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  The Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation and Bank of Agriculture are working out modalities to finance the Agro- Businesses of prospective retirees under its exit management programme.

This was the high point of discussions on Thursday, 7^th June, 2018, during a meeting between the Office the of Head of the Civil Service of the Federation and officials of Bank of Agriculture on the proposed partnership on the implementation of the Pre-retirement training component of the Federal Civil Service Exit Management Programme, in Abuja.

The Permanent Secretary, Service Welfare Office in the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs. Didi Walson-Jack, Mni, expressed her excitement about the meeting as it marks the beginning of a new dawn for the Federal Civil Service.

’’The interaction this morning is therefore the first in the series with our potential partners in the implementation of the Exit Management Programme” she said.

Mrs. Walson-Jack said that the major concern of prospective retirees is how to fund their business ventures of interest, which has necessitated the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation to explore partnership with key Agencies of Government such as the CBN, BOA and BOI to ensure that prospective retirees are able to put into practice what they have learnt during the pre-retirement training, thereby actualizing the noble objective of the programme as well as ensuring its sustainability.

She further said the expectation from the partnership with the Bank of Agriculture is technical support to further deepen the required training in various Agric business of choice for retirees and to fund the take-off of the business ventures.

She added that the exit management programme is expected to guarantee the welfare of employees at every stage in their career and bring about an all-round development of the workforce resulting in improved health of employees, job satisfaction, workers personal safety, improved Industrial relations, efficiency of the workforce and ultimately, national economic development.

The team leader of the Bank of Agriculture, Mr. Aliyu Yakubu said the Bank’s mandate is to provide agricultural and financial services to support clients in all activities in the Agricultural Value Chain. These are services which cannot be readily accessed from existing deposit money banks.

Mr. Yakubu said the BOA is optimistic that the partnership will help the Bank to further deliver on its mandate.

The Permanent Secretary, Service Welfare Office in the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs. Didi Walson-Jack, Mni,(4^th R), in a group photograph with General Manager, Head of Zones& Branch Management, BOA, Mr. Aliu Yakubu(4^th L),Principal Manager BOA, Mrs. Ruphina Atimah(3^rd R),Principal Manager Department Collaborations BOA, Mr. Vincent Ahanmisi and Other Stakeholders at a meeting with Bank of Industry on the proposed partnership on the implementation of the Pre-retirement training component of the Federal Civil Service Exit Management Programme, in Abuja.

The Permanent Secretary, Service Welfare Office in the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs. Didi Walson-Jack, Mni,(2^nd L) ,General Manager, Head of Zones& Branch Management, BOA, Mr. Aliyu Yakubu(1^th L),Principal Manager BOA, Mrs. Ruphina Atimah (2ndR), Principal Manager Department Collaborations BOA, Mr. Vincent Ahanmisi(1^st R) at a meeting with Bank of Industry on the proposed partnership on the implementation of the Pre-retirement training component of the Federal Civil Service Exit Management Programme, in Abuja.

The Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation in collaboration with some line Ministries,(Federal Capital Territory Administration, Federal Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Power, Works and Housing and the Ministry of Water Resources) have embarked on the development of infrastructure of the estates, under the Federal Integrated Staff Housing(FISH) Programme.

A  Solar Power borehole, built through the collaboration was handed over to the developer through the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation in Karshi, Abuja on Wednesday, 6^th June, 2018. The representative of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mr. Otu Emmanuel, Director, Federal Integrated Staff Housing (FISH), in the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, said the borehole handover was one of the measures taken to make the houses affordable for Civil Servants.

Mr. Emmanuel added that the handing over of the borehole to the Estate developer is also a further demonstration of Government’s commitment to the FISH Programme. It will also encourage developers to partner with government in the delivery of quality and affordable houses.

He stressed the need for Government to encourage the developers through the provision of necessary infrastructure that will reduce the cost of construction of the houses.

The Deputy Director, Nation Wide Rural Water Supply in the Federal Ministry of Water Resources, Mr. Ademoroti Isaiah, revealed that, rural populace constitutes 60% of the Nigeria Population, while the other 40% is semi-urban and urban populace. He said the water needs of the rural populace is the sole duty of the Ministry of Water Resources. They also render support to the State Governments which caters for the urban and semi-urban areas.

In his words ‘’we do intervention because rural development is vested in the hands of the local government to alleviate the suffering of the people’’ he added.

He further said, the solar powered water supply was considered because it is cost effective in terms of running cost and maintenance since it relies solely on sunlight. Mr. Isaiah said the donation in Karshi is the third water intervention rendered to FISH. The others are in Apo and Bwari.

The Chief Hydrologist in the Federal Ministry of Water Resources, Mr. Abdulyekeen Shafiu said proper water analysis of the borehole was done by the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Committee, in the Ministry of Water Resources to ensure that the water is safe for drinking and proper hygiene is taken into consideration during project execution.

In his reaction, the Chairman of Due Dons limited, Chief Donald Okoli, who is the Estate Contractor, assured that the Housing project will be completed and handed over within the next one year. He disclosed that a lot of infrastructural development like schools, hospitals and recreation areas, Shopping malls and solar power supply will be available in the estate.

Representative of the Managing Director Monolith Global Resources Limited, the contractor of the borehole, Mr. Patrick Ododo, who is the Head Business Operations North Central said they worked in partnership with the OHCSF and FISH after carrying out geological survey on the site. The project was completed in 4weeks and the maximum life span of the solar panel is 25 years.

The Estate is seating on 3.5 hectares of land and expected to house 270 housings (3bedroom Bungalows and 2Bederoom Detached Bungalows).

Akinwumi Olufunke Taiwo

For: Director, Communications.

Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation.

8^th June, 2018.

The Representative of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mr. Otu Emmanuel(m), the Chief Hydrologist, FMWR(L) and the Estate Contractor Chief Donald Okoli(R) after the handing over of the borehole in Karshi, Abuja.

The Representative of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mr. Otu Emmanuel(6^th R), Iin a group photograph with the Chief Hydrologist, FMWR(4^th L), the Estate Contractor Chief Donald Okoli(6^th R),Deputy Director, Nation Wid Rural Water Supply, Mr. Ademoroti Isaih(5^th R) and other stakeholders after the handing over of the borehole in Karshi, Abuja.

The Representative of the Head of Service, Mr. Emmanuel Otu(L), The Estate Contractor, Chief Donald Okoli(M) and the Deputy Director, Nationwide Rural Water Supply, Mr. Ademoroti Isaiah drinking water from the borehole in Karshi, Abuja.

Prof. Wole Soyinka, Tuesday in Abuja requested President Muhammadu Buhari to institute an award to ‘‘name and shame’’ all those who truncated Nigeria’s democratic transition with the annulment of June 12, presidential elections.

Speaking at the National Honours Investiture for heroes of democracy, Soyinka said: ‘ Today perhaps is also a day to inaugurate our hall of shame so that as we have hall of heroes in one hand  we also have hall of shame as a lesson to future generations.’’

According to Nobel laureate: ‘‘It is not possible to honour MKO Abiola in one breath and admire his tormentor in another breath.

‘‘Loyalty is all very well but loyalty can become perverse if that loyalty is retained to an individual who if he were alive today will be before the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity.

Soyinka, who did not mention the name of the Nigerian, described him as one ‘‘broke the laws of Nigeria, broke international law and committed crimes against humanity.’’

He added: “It is confusing if professional loyalty is carried so far as to be accorded to such an individual.”

The Nobel laureate recounted his private conversation with the President, where he had argued why a notorious corrupt ruler was honoured by the Federal Government while the martyrs of democracy and philanthropists were left unhonoured.

Soyinka commended the President for tendering an apology to Nigerians and the family of Chief MKO Abiola for the wrong done to democracy in 1993 by the annulment of the June 12 presidential elections.

‘‘There are too many traumatised individuals walking the streets as a result of the policies and attitudes of one of the most brutal dictators that this nation has ever known.

‘‘Closure will come by responding to those traumatised individuals, the victims of unspeakable tortures, some of whom were compelled to watch their beloved ones being tortured,’’ he said.

Soyinka, therefore, appealed to the Federal Government not to forget the ‘‘nameless and unsung heroes and heroines of the June 12 struggle”. 

RIYADH: 

Even a year ago, it would have been hard to imagine — Saudi women clad in skinny jeans and Harley-Davidson T-shirts, revving motorbikes at a Riyadh sports circuit.

But ahead of the historic lifting of a decades-long ban on female drivers on June 24, women gather weekly at the privately owned Bikers Skills Institute, to learn how to ride bikes.

“Biking has been a passion ever since I was a kid,” said 31-year-old Noura, who declined to give her real name as she weighs public reactions in the ultra-conservative Islamic kingdom.

Overturning the world’s only ban on female drivers, long a symbol of repression against women, is the most striking reform yet launched by powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

But it has been overshadowed by a wave of arrests of female activists — including veteran campaigners who long resisted the ban.
None of the women at the floodlit motoring circuit wanted to talk about the crackdown, a deeply sensitive issue, focusing instead on securing a basic freedom long denied to them.

“I grew up watching my family riding bikes,” Noura told AFP as she mounted a Yamaha Virago.

“Now I hope… to have enough skills to ride on the street.”
Next to her, revving a Suzuki, sat Leen Tinawi, a 19-year-old Saudi-born Jordanian.

For both women, biking is not just an adrenalin-fuelled passion, but also a form of empowerment.

“I can summarise the whole experience of riding a bike in one word — freedom,” Tinawi said.

Both bikers follow their Ukrainian instructor, 39-year-old Elena Bukaryeva, who rides a Harley-Davidson.

Most days the circuit is the domain of drag racers and bike enthusiasts — all men.

But since offering courses to women in February on the basics of bike riding, four female enthusiasts have enrolled, most of them Saudis, Bukaryeva said.

“They always wanted to learn how to ride a motorcycle. And now they are saying ‘it’s my time’,” Bukaryeva told AFP.

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She echoed a catchphrase printed on the institute’s promotional material: “It’s your turn to ride.”

Asked why more women had not enrolled for the course, which costs 1,500 riyals ($400, 340 euros), Bukaryeva said: “Maybe their families stop them.”

Tinawi echoed the sentiment, saying she faced strong reservations from her family.

“My parents said: ‘You on a bike? You are a girl. It’s dangerous’,” she told AFP.

In Saudi Arabia, taking the wheel has long been a man’s prerogative.
For decades, hardliners cited austere interpretations of Islam as they sought to justify the ban, with many asserting that allowing them to drive would promote promiscuity.

Many women fear they are still easy prey for conservatives in a nation where male ‘guardians’ — their fathers, husbands or other relatives — can exercise arbitrary authority to make decisions on their behalf.

“Expect more accidents” because of women is a common refrain in an avalanche of sexist comments on Twitter.

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The government has preemptively addressed concerns of abuse by outlawing sexual harassment with a prison term of up to five years and a maximum penalty of 300,000 riyals.

The most immediate practical worry for female motorists is the dress code.

Culled from The Express Tribune (Pak)