My about-to-expire Nigerian passport - Kaduna experience

So I decided to renew my about-to-expire Nigerian passport in Kaduna, believing that the NIS passport office there would be less crowded and thus more efficient than the one in Abuja. I had previously taken advantage of visits to Nigeria to renew my passport, so I expected this to be routine. Boy, was I mistaken.

The first day was smooth. The NIS folks ushered me in, gave me a spot to park, and one of them accompanied me to the right office where I submitted my old passport, paid the N24,000 fee they demanded (I simply obliged as I didn't know the prevailing official rate), and supplied the information they requested. They did not even give me a receipt but I didn't want to be fussy or tick them off.

The NIS officer who accompanied me then asked me to expect his call later in the day when they would be ready for me to come back for the biometric capture. Sure enough he called around 3:30 pm and I immediately headed back to the passport office and got my biometric data taken after a brief wait.

Progress report on the Social Investment Programmes (SIPs) - Osinbajo

The National Home Grown School Feeding scheme, part of our Social Investment Programmes has kicked off in Anambra this past December, in collaboration with the state government. The children have been feeding and enjoying their healthy, well prepared meals.

Generally, the Homegrown School Feeding programme, which is one of the Social Investment plans of the Buhari presidency, is driven through community participation where residents in the community are engaged as cooks to provide feeding services. Also the programme leverages on the agricultural produce available within the communities.

The Homegrown School Feeding programme of the Buhari administration will not only boost school enrollment and improve the nutritional status of the pupils, it would also stimulate local farming, while equally creating jobs including the 774 cooks now in gainful employment in Anambra State.

PRESS RELEASE: Petroleum Products Loading Resumes at NNPC Depots Nationwide

Loading Activities have resumed in depots of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, nationwide. The resumption of activities at the depots across the nation followed the suspension of a strike action by the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG.

The Corporation’s current petroleum products stock holding is robust at over 37 days PMS (petrol) sufficiency.

The Corporation noted that with the resumption in production of diesel and kerosene by the nation’s three refineries located in Port Harcourt, Kaduna and Warri, Nigerians can be rest assured that the seamless flow of petroleum products during the yuletide season would be sustained.

EFCC Graduates 331 Operatives

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC on January 13, 2017 graduated 331 detective cadets trained alongside 1498 officers of the Nigerian Air Force at the Ground Training School, Nigerian Air Force Base, Kaduna.

The colorful passing out parade climaxed 6 months of rigorous training to equip the officers in becoming anti-graft warriors instilled with discipline and integrity.

Speaking at the occasion, the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshall S. B. Abubakar, who doubles as the Reviewing Officer, congratulated the operatives of the EFCC for their gallantry and brilliance.
“I want to congratulate the operatives, I am sure you will find the training useful in your career", he said.

London-Paris Club loans: Our Governors should fear God and pay outstanding salaries and pensions (Photo)

The Federal Government has released N388.304 billion out of N522.74 billion to 35 states as refunds of over-deductions on London-Paris Club loans.

Topping the list of states with the hugest reimbursements are states controlled by the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), contrary to their claims that they were being financially oppressed by the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.

PRESIDENT BUHARI ORDERS STRONG ACTIONS TO DEAL WITH VIOLENCE IN SOUTHERN KADUNA

President Muhammadu Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari has, over the past week, given instructions for decisive measures aimed at bringing an end to the recurring acts of violence and destruction in the Southern part of Kaduna State.

On the directive of President Buhari, the Inspector-General of Police was in the region on Saturday and Sunday to assess the situation at first hand. In addition to the conventional policemen deployed in the area, a squadron of mobile policemen has now been stationed there.

The Nigerian army is also in the process of setting up two battalions in Southern Kaduna while the military continues to carry out air surveillance across flash points of the area.

NDIC, CBN set up joint committee to study digital currency, ‘bitcoin’

Alhaji Umaru Ibrahim, the Managing Director, Nigeria Deposit Insurance Commission (NDIC), on Friday said the commission and CBN had set up a committee to look into the trending “digital currency, ‘bitcoin’.”

Ibrahim said this at the ongoing 2016 Workshop for Financial Correspondents in Kaduna.

The theme of the workshop is ‘Economic Recession and the Nigerians Banking Sector: Opportunities, Challenges and the way Forward.’

WE HAVE MADE PROGRESS ON SOCIAL INVESTMENT PLANS, & MORE COMING ON THE WAY - PRESIDENCY

President Buhari

There is now a significant progress in the implementation of the Social Investment Programmes of the Buhari Presidency with the commencement of the N-Power Volunteers Corps, NPVC, and the Homegrown School Feeding Programme in the last few weeks.

Making this assertion Monday in Abuja is the Senior Special Assistant on Media & Publicity in the Office of the Vice President, Mr. Laolu Akande.

“Right now verification exercises are going on very well across the states of the federation, regarding the 200,000 first batch of the half a million unemployed graduates being engaged to serve in their communities teaching, supporting the healthcare systems and educating farmers,” he disclosed while giving an update on the social investment programmes.

THE CHANGE WE PROMISED IS HERE! - LAI MOHAMMED

Being The text Of The Speech By The Hon Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, At The South-East Edition Of The Federal Government's Town Hall Meeting in Enugu on Monday, Aug. 1st 2016

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Good morning ladies and gentlemen and welcome to the South-East Edition of our Town Hall Meeting. Permit me first to thank the Executive Governor of Enugu State, His Excellency Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, most sincerely for his immense contribution to the hosting of this event. By his efforts, His Excellency has shown that the development of our country transcends party affiliation and other divisive considerations.

2 May I also express my gratitude to my colleagues Honorable Ministers for accepting to be part of this meeting, despite their busy schedule. Honourable Ministers, your presence here is a testimony to the importance you attach to keeping Nigerians adequately informed of the activities of government.

GROUND TRAINING CENTRE GRADUATES 591 RECRUITS

A total of 591 recruits have passed out over the weekend from the Ground Training Centre, Kaduna having successfully completed their initial 6-month military training. The new entrants into the Nigerian Air Force constitute the Basic Military Training Course 35/2016.

The Course started early January 2016 with 596 intakes but 5 of them were dropped for various reasons and were unable to complete the training. The training objective is to inculcate basic military skills in trainees and provide them with general military orientation required for them to function in the NAF. 

The passing out recruits have all been assigned specialist trades and posted to NAF formations across the country pending the time they would be programmed for specialist training. The next batch of intakes, comprising 1250 recruits are expected to commence training on 25 July 2016 in line with the NAF recruitment projection for 2016.

PILOT TRAINING: 301 FTS GRADUATES NEW BATCH OF 10 STUDENT PILOTS

Ten trainees of Student Pilot Course 41B have completed their ab-initio pilot training at 301 Flying Training School (FTS), Kaduna. 

The graduands, awarded certificates over the weekend, are now ready to proceed for Basic Flying Training (BFT) on the fixed wing aircraft at 303 FTS Kano or similar facilities abroad. The graduating students were among the 25 original members of Student Pilot Course 41 that was later divided into two batches of 12 and 13 students. 

Six members of the first batch of students, constituting Student Pilot Course (SPC) 41A, were sent for rotary wing flying at the International Helicopter Flying Training School, Enugu. The remaining six, comprising 4 Nigerians and 2 Liberians, continued their training in 301 FTS and completed the course in 2015. 

EXERCISE ROCKFALL COMMENCES IN KADUNA (Photos)

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Nigerian Air Force (NAF) Regiment personnel commenced Rappelling Refresher Exercise on Friday in Kaduna. 

The 8-day exercise is code-named EXERCISE ROCKFALL and the objective is to sharpen the professional skills of rappellers in the NAF for operational efficiency through training and retraining. 

A total of 31 airmen and an officer are participating in the exercise.

Abati - Tomato Scarcity As Metaphor

One of the major news items in circulation has been the scarcity of tomato. Incidentally, Nigeria is (was) the 14th largest producer of tomato in the world and the second largest producer in Africa, after Egypt, but our country hardly produces enough to meet the local demand of about 2.3 million tonnes, and lacks the capacity to ensure an effective storage or value chain processing of what is produced. Out of the 1.8 million tonnes that the country produces annually, 900, 000 tonnes are left to rot and waste. Meanwhile, tomato-processing companies in the country operate below capacity and many of them have had to shut down.

The CEO of Erisco Foods, Lagos, Eric Umeofia laments that tomato processing companies lack access to foreign exchange to enable them buy heat-resistant seedlings and other tools that would help ensure the country’s sufficiency in local production of tomato paste. Similarly, Dangote Tomato Factory recently suspended operations due to the scarcity of tomatoes and the assault on its tomato farms by a tomato leaves destroying moth, known as “tuta absoluta” – a South American native, also known as the Tomato Ebola, because of its Ebola-like characteristics.

Ak-47 Carrying Herdsmen Streamed Into Nigeria From Libya – Buhari Tells Nigerians in London

President Muhammadu Buhari said herdsmen accused of killing Nigerians are non-Nigerians. He told Nigerians in London on Friday that the Ak-47 carrying herdsmen streamed into Nigeria from Libya.

“Because of what happened in Libya, when Ghadaffi, during his 43 year-regime, trained some people from the Sahel militarily. When his regime was overthrown, those people were dispatched to their countries. They found themselves in the Boko Haram and others.

“It is a major regional and virtually African problem now. There is one called Al Qaeda, there is Boko Haram and so on. It is a governmental project now to trace them, disarm them, try them and discipline them.”

Kaduna Govt speaks on recent police actions, urges calm on petrol supply

The Kaduna State Government has not started enforcing the prohibition of begging and hawking. A government statement explained that the prohibition of begging law will not take effect until after 60 days. The statement added that it is the police that is currently undertaking arrests within Kaduna as part of security operations directed by the Inspector General of Police.

According to Samuel Aruwan who is the Special Assistant to the Governor Media and Publicity: “The Kaduna State Government has not directed the police to enforce the begging law, which is not due to come into force yet. Malam Nasir El-Rufai has repeatedly stated that rehabilitation opportunities would be offered for the disabled. The State Executive Council has just approved a Disability Policy, which is a necessary precursor to the drafting of any bill or other measures to promote the rights of the disabled.

World Bank Gives $21m Grant to Boosts Girl Child Education in Kaduna State

The World Bank has committed the sum of $21 Million as grant to Kaduna State, in north-west Nigeria, to improve girl child education.

The grant was announced on Tuesday by the World Bank’s Senior Education Specialist, Dr. Olatunde Adekola, and it was provided under the Nigerian Partnership for Education Project.

At the inauguration of the project at the Government House in Kaduna, Dr. Adekola, said the grant was meant to support the education of children, especially those at the rural areas to have access to qualitative education.

He explained that the grant would be used for the training of teachers, renovation of schools, provision of teaching materials and offering scholarship to students.

In Nigeria, many children do not attend school because of the inability of their parents to afford the associated costs of fees, uniforms, textbooks and other expenses.

CAF Slams $5,000 Fine on Nigeria for Overcrowding

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) monday imposed a $5,000 fine on Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) for overcrowding during the Africa Cup of Nations 2017 qualifying match between Nigeria and Egypt in Kaduna.

NFF incurred the wrath of CAF for poor crowd control measures that saw about 40,000 fans lumbered into the Ahmadu Bello Stadium, Kaduna in the AFCON 2017 Group G fixture on March 25.

CONDOLENCE VISIT TO ENUGU STATE: WE KNOW THE MEANING OF TERROR ASSOCIATED WITHE BOKO HARAM - GOVERNOR SHETTIMA

STATEMENT BY GOVERNOR KASHIM SHETTIMA, CHAIRMAN NORTHERN GOVERNORS' DURING A CONDOLENCE VISIT TO ENUGU STATE, TUESDAY, MAY 2ND, 2016

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On behalf of the governments and peoples of the 19 Northern states, and the Northern Governors' Forum, I have led this delegation to the brotherly people and government of Enugu state, to express our condolences on the tragic killings that took place in this state over a week ago. It is our duty to bring condolences to our brothers and sisters and compatriots of Enugu state, because in the best traditions of our people, we must mourn with our compatriots just as we rejoice together, in moments of happiness. It is particularly important for us to express our heartfelt sympathy, because as victims of the terror associated with the Boko Haram crisis, we know the meaning of terror and the associated grief. We have lived with that for over seven years and we have been able to retain stoicism, largely because of the empathy that we have received from our compatriots from all over our country, including the sympathy of the people of Enugu state.

In a period of grief, we must also be able to maintain a calmness and clear headedness about the challenges that face us as a country. And we know that these are very difficult times for our country. The killings that have taken place here in Enugu state have come in the context of other killings in various rural communities across our country. The security forces are doing the very best to arrest the situation; efforts are being made to bring perpetrators to face the law and in that process, all Nigerians must assist the security forces with the information to succeed. But it is also important that communities, leaders and especially the Nigerian media, should play a calming and patriotic role in the situation that faces our country.

We are Rescuing the future through today’s investments in Education - El-Rufai

Remarks by Malam Nasir El-Rufai, Governor of Kaduna State, at the formal inauguration of the World Bank-funded Global Partnership for Education; Sir Kashim Ibrahim House, Kaduna, 03 May 2016

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I wish to welcome our partners in the World Bank to Kaduna. Our assignment today is to formally inaugurate the Global Partnership for Education, which seeks to support Education in Kaduna State over the next four years. The size of the grant is USD 21m, and it is money that our schools direly need.

War Against Insurgency: Nigerian Troops Destroy Bandits Camps In Kaduna and Zamfara States

The troops of 1 Division Nigerian Army have intensify clearance operations against cattle rustlers and armed bandits in Kaduna and Zamfara States, north western Nigeria.

Acting Director Army Public Relations, Colonel Sani Kukasheka Usman state that within the last four days, they have killed 2 notorious cattle rustlers that were suspected to have killed 7 innocents persons in Bungudu Local Government Area of Zamfara State.

They also arrested 5 declared wanted armed bandits and recovered arms and ammunitions from them and thereafter destroyed their camps.