Category: News

Babagana Kingibe May Replace Late Abba Kyari As Buhari’s Chief Of Staff

Strong indication has emerged to the effect that the running mate to Late Chief MKO Abiola in the annulled 1993 Presidential election, Alhaji Babagana Kingibe may replace the late Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari, Mallam Abba Kyari whose death was announced by the Presidency late Friday night.

In a statement released by the Presidency yesterday, Mallam Abba Kyari, who had tested positive to the ravaging COVID-19, and had been receiving treatment. But he died on Friday, April 17, 2020.

ThePage reliably gathered that plans have started in earnest to fill the vacant office of the Chief of Staff to the President even as checks have revealed that Babagana Kingibe may be appointed the new Chief of Staff.

“Forget his ignoble role in the June 12 saga, Kingibe is a diplomat and a technocrat. He is close to the President. He is the unseen hand in charge of the National Intelligence Agency, NIA as it is today. He is one man who has been part of this government from behind the scene” a source privy to the plans towards the appointment of a new Chief of Staff revealed to The Page.

If Kingibe is eventually named the Chief of Staff, the appointment may be a good step towards his realising his Presidential ambition.

ThePage gathered that Kingibe may have before now, been one of the favourites, penciled down to succeed President Buhari, hence his involvement in the behind the scene day -to -day running of the Buhari administration.

– ThePage

 

Breaking! President Buhari Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari is Dead

Information just reaching us now is that President Buhari Chief of Staff Mr. Abba Kyari has lost the battle against the Covid-19.

Making this known few minutes ago through his twitter handle the SA Media to the President announced that the Chief of Staff is dead and that burial announcement will be announced by the family.

Mr Kyari was tested positive to the novel Corona Virus weeks back, he was thought to be coming out until the news was broken of his demise, we pray God grant his families and loved ones the power to bear the loss.

We will be giving you more updates as it breaks…

Labour Minister, Keyamo Exposed Fake F.G. 774,000 Jobs Recruitment Portal

Mr. Festus Keyamo SAN, Minister of State for Labour and Employment

The honourable Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Mr. Festus Keyamo SAN, FCIArb has warned the general public to be wary of fraudsters who’re on the prowl to swindle innocent citizens in this trying times.

Mr. Keyamo specifically hinted on a particular misleading recruitment information circulating on a fake website for the proposed federal government’s special public works program meant to run in all local government councils across the nation.

An official statement personally signed by the Minister categorically denied the said advertorial which is circulating on social media and titled, ‘Application Opens For 774,000 Employment By FG: See Requirements, Salary And How To Apply’ and which also stipulates stipends and commissions.

“As the Supervising Minister over the National Directorate of Employment in which the Special Public Works Programme of the Federal Government is domiciled, and having conferred with the Director-General, Dr. Nasiru Ladan Mohammed Argungu, we wish to alert members of the public that the said advertorial or anything of such presently circulating is fake and should be disregarded”, the Minister stated.

I have just finished consultation with the Hon. Minister of Finance and we are presently working out how the scope of the program would be expanded and executed with other relevant Ministries and stakeholders across the country.

The public would be duly informed by this office when all the modalities have been graciously approved by Mr. President.

We are also informed of instructions by certain persons going round in some States to the effect that names of those to be employed under the program should be compiled. We also urge these people not to embark on an exercise in futility as the guidelines for such recruitment and those to be involved have not been released by the agency.

Finally, we assure all that this well-intentioned program of the Federal Government would be carefully planned and executed in such a way as to meet its target of empowering the largely unskilled labour in rural areas, he said.

ISG Boss, Tuinstra Raps African Leaders On How To Create Employment, Reduce Poverty.

Mr Steven Tuinstra

African governments have  been admonished to see the urgent need to intensify efforts to build roads, railways and other cross-border infrastructure  as

Investment in infrastructure is a long-term   requirement for growth and a long-term factor that will make growth sustainable.
The Chief Executive of Officer of  world class infrastructure building outfit, International Support Group (ISG), Mr Steven Tuinstra gave the advice in a statement issued by its Media Adviser, Moses Owopade, on how the Continent of Africa can move from poverty to surplus by creating employment building infrastructure, coordinate the associated laws, rules and regulations.
According to the ISG boss, the solution to the economic problem of Africa is  to include the continent in the global economy, and not African charity, AIDS research, but African infrastructure development.
“”Africa can import and needs everything the whole world can manufacture. And they have got enough money to pay for it. It’s just that the money is in the ground.
“African countries have to improve transportation infrastructure; that creates economic development, employment and, most importantly, enhances safety and improvement of the local communities.” Tuinstra said, adding that smart businesses do not look at labor costs alone anymore, but rather do look at market access, transportation, telecommunications infrastructure and the education and skill level of the workforce, the development of capital and the regulatory market.
Further, he said Infrastructure is one of the core responsibilities of government and one that cannot be shortchanged by other controversial spending.
“We believe investment in infrastructure pays dividends for decades and is a wise investment of taxpayer.
“A successful society is characterized by a rising living standard for its population, increasing investment in factories and basic infrastructure, and the generation of additional surplus, which is invested in generating new discoveries in science and technology.” he opined.
Establishing the readiness of ISG to support the continent in building a virile economy that guarantee job opportunities for the growing African population, Tuinstra revealed that ISG is currently  in advanced negotiations with various African governments to develop and execute on EPC+F basis some infrastructure project.
“Some of the governments currently in our portfolio are Ivory Coast, Namibia, Federal Government of Nigeria, Ghana, IMO State Nigeria, Gambia, Federal Government of DRC, Mai Ndombe Province DRC, Chad, Malawi, Botswana and Plateau State of Nigeria” he concluded.

Repackaged Abuja Begging Profession that put Beggars’ Earning above Civil Servants’

By Felix Victor

Canadian writer Marty Rubin once said, “Giving alms to the rich is a luxury no beggar can afford”. This assertion is not looking like a saying for Nigeria if the strategy employed by some skilled Abuja beggars is put into consideration, it is a fact that that the recently celebrated increased minimum wage is nothing but stipend compares to how much these set of professional beggars are making just for collecting stipends from unsuspecting Nigerians.

It is no new thing to an average Nigerian who steps out at the early hours of the morning and comes back at late evenings to get approached by tattered looking children or elders, who sings chorus trying to evoke sympathy and attract currencies. Over the years, the strategies of these beggars seem to have evolved from seating at road sides with plates, to looking tattered and singing, down to dressing properly and standing at the road side and now making moves like they are commuters and those the ones that are making the real cash out of bus passengers.

These beggars stand at bus stops where there targets are the buses on queue loading passengers in turns, looking all flashy as though they were headed to an office, they get into busses and ensure they are noticed by those in the vehicle, the sometime put pressure on the drivers to move fast, (probably because they’ve got clients in other busses they have to catch up with), immediately the bus starts moving, they smile at the person seating next to them and say “sorry please can you assist me with 100 naira?” Of cause as easy as that seems, the person gives to them, after a while they highlight with an excuse that they changed their mind as to where they are headed and move on to the next bus.

Findings shows they usually works on vehicle with a daily target of 40 and above, putting it into perspectives a free gift of N100 per or more vehicle with above 40 vehicles (always moving in the direction that is having high movement of commuters) per day, will be looking at an amount around N4,000 per day and N24,000 per week excluding Sundays because commuters are usually not much that day, monthly they will be going home with and average amount of N96,000 an amount that makes the civil servant salary with the new minimum wage looks more like beggars.

Corporate begging it was gathered is a new found occupation that is not restricted only to Abuja it has its root in Lagos and the actors are even said to have formed an association. With the employment situation in the country professional begging seems to be a new employment opportunity for jobless Nigerian since the government haven’t granted them any and the workers varies from the young to the old.

Pix Culled from Vanguard online

LASEPA Changes Tune; Reopens Jumia Warehouse 

Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA) only Thursday reopened Jumia’s warehouse situated at Surulere industrial road, off Allen, Ikeja, which was sealed on Wednesday for contravening the lockdown order by the Federal government in the state.
Putting up the update on its Twitter handle, @LasepaInfo, the agency said the warehouse was opened “having established that Jumia can be classified as an ‘Essential supplier’ as contained in the Infectious Disease Regulation signed by the Executive Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu on the 27th March 2020.”
The initial sealing of the popular online retail store had elicited condemnation from social media users, who lamented why the Jumia outlet should be closed down at a time Lagos residents have been asked to stay at home to stop the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
In response to LASEPA’s tweet and action, Nigerians on twitter blamed the agency for not doing proper fact finding before sealing the warehouse, and asked LASEPA to tender an apology to Jumia.
Since the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, Jumia Nigeria has demonstrated responsible corporate citizenship. The company on Wednesday announced its partnership with Lagos State Government on MyHandsAreSafe campaign, as an information tool to curb further spread of COVID-19.
Recently, Jumia announced the implementation of Contactless Delivery as a safety measure for customers to further enhance social distancing measures. In response to the pandemic, Jumia announced a partnership deal with Reckitt Benckiser to enable customers to have access to hygiene products at affordable prices during the lockdown.

Unpalatable Tales trails the distribution of Lagos COVID-19 Emergency Food Response

Wickedness will be the right word to describe the actions of some people involved in the distribution of relief material made available by the Lagos State Government for the people when a lockdown of every activities were announced by both the State and the Federal governments. The aim of the package is to help put food on the table of poor Lagosians whose livelihood will be affected by the lockdown, but information reaching us from different areas is sad.

It was brought to our notice that the people are not actually getting what was reported to be in the pack, while Lagos government made it known through different media that a pack of Covid-19 Emergency Food Response pack will contain a sizeable amount of rice, beans, garri and what can be used to cook it like sachet tomatoes and some other items which of course includes water, we gathered that the people are only getting outrageous stuffs that falls far below what the government announced.

Findings revealed that packages getting to the people are so poor and unlike what was publicly displayed by the State government, though it varies we were informed that the Local Governments (LG) or Local Council Development Area (LCDA) were saddled with the responsibility of distributing the relief packages based on Community Development Association (CDA), it was revealed that some CDAs were only able to get three (3) packs of the Emergency Food Response while some gets like five (5) not forgetting the fact that the law of Lagos State governing CDA formation made it clear that it will take minimum of 20 persons to form a CDA.

What this means is that each house may not get up to one measuring tin of only one of the item in the package, one case was that of Igando-Ikotun LCDA where a street of more that twelve (12) house were given a few cups of beans, in the video made available to us by some of the residents the package brought for the street more than 20 families living on the street is just the beans and a sachet of tomato paste. Another street were also receive few cups of rice while some could only get garri.

This is unpalatable news to many of the residents who had high hopes of feeding their families during this trying period that has exposed most of them to untold hardship in catering for the feeding of their family due to the government imposed lockdown. What is however unknown is if the rationing is from the State government (which sources said is not likely) or the fact that the LG and LCDA officials has decided to short-change the poor like the culture in Nigeria.

Video

https://www.societygazetteng.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/WhatsApp-Video-2020-04-02-at-2.13.13-PM.mp4?_=1

MTN Respond to Minister of Labour’s Plea, Gives free 300 SMS to Nigerians

The clarion call by the Minister of State, Labour, Mr. Festus Keyamo SAN FCIArb (UK) to telecommunication companies and Pay-TVs in Nigeria to come up with a social safety net programme for the masses to ease the Covid-19 pains has began to yield results with a swift response from one of the telecommunication giants.

Concerned with the plights of the masses amidst the federal government’s compulsory stay home order on the Covid-19 plague, the Minister had released torrents of messages from his Twitter handle urging Pay-TVs and telecommunication companies to gift free data, call credits and at least 1-month subscription for their numerous customers. This is in order to allow them stay in touch with the world and their relatives.

And in a swift reaction, the management of MTN, one of Nigeria’s telecommunication companies has responded to the Minister’s tweets by promising its subscribers free 300 sms to all networks of their choice.

“We understand how important it is to keep in touch with loved ones during this period. Now you can with 300 SMS to all networks. #staysafe#connected”, MTN’s response on its Twitter handle, @MTNNG.

As a way of appreciating their reaction to his tweets, the Minister thanked MTN management but not without begging for more, Thank you@MTNNG for responding to my plea, especially for the hard-hit workers this time. We really appreciate. But I believe you can still do more. Specifically, we politely ask for some token data and airtime. Nothing is too small. Other networks should kindly follow suit. The Minister pleaded.

 

LAGOS STATE INTER PARTY ADVISORY COUNCIL (IPAC) EXECUTIVE COUNCIL EMERGENCY MEETING

The Lagos State IPAC Executive Council headed by Comrade Tade Ademola held an emergency meeting on Monday, 30th march 2020, to discuss the Corona Virus pandemic as it affected Lagos citizens and steps being taken by all tiers of government to prevent its spread and eradicate it in the state.
After extensive deliberation, the council appreciated the proactive efforts of the Governor, Mr.Babajide Sanwo- Olu and his team in Lagos State on the much steps being taken thus far to avert this Pandemic, and request that the testing range be extended to the suburbs/densely populated communities.
Encouraged Lagosian to strictly follow NCDC guidelines, Government Directives of Hand washing, Social Distancing and Stay at Home directives.
Law enforcement agencies are enjoined to be professional in enforcement of the law to avert breakdown of law and order
Appealed to Lagosian to endure and comply with the FGN 14 days lock down.
IPAC also directed all Political Parties chairpersons in the state to enlighten and inform their LGA and Ward Officials to disseminate  all Government directives to their members with a view to ensure maximum compliance
Ensure continuous communication to the grassroots at least every other day, with a view to monitor compliance.
Welfare Relief Solutions : –
A transparent welfare committee should be set up which should include the IPAC members as a stakeholder and not limited to the ruling party (APC) members alone.
Enjoined the state government to include IPAC members in the  distribution of relief materials and food items to Lagosian
Water is critical to the virus containment, so  areas without pipe borne should be provided with source of water
Relief package essential: Reaching out to the poor Masses whose livelihood is on a day to day job and Encouraged well meaning individuals to support their various communities
Finally, Water vendors should also be allowed to operates during this lockdown as water is essential to life and crucial in the containment processes.
Thank you.
Signed;
Comr. Tade Ademola
Chairman IPAC Lagos state.
Prince Idowu Sesi Michael
Deputy secretary of Lagos State Ipac

Ondo Governorship Poll 2020: APC’s Unity Forum Clears the Air on Consensus Candidate

About three weeks ago, the Unity Forum of the All Progressives Congress in Ondo State constituted a 7-man Selection Committee to select a consensus candidate among the ten aspirants who have expressed their interests in becoming the governor of the State. Immediately the committee members swung into actions by interfacing with the aspirants and examining their blueprints for the State. Thereafter, the committee went into sessions of deliberations to arrive at a consensus choice.

While members of the forum and the general public eagerly await the outcome of the exercise, the social media has been awashed with various conflicting reports about the outcome of the exercise.

To set the records straight, here is what the Secretary of the Selection Committee Professor Sola Ehindero has to say:

“The mandate of the committee set up by the UNITY FORUM is to select a CONSENSUS candidate who is credible, loyal and whose track record  reflects his or her community and corporate accountability and commitment to self-less service.

After three weeks of non-compromising deliberations and as at today Friday, 27th of March, 2020, the committee is yet to reach a decision on such a candidate and thus yet to prepare a report.While the search continues party members should ignore information from the social media or any outfit regarding the choice of a consensus candidate”.

Exit mobile version