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Buhari writes Senate to confirm 12 nominees for governing board of North-East Development Commission

Published

12 months ago

May 6, 2023

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has asked the Senate to confirm the appointment of 12 nominees as members of the Governing Board of the North East Development Commission (NEDC).

The President’s request is contained in a letter addressed to Senate President Ahmed Lawan dated May 3, 2023.

‘‘In accordance with the provision of Part 1, section 2(5)(b) of the North East Development Commission Establishment Act, 2017, I am pleased to present for confirmation by the Senate, the appointment of twelve (12) nominees as tabulated below, in the Governing Board of the North East Development Commission.

‘‘The Senate is invited to note that the tenure of the current Governing Board of the North East Development Commission will end on 7th May, 2023.’’

The nominees include: Barr. Bashir Bukar Baale, Chairman, (North East, Yobe), Suwaiba Idris Baba, Executive Director, Humanitarian Affairs, (North East, Taraba), Musa Umar Yashi, Executive Director, Administration and Finance, (North East, Bauchi), Dr Ismaila Nuhu Maksha, Executive Director, Operations (North East, Adamawa) and Umar Abubakar Hashidu, MD/CEO, (North East, Gombe).

Others are Grema Ali, member, (North East, Borno), Onyeka Gospel-Tony, member, (South East), Hon. Mrs Hailmary Ogolo Aipoh, member, (South-South), Air Commodore Babatunde Akanbi (rtd), member, (South West), Mustapha Ahmed Ibrahim, member, (North West), Hadiza Maina, member, (North Central) and a representative from the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning.

The President expressed hope that his request ‘‘will receive the usual expeditious consideration and confirmation of the Senate.’’

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Plateau varsity suspends exams over killing of student

Published

3 mins ago

April 19, 2024

NewsDirect

The Management of the Plateau University, Bokkos, has suspended ongoing examinations in the institution over the killing of a 200 level student .

Mr Yakubu Ayuba, the Registrar of the institution disclosed this in a statement on Friday in Jos.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that gunmen had on Thursday night attacked Chikam, a neighbouring community to the university ,killing the student, identified as Dading Jordan.

Ayuba said that the university had also declared a two-day mourning in honour of the slain student.

”The Vice-Chancellor and the entire management convey their condolences to the family of the deceased student, the student body and the university community.

”In view of this sad development, management has declared a two-day mourning, from Friday, April 19 ,to Saturday, April 20.

”Accordingly, all the examinations earlier scheduled for Friday and Saturday are hereby suspended

”While we call on our students to remain calm and law abiding, we wish to urge the security agencies to beef up security around the university in order to secure staff and students”,he said.

NAN reports that the Gov. Caleb Mutfwang had condemned the attack ,calling on residents to remain calm.

He said that government and security agencies were doing everything to bring the perpetrators of the attack to justice.

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Customs seizes N126.2m smuggled goods in Kebbi

Published

4 mins ago

April 19, 2024

NewsDirect

The Nigeria Customs Service (NSC), Kebbi Area Command, says it has seized smuggled goods worth N126.2 million within two months in its intensified fight against smuggling in the state.

The Customs Area Comptroller, Mr Iheanacho Ernest-Ojike, made this known on Friday while briefing newsmen on the command’s activities for March and April in Birnin Kebbi.

He said that the command had intensified the fight against smuggling to curb its menace by engaging in intense patrols throughout the nooks and crannies, barely two months after the comptroler was posted to the state.

“Our operations so far have yielded positive outcome leading to several seizures of items within the period under review.

“We have seized 212 bags of foreign parboiled rice of 50Kg each, and 28 bags of 25Kg each; 200 bales of used secondhand clothing (Jumbo size) and 50 bales of normal size,” he said.

Others according to him, are; 10,025 litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), 39 lumps of Indian Hemp (Cannabis Sativa) and 78 rolls of Diclofenac Sodium.

“300 wraps of diazepam tablets 5mg each, 57 packs of sex enhancement drug (Black Diamond) and 150 Expired Powdered Milk, among others.

“The combined Duty Paid Value (DPV) of the seized items is N126.2 million.

“The PMS value is not included in the DPV because it is given at our revenue generation section as receipts from auction sales,” Ernest-Ojike said.

He also said the command’s achievements was as a result of the resilience and courageous effort of the operations teams, intelligence unit, Joint Border Patrol Team (JBPT) and collaboration with sister agencies.

According to the controller, the Indian hemp will be handed over to National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), while the Diazapem tablets will be given to NAFDAC as the appropriate agencies to attend to the respective substances.

He added that just recently, the Federal Government had authorised the re-opening of Kamba border as the only import/export outlet for the state.

“Even with this challenge, the command manages to generate the sum of N7.2 million in the two months under review, which is 125 per cent increase as compared to the two previous months.

”The 10,025 litres of seized PMS, which is valued at N2 million, is expected to also increase the revenue when auctioned to the public,” Ernest-Ojike said.

On trade facilitation, he said that the command had been engaging stakeholders on the need for legitimate trade.

“We also collaborate with relevant sister agencies to also enhance our operations in terms of security and intelligence to improve legitimate cross-border trade with our neighbours.

“It is notable to mention that exportation of grains are still restricted, and we are here to ensure they do not leave the shores of this country as it has become imperative to secure our locally produced grains.

“We need to prevent our country from plunging into food crisis,” Ernest-Ojike said.

The comptroller appreciated all well-meaning citizens who helped the command with useful information to nip smuggling in the bud.

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ECOWAS allocates $25m in 2024 to fight terrorism in Nigeria, others

Published

2 hours ago

April 19, 2024

NewsDirect

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) says it allocated 25 million dollars in 2024 to fight terrorism in Nigeria, Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso.

Prof. Fatou Sarr, ECOWAS Commissioner, Human Development and Social Affairs, disclosed this during a news conference at the commission’s headquarters, on Friday in Abuja.

Sarr said that four million dollars of the amount was dedicated to humanitarian action to curb the devastating consequences of terrorism, and mitigate the fallout of natural disasters in the sub-region.

She noted that humanitarian actions were critical because of the multiple crises and displacements within the community, adding that such actions never stop even where the target country is under sanctions.

“In 2024, ECOWAS has released 9 million dollars for internally displaced people, refugees, asylum seekers, as well as for the communities that welcome them (i.e all 15 countries).

“ECOWAS has allocated one million dollars for stabilization in Nigeria, that is, victims of terrorism, displaced people, injured people, rehabilitation and strengthening community resilience.

“Out of a fund of 25 million dollars intended for the fight against terrorism in Nigeria, Burkina, Mali and Niger, ECOWAS has reserved 4 million dollars for humanitarian actions,” she said.

The commissioner said that in 2023 alone, ECOWAS provided support of over 12. 6 million dollars to four million out of the 8.5 million victims of violent conflicts and disasters across West Africa.

She said that the Republic of Guinea, while under sanctions in January, received 600,000 dollars, of which 100,000 was allocated to fire disaster, and 499,390 dollars for floods in the country.

Sarr said the commission also carried out programmes for the development and promotion of young people within the subregion under three key intervention areas, namely, volunteerism, sports and economic integration.

“Since 2014, ECOWAS has posted 217 volunteers to the following countries: Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Nigeria, Burkina, Bénin.

“ECOWAS works to promote the spirit of volunteerism among young people to give them opportunity for professional development, enhance their civic engagement and foster conscience for community service,” she said.

Sarr identified sports as a crucial integration factor used by the ECOWAS to encourage the youths from all member countries and create in them a feeling oneness and belonging.

“ECOWAS also supports sports federations with 100,000 dollars each per year.

“In 2023, ECOWAS initiated cooperation with the Peoples Republic of China to support young people. Thus, 12 entrepreneurship projects for young people in the subregion received an award out of a total of 100 worldwide.

“For the ECOWAS Gender Centre, 1,720 excellence scholarships were distributed from 2010 to 2022 to young girls from disadvantaged families,” the commissioner said.

Sarr announced that an ECOWAS youth conference would hold from May 2024 to appraise the current situation, identify the changes and ruptures, which have led to some malaise in the subregion.