11052021 - Insecurity: Bandits attack Katsina mosque, abduct 10

14 — Vanguard, TUESDAY, MAY 11, 2021
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VISIT: From left—Managing Director, Lagos Free Zone, LFZ, Dinesh Rathi; Head of Chancery, High
Commission of India in Nigeria, Mr. Rachit Rawat; High Commissioner of India to Nigeria, H.E. Mr.
Abhay Thakur; Customer Service Manager, Lagos Free Zone, LFZ, Tega Oscar-Ede and Project Leader,
Power & Gas, Lagos Free Zone, LFZ, Prem Krishna, during the visit of the High Commissioner to the
Lagos Free Zone.
Gov Ortom, Tor Tiv, PFN beg Christians
to pray against Nigeria's disintegration
By Peter Duru
MNOR AKURDI—GOVER
Samuel Ortom of
Benue State and Chairman of
Benue Traditional Council,
Tor Tiv, HRM, Professor
James Ayatse, have called on
Christian faithful to pray
against the disintegration of
Nigeria.
They observed that though
there are ominous signs of
dark cloud hanging over Nigeria,
prayers remain the only
instrument to salvage the
country.
The duo spoke during a
prayer meeting put together
by the Pentecostal Fellowship
of Nigeria, PFN at the Glory
of His Majesty Church in
Makurdi.
The Governor, quoting 2
Chronicles 7:13-14 from the
Holy Bible, urged Christians
to obey God's word by seeking
forgiveness for their sins
so that the problems in Nigeria
and particularly Benue
State would be a thing of the
past.
Represented by his Chief of
Staff, Mr. Terwase Orbunde,
the Governor lauded the forefathers
of Benue State for preserving
Benue land from
strangers even as he called for
prayers against faulty foundations
in the country.
The Tor Tiv, on his part said,
"so much has been done about
the situation in our country
and the only way out is prayer.
God has a programme for
Nigeria and no human being
can stop it. That is why I am
happy that the Holy Spirit
has put the Church on the
path of prayer because
through prayer everything is
possible."
Also quoting Jonah1:1-2 in
the Bible, the paramount ruler
advised Christians to unite
in prayer, love, forgiveness
and against denomination,
stressing that the traditional
and political institutions in
the state were united "because
there is danger ahead.
"We are the custodians of
this land and we will not give
the land to the devil. We must
be united; all the bickering
must stop."
On his part, Vice President
of PFN, North Central and
President, El-Buba Outreach
Ministries, Prophet Isa El-
Buba, said there is a mighty
wind of revival and restoration
going on in Nigeria.
"In the next few days, you
will see what God will do to
the wicked people. They will
be killing one another," El-
Buba said.
Plans to slash salaries: Call Finance
Minister to order now, TUC tells Buhuri
By Victor Ahiuma-
Young
TRADE UNION Congress
of Nigeria, TUC, yesterday
pleaded with President
Muhammadu Buhari, to call
the Minister of Finance and
National Planning, Mrs.
Zainab Ahmed, to order to
avoid anarchy over alleged
plans to slash workers' salaries.
Reacting to the recent statement
that the federal government
plans to slash workers'
salaries to cut cost, TUC contended
that such suggestion at
a time Nigeria is grappling
with the effect of COVID-19
pandemic with millions of
people already rendered jobless
was not only preposterous,
but wicked in every shade
and ungodly.
In a statement by TUC President
and Secretary General,
Quadri Olaleye, and Musa-
Lawal Ozigi, respectively, the
body said: "It has become very
imperative for the President
of the Federal Republic to call
his appointees to order as they
have been making some unreasonable
statements that
are capable of fueling more
crisis in the country even at a
time, we are battling to address
the one at hand. The
most recent was made by the
Minister of Finance and National
Planning, Mrs. Zainab
Ahmed concerning the plans
to reduce workers salary. According
to her, workers salary
is the reason the cost of governance
is high.
"To come up with such an
idea at a time we are still grappling
with the effect of pandemic
and millions of people
have been rendered jobless for
months already is not only
preposterous but wicked and,
in every shade, ungodly. We are
Benue unveils N300m SFTAS, World Bank project
By Peter Duru
MNOR AKURDI—GOVER
Samuel Ortom of
Benue State, yesterday unveiled
the N300million States
Fiscal Transparency, Accountability
and Sustainability programme,
SFTAS, World Bank
assisted Property Enumeration
Project and Benue Geographic
Information Services,
BENGIS, sensitization exercise.
Performing the unveiling in
Makurdi, the Governor explained
that BENGIS was a
tool for computerization of
land records and land administration
in Benue State.
Represented by his Chief of
Staff, Terwase Orbunde the
Governor said "while SFTAS
Disbursement-Linked Indicator,
DLI, 11.3 is a component
in BENGIS meant to enumerate
all buildings, their owners
and occupants in the state towards
developing a robust
database for planning and
development.
"In developed countries,
they have since embraced the
science and technology of
database development and
management as a tool for governance
and proactive decision
making in a timely manner
which is key to fiscal
transparency, accountability
and sustainable development.
"With this tool, government
and indeed the people are able
to know with ease, who leaves
where as well as other details
of availability or unavailability
of infrastructure and facilities
available to the people
of a given locality.
"With good infrastructural
and geospatial database,
many government decisions
are taken with precise
knowledge of the subsisting
situation and with accurate
information for good planning.
"Such planning saves cost
and eliminates wastage
while enabling government
to work with real time information.
In the absence of
such database, government
often resort to paying heavily
for adhoc planning of her
projects or in the alternative,
to use unconfirmed assumptions
in development projects,"
he stated
surprised this is coming from
a mother. The Trade Union
Congress of Nigeria, nay Nigerians
believe the government
knows the right thing to
do to cut down the cost of governance;
what it actually
lacks is the political will to do
so. Events of the recent past
have shown that workers are
not the problem; rather the
appointees of government are
responsible for the sorry state
of the country. They brought
every strata of the country to
its knee. It is a pity.
"May we remind the Minister
that as at Q4 2020 the unemployment
rate stood at 33.3
per cent and it is projected to
rise even further in the coming
months while the rate of
inflation as at March, 2021
stood at 18.17 per cent. The
consequential effects of these
are that we now have more
idle hands capable of going
into crime. Also, even the socalled
N30, 000 minimum
wage which some states are
yet to commence payment
has been rubbished by the
high rate of inflation. It is
important to also remind her
that there is a law backing
National Minimum Wage.
" As the Minister of Finance,
we had expected her ministry
to work collaboratively with
the Central Bank of Nigeria
(CBN) to come up with policies
that would shape the
country economically. Foreign
Direct Investments (FDI)
has continued to dwindle in
the country despite our economic
potential. Investors
are discouraged from investing
due to insecurity, unfavourable
policies or a general
lack of a suitable business
environment. Maybe she
is not aware that Ghana has
become a business hob for
investors.‘‘
Exam malpractice: UNIJOS
clears Law Prof 5yrs after
By Marie-Therese
Nanlong
JOS—AFTER five years,
the Management of University
of Jos, UNIJOS, has
absolved Professor Benedicta
Daudu of the Institution's
Faculty of Law of any wrongdoing,
saying the allegation
of examination malpractice
leveled against her was unfounded.
Recall that Professor
Daudu was suspended in
2016 over alledged examination
misconduct and
asked to appear before a
Council/ Senate Disciplinary
Committee, but she challenged
the punishment in
court.
When it was discovered
that the allegation was unfounded,
the University
cleared her name and offered
to settle out of court.
But the terms of settlement
were subsequently filed in
court even as the University
regretted the embarrassment
caused her and accepted
to pay all her outstanding
emoluments and entitle-
EKITI STATE Govern
ment and Promasidor
Nigeria have intensified
their efforts to growing dairy
agribusiness in Nigeria as
they have taken delivery of
250 pregnant heifers from
the United States of America,
for Ikun Dairy Farm,
IDF, in Ekiti State.
A statement by the management
of Promasidor, said
"It is worthy of note that this
is the second batch of heifers
arriving the farm after
the first arrival on February
10th this year. It is in line
with the objectives of the
state government and Promasidor
to make the dairy
farm a model of backward
integration on a commercial
scale.
"Upon calving, the milk
production on the farm will
definitely be boosted by the
Jersey heifers' arrival as they
are expected to produce an
average of 20 litres of milk
per day per animal. In a bid
to bring the efforts of Promasidor
on the farm to fruition,
the Ekiti State Govern-
ments.
The Registrar of the university,
Monday Danjem,
has already written to the
Chairman of the Presidential
Advisory Committee on
Anti-Corruption, PACAC,
intimating him of the development.
The letter captioned "Reinstatement
of Professor
Benedicta Daudu" stated:
"Sometime in 2016, based
on an allegation of examination
misconduct against
then Dr. (now Professor)
Benedicta Daudu, she was
suspended from her employment
and requested to appear
before a Council/ Senate
Disciplinary Committee,
a development which she
challenged in court.
"Subsequently, the University
proposed an out of court
settlement, the terms of
which were accepted by Prof.
Daudu. I am therefore
pleased to inform you that
the matter has been amicably
settled out of court and
Professor Benedicta Daudu
is now free to return to her
national assignment."
Ekiti, Promasidor intensify effort
to grow dairy agribusiness in
Nigeria
ment has ensured all issues
with landowners were resolved
and full access to land
granted for use.
"They also ensured the
connection of the farm to the
national grid for regular
power supply. It is important
to also mention the immense
support from the
Central Bank of Nigeria
(CBN) that includes access
to facilities to boost investment
on the farm and their
recommendations that aided
the smooth importation
of the heifers into the country.
"The company's focus to
revamp the moribund Ikun
Dairy Farm is in line with
the Federal Government's
policy on backward integration
initiated by the Central
Bank of Nigeria (CBN). Ikun
Dairy Farm Limited was incorporated
on 22nd January
2020 as an integrated agroallied
concern.
"It is an initiative of Promasidor
Nigeria and the
Ekiti State Government
through its Investment
Company, Fountain Holdings
Limited."
Uba Michael inducted into
CIPRM&P 2021 Hall of Fame
By Emmanuel
Okogba
A BUJA—AMBASSADOR
of Peace and Good Governance
Advocate, Uba
Michael, has been inducted
into the Hall of Fame of The
Chartered Institute of Public
Resources Management and
Politics, Ghana.
The induction which took
place in Abuja was in recognition
of Uba's management
ingenuity and remarkable
excellence in national/international
economic development
of Nigeria.
The notice of induction
read in part, "The Chartered
Institute of Public Resources
Management and Politics
(Ghana) is greatly proud of
your incorruptible track
records of excellent integrity,
outstanding resourcefulness,
exemplary service delivery,
corporate productivity and
leadership dexterity."
In his acceptance, Uba said:
"I believe in the youth of this
country. I also believe that entrepreneurship
and the right
kind of leadership is one of
the cures to our societal problems.
I want to specially appreciate
the management of
Chartered Institute of Public
Resources Management and
Politics for finding me worthy
of this award."