Members of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities and the Non-Academic Staff Union have begun a nationwide strike today (Monday) over alleged unfair treatment and disparity in the payment of salaries by the Federal Government.
Last Monday, the unions threatened to shut down hostels and power supply in universities across the country if the Federal Government fails to meet its demands before today, March 18, 2024.
National President of SSANU, Muhammed Ibrahim, said his members, including Vice Chancellors, registrars, and bursars, have not been paid 2022 arrears.
Meanwhile, the Minister for Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, stated that he was unaware of SSANU/NASU’s planned strike.
However, during the Channels Television’s Morning Show programme, Ibrahim declared that the strike had started.
“Definitely, it (the strike) has already started.
“As of today (Monday), all our workers in registry, bursary, works and maintenance, security, and students’ affairs have withdrawn their services and nothing moves within the administration of any public university in Nigeria and that will be the case for the next seven days until and unless the needful is done,” he stated.
The SSANU president stressed that no government representative has reached out to the non-academic unions, noting that though some have reached out unofficially, their assurances cannot be taken to the bank.
He wondered why some government officials would not fully comply with President Bola Tinubu’s instruction to pay 2022 arrears.
He added that the Minister of Labour , Nkiruka Onyejeocha, has not reached out to the aggrieved unions despite issuing a seven-day notice last Monday.
This, he said was a departure from the responsiveness of the ex-Labour Minister Chris Ngige.
He stressed that the unions would go back to their toolbox and decide the next line of action should the government fail to heed the unions’ demands after the seven-day warning strike, which commenced today.
The National Judicial Council, NJC, has raised the alarm over alleged plot to defraud retired judicial officers across the federation.
The Council, in a statement it made available to newsmen on Sunday, decried that fraudsters have been bombarding retired judges with phone calls, demanding various sums of money to help them fast track the payment of their retirement benefits.
While dissociating itself from such arrangement, the legal body urged retired judicial officers in the country to be wary and not fall victim to the scammers.
The statement, which was signed by the Director of Information at the NJC, Soji Oye, read, “The attention of the National Judicial Council has been drawn to the incessant phone calls being made to retired Judicial Officers by some unscrupulous individuals demanding payments to fast track the processing of their retirement benefits.
“The National Judicial Council by this medium, informs retired Judicial Officers and members of the public to disregard such phone calls as NJC would never demand money from any Judicial Officer to fast track the payment of his retirement benefit.
“The public is hereby advised to be wary of and report such calls to the Pension Department of the Council for appropriate action.”
A photo of burning houses in Okuama community Delta State
The Okuama community in Ughelli South Local Government Area of Delta State where sixteen soldiers were killed have been razed.
There are strong allegations that some angry soldiers may have perpetrated the act after their colleagues were killed.
Meanwhile, manhunt for the killers is still ongoing and some arrests have also been made by the soldiers led by the General Officer Commanding 6 division Nigerian Army, Major General Jamal Abdussalam.
Residents of the coastal community are said to have fled to neighboring Ughelli for fear of a reprisal by the soldiers who have been patrolling the creeks.
Channels Television reported that fourteen lifeless bodies of killed soldiers were in the early hours of Saturday recovered by soldiers of the joint task force under the supervision of the General Officer Commanding 6 division Nigerian Army, Major General Jamal Abdussalam, at Okuama community, in the Ughelli South Local Government Area of Delta State.
Some of the recovered corpses were said to have been beheaded, while the stomachs and hearts of others were ripped off.
At the NDDC jetty in the coastal Delta community, the bodies of the commanding officer and the two killed majors were seen floating by the river bank as others were separated on land.
The Chief of Defence Staff, Christopher Musa, has ordered a probe into the tragic killing of four senior officers and 12 soldiers.
It was gathered that the slain military personnel responded to a distress call after the communal crisis between the Okuama and Okoloba communities, both in Delta State, before they were killed on Thursday, March 14.
Confirming the incident in a statement on Saturday, the Acting Director of Defence Information, Brigadier General Tukur Gusau, said the victims were surrounded by some community youths when troops of the 181 Amphibious Battalion were on a peace mission in the Bomadi Local Government Area of the state.
“The unfortunate incident occurred when the troops responded to a distress call after the communal crisis between the Okuama and Okoloba communities both in Delta State,” the statement read.
“The reinforcement team led by the commanding officer was also attacked, leading to the deaths of the commanding officer, two majors, one captain, and 12 soldiers.”
The defence spokesman said the incident has been reported to the Delta State Government, adding that the CDS has also directed that the culprits be unmasked.
According to him, some suspects have been arrested in connection with the incident.
He also reiterated the commitment of the military to its mandate of maintaining peace and security in various parts of the country.
“The Chief of Defence Staff ( CDS), General Christopher Gwabin Musa, has directed the immediate investigation and arrest of those involved in the heinous crime. The occurrence has been reported to the Delta State Government.
“However, the military remains focused and committed to its mandate of maintaining peace and security in the country. So far, a few arrests have been made while steps in place to unravel the motive behind the attack.”
The Jigawa State Police Command has confirmed the death of three students in an accident along the Jahun/Kiyawa Road in the state.
The command’s Public Relations Officer, DSP Lawan Shiisu, confirmed the accident in a statement issued to newsmen on Sunday.
He said the accident occurred on March 15, 2024, adding that the crash “involved a Sharon Galaxy vehicle and was heading to Gwaram when the incident happened.”
The state police PRO added that the vehicle was “driven by one Rabi’u Abdullahi, 50, of Babaldo town in Gwaram Local Government Area of the state.”
He explained that the vehicle, which was carrying students from Government Girls Secondary School, Kaugama, on vacation to Gwaram, overturned after a tyre burst at the Kadirawa Village.
He noted that while eight students were treated and discharged at Jahun General Hospital, the driver and six others were referred to the Federal Medical Centre in Birnin Kudu for further treatment.
The police PRO added that preliminary investigation suggested that overloading and worn-out tyres contributed to the accident.
He stated that the corpses of the three deceased students were released to the Education Secretary of Gwaram LGA on behalf of their families.
In December 2023, the state police command said no fewer than 11 persons lost their lives in an auto crash at Kwanar Gujungu town in Taura LG of the state.
The police PRO confirmed this in a statement released in Dutse, the state capital.
He said the accident occurred at noon when two vehicles, a Honda saloon with registration number NSR 469 AE, and a Golf wagon with registration number AUY 292 XA had a head-on collision.
The Peoples’ Democratic Party Governors’ Forum (PDP-GF) under the Chairmanship of Senator Bala Mohammed, has described the quality of leadership provided by the Governor of Enugu State, Peter Mbah, as exemplary and worthy of commendation.
The Bauchi State Governor said this in a birthday message on behalf of himself and his colleagues to celebrate the 52nd birthday of Gov. Mbah.
According to the statement which was signed on behalf of the PDPGF by its Director General, C.I.D Maduagbanam, in Abuja, on Sunday, PDP governors were elated that Mbah has had such a profound impact on the lives of his people within a short period with his leadership style.
It read in part, “The Forum joins his family, friends, and indeed, all the people of Enugu State, to give all gratitude to the Almighty God for his life, health, and wisdom in the governance of Enugu State.
“The Forum acknowledges his pragmatic approach to purposeful leadership delivery as witnessed through the reinforcement of law and order, safety of lives and property, as well as the provision of enabling and conducive environment for ease of doing business in the state.
“In the last nine months, it has been a midas touch in all activities of Governor Mbah in the delivery of good governance in Enugu State. Starting with the erection of an A-class Educational Infrastructure and System upgrade, Water provision, Urban Renewal/Infrastructure revamp, Trade and Investment Drive, Repackaging of the Solid Mineral Sector, Transportation, Agriculture and Agro-based Production, State-Local Government Joint Venture Project Initiatives, Improved Workers’ Welfare and Healthcare Service Delivery.
“Equally, much impact is being felt in flood and erosion control measures, road infrastructure networks linking several LGAs to promote his administration’s mega farming ventures against poverty and unemployment, skills development and empowerment programmes for youths and women aside other people-friendly initiatives.
“Perhaps the greatest game changer is the conceptuatualisation and development of a New Enugu City.
“The Forum assures him of our unalloyed support at all times as he oversees the affairs of state. Once more, Happy 52nd birthday anniversary.”
The governor of Enugu State, Dr. Peter Mbah, has described Nigeria’s presidential federalism, which vests too much powers and revenues in the centre as a major setback to speedy socio-economic development in Nigeria.
Mbah likened Nigeria’s brand of federalism to a man with 36 children, but who overworked a few till they became too weak, noting that the ensuing hard times should be seen an opportunity to overhaul the nation’s production strategy.
He, however, commended the transfer of railways and power from the Exclusive to Concurrent List to enable the states to play a role in those sectors and lauded the ongoing discussions and predisposition of the President Bola Tinubu Administration towards the devolution of more powers to the federating units.
The governor stated these in a public lecture entitled “Enugu State, Nigeria: New Political Leadership; Bold Economic Vision – Spotlight on the Health and Education Strategies” which he delivered at the London School of Economics, LSE.
Mbah said, “The choice of a presidential system might have been well-informed, shaped by the inherent benefits of federalism in other countries with population as vast and diverse as ours. But our presidential federalism has bred a system where revenue is excessively domiciled at the centre rather than in the states – or regions.
“Our federal system evokes an imagery akin to someone with 36 children, but who allows just about five to constantly till the family’s farmland until those few eventually became frail from age and unable to farm the land anymore. Is it then surprising that the family has fallen into hard times? Shouldn’t that have been an opportunity for the family to overhaul its production strategy given the opportunities that could be borne out of crises sometimes?
“Such hypothetical scenario can only breed dire economic prospects for the family and should ordinarily push its hard-pressed members to take some swift and critical actions to improve their precarious financial state. The challenge, as we have seen, is finding the will and having the capacity to do so,” he stated.
Mbah said that while discussion on further devolution continued, leaders at all levels could make a difference by applying political will, people-centered and transcendental leadership.
“At the heart of our socio-economic challenge is the issue of leadership deficit. This has always been the bane of our development. Despite widespread clamour and yearning for leaders with transcendental values, leadership failure remains a recurring decimal.
“A good leader is basically a visionary and should not merely peddle hope, but demonstrate a capacity to translate dreams into reality. This briefly summarizes our turnaround tale in Enugu State in roughly nine months.
“The single boldest projection that encapsulates what we intend to accomplish is our target to grow the economy of Enugu State seven-fold. Simply put, our vision is to grow the state’s GDP from $4.4bn – that we met – to at least $30bn in the next four to eight years. Another bold plan is the commitment to attain a zero per cent poverty headcount index in Enugu State,” he stated.
Mbah further said that his administration’s massive investments in security, health, education, agriculture, and water sectors, among others, were part of the overall strategy to turn the state’s fortune around within the context of prevailing constitutional framework.
The repair of the undersea cable cut that has affected internet services in Nigeria and many parts of sub-Saharan Africa may take about five weeks to be completed, MainOne said in aFriday statement.
MainOne, whose facilities provide internet services to many parts of western and southern Africa, also provided details of the undersea cable cut and its efforts to repair it.
In the statement on its website, the company said its “MainOne submarine cable carries a significant portion of the international traffic into West Africa and provides services to multiple countries hence the magnitude of the impact.”
The company said it has a maintenance agreement with the “Atlantic Cable Maintenance and Repair Agreement (ACMA) to provide repair services for the submarine cable.”
According to the service provider, the steps to be taken include first identifying and assigning a vessel to retrieve the necessary spares required for repair and then sailing to the fault location to conduct the repair work.
It said that the next step to complete the repair involved the affected section of the submarine cable being pulled from the seabed onto the ship where skilled technicians would splice it.
It said that post repair, joints would be inspected and tested for any defects and then the submarine cable lowered back to the seabed and guided to a good position.
The data company also refuted claims that the disruptions may have been caused by humans or armed groups.
It said most submarine cable faults occur as a result of human activities such as fishing and anchoring in shallow waters near shore, natural hazards such as earthquakes, landslides, and then equipment failure.
“Given the distance from land, and the cable depth of about 3 kms at the point of fault, any kind of human activity – ship anchors, fishing, drilling etc has been immediately ruled out.
“Our preliminary analysis would suggest some form of seismic activity on the seabed resulted in a break to the cable, but we will obtain more data when the cable is retrieved during the repair exercise,” the company said.
MainOne, a digital infrastructure service provider, also declared a force majeure, which absolves it of contractual obligations to its customers in certain circumstances.
It said that commercial contracts typically included such a force majeure clause which enabled service providers to suspend contractual obligations for the duration of such disruptions.
A force majeure is an unforeseeable circumstance that prevents someone from fulfilling a contract.
Many Nigerians including telecommunications companies and banks were on Thursday hit by an internet outage as a result of damage to international undersea cables supplying them with connectivity.
According to the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC), the damage affects major undersea cables near Abidjan in Côte d’Ivoire and is causing downtime across West and South African countries.
The NCC said that the cuts occurred somewhere in Cote d’Ivoire and Senegal, with an attendant disruption in Portugal.
In its statement, Mainone said it was working to restore services to as many of its customers as possible and to complete the repairs to the cable system as planned.
It said that the cable cut had disrupted international services on its cable south of the landing in Senegal, resulting in the outage of internet services for the majority of its customers.
The statement added that MainOne had some restoration agreements with other operators to mitigate service disruptions, but unfortunately, those cable systems were also impacted by outages at this time.
“It is believed that MainOne submarine cable carries a significant portion of the international traffic into West Africa and provides services to multiple countries hence the magnitude of the impact.
“We are actively restoring services to the extent possible and mobilising a vessel for repairs and will update once there are more details,” it said.
The statement added that MainOne cable are very well protected as could be seen from the number of incidences on its cable system since its inception in 2010.
NetBlocks, a global internet monitoring organisation, which released its preliminary report yesterday, disclosed that out of the 13 affected countries, Cote d’ Ivoire was the worst hit, which led to severe internet disruptions that brought the country’s internet connectivity to as low as four per cent.
According to the report, Liberia, Benin Republic, Ghana and Burkina Faso suffered high internet impact that brought their internet connectivity to 20 per cent, 14 per cent, 25 per cent and 38 per cent respectively.
The report stated that countries like Togo, Cameroon, Gabon, Namibia and Niger, suffered medium internet impact that brought their internet connectivity to 42 per cent, 58 per cent, 55 per cent, 55 per cent and 69 per cent respectively.
It however stated that countries like Nigeria, Lesotho and South Africa, had low internet impact and businesses were mildly affected. While Nigeria had 72 per cent connectivity, Lesotho had 74 per cent internet connectivity, and South Africa had 82 per cent internet connectivity after the cable cut, according to the report.
The Enugu State Government on Thursday unveiled the Enugu Youth Upscale project as part of the state youth development roadmap, aimed at creating platforms for reducing youth unemployment and developing the capacity of young men and women in the state.
The State Commissioner for Youth and Sports, Barr. Lloyd Ekweremadu made this known during a media chat with stakeholders and members of civil society organisations in Enugu on Thursday.
He observed that the unveiling became necessary following the increase in youth restiveness and unemployment rate in the country, which has increased anti-social behaviour particularly among young Nigerians.
“The idea is to provide projects to the youths of Enugu that will see to their upskilling and upscaling. And also bring their skill sets up to par with their counterparts in other climes which will enable our youths compete favourably and become employed whether in Enugu or outside Enugu.
“This project is for young people between the ages of 18 and 35, and it is open for partnership with the civil society organisations, non-governmental organisations, private businesses, international development institutions, among other notable stakeholders. We will partner with them to ensure that the objective of the ministry is achieved,” the Commissioner stressed.
On sustainability of the programme, Ekweremadu said sustainability is very important, explaining that the programme is digitised and structured in a way that will outlive them.
According to the Commissioner, “data of the youths would be collected across the 17 local government areas of the state and interested people should apply. The data collection is decentralised because we are digitising everything.
“Youths can go online at our website, https://eyouthupscale.org” and register whatever programme that they’re interested in. The data collection process is going to be open to everyone. Everyone can take advantage of it. It is going to have a state-wide spread to capture all the comparative advantages in the various local governments.”
Also speaking, the youth ministry’s youth development consultant and lead coordinator of the Enugu Youth Upscale Project, Mr. Emmanuel Etukudo highlighted the pillars of the programme, which include data collection, collaboration, training, knowledge transfer, and policy reform.
In his words, “the Minstry will embark on data collection across the 17 local government areas of the state, including people living with disabilities. We will group them according to their gender, areas of interest, and demography.
“We will train them and ensure they are equipped and rightly empowered to enable them establish with whatever skill they have learnt which will help to curb youth unemployment and also anti-social behaviours among our youths.”
The bandits who abducted 287 school children at Kuriga in Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State have demanded a N1billion ransom to set their captives free.
They also threatened to kill the victims if the ransom was not paid in 20 days.
But the military vowed yesterday to rescue the school children to their parents unhurt, explaining bandits now embark on mass abduction to use their victims as human shields, in view of the clearance operations by its officers and men.
Recall that on Thursday, March 7, 2024, the bandits invaded the school, shot one of the pupils and escaped into the bush with over 200 others, including some secondary school students they marched into the primary school premises.
The bandit’s demand for ransom came barely 24 hours after President Bola Tinubu warned against payment of ransom to criminal elements, including bandits.
“The President has directed that security agencies must, as a matter of urgency, ensure that these children and all those who have been kidnapped are brought back in safety and also in the process, to ensure that not a dime is paid as ransom,” the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Alhaji Muhammed Idris, had quoted the President as saying after Wednesday’s Federal Executive Council, FEC, meeting.
According to Reuters, the bandits contacted a spokesman for the families of the school children, demanding a total of 1 billion naira ($620,432) for their release.
Reuters also said the kidnappers vowed to kill the students and staff in 20 days, if their demand was not met.
A leader of the community, Jubril Aminu, who acts as spokesman for the families of the hostages, said: “They (kidnappers) made a total of a N1 billion ransom demand for all the pupils, students and staff of the school.
“They gave a request to pay the ransom within 20 days, effective from the date of the kidnap. They said they will kill all the students and the staff if the ransom demand is not met.”
Idris Ibrahim, an elected official from Kuriga Ward municipal council, who also confirmed the ransom demand and the amount, said: “Yes, the kidnappers called the community through Jubril Aminu’s number and made the demand.
“They called from a hidden number but the authorities are working on getting the number.’’
He added that the security forces were taking “adequate measures” to secure the release of the students.
Meanwhile, the military vowed yesterday to rescue the schoolchildren and return them unhurt to their families. The Director of Defence Media Operations, Major General Edward Buba, who made the vow at a briefing in Abuja yesterday, said the military is committed to rescuing all kidnapped victims unhurt.
He, however, blamed the school owners for failing to report cases of abduction to security agencies on time, while also blaming the recent kidnapping of some internally displaced persons in Gamboru-Ngala, Borno State, on their disobedience to instructions as they left the camp in search of firewood without informing camp officials.
Major-General Buba said the kidnap was a ploy by the bandits to use them as human shields, following the onslaught that had led to the elimination of their leaders and foot soldiers in recent weeks.
He noted that the terrorists/bandits might also be planning on recruiting new foot soldiers, hence the abduction of young students and children
“We have depleted their ranks, and neutralized many of their commanders and foot soldiers. The terrorists exhibited gross cowardice by going after children.
“We have taken their commanders out. We recently acquired new air platforms to further decimate them. They know we mean business. It is to protect themselves that they went after the students. But we will not rest until all the kidnapped victims are rescued.”
Gen Buba, however, stated that it took more than six hours after the students were abducted for the information to get to security agencies before machinery was commenced for the rescue efforts.
He said: “As in every war, there are complexities and ours is no exception. Recently, cases of citizens being abducted in the North-East, North-West and North-Central theatres of operations were recorded.
“These citizens were abducted by a brutal and blood-thirsty group that should only be addressed as terrorists, not bandits. I repeat these are terrorists and not bandits.
“They are holding these citizens against their will and all norms of human behaviour, and the laws of armed conflict and any good measure in the world.
“Several of their leaders and commanders have been neutralised as a result of troops onslaught. They want to use these hostages as human shields for their survival. Nevertheless, be assured that we will not rest until the hostages are returned.
“No doubt, this is a difficult situation, but not one that is insurmountable. The hostage situation is an extremely sensitive one which unfortunately is not unprecedented in the history of the ongoing war.
“These hostages are being held in locations that are difficult to get to, but not out of reach. The situation is, however, indicative of the desperation of these terrorists to avoid troops’ onslaught by all means.
“Recall that in recent times, troops have decimated several of the terrorist’s leaders, commanders and foot soldiers and fast closing in on several others.
“These terrorists have exhibited cowardice by going for such soft targets to impede troops’ advances. I assure you that we will not rest until they are returned.
“Given the hostage situation, it can be deduced that the search and rescue effort was grossly affected by the non-notification of troops of the incident on time. Nevertheless, I can assure you that we will not rest until these hostages are returned.
“However, because of the sensitivity of the matter, I cannot go into further details as to signs of life, location, and the different options we have to get these hostages back.
“Let me further assure you that getting these hostages back is very clearly at the top of our priorities. It is for this reason we have leveraged our international partners for support.
“Accordingly, they are providing the necessary support, including intelligence that is giving us the advantage in dealing with the ugly situation.’’
Recall that aside from 287 school children, students and their teachers kidnapped at LEA Primary and Junior Secondary School, Kuriga in Chikun local government area of Kaduna State, 112 were abducted at internally displaced persons, IDPs, camp in Gamboru Ngala Local Government Area of Borno State, while 16 Tsangaya Almagiri students were also abducted in Sokoto State last Saturday.
Highlights strides in health, education sectors, others
Governor of Enugu State, Dr. Peter Mbah, says only radical thinking and creative approach to governance, such as adopted by his administration, could stimulate rapid economic development in the 36 states of Nigeria, given the nation’s brand of presidential federalism, which excessively vests the nation’s revenues in the centre, thereby hindering bold social and economic development.
The governor stated this during a public lecture entitled “Enugu State, Nigeria: New Political Leadership; Bold Economic Vision – Spotlight on the Health and Education Strategies” which he delivered at the London School of Economics, LSE, Thursday evening.
Mbah maintained that the exigencies of the times in Nigeria required bold and unusual solutions that come from thinking outside the box, hence his administration’s ambitious economic vision and the radical policies and programmes being executed in health, education, security, water, and road infrastructure.
He said: “The single boldest projection that encapsulates what we intend to accomplish is our target to grow the economy of Enugu State seven-fold. Simply put, our vision is to grow the state’s GDP from $4.4bn – that we met – to at least $30bn in the next four to eight years.
“Another bold plan is the commitment to attain a zero percent poverty headcount index in Enugu State.”
He, however, observed that realising the set targets would depend greatly on the wellness of the state’s workforce, hence his government’s numerous health projects and innovations, which were already yielding results in his short while in office.
“We are seeing decline, albeit marginal, in infant and maternal mortality rate in our state. We are constantly eliminating factors that ordinarily cause maternal and under-5 deaths, such as the absence of skilled birth attendants – including doctors, nurses and midwives – at health facilities. From a pre-election statistic of 39 percent, we have grown the number of births attended to by skilled health personnel at our facilities to 42 percent. Our target is to achieve a 100 percent threshold by the end of 2025.
“In addition, we have significantly expanded immunization coverage for all childhood vaccine-preventable diseases for children on their first birthday. We have also increased the number of those attending Ante-Natal Care for the first time.
“We’re also building new Level 2 healthcare facilities across the 260 electoral wards in our state. Each centre has the necessary equipment, sanitation and hygiene facilities, water, living quarters for doctors and nurses, and alternative power supply.
“Where there is a shortfall, especially with regard to doctors and nurses who have been emigrating to the West in large numbers, we carry out regular recruitment drives to narrow the deficit. The goal is to bring the number of doctors in our state to the WHO recommended doctor-to-patient ratio of one doctor to 600 patients,” the governor said.
He added that no nation has ever risen above the inherent capacity of its public education, hence his administration’s huge investment in an education that emphasizes access, relevance, and quality to power the turnaround.
“Our government’s allocation for education in this year’s budget illustrates this resolve. Our state’s budget of N158.78bn for education is the highest per capita in the country. With regard to the percentage of total budget assigned to education, it is as well the highest budgeted for education by any state in Nigeria, at 33 percent of the entire budget sum. It is also substantially higher than UNESCO’s recommended benchmark of 15 percent – 20 percent of total annual budget. I dare say it’s perhaps the highest in the world. Think about it: This implies that for every 100 Naira spent, 33 Naira goes to the education budget.
“From age three, we ensure a child is enrolled in a system that imbues them with the requisite skills to compete in tomorrow’s world today. Today, children should be able to practicalize what they have learnt. This is a core philosophy of our Smart Schools initiative.
“So, our Smart Green Schools initiative is a bold and creative response to the learning crisis that confronted us on assuming office. That is because we have created sufficient incentives for parents to send their children to school, not least of which is our Free School Meal Plus programme for pupils, which incorporates a medical programme, through which vital health statistics of students such as growth profile, sundry deficiencies and vaccine status are monitored.
“Each Smart School features an interactive digital whiteboard, an internet system, robotics and artificial intelligence centre, modern ICT centre, two science laboratories, hybrid multimedia library, creative production studio, 25 inclusive classrooms and 700 Android tablets.
“Through these, we expect to impart experiential knowledge and bridge the skills gap that leaves our students with grim prospects in a globalized world,” he concluded.
…as IFAD AVP lauds governor’s efforts at programme sustainability
Enugu State Governor, Dr. Peter Mbah, has said the investment drive of his administration over the past 9 months in office had started to lift poor citizens out of the pit of poverty through government’s deliberate efforts and determination.
The governor disclosed this while receiving the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)’s Associate Vice President (AVP), Dr. Donal Brown, and members of his team who were on a working and inspection visit to the state in Enugu on Wednesday.
This was even as the AVP lauded the governor for his vision of sustaining the IFAD programme, saying the key success to the project is sustainability.
Mbah, who expressed appreciation to the United Nations’ specialized agency for the assistance and intervention the state had been receiving in the area of agriculture, said his administration was determined on ensuring that agriculture is seen as a low hanging fruit for the people of the state and one of the easy routes of escaping poverty.
He explained that the programme of IFAD was of immense benefit to the people because of its objectives which target rural and smallholder farmers who are the main producers of the daily food being consumed in the country.
“Just as I have noted earlier, on the desk where we are, we may forget the link and the role the smallholder farmers and rural farmers play in the economy. But if you do all the high-level policy formulations and the rural farmers are not accommodated, you will always miss the link. It is the aggregation of rural farmer holdings that come up to your GDP, and when you measure them back in the lives of our people, you will see that it is huge,” the governor said.
He stressed that through the right support and intervention, rural farmers and smallholder farmers are now able to meet their financial needs such as the payment of school fees for their children, aceess to maternal healthcare and savings.
“We look forward to a more robust relationship with you because experiences have also shown that we must work towards improving what you have done. And I know that your resource is not elastic, that at some point you’re going to stop the programme, and we must sustain it to ensure seamless continuity and even improve on what you’re leaving behind. So, we want to develop a homegrown relationship with you that enables investment you have done to become self-sustaining so that whenever you’re in Africa or Nigeria, you can stop by or can look back at your legacy,” Mbah said.
The governor, who was represented by the deputy governor, Barr Ifeanyi Ossai, while lamenting the perennial post-harvest losses farmers have been facing in the state, urged IFAD for more support to enable the creation of aggregation centres around farm clusters for production preservation that would minimize post-harvest challenges.
“Again, we’re looking at whatever support we can get to begin to encourage commercial farmers because we also know that we have commercial farmers who do the big ticket transaction. It is a lot easier for them to sustain the small holder farmers than whatever programme the government can do. Because when they support the smallholder farmers and provide them with inputs, they support them and teach them skills and they can even advance credit to them because they will be encouraged knowing that there is an already market. So, we are looking for help from you to build some medium to high-level processing centres,” he further added.
Speaking earlier, Dr. Brown said he was in Enugu to deepen their conversation with the state government on the way both bodies could strengthen their interests, and to also inspect some of the projects funded by IFAD in the last couple of years.
“We have come to Enugu State to look at some of the work we’ve funded through the government of Nigeria. And we selected Enugu State because we have very good things about the work that is happening here,” he stressed.
The IFAD boss further commended the governor for his drive at sustaining the projects and programme as it is the key to ensuring the aims of IFAD in the country are actualized.
Noting that IFAD had about one billion dollars investment in Nigeria which included different sectors and subsectors such as agriculture, processing and production, the AVP said they were looking for ways to support the government to improve food production and food security particularly now that Nigeria is facing food crisis.
The presidency has affirmed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s commitment to the student loan scheme, following the recent postponement of its launch.
Speaking after the Federal Executive Council meeting on Wednesday, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Mr Bayo Onanuga, stated that final touches are being put in place to enable proper launch of the President’s flagship program.
Recall that on Tuesday, the federal government announced the indefinite postponement of the scheme’s launch, which was initially scheduled for Thursday.
However, Mr Onanuga assured that a new date would be announced soon.
On June 12, 2023, President Tinubu signed the Access to Higher Education Act, 2023, into law to enable indigent students to access interest-free loans for their educational pursuits in any Nigerian tertiary institution.
The Act, popularly known as the Students Loan Law, also established the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, which is expected to handle all loan requests, grants, disbursement, and recovery.
The student loan bill was sponsored by Femi Gbajabiamila, the immediate-past speaker of the House of Representatives who is now chief of staff to the president.
The legislation provides for the establishment of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, which will have the power to administer, supervise, coordinate, and monitor the management of student loans in the country.
Based on the provisions of the legislation, the fund is expected to receive and screen applications for student loans through higher institutions on behalf of the applicants.
The company said it has a maintenance agreement with the “Atlantic Cable Maintenance and Repair Agreement (ACMA) to provide repair services for the submarine cable.”
