Day: November 8, 2023

A team of officials of the Directorate of Technical Aid Corps (DTAC) has commenced performance evaluation of its volunteers posted to Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania and Seychelles.

The team, led by DTAC’s Director-General (DG), Dr Yusuf Yakub, is expected to interface with officials of those countries to appraise the scheme and the level of compliance to agreed terms.

A statement issued on Wednesday in Abuja by Mr Nkem Anyata-Lafia, Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the DG, said the assessment visit, which would last four days, began on Monday from Uganda.

According to the statement, that during the visit, the team will assess the condition of the TAC volunteers and meet with officials of Nigerian Missions in the four countries.

The team consists of the Director of Programmes in the Agency, Amb. Mohammed Mohammed, the Ag. Director, Finance and Accounts, Mr Saidu Idris, and Mrs Rahila Ayuba, Ag. Director, Monitoring and Evaluation, among others.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr Nyesom Wike, says on Tuesday, that the FCT Administration (FCTA) is open for partnership with the Republic of Ireland.

The partnership, he said, would be in the areas of agriculture, vocational education and Information and Communication Technology (ICT).

Wike disclosed this when the Irish Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr Peter Ryan, visited him in his office in Abuja.

He said that through the partnership, the FCT Administration would grow the economy of the FCT while leveraging the strong ties between Nigeria and the Republic of Ireland.

On ICT, Wike said that President Bola Tinubu-led administration would create technology jobs for the youth through his Renewed Hope Agenda.

According to him, the FCTA intends to provide opportunities for the youths in the digital economy to reduce unemployment.

“We think that we would be interested in partnering with companies in Ireland where we can build ICT hubs for the interest of the youths, to reduce the level of unemployment.

“Again, education is key for us, particularly vocational and skilled education, where our youths can acquire some skills in particular areas,” the minister said.

The minister also identified agriculture, with the available vast land in the FCT, as a very critical sector that could contribute to improving the economy of the federal capital.

He said that the FCT Administration would be very happy to collaborate with companies in Ireland to introduce technology-based agriculture in the FCT.

This, he said, could be achieved through leveraging the expertise in Ireland, adding that all partnerships would be for the mutual benefit of both Ireland and the FCT.

Responding, the Irish envoy informed Wike of his country’s willingness to connect FCTA to expert teams in Ireland for further discussions.

He explained that Ireland has a cultural hub in its largest chamber of commerce – the Dublin Smart City, where different partners and businesses work closely.

According to him, the cultural footprint of Ireland is one of the reasons foreign investors are attracted to Ireland.

He assured the minister that he would connect the FCTA and its policy makers to the consortium of experts in his country.

On vocational education, the ambassador said that the head of its largest vocational education provider would be in Abuja in the second week of December and would be at the minister’s disposal for talks.

The Ambassador also acknowledged the existing opportunities for collaboration to promote indigenous technology startups in Abuja.

“A lot of the startups in Dublin are spinouts of the big technology players like Google and Meta.

“We work closely with them as indigenous startups to create jobs for young people and as you know, a lot of these people are geography neutral.

“They just want talented young people, and they want an environment where they can flourish.

“We can see the potential for it in Abuja. Maybe there is one or two little steps we could take together to demonstrate practical things”, he added.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has inaugurated a Capital Gain Tax (CGT) Implementation Committee to boost Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) in the territory.

Mr Chinedum Kelechi, the Mandate Secretary, Economic Planning, Revenue Generation and Public Private Partnership, FCTA, inaugurated the committee in Abuja on Tuesday.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the committee would be chaired by the Executive Chairman, FCT-IRS, while the Director, Tax Operations, FCT-IRS would serve as secretary.

Other members of the committee include the Solicitor General; Director, Land Department; Director, Development Control; Director, Abuja Geographic Information System; and the Chairman of Nigerian Bar Association (NBA).

Kelechi explained that the committee became necessary following FCT Minister Nyesom Wike’s approval for the implementation of the CGT Act, Cap. CI LFN 2004.

“The Act imposes a CGT tax rate of 10 per cent on the total amount of chargeable gains accruable to any person upon disposal of his or her chargeable asset.

“Or assets in a year of assessment after deduction of the allowable expenses from the gains made on the asset’s disposal.

“This is to be remitted to the FCT Internal Revenue Service (FCT-IRS) as required by the extant law,” he said.

He added that Wike had equally approved inter-agency collaboration and synergy between the FCT-IRS and other relevant agencies to ensure smooth implementation of the CGT Act.

The mandate secretary said that the committee would conduct comprehensive awareness and education campaigns to improve citizens’ understanding.

He also said that the committee would conduct regular stakeholders’ engagement through business associations, chambers of commerce, NBA and other relevant organisations.

He added that the committee would monitor transactions across stakeholders, agencies as well as enforce the CGT implementation in accordance with extant laws.

Kelechi urged members of the committee to collaborate with the judiciary to handle cases of severe non-compliance or fraud as well as establishing a transparent dispute resolution mechanism among others.

Earlier, the acting Executive Chairman, FCT-IRS, Mr Haruna Abdullahi, said that the CGT was part of taxes that FCT-IRS was empowered by law to collect.

Abdullahi decried the situation where the collection of the CGT due to FCT was less than five per cent.

He commended Wike for bringing relevant stakeholders together to work with FCT-IRS to enhance the revenue in the territory.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

The FCT Minister of State, Dr Mariya Mahmoud, has tasked indigenous construction companies to adopt modern technologies that would transform the engineering landscape of the country.

She made the call at the 40th Anniversary of News Engineering Nigeria Limited, in Abuja on Tuesday.

Mahmoud, who was represented by Dr Jummai Ahmadu, Director, Reform Coordination and Service Improvement, FCTA, minister urged them to embrace these technologies to remain relevant in the global construction landscape.

She called on the management of the company to keep pushing the boundaries, seeking new frontiers, and embracing innovative technologies beyond what it had achieved in the last four decades.

“This momentous occasion is not only to mark four decades of dedication and hard work, but also to highlight the incredible journey of a company that has played a pivotal role in shaping the engineering landscape of the nation.

“The engineering prowess of News Engineering Nigeria Limited has pushed the boundaries of what is possible.

“The infrastructure and technology solutions it has provided, have transformed the landscape of our nation’s capital city, enabling progress and development in numerous sectors.

“As we celebrate this 40th anniversary, we must also reflect on the people behind this success,” she said.

In her remarks, the Managing Director of the company, Mrs Josephine Nwaeze, said that the anniversary was a testament of commitment to building on the vision of the founder.

Nwaeze said that the firm has expanded its reach across the engineering value chain through the years, through diversifying its expertise to meet the ever-changing needs of clients and the industry.

“The theme for the anniversary, “sustaining legacy” encapsulates the essence of our journey thus far. Over the past four decades, we have weathered challenges, embraced innovation and built a strong foundation for success,” Nwaeze said.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

The Lagos State Government through the Agro-Productivity, Processing, Enhancement and Livelihood Support (APPEALS) project has donated a blast freezer to the Lagos State Catfish Association of Nigeria (LASCAFAN), Ikorodu Chapter.

Speaking during the unveiling of the project and the introduction of frozen catfish on Tuesday in Ikorodu, Ms Abisola Olusanya, the state Commissioner for Agriculture, said the project was to promote value addition.

Olusanya noted that the introduction of the frozen catfish would address and deliver fish farmers from the crush of fish mongers who determine price without recourse to cost of production.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that a blast freezer is a specially designed blast/fast-freeze meat, fish, chicken and other food items, with an operating temperature ranging between 24 and 40°C.

The blast freezer has a capacity of half-a-ton per cycle with about eight-hours cooling and can process one ton of fish daily.

The catfish is fresh fish with no addictive and no preservative.

She said Lagos State with a population of about 25 million people require 425,009 tonnes of fish demand per annum, in line with the World Health Organisation recommendation of 17kg fish protein intake per person per annum.

The commissioner was represented by the Director of Fisheries, Mrs Daisi Osunkoya.

She said this was against the current fish production figure of about 198,706 tons per annum.

The commissioner noted that fish, a major source of protein, is low in cholesterol making it medically acceptable to young and old people.

She said the flexibility of fish farming encouraged the involvement of both older and younger people in fish farming, as a means of livelihood.

According to her, catfish farming has dominated the aquaculture industry in Lagos State and Nigeria for more than two decades because of its handiness, fast growth, and acceptance of artificial feed, among others.

“Over the years, marketing has been a major challenge to fish farmers across the country.

“The introduction of the frozen catfish will address and deliver our fish farmers from fish mongers who determines price without recourse to cost of production.

“This will give the farmers the opportunity to set good price for their product and in turn expand their production,” she said.

She added that there was awareness among people now that fish possess a collection of lipids which along with the flavour enhances amino acid.

“Fish protein has been acclaimed to be healthier for consumption than meat especially as one starts getting advanced in age, which leads to a higher demand for fish produce.

“I congratulate the beneficiaries of the project and urged them to make good use of the golden opportunity to boost fish production and fish preservation in Lagos State,” she said.

Also, Chief Abiodun Ogunleye, a former Deputy Governor of Lagos State, said projects like this would reduce the cost of importation in the country.

Ogunleye said the project would regulate price, stability, improve value and boost export opportunity.

He said the project would address post harvest losses adding that it was a great step in the right direction.

He said majority of items being imported into the country could be substituted locally, while urging people to patronise made in Nigeria fish.

“There are some people who engage in lazy aspect of economy, importing alone but I have refused to import maybe that is why I am like this.

“I believe we are wasting Nigeria’s hard earn foreign exchange on importation.

“With more projects like this, we will reduce our dependency on imported goods, we have to grow what we eat, and eat what we grow and also export,” he said.

“One in Badagry, now Ikorodu, and we will have the third in Agege soon.

“We will no longer sell our fish under pressure, we can now manage our production and market,” he said.

He said the aquaculture value chain if properly harnessed would replace fuel in terms of revenue generation for the country.

Mrs Omolara Oguntuyi, the Lagos State Coordinator, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, said the ministry would continue to support the association.

Oguntuji urged the farmers to take proper care of the project and to transfer the knowledge to their children.

“Lagos is setting the pace in fish production but I think Lagos own the fish and it is a good thing that you are doing what you are doing.

“Protein is in high shortage in Nigeria and everybody can bear me witness that even common people cannot source for protein because they are very expensive.

“What you are doing will stabilise the price of fish and also address wastage.

“If for just these two purpose, I think you have done very well,” she said.

Mr Deola Banjo, Chairman, Ikorodu North Local Council Development Area, noted that the initiative would be a game-changer for storage of agricultural produce in the council.

Banjo said the significance of a blast freezer cannot be over-emphasised as it would in no small measure impact positively on the storage and preservation of farm produce.

He said the project would lead to increased productivity and profitability for farmers.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

Some stakeholders in the judiciary sector have underscored the need to decongest the correctional centres in the country, using access to justice projects.

They expressed the concern on Tuesday in Abuja at the “Access to Justice parley and joint inauguration of the Court Administration and Case Management, and Reforming Pre-Trail Detention in Nigeria phase II.

Prof. Akinseye George, President, Centre for Social–Studies, said that number one problem of criminal justice system in Nigeria was delay.

George said that the major reason for the delay was lack of effective pre-trail case management.

“Effective pre-trail case management would create a situation where the judge, the prosecutor, the witnesses and all the parties including the complaint would have agreed on the timetable for the trail before the trail begins.

“But in Nigeria we don’t conduct effective pre-trail case management even though the law provides for it.

“So it is important that all the heads of court, Attorneys General must begin to insist that courts trying criminal cases must conduct pre-trail case management.

“So what the Public and Private Development Centre (PPDC) is doing in collaboration with the U.S. Embassy is to begin to build capacity of Nigerian legal system to conduct effective pre-trail case management before trials commence.

He said that without pre-trail, every effort to fast track justice would not be effective, and it does not augur well for democracy.

He, therefore, called on all the stakeholders to work together to improve access to justice because without effective access to justice democracy would be meaningless.

The Chief Executive Officer, PPDC, Mr Jubril Shittu said that over 70 per cent of Nigerian inmates population were on awaiting trial.

He explained that Access to Justice projects was aimed at ensuring that average individual should have the assurance that justice should not delayed or denied.

“Our aim is also aimed that individual have a fair chance at justice and that justice is transparent.

“We want to see that those on awaiting trail, over 70,000 in the correctional facilities across the country, we want to see the numbers reduced.

“We don’t want to be building more correctional facilities. We also want to achieve a reduction in the number of correctional facilities,” Shittu said.

According to him, PPDC was established 20 years and its aim is to see that citizens benefits from good governance, from effective institutions and from accountable and transparent institutions.

Similarly, the Board Chairman, PPDC, Mr Chibuzo Ekwekwuo, said the purpose of the programme was to bring actors together to examine the access to justice reform process in the country.

On his part, the Controller-General, Nigerian Correctional Service, Haliru Nababa, commended the leadership of PPDC, saying that the service was partnering with the Centre to improve on it performance.

“PPDC is partnering with the Nigerian Correctional Service in the development and deployment of Corrections Information Management System (CIMS), and more facilities are being integrated across the states.

“This initiative will benefit indigent persons in our custody and enhance our performance in case management,” Nababa said.

The controller-general was represented by Gimba Dumbulwa, Assistant Controller, Custody, of the Service.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the programme was organised by the Public and Private Development Centre (PPDC) in collaboration with the U.S. government.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

Dr Alim Abubakre, Nigerian born founder of TEXEM UK, has praised Director – General of the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS), Prof. Abubakar Sulaiman for winning 2023 Integrity and Public Servant of the Year Merit Award.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the award will be formally presented to Sulaiman by President Tinubu in December.

According to Abubakre, the new feat by Sulaiman is a recognition and not just a celebration of his past achievements but a call to action for even greater milestones in the future.

“We trust that Professor Sulaiman will continue to light the path to a brighter Nigeria and inspire others to aspire to greatness and leave enduring legacies.

“Congratulations to Professor Abubakar Sulaiman, a beacon of transformative leadership and a true patriot, for this well-deserved honour.

“His relentless commitment to good governance, strategic leadership, and inclusive sustainable development should serve as an inspiration not only to Nigeria but to African leaders across the continent,” Abubakre stated.

The statement from TEXEM founder affirms that Sulaiman has a distinguished pedigree and unwavering commitment to upholding good governance in Nigeria.

“This accolade is not just an affirmation of his illustrious career but also a testament to his remarkable contributions to Nigeria’s legislative and democratic development.

“Sulaiman’s journey to this remarkable achievement is marked by a legacy of excellence and a deep-rooted commitment to the principles of good governance.

“His tenure as the Director General of the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS) has been nothing short of transformative,” the statement asserted.

It says that under his visionary leadership, he has steered NILDS towards unparalleled innovations in Nigeria’s legislative landscape, signaling a steadfast commitment to advancing the nation’s governance and strategic leadership.

The statement added that Sulaiman’s remarkable contributions to Nigeria’s legislative landscape have paved the way for unparalleled innovations in the Nigerian legislative arm of government, signifying a commitment to advancing the nation’s governance and strategic leadership.

“He has consistently demonstrated his integrity as a public servant, never hesitating to share his opinions and speak out against wrongdoing, a quality that truly sets him apart.

“The honour bestowed upon Sulaiman is the result of a rigorous and comprehensive selection process, spanning three months, where he emerged as the clear choice among a distinguished panel of voters representing five strategic public institutions in Nigeria within the PCI – Technical Advisory Committee.

“This accolade is not just a recognition of individual brilliance, but a reflection of the broad-based support and endorsement he enjoys from the highest echelons of power in Nigeria, including the presidency,” the statement explained.

The forthcoming award ceremony, scheduled to take place at the prestigious State House Conference Centre in Abuja in early December, is a momentous occasion that coincides with the Nigerian Regulators Conference and Retreat.

It is an event of paramount significance where the President is expected to personally present plaques and medals to deserving recipients, including Sulaiman.

This underscores the magnitude and significance of the award and the respect Sulaiman commands in the highest circles of leadership in Nigeria.

Sulaiman’s dedication to innovation and his unwavering commitment to inclusive sustainable national development have been evident throughout his distinguished career.

He served as the Minister of National Planning from July 2014 to May 2015 and was subsequently appointed as the Director General of NILDS in 2019, a role he was reappointed to in April 2023.

His tenure has consistently exemplified his vision for a brighter Nigeria and his dedication to transformative leadership.

This award, endorsed by esteemed national organizations, serves as a testament to Sulaiman’s unwavering resolve to drive positive change, elevate strategic leadership, and inspire good governance in the Nigerian legislative arm of government.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria