Saturday 14 March 2020

NGO presents public lecture on Education




Empowered Vessels For Change Initiative (EVCI) is a non- profit organization that is on a mission to mobilize communities, addresses challenges facing young children and women, and enable them realize their full potentials through the promotion of  programs on education, health care, recreational skills, empowerment in addition to providing moral support.

As part of our Organization goal to promote programs on education, which includes special education (inclusion),  they would be having a Public Lecture  for School Proprietors, Parents, Educationist, Teachers, NGOs, policy makers, disability advocates to get together to learn, debate and share methods of building and promoting Inclusive education in government and private schools.

The event plans to hold on the 16th of April . 2020 and they would be hosting 200 Participants as a national knowledge sharing platform and generated impetus for closer cooperation and dialogue with each other so as to improve quality of education.

 The objectives of the event are:
1. To create a brighter future for children with Special Needs and Parents.

2. To plan towards improving the availability, accessibility and quality of edu services for all Children with Special Needs.

3. To persuade school proprietors and parents to give early intervention to a child weak areas in their education and also to improve and strengthen the education sector to practice inclusion nationwide.

4. To update teachers, school proprietors and therapist skills in identifying and managing children with special needs.

5. To ensure the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) becomes reality in Education practice in Nigeria.

The Theme for the Education Program : Thinking Differently: the truth about Disability.

We all know how the society at large look down on people with Disability, most especially how schools don't want to embrace (take them in) because of their incapacity.

This is an Awareness Program to change the notion of people about PWDS (People With Disabilities) what are the government doing about it and how schools in Nigeria, particularly here in Lagos practice Inclusion.

This is another approach we employ government to do something about it, by providing accessible learning spaces, well trained teachers, also adaptation of curriculum for all levels of education to be done by the ministry of education in Collaboration with SUBEB and Education Districts.

Alot has to be done, if we need a great change in the Educational system in Nigeria.

Thursday 12 March 2020

Labour ministry reviews contract staffing, outsourcing in oil sector

 

The Ministry of Labour and Employment has began the issue of review of contract staffing and outsourcing in the oil and gas industry, this is a follow up to the recently concluded review of labour bills which held at the Eko hotel and suites, Lagos.

In another tripartite encounter with stakeholders in the oil and gas sector, the Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Mr. Festus Keyamo SAN FCIArb hosted a select-few allies in the oil and gas sector on the review of guidelines on labour administration issues in contract staffing and outsourcing.

The meeting which held shortly after the reviews of the national labour bills in Lagos saw different associates in the oil and gas sector making presentations on issues affecting contract staffing and outsourcing and the urgent need to address these issues.

At the technical working group meeting, stakeholders in the oil and gas such as the Labour and Service Contractors, NUPENG, PENGASSAN, NAPIMS, Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Federal Ministry of Interior, OPTS to mention but a few were given opportunity to deliver papers on the challenges facing the sector.







Addressing the gathering, the Labour Minister, Keyamo, after listening to their plights proposed another retreat to enable a technical committee take a holistic look at these issues bordering on contract staffing in the oil and gas with a view to finding a lasting solution.

"The time is now to also look into these critical issues of contract staffing and outsourcing in the oil and gas sector, just like we've just done in the labour law review which shall soon be forwarded to the National Assembly for approval, there are so many options we can employ but the most important thing is to start as soon as possible, I've actually taken this as a challenge and task, now that am in charge of the Labour Ministry, the Minister told the gathering which had the President of Nigeria Labour Congress, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, PENGASSAN President, Ndukaku Michael Ohaeri, Comptroller of Immigration (Visa), Kolawole Amao, ILO representative among others in attendance.

At the end of the deliberations, a 3-day retreat  was unanimously agreed, tentatively between March 29th-April 2nd, 2020 at Eko hotel, Lagos to enable stakeholders meet on the review of issues affecting the oil and gas sector.

Tuesday 10 March 2020

FG to cut budget, seeks new oil benchmark

Amid tumbling prices of crude oil, the Federal Government is set to cut the country’s 2020 budget.

The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), will get a report on Tuesday (today) on what his regime can do to salvage the N10.59tn budget.

The budget review committee, which was set up by Buhari on Monday, is chaired by the Minister of Finance, Budget and Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed.

Its primary duty is to review the $57 oil benchmark for the budget and ultimately recommend an appropriate size, down from the current N10.59tn.

Other members are the Minister of State, Petroleum Resources, Mr Timipre Sylva; Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr Godwin Emefiele; and the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Mr Mele Kyari.

The President had handed the assignment to the committee on Monday after he held a meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, with the government officials.

Speaking with State House Correspondents after the meeting, Ahmed said the committee would determine the new benchmark for the budget.

She said, “Our mandate is to make a very quick assessment of the impact of this coronavirus on the economy, especially as it affects the crude oil price.

“We will be writing a report and briefing Mr President tomorrow (Tuesday) or Wednesday morning. After that, we will also have more substantial information for the press.

“It is very clear that we will have to revisit the crude oil benchmark price that we have of $57 per barrel. We have to revisit it and lower the price.”

She added, “Where it will be lowered (benchmark) is the subject of this committee. What the impact will be on that is that there will be reduced revenue to the budget as it will cut the size of the budget.

“The quantum of the cut is what we are supposed to assess as a committee.”

The Buhari regime gave its first hint on a possible cut of the budget after last week’s Federal Executive Council meeting.

The minster, when asked by reporters what the impact of coronavirus would be on the budget, replied, “We are really concerned as a government.”

Sylva spoke on the reported disagreement between the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries and OPEC+ member states on how both sides would respond to the impact of coronavirus on oil prices.

He said it was not a matter Nigeria could handle unilaterally, but would be handled at the level of OPEC versus OPEC+ bodies.

Global oil prices have been unstable since January, worsening with the outbreak of coronavirus in China and its rapid spread to many countries.

In December 2019 when Buhari signed the 2020 budget, Nigeria’s Brent crude was well above $60 per barrel. But, it soon began a free fall since January, dropping below the budgeted $57.

Recall that in 2015, oil price crashed to as low as $27 per barrel, forcing the economy into recession. The economy later exited recession as oil prices climbed again.

The steep fall in crude oil prices on Monday stoked fears of fresh economic recession that Nigeria suffered in 2016 and has yet to recover from more than two years after a shaky exit.

The global oil benchmark, Brent crude, plummeted by as much as 31 per cent to $31.02 on Monday, its lowest since mid-February 2016, but recovered slightly to $36.29 per barrel as of 6.15pm Nigerian time.

Brent, against which Nigeria’s oil is priced, fell by over $4 to $45.72 per barrel last Friday following the failure of OPEC and its 10 allies, led by Russia, to broker a deal.

Russia refused to go along with a plan for deeper crude production cuts to tackle the coronavirus’ impact on global oil demand.

OPEC had on Thursday revealed a plan under which it would slash its production quotas by an additional 1 million barrels per day for the rest of the year, contingent on Russia and nine other non-OPEC allies agreeing to shrink theirs by 500,000 bpd.

Saudi Arabia, on Saturday, fired the first shot in an oil price war, moving to hike its oil output and offering deep discounts to customers in markets such as Asia, Europe and the US to entice refiners to use Saudi crude.

Economic experts, in separate interviews with one of our correspondents, said the sharp drop in oil prices amid the price war would have serious implications for the Nigerian economy.

The Managing Director, Financial Derivatives Company Limited, Mr Bismarck Rewane, said, “It has very huge implications for our economy. It is a national emergency.

“We are facing unprecedented difficulties. It is not what I want to talk about; it is something we have to think about and it is time for action. Actions have to be taken immediately.”

Rewane, who is a member of the Economic Advisory Council, said the nation’s entire macroeconomic strategy needed to be reset.

A former Director-General, West African Institute of Financial and Economic Management, Prof. Akpan Ekpo, said the oil slump would result in sharp declines in revenue, foreign exchange earnings and external reserves.

Ekpo said, “We need to rejig the budget for this year; the budget is no longer realistic. We need to strengthen our resolve to build an economy that is not dependent on oil. Everything now is in disarray.”

The Chief Executive Officer, Economic Associates, Dr Ayo Teriba, said the government should leverage its over $50bn equity investment in joint venture oil assets to raise funds.

He said the option should have been explored in 2016 when the country slipped into recession.

He said, “Are we at risk of another recession? Are we at risk of another devaluation? It depends on how long the low oil price regime lasts. This latest one is arising from an oil price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia.”

The Director-General, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Dr Muda Yusuf, described the spread of coronavirus as a major threat to the nation’s economy.

Yusuf said many manufacturers and service providers in the country were already experiencing acute shortage of raw materials and intermediate inputs as a result of the virus outbreak.

The Director General, Nigeria Employers Consultative Association, Dr Timothy Olawale, said the fall in the global oil price called for concern.

He said the government must ensure that the country did not fall back into recession

Monday 9 March 2020

Chibok girls’ mothers pen emotional letter, seek release of abducted daughters

The mothers of the remaining 112 Chibok girls still in Boko Haram captivity have called on the Federal Government and other world women organisations to intensify efforts toward the release of their daughters.

They made the call in a letter written to commemorate the 2020 International Women’s Day, which was made available to newsmen on Monday in Asaba, Delta.

The letter was entitled, “Open letter to the World’s Most Powerful Women by Chibok Mothers on International Women’s Day 2020.”

It was signed by Yana Galang, Monica Stover, Hannatu Dauda, Mary Shettima, Ladi Zanna Lawan and Rebecca Samuel, on behalf of the mothers of the 112 Chibok girls.

They also pleaded with the world’s most powerful women to further intensify their efforts to ensure the release of the remaining of their 112 of our daughters in Boko Haram captivity.

We seek to stand upon your shoulders, to shine a light on our pain and hopelessness, to bring our plight, which has had no reprieve,” they said.

The letter read, “We also stand before you and every mother, daughter and sister who in one way or another has fought for our daughters and for the girl-child.

On April 14, 2014, 276 of our daughters were abducted by the terrorist group Boko Haram from their school in Chibok, in North-East Nigeria.

However, today, almost six years after the abduction, 112 of our daughters remain in captivity.

Our anguish is unbearable as we do not know what has happened to our children.

A day does not go by without us sending up a prayer that perhaps, today, we will be reunited with our daughters.

Our daughters are the repository of our hope. Our desire to educate them was to empower our community and change our collective lives, and reach beyond the invisible lines that poverty and culture did not allow us to cross.

“Our dreams are dashed and our hope deferred and the nightmare we live daily has no end. We lay our tears at your feet, dear Sisters, and we put our hands in yours to receive strength to rise from the shackles that have imprisoned us and our children.

We know that as we walk through this storm, you will lift our heads and shine a light on our path knowing that when we collectively illuminate the path, all can see and see clearer too. What affects one, affects all.

“Fight with us, we beg you to Call on the governments of the world not to relent until all our daughters — including Leah Sharibu of Dapchi and every girl, woman and child held captive by Boko Haram is returned home.

Man kills girlfriend over pregnancy ownership in Katsina

The Katsina State Police Command has arrested a 27-year-old man, Shafi’u Haruna, for allegedly killing his girlfriend over dispute on the ownership of her pregnancy.

Haruna was arrested last Tuesday following a tip off.

The spokesman for the command, SP Gambo Isah, said Haruna who lived in the Dorawar Natiba area of Birdigau village, in the Kankara Local Government Area of the state allegedly committed the crime in December, 2019.

According to the police spokesman, Haruna tricked 14-year-old Hamsiya Lawal of the same address to a nearby bush where he allegedly smashed her head with a stone.

She reportedly died on the spot.

SP Isah said “The suspect smashed her head with heavy stone, killing her instantly.  Investigation is ongoing.