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  • Buhari will award contract for Eastern Corridor Railways before December, VON DG assures

    The Director General of Voice of Nigeria (VON), Mr Osita Okechukwu, has said that the  Muhammadu Buhari  administration will award the contract for Eastern Corridor Railways before December.

    Okechukwu gave the assurance in a speech he presented at the  annual World Igbo Congress (WIC) which was held in Nashville Tennessee in United States.

    Okechukwu’s speech was released to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Enugu.

    He said  President Buhari has  embarked on massive critical infrastructure to reposition the country for rapid growth and transformation in order to meet 21st century challenges.

    “The situation at home is not as bad as being painted and that all hope is not lost in Nigeria”, he said.

    “Buhari’s Roads, Rail, Agriculture and Power (RRAP PROJECTS) is the most massive infrastructure development ever embarked upon in Nigeria.

    “Without being immodest,  my understanding is that the Eastern Corridor Railways will be awarded before December  2018 and construction as directed by President Muhammadu Buhari will commence instantly.

    “All hope is not lost as being painted; one can reassure my brothers and sisters here.

    “Also, bearing in mind as well that some of the South-East governors are also doing their best to uplift the infrastructure and social amenities in the zone,’’ Okechukwu said.

    “I am bold to say that the Federal Government is today constructing the Second  Niger Bridge on direct contract,  not Private Public Partnership,  and 69 other ancillary roads across the South-East as applicable in other geo-political zones.

    “The construction of the Eastern Corridor Railways which will cover 18 states of the Federation will soon commence. Let nobody deceive you,’’ Okechukwu said.

    The Chairman of WIC, Prof. Anthony Ejiofor, called on Ndigbo at home or abroad to commit themselves to the  development of  the homeland, “as no group will do it for us’’.

    Ejiofor cited instances where Diaspora people liberated their home countries and appealed that “we cannot be an exception’’.

    Dr Stella Nwokeji, a renowned medical consultant, in her presentation pleaded for the establishment of Emergency and Rescue Medic-aid.

    She lamented that a lot of lives are on daily basis lost because of lack of emergency rescue and response plans,  especially in rural communities in the country.

    The World Igbo Congress was attended by Amb. Sylvester Nsofor, Nigeria’s Ambassador to the United States and his wife as well as Prof. Uzodimma Nwala, President of Ala-Igbo Development Foundation.

    Other prominent participants were  Prof. Anthony Ejiofor, 2018 WIC Chairman; Dr Richard Nwachukwu, Secretary-General of WIC; Chief Ejike Ekwuazi, Host President and Event Planning Committee Chairman and Dr Innocent Ubakam, Chairman of Economic Development Committee.

    There were also  Dr Ify Dike, Dr Luis Okonkwo, Mr Chudi Nnodu, Chief Sabi Nweke. (NAN)

  • Economic Devt :What I’ll do differently as President says Dankwambo

    Development
    By Admin
    Abuja, Sept.2,2018(Flowerbudnews) As the battle  for Presidency  gains momentum, Governor Ibrahim Dankwambo of Gombe State promises to tackle economic, security and technology challenges of the nation differently, if given the support.
    This was said on Sunday in a statement signed by Mr.  Ayoade Adewopo, Director of Communication ,Dankwambo Presidential Campaign,on the platform of Peoples Democratic Party(PDP),made available to the media.
    According to the former Accountant-General of the Federation, he has envisioned short and long term solutions to challenges of the nation,saying economic recovery will be the least benefit.
    “I will lead us to a new Nigeria where we shall harness our abundant resources, build a robust economy and partner with good people and well-meaning investors from nations across the world.
     
    “That will open the door for independent and economically self-sufficient Nigeria that will transparently eradicate corruption,  indoctrinal pollution, ethnic militia,  insurgency, Killer Herdsmen, Armed Robbery,Kidnappers without compromise to peaceful coexistence,” he said. 
     
    On how the technocrats cum politician intended to tackle issue of mistrust among certain ethnic and religious groups, he said it was surmountable for him. 
     
     
    “Having interacted very well with fellow Nigerians beyond primordial divides, I will ensure a polity that has respect for individual liberty and the rule of law that will bring dignity and prosperity to Nigerians and by extension, Africa as a whole.
     
    “I therefore call for partnership with fellow Nigerians for the realization of my long sustained vision for more unified, developed and peaceful country,” Dankwambo said.
    Led by Dankwambo,  Gombe State was one of the two northern states that survived ‘Buhari Tsunami’ in 2015,which paved way for All Progressives Congress (APC) to dominate the region until recent defections by some governors. 
    Having picked his nomination form, Dankwambo had started reaching out to party members across the nation by meeting PDP members in Edo and  Delta states.
    He would be contesting with 18 others including Alhaji Abubakar Atiku, a former Vice-president on Oct. 5 to emerge as candidate of the opposition PDP in 2019 Presidential election.

  • Make Topo-Badagry coconut plantation tourists site — Monarch

    By Raji Rasak

    The Baale of Topo Island, Badagry, Lagos State, Chief Oluwadami Avose, has called on the Lagos State Government to utilise coconut plantation in the area for tourism.

    The Topo-Badagry monarch made the call during the Marathon Walk by youths to commemorate the 2018 Coconut Heritage Festival tagged: “AGUNKEFEST’’.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the marathon walk took off from Badagry Roundabout to Topo Island ahead of the 7th Coconut Heritage Day holding at Badagry Suntan Beach on Sunday.

    The theme of the festival is “Harnessing Coconut Production for Economic Empowerment and Tourism Development in Lagos State”.

    According to the monarch, coconut tree was first planted in Topo Island by the Roman Catholic Missionaries in 1845.

    “This is where we have the first teachers training college in Nigeria, where great teachers passed through.

    “Roman Catholics all over Lagos come to this island every Nov. 2 to pray every year.

    “There are many historical sites here that government should utilise and add value to this island,” he said.

    He urged Nigerians to always drink coconut water because of its health benefit.

    The Coordinator of the marathon walk, Mr Oke-Tojinu Setonji, said the exercise was to make the residents fit for the festival.

    “The walk is to remember the way our forefathers used to walk to their farms in those days.

    “So, the memory is alive as we walked from Badagry to Topo Island where the coconut was first planted in 1845.

    “Coconut is now our cash crop, we do not want to forget our culture of coconut farming.

    “By coming together today, we are bringing culture into entertainment,” he said.

    In his remark, Doheto Mesi, President, African Coconut Heritage Initiative, said the festival was aimed at creating awareness on the invaluable economic and health benefit that coconut offers.

    Mesi said that this year festival was organised by Lagos StateState Council for Art and Culture in collaboration with African Coconut Heritage Initiative. (NAN)

  • PCC seeks partnership with police for effective dispute resolution

    By Chimezie Anaso
    The Public Complaints Commission (PCC) has solicited purposeful partnership with the Nigeria Police on addressing complaints and disputes efficiently.

    Mr Samben Nwosu, the commissioner of the commission in Anambra, made the plea when he visited Mr Garba Umar, Commissioner of Police in Awka on Saturday.

    Nwosu said that the commission “is a grievance-handling body insulated from politics with independent status.

    “It also plays the role of a watchman receiving complaints from aggrieved persons who have suffered any form of administrative wrong’’.

    He said that his visit to the police commissioner was to acquaint him with his appointment and to seek his cooperation for synergy.

    “PCC has powers to investigate matters and recommend corrective measures and produce results.

    “In this way, the commission has been able to give redress, douse tension and assuage the aggrieved through its timely intervention,’’ he said.

    Nwosu also said that there were salient areas where mutual collaboration would help to improve the operations of the two organisations; and by extension, the larger society.

    “It will be appreciated if police personnel are deployed at the commission’s behest, from time to time, as it administers and delivers promptly its services to the public.

    “We count on your spirit of cooperation, may I humbly request that you hesitate not to refer cases outside your jurisdiction to the commission for redress,’’ he said.

    In his response, Umar promised to assign direct posting of police officers to the commission to ensure peace, order and security.

    The police commissioner also pleaded with Nwosu to prepare a public lecture he would present to state police command for more enlightenment on the roles and importance of PCC.(NAN)

  • NEMA receives another 164 stranded Nigerians from Libya

    The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) says it has received a batch of 164 assisted voluntary returnees from Libya who were stranded in failed attempts to reach different European countries.

    The Agency’s Spokesperson, Mr Ibrahim Farinloye, who confirmed the development to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos, said that the returnees arrived at the Cargo Wing of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja at 8:50p.m. on Thursday night.

    Farinloye said the returnees comprised of 61 adult females including seven pregnant women, 96 adult males, two children and five infants, adding that 17 of the returnees had medical cases.

    He said that they were brought back through the assistance of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) aboard a Libyan Airline flight with registration number 5A-DMG.

    The spokesman said the Nigeria Immigration Service, National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Refugees Commission, the Police and the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) officials were on ground for profiling and documentation of the returnees.

    Similarly, the Director General, NEMA, Mr Mustapha Maihajja had therefore called on faith and community based organisations to join government in efforts at discouraging irregular migration and the get-rich-quick syndrome in the society.

    Maihajja, represented by the Southwest Zonal Coordinator, Alhaji Yakubu Suleiman, appealed to religious and community based organisations in leading attitudinal change towards discouraging irregular migration.

    “When these organisations embrace the governments’ efforts at curbing the menace of irregular emigration that has led to the death of several youths and rendered many incapacitated, the surge of irregular migrations will be minimised.

    “As much as these bodies can cause positive change, which the government is aware of, some of them are culpable in misleading the youths based on revelations of some of the returnees,” he said. (NAN)

  • Nigeria, Germany sign pacts on agric, commerce

    Nigeria and Germany on Friday in Abuja signed two Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) in agriculture and commerce.

    The first agreement was signed between the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) and the German-Africa Business Association.

    The First Deputy National President of NACCIMA, Hajiya Saratu Iya-Abubakar, signed on behalf of Nigeria, while Dr Stefan Liebing of German Africa Business Association, signed on behalf of the German business delegation.

    The second agreement was signed between the Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) and the PETKUS Technologie GmbH, a company that specialises in post-harvest agricultural value chain.

    The Managing Director of NIRSAL, Mr Aliyu Abdulhameed, signed on behalf of Nigeria while the representative of PETKUS Technologie GmbH, Peter Huser, signed for the Germans.

    Speaking after signing the MOUs, Nigeria’s Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr Okechukwu Enelamah, said the agreements would increase the collaboration between Nigeria and Germany in the two areas.

    According to Enelamah, the agreements will also leverage small and medium enterprises in Nigeria.

    “We want our SMEs to learn from the German experience.

    “The other areas of German excellence is the technical area: technical education, technical training and technical development.  It’s also an area of great interest to Nigeria.

    “We are also working with Germany in the automobile sector because that is also an area where Germany is a leader and Nigeria clearly has a policy to be a leader in the auto sector in West Africa and Africa.’’

    The minister said that all these agreements would require high levels of engagement, collaboration and communication to be actualised.

    Also speaking, Abdulhameed said the MOU signed between NIRSAL and PETKUS was borne out of the realisation of the available opportunities for investments in the Nigerian agricultural sector under the President Muhammadu Buhari administration.

    “Under the current administration and the present agricultural promotion policy of this government, there are ample opportunities for investors in terms of technology and capital, to come to Nigeria and to invest in the agricultural sector.

    According to Abdulhameed, NIRSAL provides for the risk environment and mechanisms to enable investors like PETKUS to come to Nigeria and do their business.

    He noted that the agreement would go a long way in reducing the 51.3-tonne of aggregate food production, equivalent of about nine billion dollars which the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) report says Nigeria loses annually.’’

    He expressed his optimism that PETKUS, which specialises in post-harvest segment of the agricultural value chain, would bring its expertise to bear on post-harvest productions in Nigeria.

    In his remarks, Huser said the interest of his company was to help small farmers boost their yield.

    “We are not talking about big investments. We are talking about smallholder farmers, where we like to help them to boost their yield, to get better yield.

    “We are talking about plant production. We are talking about fertilisation.”

    He expressed the hope that each machine supplied by PETKUS Technologie would provide employment and improve income for five people and their families. (NAN)

  • Buhari receives German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, at Aso Rock

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday received the vising German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports the German leader, who is concluding her tour of three West African countries, arrived Aso Rock at about 10.02a.m.

    President Buhari, who welcomed the German Chancellor at the fore court of the Presidential Villa, introduced some members of his cabinet and presidential aides to his visitor before going into closed door meeting to deliberate on issues of mutual interest to both Nigeria and Germany.

    Merkel is on her final leg of a three-day trip to Senegal, Ghana and Nigeria with a focus on strengthening economic development and containing illegal migration.

    NAN reports that the German leader, is accompanied by an economic team delegation.

  • Polish claims of blast on board Kaczynski plane unfounded – Committee

    Russian investigators could not confirm Poland’s claims that there was an explosion on board Polish ex-President Lech Kaczynski’s Tu-154M plane prior to a fatal crash in 2010.

    The Investigative Committee Spokesperson, Svetlana Petrenko, made the announcement on Friday in Moscow.

    “Russian investigators have no more questions about the cause of the crash. It was caused by multiple factors,’’ Petrenko said.

    They included the plane crew’s failure to act in time and fly to an alternate airfield as well as the mistakes they made during the low-visibility landing, according to the spokeswoman.

    “Therefore, Poland wants an additional examination of the plane’s debris, a request which we are prepared to fulfill within the framework of the close cooperation in this criminal investigation,’’ Petrenko stressed.

    Polish investigators are expected to examine the plane’s debris in Smolensk on Sept. 3 to 7.

    It will be their 12th visit to Russia.

    In April, the Polish commission revisiting the investigation into the 2010 plane crash issued a report saying that it was caused by a mid-air explosion on the aircraft.

    The commission also said on June 5 that it had found traces of explosives on the aircraft wreckage as well as on the body of one of the victims of the crash.

    On April 10, 2010, a Polish jet carrying Kaczynski, his wife and officials crashed amid heavy fog as it attempted to land at an airfield near Smolensk.

    All 96 people on board died in the crash. (Sputnik/NAN)

  • Insurance recapitalisation deadline now Oct. 1 – NAICOM

    The National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) on Friday confirmed backdating the insurance companies Tier-based recapitalisation commencement date to Oct. 1, as against  January 1, 2019 it earlier announced.

    Mr Rasaaq Salami, NAICOM’s spokesman, made the confirmation in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.

    NAN reports that the confirmation was sequel to doubts expressed by some players in the industry on the adjournment of the recapitalisation date.

    “The backdate means that operators only have one month and two days to recapitalise,’’ Salami said.

    The spokesman said it was imperative for the commission to shift the date in order to re-position the industry for unbeatable performance in the financial sector.

    “The commission would not withdraw any license but only ensure that an underwriter has adequate capital to absorb risks,’’ he said.

    Salami said after the first guideline on recapitalisation implementation was released in July, the Federal Government through  NAICOM issued a new circular dated Aug. 14.

    The circular according to him, the circular mandated all insurance companies to recapitalise and communicate to NAICOM the tier they intended to play in before Oct. 1.

    Salami said that only companies that meet the respective tier requirements shall lead on new businesses in those categories with effect from Oct. 1.

    “Companies shall be assessed, in the first instance, on their approved financial statement for 2017, and audited half year account for 2018.

    “However, where a company is yet to obtain approval for its 2017 financial statement, its last approved audited accounts will be used for the assessment,” Salami quoted the statement from circular as saying.

    NAN reports that underwriters interested to play in the tier 1 category are expected to increase their capitalisation from N5 billion to N15 billion.

    The underwriters interested in the same tier but currently operating Life business are mandated to upgrade their capital base from N2 billion to N6 billion.

    The Non-Life Insurers that wanted to play in the tier are expected to improve their capitalisation from N3 billion to N9 billion.

    While Composite Insurers willing to operate in tier 2 are expected to increase their capitalisation to N7.5 billion.

    Life Operators under tier 2 category are expected to increase capitalisation to N3 billion.

    However, for insurers willing to play in the lowest tier, which is tier 3, they are expected to maintain the current capital base of the insurance industry.

    Non-Life Insurance Firms in tier 3 is to maintain N3 billion; Life Insurance Operators to maintain N2 billion and Composite Insurers are to maintain N5 billion capitalisation. (NAN)