"Teachers To Earn Higher Salaries Than Other Workers" - Federal Government

The Education Minister, Adamu Adamu dropped the hint yesterday while inaugurating the Governing Councils of 21 Federal Colleges of Education in Abuja.

Teachers may soon earn higher salaries than other workers in the country. The Education Minister, Adamu Adamu dropped the hint yesterday while inaugurating the Governing Councils of 21 Federal Colleges of Education in Abuja.

He said the teaching profession had ceased to be an “all-comers affairs.” Represented by the Minister of State for Education, Prof. Anthony Gozie Anwukah, he said government had understudied the Malaysian educational system and decided to take a critical look at teaching and teacher education.

He, however, sounded a note of warning that teachers across all levels must register with the Teachers’ Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) before the end of this year or risk being sent out of the system.

The minister noted that Malaysia in the quest for greatness had reorganised its educational sector for effective development of human resources to take it to the present position.

He explained that their teachers were paid higher than other workers and that the Federal Government felt it was expedient to do the same in the country.

The minister also explained that Malaysians bought palm seedlings from Nigeria at the rate of N10 each, some years ago, adding that today, its economy is completely dependent on palm trees, palm fruits and palm oil.

He said: “What they did was to bring down the whole system and resuscitated the education sector. Their planning was geared towards the development of human resources. In Malaysia, a top percentage of those who scored the highest in their equivalent of our JAMB compete to be teachers.

“If you are a teacher in Malaysia, you are ranked higher than any other worker in the country. This is why you would find people with PhDs teaching in primary schools. We have made that recommendation and we are going to implement it in Nigeria,” he said.

Federal Government Bars Chibok Girls From Sharing Experiences With Parents

A relative of one of the rescued Chibok girls, Peter Joseph, says the Federal Government has barred the girls from telling their parents or relatives about their experiences in Boko Haram captivity.

Joseph said this during a programme on Al Jazeera titled, “The Stream.”

He said his niece was one of the 21 schoolgirls rescued in October 2016 while his sister is still in Boko Haram captivity.

Joseph said over six months since their rescue, the schoolgirls had not been united with their families.

He said in December last year, the girls were allowed to return to Chibok but were kept in a government facility where their parents visited them. He said the girls were not allowed to go to their parents’ homes.

Joseph said, “I think there is something that the Federal Government does not want us to know and that is why they are keeping them away. Even when they [the schoolgirls] travelled to Chibok, they were not allowed to go to their houses.

“They were kept in government facilities in Chibok and anyone who visited them was made to sign a register, state the village where they came from, whom they wanted to see and then a time limit was given, after which you were asked to leave and there were certain things that you were not allowed to ask the girls.

“You can’t ask them about their experiences in Sambisa Forest. I mean, we don’t get it. Even now that 82 girls have been rescued, what has the government done about them? Up till today, the families have not met the girls.”

Joseph berated the Minister of Women Affairs, Aisha Alhassan, for saying that the girls were free to leave the government facilities anytime they wanted.

He said, “The Women Affairs minister is not saying the truth about this. What does she mean by the girls can leave at anytime when they don’t even allow family members or people that are concerned about them to come close to them?

“I wish she was here so that I would be able to ask her some questions personally because this thing has been bothering us the members of the family. The fact still remains that the Nigerian government needs to be open to the family members; the government needs to be open to everyone that is concerned.

“We don’t get it. I mean, are you trying to hide something? Is there something they don’t want us to hear from the girls? What are they hiding from us?”

Joseph said it seemed the girls had been transferred from Boko Haram captivity to government captivity.

He said, “Nobody is allowed to see them. So, it’s like another imprisonment, but this one has to do with the government.”

However, a top government official told our correspondent that the girls were being kept away from their families and friends for security reasons.

The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak with the media, said the girls were being prevented to speak because investigations were ongoing.

He said, “We are preventing the girls from saying too much because we don’t want them to say anything about their location that could tip-off the terrorists. We are still negotiating the release of 113 girls and any sensitive information that is released could jeopardise negotiations or investigations.”

All efforts to get Alhassan proved abortive as her mobile phone was switched off as of the time of filing this report.

President Buhari's Easter Message To Nigerians

2017 EASTER MESSAGE TO THE NATION FROM PRESIDENT MUHAMMADU BUHARI

I congratulate our Christian brothers and sisters on the celebration of this year’s Easter.

I rejoice with you on this historic occasion signifying the triumph of good over evil, light over darkness, redemption over condemnation, and hope over despair.

The commemoration of this special season in Christianity, is always preceded by fasting, piety, humility, penance and prayers of intercession in the build up to the death of Jesus Christ on Good Friday, an event which reunited man with his Creator.

The message of Easter is filled with themes of love, faith, sacrifice, dedication, commitment, fulfilment of prophecy, hope, expectation and victory, as espoused in the Scriptures and the teachings and lifestyle of Jesus Christ.

As we celebrate yet another Easter, I urge all Nigerians to live peacefully with one another and do their utmost to make Nigeria a beautiful place to reside.

In the almost two years of this administration, we have worked hard to meet the expectations of Nigerians by improving security, especially in the North-East, sustaining the campaign against corruption and have taken steps to revitalize the economy.

We are determined as never before to continue with the fight against terrorism and insurgency; sustain the peace in the Niger Delta through engagements with stakeholders; and restore peace and stability in other parts of the country.

It is in our collective interest to live in peace because without peace, no meaningful and sustainable development can take place. Lack of peace in one part affects in one way or the other, all parts of the country. Our people must rediscover the values of peaceful co-existence, social justice, religious tolerance, dignity of labour and patriotism.

I enjoin all Nigerians to keep faith in the determination and ability of this administration to change the Nigerian story for the good of all.

I wish all Nigerians happy Easter celebrations.

MUHAMMADU BUHARI

April 15, 2017

FG Increases Saraki's Charges From 16 To 18, Case Adjourned To February 23

The Nigerian government has applied for an amendment of the 16 count criminal charge leveled against Senate president, Bukola Saraki, before the Code of Conduct Tribunal, CCT, in Abuja on Wednesday.

The CCT panel permitted Saraki to enter his plea to the fresh charge by 1:30pm.

Dr. Saraki was docked before the CCT on September 22, 2015, on a 13-count charge and latter re-arraigned on April 28, 2016, on an amended 16-count corruption charge.

FG alleged that he made false/anticipatory declaration of assets, operated foreign accounts while in office as Kwara State governor between 2003 and 2011, as well as collected governorship salary four years after his tenure had elapsed. FG had earlier called two witnesses that testified against the defendant before the tribunal.

At the resumed hearing of the case on Wednesday, Justice Umar stood-down the proceeding to record Saraki’s fresh plea. The development came shortly after the third prosecution witness, Pw-3, Mr. Samuel Madujemu narrated how FG uncovered discrepancies in assets the defendant declared to the Code of Conduct Bureau, CCB.

The witness is the Chief Admin Officer at the CCB.

He was the head of investigation Division under the Department of Intelligence, Investigation and Monitoring, that joined the EFCC to probe Saraki’s assets.

Madujemu told the tribunal that Saraki made his first assets declaration on September 16, 2003, upon his assumption of office. He told the tribunal that a joint investigative team involving the CCB, Federal Ministry of Justice and the EFCC, discovered that Saraki falsely declared his assets.

He said: ” After we discovered that there were some discrepancies, we commenced further investigations into the matter. One of the discrepancies we discovered had to do with false declaration and none declaration of some assets and some liabilities.”

The witness said he was not aware that the CCB initially verified Saraki’s assets before EFCC tendered preliminary report that ignited the joint investigation. He told the tribunal that Saraki under-declared some assets he acquired in 2006. For instance, he told the tribunal that Saraki declared two properties he bought in Lagos and left out two others.

But reading from one of the assets declaration forms marked as exhibit-3, the witness said: “My lord what I see here is No17a and 17b Mc Donald Street Ikoyi which the defendant acquired with a bank loan in 2006. “No 15a and 15b Mc Donald Ikoyi which he also acquired in 2006 was not included in the assets he declared.”

Saraki allegedly acquired the properties with N265m. The witness was at the verge of revealing more alleged discrepancies in assets the Senate President declared, when head of the defence team, Chief Kanu Agabi, SAN, drew attention of the tribunal to the amended charge against his client. “My lord I think we should at this juncture bring to your notice the fact that we were served with an amended charge this morning.

“You cannot proceed further in th matter until the defendant pleads to that amended charge. “My lord the defendant is psychologically affected by this amended charge and is desirous to enter his plea. “At this stage the defendant must plead to it before we proceed further on this matter. If it is not serious then the prosecution should withdraw it,” Agabi submitted.

Responding, the prosecution counsel, Mr. Rotimi Jacobs (SAN) said he did not raise the issue so as not to disrupt proceeding of the day. “My lord amendment can be done anytime even after their own defence, before judgment is delivered. “Moreover we are not bringing anything new. The new charge is just the old wine in a new bottle”, Jacobs argued. Though the tribunal panel observed that they were yet to receive a copy of the amended charge, Justice Umar said he was willing to stand-down the matter for one hour.

“Chief Agabi remember that Rotimi is your son”, the tribunal Chairman, Justice Umar jokingly remarked. “No my lord, Rotimi is now a bad son”, Agabi responded. Saraki will now face an amended 18-count charge.

President Muhammadu Buhari Critics Are Impatient, Selfish – Govr Bello Masari

Katsina State governor, Aminu Bello Masari, has said Nigerians are not in support of the people trying to sabotage President Muhammadu Buhari’s strategies to correct the wrongs committed by the previous administration in the country.

Masari made the comment while speaking at the All Progressives Congress (APC) Daura Senatorial Zone mega rally held at Dutsi town to receive about 11, 000 supporters of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and other political parties who defected to APC.

He expressed dismay that the impatience or selfish interest of some Nigerians would not allow them to appreciate efforts of the Buhari administration.

The governor pointed out that the country under the watch of the President had overcome insurgency and insecurity, adding that things have started changing for the better as part of the change promised the APC government.

He assured those who defected to APC that both federal and the state government would continue to promote the well being of all citizenry and guarantee fairness and equity.

In its remarks, the Katsina caucus in the National Assembly promised to rally behind the President and the governor to improve on the socio-economic well being of all.

The caucus attributed the increasing popularity and support the party had been enjoying in the state and across the country to the good leadership being provided by the two leaders.

Earlier, in welcome address, the Daura Zonal Vice Chairman of the party, Alhaji Mohammed Usman, stressed that the largest rally of APC faithful in recent times marked a milestone in the history of APC in the state.

According to him, the presence of all members of the National Assembly from the state and other elected politicians among other stakeholders in the party at the rally had shown that APC remained a strong and united party.

Buhari Extends His Sick Leave by Unspecified Number of Days

BREAKING:@NGRPresident @MBuhari has extended his sick leave by an unspecified number of days according to his aides

Gatehouse Of Vice President Costs N250m - Dino Melaye

The Chairman, Senate Committee of the Federal Capital Territory, Senator Dino Melaye, on Thursday said the lawmakers could call for a review of the contract awarded for the construction of the official residence of the vice president.

Professor Yemi Osinbajo is the current Vice President.

According to Melaye, the gatehouse of the three-bedroomed apartment will cost N250m.

He also described the cost of the official residence being constructed for the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives as inflated.

The senator made the revelations at a press briefing in Abuja.

Details later.

Federal Government To Prosecute Rumour Mongers On President Buhari’s Health

The Federal Government says the full wrath of the law will be brought to bear on the authors of subversive messages being circulated on the health of President Muhammadu Buhari.

The government said this in a statement issued on Wednesday in Abuja by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.

“The source/sources of the fabricated messages are already being investigated and the authors should prepare to face the consequences of their actions,’’ the minister said.

According to Mohammed, the President is hale and hearty and there is no iota of truth in the subversive messages being circulated on his health.

He noted that there was no truth in the messages on the president’s health and the purported emergency meetings of state governors in Abuja or anywhere.

The minister urged Nigerians to disregard the messages being circulated via text messages and the social media, saying the fabricated messages were being orchestrated by those who felt threatened by the emerging order.

Mohammed noted that the naysayers had also resorted to the use of ethnicity and religion as tools to divide Nigerians, over-heat the polity, and cause panic among the citizenry.

“While opposition and criticism are all part of democracy, the crafting and circulation of subversive materials and scare-mongering are not.

“The emerging trend of resorting to destabilisation and scare-mongering is not unexpected, considering this government’s clamp-down on the corrupt elements in the society.’’

The minister said the scare mongering was because government had blocked all financial leaks, enthroned probity and transparency and derailed the gravy train of the looters of public treasury.

Mohammed said government would neither stifle press freedom nor abridge the citizens’ right to express themselves freely through constructive criticism or protests.

He, however, warned that “the security agencies will neither allow any resort to violence nor a willful subversion of the state for whatever reason’’.

FG Releases N375m To Feed 700,000 Pupils In Five States

The Federal Government says it has so far released over N375m toward the implementation of its school feeding programme in five states, this year.

The Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, Mr. Laolu Akande, made this known in a statement on Sunday in Abuja.

Akande said that the release of the amount was meant to feed almost 700,000 primary school pupils in the five states.

According to him, all states of the federation, except two, are now being processed for the payment of N30, 000 monthly stipends to 200,000 graduates, the N-Power beneficiaries.

Akande, who was giving update on the Federal Government’s Social Investment Programmes, noted that the programmes were proceeding at different stages of implementation.

He revealed that the government, last week, released money for the smooth implementation of the Homegrown School Feeding Programme in Anambra, Ogun, Oyo, Osun and Ebonyi, to cover the feeding for 10 school days.

“The sum of about N375, 434, 870 has just been released and paid to 7,909 cooks in those states for the feeding of a total of 677, 476 primary school pupils.’’

According to him, Ogun got a total of N119, 648, 900 paid to 1,381 cooks to feed 170, 927 pupils while Ebonyi got N115, 218, 600 paid to 1,466 cooks to feed 164, 598 pupils.

The presidential aide said that Anambra got N67.5m paid to 937 cooks to feed 96,489 pupils; Oyo state got N72.2m paid to 1,437 cooks to feed 103, 269 pupils, and Osun got N867,370 paid to 2,688 to feed 142, 193 pupils.

He said that all monies were paid directly to the cooks and covered 10 days of school.

Akande further disclosed that Zamfara and Enugu States would soon be paid N188.7m and N67.2m, respectively, later in the week.

“In Zamfara, the sum would be paid to 2,738 cooks to feed 269, 665 pupils, and in Enugu, the sum would be paid to 1,128 cooks to feed 96, 064 pupils.

“By then, over N631m would have been released so far in 2017 for school feeding in seven states, paid to 11,775 cooks and meant to feed over one million primary school pupils,’’ he added.

On N-Power, Akande stated that the process of payment of verified graduates, who were beneficiaries, had reached different stages of progress in the affected states.

He said that “more and more of such beneficiaries are posting their glad experiences of receiving alerts on the social media’’.

He maintained that the payment of the December, 2016, stipends which had gone across the country would be completed in all states except two that did not meet the extended deadline for the verification process for payment.

Akande disclosed that the processing of January, 2017 stipends were also at advanced stages.

He urged the beneficiaries with issues to remain patient as their cases were being looked into.

Akande said the payment of the unemployed graduates, which had created a huge buzz across the country, especially on the social media, was being done in batches.

Federal Government Rules Out Electricity Tariff For The Main Time (Details)

The Federal Government has said that it will not approve a fresh electricity tariff hike at least for now, stating that it is still meeting with stakeholders in the country’s electricity sector, including the World Bank to provide some level of interventions to the market.

Speaking on Monday in a Channels Television Talk Show, Sunrise Daily, which was monitored in Abuja, the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, said the government was meeting with the World Bank to find solutions to the financial challenges of the power sector.

Fashola by this, confirmed a THISDAY report in December 2016 that the government and the World Bank had initiated efforts to bail the country’s power sector from the existing liquidity challenges threatening its survival.

Also, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) is expected to, this month, announce new cost-reflective electricity rates to reflect current operational indices in the industry.

Statutorily, NERC undertakes periodic reviews of the tariff to factor in changes in operational indices like foreign exchange and inflation rates, price of gas for power, as well as changes in generation capacities.

Fashola, however, said that if the government’s deliberations with the World Bank on the financial challenges of the market end well, Nigerians would be protected from a possible electricity price hike.

He said: “Government still has to deal with how to stabilise the value of the naira to the dollar, and again that will be impacted by how much money we get from oil production, which is still our major foreign income earner. We have used our leverage in OPEC to get OPEC to agree to a production cut, which heralded a price rise but can we as a protagonist take advantage of this by stopping to fight?

“People must be clear that if government accepts the recommendations that we will make to intervene, it is not to give the Discos a golden parachute, but first to protect citizens from price hike in terms of power for now and also to keep the subsectors so that they don’t lose their businesses.”

Fashola provided an insight to the deliberations with the World Bank, saying: “You would have heard that there are liquidity issues in the power sector that came from the way the privatisation itself was structured, essentially through bank loans. Most of the people who bought them had very little if any skin in the game in terms of their own private equity.”

He said technically, the banks owned the power assets, explaining that that was part of the problems of the Discos because of their debt burden, which had made it difficult for them to get more money to expand their distribution assets, their transformers and to get meters.

The minister explained: “Now all of that underperformance is not necessarily only their faults, it is also the way the economy has played out. Assets they bought and loans they took at N197 to a dollar has certainly lost value. We had a tariff increase to cushion that effect but all of that was almost wiped out by the depreciation in the naira to the dollar.

“Gas as a component of power production is indexed in dollars but the collection is in naira, so the bills that you could pay if you need only N200 to pay, you now need N400 to pay and you can’t increase the tariff to deal with that and those are the liquidity gaps.”

He explained further: “What we have seen in many parts of the world where these things have taken place, [is that] there have been a transitional funding support and when we recommended it or proposed it to the World Bank, they looked in their books and saw very correlative historical precedents that government still needs to intervene but not necessarily by giving money to the Discos and this is not a concluded policy, but perhaps in a way in helping them manage their debts with certain conditions either in governance, diminution of shares, requiring them to recapitalise or take some technical expertise.”

Fashola also said that the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) had increased its electricity wheeling capacity to 7200 megawatts (MW), claiming that the transmission network was no longer the weakest link in the sector as often stated by stakeholders.

According to him: “The generalisation about the grid not been able to carry what we generate is really an inaccurate reflection of realities. We have expanded the grid; additional projects are going on, and the Kudenda substation in Kaduna is part of the grid expansion.”

Federal Government SetTo Establish Aviation University In Nigeria (Details)

Nigeria is targeting the opportunity to join the list of countries producing air crafts as the President Muhammadu Buhari administration is set to establish an Aviation University.

The Nation reports that Hadi Sirika who is the minister of aviation confirmed this plan when he toured the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT) in Zaria, Kaduna State on Saturday, January 7.

He said: “The aviation university will be different from NCAT; the university will be fully into research and development and production of higher level management manpower need of the industry.

“The university will go into deep research, with the hope that in the near future, we will be able to manufacture aircraft components, until when we are able to produce the aircraft itself.

Since the technology is available around the world, is no longer a hindrance, it is our own ability and capability to pursue it.”

The minister of aviation noted that Brazil and India have joined aircraft producing countries and that Nigeria can do same too.

He said: “If such countries could do it, why not Nigeria’’.

“The technology is known, we are not reinventing it; we just put our act together in doing it. So, the university will cater for that, while NCAT will continue to provide the services in the institute.”

Sirika said the decentralisation of NCAT by the previous administration would make it difficult for the college to do what it was established to do.

He said: “Remember, it was the UNDP that partnered with International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and Nigerian government to produce this institution.

“And it is one of its kind, so why are going to reduce its capacity and capability?. Our own task is to improve, enhance and upgrade the capacity and ability of the college to do more.

“But if somebody feels that he has funds to go and establish a facility somewhere to do some kind of training, of course, we will support him.”

Capt. Samuel Caulcrick who is the rector of the college identified funding and obsolete facilities as some of the bane to the development of the institution.