IT IS NOT TRUE! OMSL DIRECTORS REFUTE ALLEGED MISAPPROPRIATION OF $18M DOLLARS BY CHAIRMAN

  

 

Our attention has been drawn to a malicious and spurious publication by a one-man blog (nurajos.blogspot.com) on alleged schism in the board of OMSL over alleged mismanagement of $18m (Eighteen million  dollars).

141m Africans benefit from improved agricultural techniques — AfDB

 President of African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr Akinwumi Adesina says  141 million people have benefitted from improved agricultural technologies to enhance food security in the last five years he assumed office.

Adesina made this known during the opening of the bank’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) held virtually on Wednesday.

Okunbo: The Ace in Edo’s Hole By Abdulahi Taminu

 

The volume, velocity and variety of campaigns of calumny against Captain Idahosa Wells Okunbo, a billionaire businessman and philanthropist, in the last few weeks, underpin the consensus among the elite and the average electorate in Edo State, that having wilfully taken on some of its illustrious sons, Governor Godwin Obaseki is an ill wind that blows no one any good and should be voted out of Government House by September 19th. Obaseki does not deserve pity of any kind, really. 

Forbes Best of Africa For Idahosa Wells Okunbo And Others

 

September 11, 2020 will mark an auspicious day for the Chairman/CEO of Ocean Marine Solutions Ltd, Captain Dr. Idahosa Wells Okunbo. He will be honored alongside prominent African business leaders such as: Dr Adeduntan Adesola, Managing Director First Bank Plc and founder and executive chairman of Online Integrated Solutions Ltd, Mahmood Ahmadu, for the Forbes Best of Africa awards.

Gov. El-Rufai hails Peace Accord in Zangon Kataf

 Gov. Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State has hailed the peace initiative spearhead by community leaders in Zangon Kataf Local Government Area and pledged government support to ensure lasting peace in the area.

$6.15bn grant will improve electricity supply — minister

 

Minister of Power, Mr Sale Mamman says the 6.15 billion dollars (about N2.373 trillion) recently secured by the Federal Government for the power sector will improve electricity supply in the country.

Mamman said this in a statement issued by Mr Aaron Artimas, his Special Adviser on Media and Communications in Abuja on Tuesday.

The minister who assumed office on Aug. 21, 2019 was speaking on the occasion to mark his one year in office.

Mamman said  that he was grateful  to the President who had continued to discover and inject new talents into the country’s leadership.

According to him, to date, 6.150 billion dollars have been secured for infrastructural development and earmarked for  critical projects.

Giving a breakdown of the fund, the  minister said
3.2 billion dollars was secured from Siemens,  and 1.6 billion dollars from donor agencies for the Transmission Rehabilitation and Expansion Programme (TREP).

The minister said 1.7 billion dollars was secured from the World Bank,  African Development Bank (AfDB), and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

Giving further breakdown of the fund, he said that 550 million dollars was earmarked for the Nigerian Electricity Project (NEP), a rural electrification project being funded by the World Bank and AfDB.

Mamman said with the fund, the ministry has begun implementing critical infrastructure to transform generation, transmission, and distribution of 25,000 Mega Watts (MW) of electricity by 2025.

“The Siemens project will raise power to 7, 000MW in the first phase which just began, focusing on quick wins for both Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN ) and the Electricity  Distribution Companies (DisCos).

“The expected projects under the Siemens deal include 105 substations rehabilitation, 70 new substations, manufacturing and installation of 35 power transformers and installation of 3,765 distribution transformers.

“There will also be over 5,000 kilometres of transmission lines to be constructed.

According to Mamman,  under his supervision, TCN is also implementing the 1.6 billion dollars Rehabilitation and Expansion Programme (TREP) with funding from development partners like World Bank, AfDB, and JICA.

He listed the key projects impacted by the fund to include Alaoji-Onitsha and Kaduna-Kano power line among others.

According to him, work is ongoing to complete the Zungeru Hydroelectric Power Plant worth 1.2 billion dollars aimed at generating 700MW.

Mamman said that the Zungeru project had attained 73 per cent  completion presently.

“The 3050MW Mambilla hydropower project is expected to increase the national grid by 30 per cent. It is worth 5.7 billion dollars with 85 per cent  funding. With 4.85 billion dollars from China while the Federal Government  is providing 850 million dollars funding.

“The main construction works include four large dams: Nya, Sumsum, Nghu, and API Weir in Taraba state.”

Mamman said that the government had also finished the 40MW Kashimbilla hydropower plant in Taraba.

“We are currently working on the development and expansion of transmission lines to evacuate power from the project site to areas of distribution.

“There is also the 40MW Dadin Kowa hydropower plant in Gombe State, while overhauling the 240MW Afam Power Plant.”

According to the minister, the Federal Government is working to increase energy access for an estimated 80 million Nigerians that are without electricity access through the Rural Electrification Agency (REA),

He said that the ministry was also mapping out unserved clusters to provide a digital database of the distribution grid system.

“We have secured 550 million dollars from the World Bank and AfDB for off-grid electrification being used to power universities and rural areas.

“With the mini grid regulation, access to electricity is improving through REA. “As at 2019, we had four million off-grid connections.

“We aim to add another five million in the next 18 to 24 months under the recently approved Economic Sustainability Programme,” he said.

The mnister noted that efforts were ongoing to close the gap between generation capacity and distribution as a means of reducing losses with individual capacity.

He said that  the sector was already contending with a huge loss of more than N254 billion from unutilised power.

“Just on August 18, TCN achieved an unprecedented peak distribution of 5,420MW of power to the DisCos, being the third of such milestones.

“This is coming even as the ministry has attained a 24 hour transmission period as against the previous eight to 10 hours per day.” he said.

NiMet predicts thundery, rainy activities Wednesday to Friday

 The Nigerian Meteorological Agency has predicted thundery and rainy activities from Wednesday to Friday.

NiMet`s weather outlook released on Tuesday in Abuja predicted cloudy skies over Borno, Adamawa and Taraba on Wednesday, with chances of thunderstorms over parts of Kano, Kebbi, Yobe, Gombe and Bauchi States in the morning.

According to it, there are prospects of thunderstorms over the northern region to affect parts of Maiduguri, Taraba, Adamawa, Bauchi, Zamfara, Katsina and Sokoto States in the afternoon and evening hours.

”The north central cities are expected to be cloudy in the morning with chances of rains over parts of Plateau, Kwara, Abuja and Niger axis.

”Progressing into the day, there are prospects of moderate rains over Plateau, Kogi, Kwara and Benue States.

”Cloudy morning is expected over the inland and coastal cities of the south with prospects of light rains over places like Enugu, Anambra, Ebonyi, Cross River and Osun States.

”During the afternoon and evening periods, there will be cloudy atmosphere over most parts of the region with light rains expected over Enugu, Abia, Edo and Rivers States,” it said..

According to the release, there are prospects of thunderstorms over Sokoto, Katsina, Kano and Kaduna States on Thursday with cloudy skies over the north-eastern region in the morning.

NiMet predicted isolated thunderstorms over Adamawa, Sokoto, Kano, Katsina and Gombe States during the afternoon and evening.

The agency envisaged cloudy morning over the north central region with chances of rains over Abuja, Kwara and Nassarawa States.

Police seek support to meet operational, infrastructural needs

 

The Inspector General of Police (I-G), Mr Mohammed Adamu, has called on well meaning individuals and corporate bodies to support the Nigeria Police to meets its operational and infrastructural needs.

The Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), Mr Frank Mba, in a statement on Tuesday in Abuja, said the I-G made the call when he received three operational vehicles donated by Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing Company Limited.

 

WHO congratulates Nigeria on ending wild poliovirus

 The World Health Organisation (WHO)  and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) have congratulated Nigeria on being declared free of the Wild Polio Virus (WPV).

WHO Regional Office for Africa in Brazzaville, Congo, disclosed this in a statement posted on its website.

The independent Africa Regional Certification Commission (ARCC) for Polio Eradication on Tuesday, officially declared WHO African Region is free of wild poliovirus.

The statement stated that while the UN agencies congratulated Nigeria on the status, they emphasised that achieving the milestone was not the end of the job – all children under five years must continue to be vaccinated against vaccine-preventable diseases.

This is critical to significantly reduce avoidable mortality in Nigerian children under five years old, keep polio permanently out of Nigeria and ensure better health and well being for future generations.

The UN agencies also congratulated fellow Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) partners in Nigeria who helped reach this achievement: Rotary International; the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

They also congratulated Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI) as well as Nigerian traditional and religious leaders and volunteer community mobilisers as the foot soldiers who fought to free Nigerian children from the wild poliovirus.

The statement quoted Dr Walter Mulumbo, WHO Nigeria Country Representative, as saying: “WHO rejoices with the people and government of Nigeria and acknowledges that wild polio-free certification is undoubtedly the greatest public health.

“It acknowledges that the certification is the greatest triumph in the annals of Nigeria and indeed Africa that will bequeath to posterity lessons learnt and best practices for addressing future public health interventions.

“Both UN agencies expressed strong appreciation for the role played by all stakeholders, especially the commitment and support of the Nigerian government at all levels, development partners, donors, traditional and community leaders, health workers and caregivers.

“This milestone is a clarion call to urgently rededicate resources to stopping the transmission of all types of poliovirus, strengthening routine immunisation to sustain the gains achieved – especially in high risk areas and traditional polio sanctuaries – and maintaining high quality surveillance.’’

Similarly, the statement quoted UNICEF Representative in Nigeria, Peter Hawkins, as saying: “It is a momentous achievement that calls for celebration.

“This historic achievement not only signifies the end of the wild poliovirus across the entire African continent, but is also a significant springboard towards attaining global polio eradication.

“UNICEF joins Nigeria in celebrating this milestone – and congratulating Nigeria’s children, especially – but we must remember that the job is not over,” said Hawkins.

“All caregivers must continue to vaccinate their children against vaccine-preventable childhood diseases, including polio.

“Religious and community leaders, as champions of wild poliovirus eradication, should continue to mobilise caregivers to vaccinate their children for all preventable diseases. Children need their help now more than ever,’’ Hawkins added.

Hawkins further said not only was polio vaccination still crucial, all routine vaccinations were critical to children’s survival.

“We must all work together to strengthen routine immunisation services and ensure that all children under five receive all vaccines, including the polio vaccine.

“This is not the time for Nigeria to take its foot off the accelerator. This is the time for Nigeria to strengthen its primary health care system, and give routine immunisation a vital boost.”

UNICEF and WHO pledge to  continue to support Nigeria to strengthen its primary healthcare system under the Primary Health Care Under One Roof (PHCUR) policy initiated by the Federal Government, including the goal to have at least one functional primary healthcare centre (PHC) in every ward in Nigeria.

Nigeria attained wild polio-free status after meeting all the criteria for certification, which include three years of non-detection of any wild poliovirus case in the country.

Before the certification, Nigeria, Afghanistan and Pakistan were the only wild polio endemic countries globally

His Agenda Is SIMPLE, His Promises Are Realistic By Stanley Chiamaka

  

It is trite to say job creation is crucial for a healthy economy to fire growth and improve the lives of the citizenry. And since the importance of creating jobs is to ensure a stable and progressive society, the electorate and the general public are always keen to know what an intending public office holder/seeker has in stock for them in terms of jobs/employment creation. Therefore, as September 19 approaches, Edo State is also not left out of that consideration. 

Edo Assembly Invasion: APC demands arrest and prosecution of Adjoto, Iyoha, for mobilization and illegal arming of thugs

 The Edo State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress has called on the Nigeria Police Force to immediately arrest and prosecute Mr. Kabiru Adjoto and Osaigbovo Iyoha, both of whom are senior aides of Governor Godwin Obaseki, over their alleged involvement in the hiring of armed thugs in the invasion of the Edo Assembly complex earlier this month.

Edo’s September 19: Obaseki Can’t Change Anything Elizabeth Tejumola

As the appointed day for the Edo people to choose their preferred governor for the next four years approaches, politicians from various camps and parties are bracing up, leaving no stone unturned to ensure victory for their candidates, apprehensions are rife and political anxiety are shored up among residents and observers alike.