News
We met over 4.7m pupils sitting on bare floor in Kano — Gov. Yusuf
…Puts current figure of out-of-school children at 989,234
Kano State Governor, Engr. Abba Kabir Yusuf, on Saturday, revealed that his administration met no fewer than 4.7 million pupils sitting on bare floors in primary schools across the state upon assumption of office, May 29, 2023.
Governor Yusuf made the revelation during the occasion of the Declaration of State of Emergency on Education in Kano state held at the Open Arena, Kano Government House.
He said the state government was declaring the State-of-Emergency on education with the full support of the National Union of Teachers (NUT).
Governor Yusuf stated that the lack of instructional materials further compounded the problem, “leaving our teachers and students to struggle with outdated and insufficient resources.”
“Above 4.7 million pupils are sitting on bare floors to take lessons while about 400 schools have only one teacher for all class subjects and all pupils.
“Rather, than building more classrooms and providing basic furniture in the schools, as well as hiring more teachers, the administration we took over from chose to butcher the land belonging to those schools, in some places demolishing classrooms to create space for shops.
“Those schools that they could not sell, they closed them down and got them vandalised. The encroachment of public school lands and the conversion of these vital institutions into private business premises is an affront to our communal values and a direct assault on our commitment to public education.
“This reckless appropriation of educational spaces for commercial use is unacceptable and must be stopped immediately.”
According to him, “Today, I stand before you with a profound sense of duty, compelled by the pressing need to address the precarious state of our education sector.
“As your elected Governor, entrusted with the solemn responsibility of steering our state towards prosperity and progress, I cannot ignore the glaring reality that confronts us in the realm of education.
“And with education being our number one priority, and believing that education is not only a public good, but is also the greatest asset that any people can bequeath to its upcoming generation because no people can grow beyond the quality and standard of their education system, we must, therefore take radical but practical measures to reposition education provisioning in our State.”
He also bemoaned the proliferation of out-of-school children in the state, but promised that his administration has taken adequate steps to confront the menace.
“It is with a heavy heart that I bring forth this discourse, as the challenges we face in the education sector are as formidable as they are alarming, and the urgency with which we must act is undeniable.
“Our educational landscape, once a beacon of hope and opportunity for our youths, and an example for other states to copy, now stands shrouded in the shadows of unacceptable neglect and decay.
“Our beloved State is witnessing an alarming proliferation of out-of-school children, with the current figure standing at 989,234 children,” he added.
Governor Yusuf spoke in the presence of the National Leader of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), Senator Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso; and the chairman of the occasion, former Governor of Cross River state, Donald Duke, among other dignitaries.
The Nigerian Railway Corporation has announced the suspension of services between Delta and Kogi due to the unsatisfactory nature of the track conditions from Ujevwu in Delta State to Itakpe in Kogi State.
This was disclosed in a notice titled “Public Announcement” which was sent to customers, indicating that the agency plans to resume operations on Monday, July 8, 2024.
The suspension, effective from Friday, was attributed to an obstruction on the track.
“This is to officially notify our esteemed passengers that the Warri-Itakpe Train will not run today Friday, 5th July 2024 due to the obstruction we have on our track.
“We shall resume our normal train services on Monday 8th July 2024. Passengers who already booked their tickets online will be refunded.
“All inconveniences are highly regretted. Thank you,” the statement added.
Ogun State Head of Service, Mr. Kehinde Onasanya has said that the State is leading other states of the Federation in Ease of Doing Business, owing to the provision of requisite infrastructural facilities through the Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects in the State.
Onasanya made this known while delivering a keynote address at the launch of a book titled “Practical Guide to Public Private Partnership Arrangement in Nigeria” authored by Pastor Adebisi Sogunle and held at the Waterfalls Events Centre, Ikeja, Lagos.
According to him, since the State passed the PPP law in 2019, the initiative has facilitated projects with road networks rehabilitated and expanded as well as reconstruction of the Ijebu-Ode-Epe Expressway among others.
He explained that the collaborative agreement between the public and private sectors was predicated on the strengths of both sectors to achieve outcomes that neither could effectively accomplish alone.
“Under the visionary leadership of His Excellency, Prince Dapo Abiodun, Ogun State has harnessed the potential of PPP to drive significant developments and give Ogun State focused and qualitative governance and as well create the necessary enabling environment for a public private sector partnership.
“This is fundamental to the creation of an enduring economic development and individual prosperity of the people of Ogun. Let me, therefore, highlight some of the notable projects of the State Government and their impacts through PPP:
“The Ogun State Agro Cargo Airport: Developed in partnership with the private sector, the Agro Cargo Airport is designed to facilitate the export of agricultural products, thereby boosting the agro-industrial sector.
ii.Ogun State Housing Development Projects: Several housing projects, including the Prince Court Estate, have been developed through PPP arrangements to address the housing deficit.
iii.Ogun State Energy Generation Projects: Lisabi Mini Power was developed in partnership with the private sector to generate 4.5mw Power for transmission and distribution within the State to Government core areas.
“Other projects of the State Government in the pipeline through PPPs include the Olokola Deep Sea Port, Sagamu Trailer Park, Sagamu Stadium, Hillcrest Estate, PMB Estate, Lomiro Oil Palm, OGSG Pharmaceuticals, OGSG Forestry project, Gateway Hotel Ota, Inland Dry Port at Kajola/Papalanto, amongst others,” the HoS said.
While congratulating the author of the book for his contributions to the discourse on PPP, Onasanya said the valuable resource will no doubt guide policy makers, practitioners and investors in navigating the complexities of PPP arrangements in Nigeria and urged public servants as well as private sector partners to key into the messages of the book and apply its lessons in their endeavours.
On his part, the former Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said the book is timely because government alone cannot maintain all its assets, which requires the PPP arrangements, saying the arrangement paved the way for some major road infrastructure with particular reference to Ogun State and commended the Ogun State Government for keying into the initiative, which has created more job opportunities for the people.
Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the event, the National President of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Dr. Chris Iziguzor said the PPP initiative has assisted Ogun State in achieving much in the area of infrastructural development and added that the arrangement, in turn, brought in more investors and provided job opportunities for the citizens.
In his response, the author, Pst. Adebisi Sogunle, while appreciating all guests for the support he got, said he wrote the book based on the experience he garnered while working on a PPP arranged programme in Cross River State.
He said the book will help in examining the roles of stakeholders because they have the responsibility to maintain the environment when political, economic, and administrative concerns arise while partnering.
News
Reverse 40 per cent import fees on LPG to encourage local manufacturers – Techno Oil boss urges FG
Mrs Nkechi Obi, Group Managing Director (GMD), Techno Oil Limited has urged the Federal Government if Nigeria to reverse its policies on the importation of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) and Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) cylinders.
Obi made her displeasure known during a panel session at the 2024 Nigeria Oil and Gas (NOG) conference in Abuja.
Speaking, Obi pleaded with the government to reverse the zero import duties placed on the importation of LPG cylinders and restore the initial 40 per cent import duties, to discourage importation.
“We need policy reversal on that to encourage local producers. The unofficial explanation we are getting from some customs officers is that the Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) which the government wants to encourage its usage in Nigeria, has the same Harmonised System (HS) code with LPG.”
“So, the import benefits placed on CNG equipment eventually affected LPG equipment; that is why they were tied together on the zero import duties.”
“Harmonised System codes are commonly used throughout the import and export process for the classification of goods.”
“For me, we don’t produce CNG cylinders in Nigeria because it involves advanced technology but we produce LPG cylinders here.”
“For us to produce CNG cylinders, we have to change one or two machines, and we expect the government to encourage us to upscale our technology to 32, which we are planning to do.” She lamented.
Obi also called on the Federal Government to separate LPG HS code from that of CNG, to ensure that importers of LPG pay higher import duties, and to also enable the government to continue with its efforts to make CNG affordable in the country with zero import duties.
“The previous government protected those producing cylinders, so that import will not overshadow local production; they did that to encourage local manufacturing but when this government came into existence, policy changed.”
“We only enjoyed that policy for six months before it was scrapped and replaced with the new “zero import duties” policy.”
“Definitely, we have to produce CNG cylinders and the government needs to consider those that will go into that production. But if government policy is killing LPG cylinder production that we are doing, it will be very difficult to enter into CNG cylinder production.”
“So, if there is anybody who can venture into CNG cylinder production, we the producers of LPG cylinders are here to do that and it is in our plan.”
“But we are not encouraged to do it because of what happened to us in the LPG cylinder production because of the frustrating policy that is encouraging its importation,” Obi added.
NRC suspends train services in Delta, Kogi
Tinubu meets Edo APC gov candidate, others in Abuja
