04042019 - Nigeria 7 other nstions home to world's hungriest - UN

Vanguard, THURSDAY, APRIL 4, 2019—35
FINANCIAL LITERACY DAY: From left: Zonal Head, Operations, North Central, Ecobank, Sadiq
Opeyemi; award winning students, Umar Ayatullah, Samuel Okoye, Zion Terlumun; Head, Corporate
Banking, FCT/North, Ecobank, Salifu Isa; Area Manager, FCT 1, Ecobank, Ugwo Nkiru, and Officer,
Development Finance Department, Ecobank, Awodola Oyeleye, during the Financial Literacy Day at
Ahmadu Bahago Secondary School, Minna, Niger State.
60% of N-West, N-East live in extreme
poverty —Dangote •Kaduna attracts $500m in
KADUNA— AFRICA’S
richest man and
President of Dangote Group,
Aliko Dangote, yesterday,
challenged leaders of the
northern part of Nigeria to
wake up from their
sluggishness and provide
leadership to lift the region out
of extreme poverty and wants.
Speaking at the fourth
edition of Kaduna Economic
and Investment Summit, in
Kaduna, Dangote lamented
that over 60 per cent of people
of North-West and North-East
live in extreme poverty.
This came as Governor
Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State
said despite challenges the
state faced in the last four years,
it had been able to attract over
$500 million investment.
According to Dangote, if 19
northern states had 10
governors like Nasir el-Rufai,
the region would be on the
path to greatness.
He said with the right
investment in agriculture, the
north would be an oasis of
prosperity, noting that there
was no country with such
fertile and arable land with the
level of poverty witnessed in
the north.
Dangote said: “Nigeria is
bedeviled with many
developmental challenges but
with abundant capital,human
and natural resources. Our
country human
developmental indicators rank
poorly when compared with
global averages. Nigeria is
ranked 157 out of 189
countries in the areas of
human development index.
“While the overall social
economic consideration in the
country is a cause for concern,
the regional imperative is in
fact very alarming. In the
north western and North
eastern parts of Nigeria, more
than 60 per cent of the
population live in extreme
poverty.
"It is instructive to know that
the 19 northern states, which
account for over 54 per cent of
the country’s population and
70 per cent of its landmass
collectively generated only 21
:Vanguard
News
per cent of the total sub national
Internally Generated
Revenue in 2017.
“Northern Nigeria will
continue to fall behind if
respective state governments
do not move to close the
development gap and that is
why we are always saying that
the biggest challenge we have
and what we are always
praying for is to have 10
governors like Mallam Nasir
el-Rufai.
“Closing this gap requires
multi layer investment and
government will not be able
to muster the needed funds.
Only private sector can raise
the amount of capital required
to find the kind of investment
required.
"Government must create a
conducive environment that
will trigger a huge inflow of
private capital into the private
sector of the economy.
"Private investment will
create jobs and will go a long
way to erase the challenge of
unemployment and poverty.
"As more people get
employed, you will notice a
sharp decline in some of the
social vices now prevalent in
our society. Kaduna State is a
shining example of this. While
several states are taking steps
4 years —el-Rufai
in this direction, only a few like
Kaduna are making visible
progress.
Kaduna attracts
$500m in 4
years—el-Rufai
Also speaking, el-Rufai said
the state was able to attract such
investment because all the
bottlenecks associated with
doing business in the state
had been removed.
The governor said the state
judiciary played a key role in
removing obnoxious laws,
which made investment in the
state almost impossible,
adding: “We are now number
one in the ease of doing
business in the country. Our
agenda is anchored around
providing a conducive
environment for private sector
investment, the economy and
create jobs.
"Kaduna is the third largest
state in the country in terms of
population. We have a
population of about 10 million
people. Over 80 per cent of
the population is below the
age of 34. So the biggest
challenge as a government
and as a state, is job creation.
“We, therefore ,embarked on
Accept terms of scholarship or quit,
Amnesty Office tells Admiralty varsity
BENEFICIARIES of
Presidential Amnesty
Programme deployed in
Admiralty University, Ibusa,
Delta State for educational
programmes have been
urged to accept the terms of
scholarship as applicable to
the institution or vacate its
premises.
Special Assistant (Media) to
Special Adviser to the
President on Niger Delta in a
statement, yesterday said:
“This followed the rejection of
sponsorship letters by some
delegates offered admission
by the university for the
current academic session on
the grounds that the
centralised feeding
:@vanguardnews
arrangement by the institution
is unacceptable to them.
“Part of the conditions for
offer of admission to its
prospective students is
compulsory provision of
feeding by the institution for
which the Amnesty Office
agreed to pay N45,000
monthly for their feeding out
of N70,000 entitled to each
delegate as In-Training
Allowance, ITA.
“Consequently, delegates of
the Amnesty Programme on
sponsorship at Admiralty
University are to receive
N25,000 monthly being the
balance on their ITA, along
with other entitlements.
:@vanguardnews
several policies and reforms
that will make Kaduna the first
choice for investment. We
believe that while the
government can provide the
enabling environment for
investment to thrive, it is only
the private sector that can
provide the jobs that our
young people in Kaduna
need.
“In the last three and a half
years of KADINVEST, we
have attracted investments of
over $500 million in local and
foreign investments.
"These investments have
created directly or indirectly
more than 100,000 jobs. It is
still a drop in the ocean, but
we have made some
progress."
In his remarks, President
Muhammadu Buhari said his
administration would accord
priority to the implementation
of the national economic plan
to attract private sector to create
jobs for the people.
He noted that the business
mogul and investor, Aliko
Dangote, and other investors
were already investing in
agricultural sector “in line with
our efforts to diversify the
economy away from undue
reliance on oil and gas.”
“However, despite
communicating and clarifying
the development to our
delegates at the institution
during an orientation exercise,
some of them decided not to
accept the sponsorship letters
offered them by the Amnesty
Programme.
“The Amnesty Office hereby
advises its delegates at
Admiralty University opposed
to the institution’s feeding
policy and rejected the
sponsorship letters to vacate
the school premises and apply
in writing to the Presidential
Amnesty Programme for
redeployment to other
universities for the next
academic session."
8th NASS urged to make
tobacco regulations a legacy
By Agbonkhese
Oboh
AS the 8th National
Assembly, NASS, winds
down, the lawmakers have
been urged to be on the side
of the people by approving
and ensuring full
implementation of National
Tobacco Control, NTC, Act,
2015.
This will be a legacy they
will leave behind, which will
be a benchmark for the quality
of their interventions and their
stand on matters of national
importance in the last four
years.
A rights activist and public
commentator, Emmanuel
Odinaka, threw the challenge
in a statement, noting that “for
the average Nigerian, the
physical and mental health of
the citizens come first, which
is why the public health
community has, in the last
four years, championed
strong advocacy for the full
enforcement of the NTC Act,
to regulate the manufacture,
advertisement, distribution
and consumption of tobacco
products in Nigeria.
Recall that NTC Act
domesticates the World
Health Organisation’s
Framework Convention on
Tobacco Control, WHO-
FCTC, which Nigeria signed
in 2003, ratified in 2004 and
was eventually signed into
law by former President, Dr.
Goodluck Jonathan, on May
28, 2015.
Meanwhile, in his
statement, Odinaka said:
“The more technical aspects
of the law, which would close
loopholes currently being
exploited by tobacco
corporations to incorporate
innovations in marketing
their lethal products to
minors, provide frameworks
for effective warning
messages on tobacco packs
and provide details for the full
implementation of the Act in
the enforcement of position
of smoking in public places
among others, are still
awaiting the approval of the
National Assembly.
“The Regulations, when
passed, will provide
technical and operational
guides that ensure the
effective implementation of
the tobacco control Act. It will
clear all ambiguities and
provide details for rules and
procedures.
Group lauds el-Rufai over
appointment of Usman as School
of Health Sciences provost
By Chioma Obinna
PRESIDENT
of
Environmental Health
Officers Association of
Nigeria, EHOAN, Mr.
Samuel Akingbehin, has
lauded Governor Nasir el-
Rufai on the appointment of
Dr Suleiman Usman as the
new provost of Shehu Idris
School of Health Sciences
and Technology, describing
it as “a bold step towards
better health service
delivery in the state.”
Akingbehin said the
governor had demonstrated
his belief in merit and
competence in sustaining
his achievements in
governance..
According to him, “the
appointment of Usman,
Chairman of Kaduna State
branch of EHOAN, is a
commendable decision by
the governor of Kaduna
State, Malam el-Rufai, to
encourage the availability
of quality health personnel
for the state and the nation.
"Usman is a rare breed
environmental health
professional. He is a round
peg in a round hole. It
shows the sincerity of the
governor in ensuring high
productivity through the
appointment of qualified
and competent hands in
important positions."
Edo College 1966-70 set elects
Momodu president
PROFESSOR Momodu
Momodu has been
elected President of Edo
College, Benin Class of
1966-70.
Professor Momodu who is
the Dean of College of Law,
Crescent University,
Abeokuta, was unanimously
elected at the Class reunion
in Benin.
Also elected were Dr.
Emmanuel Odigie, Vice
President; Mr. Pascal
Osigbemhe, General
Sceretary; Mr. Chris
Ighodalo, Assistant General
Secretary; Prof Benjamin
Igbinosa, a former Deputy
Vice Chancellor, Ambrose
Alli University, Ekpoma as
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Treasurer; Mr. Gbenga
Oni-Olusola, Social and
Publicity Secretary, and
Professor Gabriel
Egharevba, a Professor of
Chemistry as Assistant
Social and Publicity
Secretary.
Mr. Sunny Okunzuwa, a
retired Director of Accounts
at the University of Benin
Teaching Hospital, UBTH,
was elected auditor.
The elected executive
will hold office for two
years.
The exco had been
charged with organising
the 50th anniversary of the
class graduating from Edo
College in 1970.