo Onanuga, has expressed the agency’s commitment to support the implementation of the Basic Registry and Information  System in Nigeria (BRISIN).

    Onanuga made the pledge when the Head of BRISIN implementation in Nigeria, Dr Anthony Uwa led a delegation to visit him on Tuesday in Abuja.

    Onanuga, represented by the Editor-in-Chief of NAN, Mr Idris  Abdulrahman, said NAN had the spread required to disseminate all information by BRISIN to the World.

    He said:“We have presence virtually in all the states of the federation, with district offices in some local government areas and zonal offices that oversee the various states under them.

    “We have some  foreign offices with one very functional in New York; we have more than 500 reporters across the federation. Our reach is very wide.

    “I know the essence of your coming here is to get publicity and that we are ready to give you.

    “At any material time and anywhere you have a function on BRISIN, call on us and we will be there to assist you; we are ready to serve you because that is our basic function.

    In his remark, the Head of BRISIN implementation, commended NAN for the work the agency had been doing in disseminating accurate information to the World.

    Uwa called for more collaboration of the agency to BRISIN implementation in the country, saying that,“ NAN should be number one in  our information distribution, they should carry others along.’’

    “We consider NAN as key to everything we are going to do, and we thank you for the effort you have made so far as most of the information given out on BRISIN was sent through NAN.

    “Also, the foreign media that are publicising information on BRISIN got their information through NAN and that means a lot to us.

    “We believe that we are going to work together to make that difference which this country actually needs to move forward.

    NAN reports that BRISIN is an integrated system for the collection, storage and distribution of information to support the management of the economy.

    Uwa said the system aimed at bringing developmental and economic growth in the country through the use of data collection of people and other relevant information.

    “The data received will be used to plan for the management of the nation’s resources,’’ he said.

    NAN reports that the project was initiated by the ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration, while the Goodluck Jonathan’s administration inaugurated a Technical Committee for its implementation.(NAN)

  • Again, NASS legislative aides protest non-payment of salaries, allowances

    Again, NASS legislative aides protest non-payment of salaries, allowances

    Legislative aides at the National Assembly on Tuesday welcomed lawmakers back from their annual recess with a protest over alleged non-payment of salaries, Duty Tour Allowances (DTA) and other entitlements.

    The protesters, numbering over 50, besieged the chambers’ lobby, carrying placards with different inscriptions and rendered solidarity songs.

    The leader of the workers, Mr Nyakmo Etuk, alleged that they were owed two months’ salary arrears, and DTA since the beginning of the 8th Assembly in 2015.

    “We have been here for the past three years getting to four years, and have been witnessing issues of delay in payment of salaries.

    “Sometimes, it will linger for months. As I talk to you now the last time we received was on Aug. 15, which is very pathetic because that was the eve of the last Sallah celebrations.

    “Since then we have not received any salary from August to September, today is Oct. 9, almost the middle of the month.

    “We have children, we have mothers, and we have bills to pay, yet we are working here without salaries,” he said.

    Etuk said that besides salary, every legislative aide was entitled to DTA, which had not been paid in the last three and a half years.

    He said that every time the workers complained the management told them they were working on the matter.

    “We have waited, we have calculated this DTA across board, and some on us are being owed up to N1.8 million.

    “It is from the DTA we go on errand and do some other miscellaneous things.

    “I don’t know what we have done wrong, because the last National Assembly leadership paid us up to date.

    “We are not talking about training, lack of which is also an issue here. You can’t expect efficient service from people you have not trained.

    “We are supposed to be undergoing four trainings in a year, and ever since we started, we have not had even one,” he added.

    While the protest was going on, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr Yakubu Dogara, arrived at the complex at 11:09 a.m.

    Dogara walked past the protesters, who had gathered around the back entrance through which he entered the lobby, and headed to the chambers waving at them without a word.

    Some minutes later, the Senator representing Borno South, Sen. Ali Ndume, arrived and walked into the crowd of protesters, who started hailing him.

    “Ladies and gentlemen,” he said after the crowd had calmed down to hear him out, “you know my nature, I am always with you.”

    “So, if you want me to carry this (the placard) and show the world, I will gladly do that.”

    He held one of the placards and posed for a photograph with the now jubilant workers, before heading to the Senate chambers.

    The workers staged a similar protest in September. (NAN)

  • Turkey detains 90 over alleged links to Kurdish militants

    Turkish police on Tuesday detained 90 people over suspected links to outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) rebels, the Interior Ministry said in a statement.

    The main pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) decried the arrests as a politically motivated crackdown.

    “The operation across eight provinces was continuing,’’ the statement said.

    The arrests come days after President Tayyip Erdogan warned he would replace any mayor elected in the forthcoming 2019 local elections if they were deemed to have links to terrorism.

    Erdogan accuses the main pro-Kurdish party, the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), of links to the PKK.

    The HDP denies this and says it is unjustly targeted by the government.

    More than 140 HDP members had been detained over several days, the party said on Sunday.

    Ninety-four of 102 municipalities in Kurdish-majority cities and towns are now administered by trustees, rather than their elected mayors.

    Authorities removed those mayors, elected in the last municipal elections in 2014, in the security crackdown that followed an attempted military coup in 2016.

    “Elections are nearing,” Erdogan said at a meeting of his AK Party (AKP) over the weekend, referring to the March 2019 local vote. “If those involved with terror come out of the ballot box, we shall appoint trustees without delay.”

    One prominent HDP lawmaker, Garo Paylan, said the arrests were politically motivated, and were part of the AKP’s campaign strategy for the 2019 election.

    “The AK Party has started its local election campaign from Diyarbakir by detaining journalists, politicians and theologians,” Paylan said on Twitter.

    Diyarbakir is the largest city in the mainly Kurdish southeast.

    The autonomy-seeking PKK, deemed a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and Europe, has waged an insurgency against the state since 1984.

    Violence across the southeast escalated after the collapse of a ceasefire in 2015.

    Turkey has in recent months conducted regular strikes on PKK bases in northern Iraq, especially the insurgents’ stronghold in the Qandil mountains, where Ankara has also threatened to carry out a ground offensive.

    “The PKK killed a Turkish soldier and wounded four others in a missile attack on Tuesday on a military post in Turkey’s Cukurca region.

    “The missiles were fired from northern Iraq,’’ the local governor’s office said. (Reuters/NAN)

  • Presidential Primaries: Processes reflect parties, candidates’ popularity – Yoruba Ronu

    Presidential Primaries: Processes reflect parties, candidates’ popularity – Yoruba Ronu

    By Abolade Ogundimu

    Character

    Abuja, Oct. 8, 2018 (NAN) The Yoruba Ronu Leadership Forum, a pan-Yoruba socio-cultural and political group, has said that the process of electing party candidates show their (political parties) commitment to transparent election and the popularity of candidates.

    The Secretary-General of the group, Mr Akin Malaolu, said this in a statement made available to newsmen on Monday in Abuja.

    The group was reacting to the conduct and outcome of party primaries and national conventions.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) gave Oct. 7 as deadline to parties to submit their candidates for the 2019 general elections.

    NAN also reports that some of the 93 political parties in the country have candidates for all elective offices while some parties adopt others’ candidates for certain offices.

    But the group said many Nigerians were qualified for political posts, urging “we must however ensure that most qualified persons are elected into offices.

    “The events of the two dominant parties in the past few days ago in democratic contest had been concluded in faithfulness to their party constitutions.

    “We applaud non-violent conduct that heralded their successes but a clear distinction has been made by them regarding who obeyed and followed the norms better in a democracy.

    “Even as many options were open to political parties in electing their candidates ahead of 2019 elections, they were at liberty to ensure the best aspirants emerge.

    “Direct primary, as adopted by the All Progressives Congress (APC) conducted by its National Working Committee (NWC) was a show of popular participation by all its members all over Nigeria,” he said.

    The group said APC members all over the country were involved in choosing their presidential candidate as well as candidates for other elective offices.
    “Popularity of the ruling APC could be seen in number of their members that took part in the primaries.

    “That was in contradiction to what took place at the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) primaries, climaxed by its presidential primary election on Saturday.

    “Money was the pivot that turned the wheel of success at the PDP presidential polls held in Port Harcourt.

    “From the two events therefore, the verdict that shall come from the 2019 polls may not be farfetched.

    “It can be concluded that Buhari would secure a walk over on his opponents including PDP, for displaying the best understanding in a democratic contest, dependent on the people,” the statement read in part.

    NAN also reports that Buhari polled 14,842,072 votes nationwide during the APC’s direct presidential primary to emerge as its 2019 candidate, before 7,000 delegates also ratified him on Oct. 6.

    Atiku polled 1,532 votes on Oct. 7 to defeat 11 other aspirants for PDP’s presidential ticket in an election by about 3,700 delegates. (NAN)

  • CAN, Legacy vow to enthrone good governance….To organize National Peace Convention for political parties

    TUNJI OLANIYI

    The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and Legacy Initiative International (LEGACY) have said they would henceforth engage more in helping Nigeria to enthrone good governance by making sure that only suitable persons with proven leadership qualities are voted into public offices during elections. (more…)