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Immigration: 2000 inducted Immigration recruits ‘on hold’ 7months after

By Simon Echewofun Sunday

Some 2,000 recruits of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) are planning a protest in Abuja for being recruited and inducted on arms handling, but have been put on hold since August 2015.

Some of them who paid a courtesy visit to the Media Trust headquarters yesterday, said they will hold a peaceful protest under the auspices of the 2000 ‘Dispersed Recruits’ at the Federal Ministry of Interior on April 4, 2016.

“We the affected officers and men numbering 2,000 have decided to stage a peaceful match to the Federal Ministry of Interior to press home our demands for an outright reversal of our suspension,” a letter from them read.

There are series of secret recruitment with sources confirming the induction courses holding secretly for that since January this year while the 2,000 openly recruited, waste away.

The recruits said after the failed recruitment of 2014, a Presidential Committee initiated a fresh process by February 9, 2015. They said over one million Nigerians applied but 48,747 were shortlisted from which 2,000 including 1,457 males and 543 females were offered provisional appointments by May 22, 2015.

Our reporter sighted copies of some provisional offer of appointments signed by the Deputy Comptroller-General (Human Resources), H.Y. Malgwi.

The recruits under three categories, Superintendent Cadre, Inspectorate Cadre and Immigration Assistant Cadre said they were posted to Rivers, Kano, Nasarawa and other states for the intensive induction, and were issued staff Identity Cards with Service Numbers as at August, 2015.

They were surprised however to see a circular with Reference No. NIS/5/1828/1/193 dated August 28, 2015, ordering them to disperse after the completion of the recruitment process and certification.

“I am directed to refer to the above subject matter and to invite you to disperse forthwith, all the candidates who were issued appointment letters following the conclusion of the recent recruitment exercise conducted by the ‘Presidential Committee to Assist in Immigration Recruitment’.

“You are required to ensure that this interim arrangement pending further directives does not result in any breach of the public peace in your command,” a copy of the circular signed by the DCG, Malgwi read in part.

FG urged to withdraw varsity subsidy from rich

By Chidimma C. Okeke

It is time Nigerian government withdraws subsidy from the children of the rich attending public universities across the country and reorder it to providing subsidy to the children of the poor, governor Adams oshiomhole of Edo state has said.

He said it was not ideal for the government to be paying subsidy for a child whose father has a private jet and one who cannot afford a bicycle simply because they are in the same university.

The governor who noted this in Abuja at the presentation of letter of Recognition of Edo University, Iyamho by National Universities Commission (NUC) opined that Nigeria runs a generalized system of subsidy which should not be.

He explains that we have a situation now where every senior Nigerian now finds comfort in sending their child for education abroad where they pay a minimum of $40, 000 to $60,000 per annum.

He maintained that there is a lot of hypocrisy when it comes to fashioning out appropriate public policies on education in the country, saying “we have rather resolved to privatise solutions with matters that require national policies.”

While noting that Nigeria pretends that it can deliver almost free university education, he said countries that are richer are not able to deliver free university education for every child but rather the policy that works is where the states are being empowered to provide scholarship to about eight children of the poor to enable them acquire education.

Speaking on the establishment of the new university in his state, he said they are going to administer sensitive subsidy that does not require any administrative intervention.

He said doing that will enable the university to provide quality education and sustain first class students at home and provide centres of excellence.

Nigeria needs satellite for military operations

By Zakariyya Adaramola

Nigeria needs a dedicated satellite to make its military operations more effective, Air Vice Marshal Tommy Udoh has said.

AVM Udoh said this yesterday when he led the management team of Defence Space Agency on a working visit to the Minister of science and technology Dr Ogbonnaya Onu in his office in Abuja.

The military chief said space agency is so important and sensible to military operations and the Nigerian military should have a dedicated satellite and a space agency of its own.

He called on all the stakeholders to support the passage of the Bill establishing the agency which has passed first reading at the National Assembly.

In his reaction, Dr. Onu said the government would work very hard in the years to come to strengthen all the structures of the Nigerian space agencies that would help to ensure that a Nigerian lands in space in fourteen years’ time.

Employment scam: EFCC arrests Fire Service Chief

By Ronald Mutum

The operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) yesterday arrested one Dada Olatunji, a former Assistant Comptroller General of the Nigeria Fire Service for offences bordering on employment scam.

A statement yesterday by EFCC spokesman Wilson Uwujaren said Olatunji’s arrest followed a petition by two applicants – Robert Mathew and Theresa Abah.

Uwujaren stated that the petitioners alleging that, sometime in December 2014, one Christopher Adaje, an officer at the Nyanya Office of the agency informed them of a recruitment exercise purportedly going on and promised to facilitate their employment into the Service before April, 2015 if they pay N350 thousand each.

He explained that Matthew and Abah who were desperate to get employment, but could not afford the said sum, resorted to soliciting for help from their friends and loved ones.

Uwujaren said; “Eventually, Matthew was able to source his from a friend while Abah took a loan of N225 thousand from her friend, to meet Adaje’s demand to offer them job.”

He added that altogether, a total of N570 thousand was raised by Matthew and Abah which was paid into an account supplied by Adaje in one of the old generation banks.

Uwujaren stated that months after, Adaje could not deliver on his promise, a situation that prompted the applicants to visit his office where they discovered it was fraud.

On arrest, Adaje confessed that, he was fronting for Olatunji whom he claimed, the money was given to, adding that the suspects would be charged to court as soon as investigations are concluded, the EFCC stated.

CSO charges FG Ogoni clean-up

By Abbas Jimoh

The Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately institute the framework of the clean-up of the oil spill in Ogoniland as part of measures of implementing the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) Assessment and Recommendations (UNEP) on the pollution in Ogoniland.

The Executive Director, ERA/FoEN Godwin Uyi Ojo made the call yesterday in Abuja at the advocacy meeting on the clean-up, saying the pollution has continue to spread due to non-action especially on the parts of Shell and federal government.

He said the call became necessary given that there was nothing to indicate that government would commence the clean-up in three week as announced and that it was time the present administration matches word with action..

He asked government to make it strategies, roadmap and processes it intends to use to achieve the clean-up and restoration of Ogoniland, alleging that the plight of the Ogoni people had been worsen by non-implementation of the UNEP report due to its politicization over the years.

“To ensure the immediate commencement of the clean-up and restoration of the ecosystem and livelihoods of the Ogonis and the entire Niger delta as a whole, we urge that strategies, road maps and processes be put in place by government and the oil companies to address this,” Ojo said.

He also cautioned government against sidelining key stakeholders in the exercise

He also said that the government must put its feet down to stop the ‘corporate impunity and intrigues’ from Shell oil company which has so far been playing hide and seek apart from trying to frustrate the reports implementation since 2011 when the report was presented after six year of the panel set up in 2005.

He said: “While we acknowledge the ongoing consultative meetings we urge that they should be broad based with all stakeholders’ participation. We call on the federal government and the relevant agencies to initiate a holistic approach involving broad based stakeholders, including communities and the CSOs participation in the design, implementation and monitoring of the Ogonis clean-up and restoration.”

Rejection of gender bill bad omen for Nigeria

By Ruby Leo

The Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Senator Aisha Jummai Alhassan, has said that the rejection of the gender bill by the senate has setthe country back in terms of development and enhancing the rights of women.

The minister who made the statement in

New York while attending the “Governance and Women’s Representation: Achieving Agenda 2063” noted that Nigeria would have made a significant leap in the advancement of women in conformity with the United Nations (UN) Conventions, and other related instruments on the rights and development of women.

Easter: Saraki seeks for peace, economic growth

By Ismail Mudashir

The Senate President, Bukola Saraki has urged Christians to use the Easter celebration to pray for sustainable peace and economic growth in the country.

Saraki made the call in his message to mark this year’s Easter, a festival in commemoration of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ by Christians across the world.

He said it was imperative for all Nigerians to borrow a leaf from the humility and sacrifice exhibited by Christ when he yielded his life for the redemption of mankind.

Contractors demand SURE-P debts

By Judd-Leonard Okafor

Contractors who supplied surgical, laboratory and scientific equipment for projects under the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme in the FCT have called on the territory’s minister to intervene in retrieving payments owed them since 2014.

The contractors under the auspices of the Surgical/Medical Laboratory Allied and Scientific Equipment Dealers and Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (SMASEDMAN) condemned the situation where contractors did not get paid after executing their contracts

Clergy laments incarceration of 8-months-old-baby

By Adie Vanessa Offiong

The President of the Nigerian women in clergy, Nonnie Roberson has condemned the incarceration of an 8 month-old-baby and other children in prison.

Roberson, who is overseer of the New Wine Ministries who visited the prison yesterday in Suleja, Niger State noted that the children were held because their mothers were servicing jail terms.

She also used the opportunity of her visit to pay for the release of about eight prisioners said: “I was really shocked when I saw the baby. The woman lives on garri that outsiders provide for them. They don’t give them food. They depend on what people take to them. That is what they share among them and they soak the gari even in the morning with little or no sugar. You can just imagine! There are many children living in this condition in Nigerian prisons but people would not know. I weep for this country.”

She said paid fines for prisoners who were randomly selected when she visited the Suleja prison.

UN pledges continued support for FG’s anti-graft war

By Abdullateef Salau

The United Nations has pledged to continue working closely with the Presidential Advisory Committee on Corruption, anti-graft agencies and the National Assembly in rooting corruption out of the system.

It also promised to support the civil society organizations with grants to improve the quality of their engagement in the anti-corruption process in Nigeria.

The Resident Representative, United Nations Development Programme, (UNDP) in Nigeria, Ms. Fatima Samoura stated this yesterday in Abuja at a meeting with the media.

The support, she said, would enhance the success of the on-going war against corruption, increase the rate of recovery of stolen public resources and enhance transparency in public institutions.

On conflict prevention and building peace in the north east, she said the UN and its agencies in partnership with the Federal Government and the Northern Governors are currently reviewing and finalizing a Recovery and Peace-Building Assessment (RPBA) report on the situation in the region.

Samoura said: “This remains a critical area for us at UNDP and the UN at large. We will continue to provide support to the government in responding to emerging challenges.

“We have already commenced the implementation of two projects which contributes to structural conflict prevention in the North East. These are on ‘Livelihood Support and Social Cohesion’ and the ‘De-Radicalization, Counter-Terrorism and Migration’ Projects.

“All this is packaged in the framework of a National Infrastructure for Peace in Nigeria. We want to use this framework to harness efforts at Federal, State, and Local Government areas, bringing together the relevant stakeholders.”

Easter celebrations: FG warns airlines against extorting passenger

By Chris Agabi

Minister of State for Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika has warned airlines operating in the country against taking advantage of the heavy traffic during the Easter period to exploit travellers through arbitrary increase in fares.

Sirika in a statement signed by James Odaudu, the Deputy Director, Press & Public Affairs, said the warning has become necessary in view of some of the airlines’ penchant for unwarranted inflation of air fares during festive seasons, thereby causing untold hardship for air travellers.

According to the Minister, rather than cause problems for the travelling public, the airlines should devise better means of improving their services in terms of customer comfort, safe and timely flights, more effective information dissemination and network expansion.

He has also assured Nigerians of the preparedness of all aviation Agencies to ensure safety and security of passengers during the period and beyond. According to him, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, in conjunction with the Nigeria Police has deployed sniffer dogs at the airports to complement the regular aviation security set-up.

Sirika has also directed the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority to closely monitor the activities of the airlines to ensure strict compliance with all operational rules and guidelines in order to protect travellers against operational misconducts