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 Building collapse: Senate wants regulatory agencies to enforce construction standards

Building collapse: Senate wants regulatory agencies to enforce construction standards
By Kingsley Okoye
Buildings
Abuja, July 17, 2019 (NAN) The Senate has urged regulatory agencies in the building and construction sector to ensure full compliance to standards required for construction of buildings in the country.
The call followed a motion of urgent public importance on the massive building collapse and flood in Jos metropolis in Plateau.
The motion was brought by Sen. Istifanus Gyang (PDP-Plateau) under Order 42 and 52 of the Senate rules.
Gyang said the massive building collapse and flooding in Jos metropolis had resulted in the death of 15 persons.
According to him, three people were killed in the flood, while 12 people were left dead in the building collapse.
He said the recurring building collapse across the country was obviously due to non-adherence to standards of building rules by developers.
He said more worrisome was an issue of compromise of some regulatory agencies in enforcing the building standards.
In his contribution, Sen. Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo (PDP-Bayelsa) appealed to his colleagues to support the motion.
He said the Senate should ensure that regulatory agencies issue necessary approvals for building to developers.
This, he said, would mitigate the issue of cutting corners by the developers and regulatory agencies.
Consequently, the Senate resolved to urge the regulatory agencies to enforce stipulated standards on all property developers.
It also urged the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to upgrade its capacity in terms of prompt response to disasters.
Besides, the red chamber also enjoined NEMA to give relief materials to the affected people in Jos.
The Senate further observed a minute silence for the victims. (NAN)
KC/GOM/MST
Edited by Gregg Mmaduakolam/Muhammad Suleiman Tola

Health

NPopC seeks support of govt agencies, banks on data collection

NPopC seeks support of govt agencies, banks on data collection

NAN-HG-8

Data

By Mustapha Sumaila

Abuja, July 6, 2017 (NAN) The Chairman, National Population Commission (NPopC), Mr Eze Duruiheoma, has called for support from government agencies, private organisations and banks for effective national central data collection.

Duruiheoma made the call when he appeared as a guest on the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Forum on Thursday in Abuja.

“It is only NPopC that has constitutional mandate to conduct population of both persons and houses as well as the responsibility to ensure vital registration of births and deaths in the country,’’ he explained.

According to him, efforts and resources being used by some agencies of government would have been given to support his commission in conducting authentic data for the usage of all.

“As far as census is concerned, our commission remains the leading agency for a detailed data collection of human beings and housing while other agencies of government’s data were on narrow range.

“A typical census exercise conducted by NPopC collects more than 60 facts from questionnaires we administered, while that is not the case with other agencies.

“If other agencies of government can support and encourage us to conduct census, the duplication is unnecessary,” he said.

The chairman noted that if the commission got the required support and assistance, it would meet the expectations of Nigerians.

NAN reports that NIMC, FRSC, INEC and banks are generating data on individual citizens, drivers, voters and customers, respectively, as part of security measures.

It would be recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari had directed all concerned agencies to harmonise the issue of data collection on Nigerians.

This is yet to be complied by the affected agencies and financial institutions.

Meanwhile, Duruiheoma said that Nigeria has no actual figure for its population since the 2006 census.

He stated that the estimated population figure in public domain was just a mere projection which was done on the baseline of 2006 census.

According to him, the actual population of the country will be known after the census was conducted.

The chairman advised government to focus its attention on the conduct of the head counts because it would help in taking the country out of recession.

He warned that to come out of economic recession requires planning and data collection or else will be difficult to come out of it. (NAN)

MS/MST

Edited by Muhammad Suleiman Tola

Economy

Customs, other agencies explore areas of collaboration

Customs, other agencies explore areas of collaboration

NAN-H-10

Customs

By Aisha Cole

Lagos, May 23, 2017 (NAN) Comptroller Emmanuel Edede, the Customs Area Controller, Murtala Muhammed International Airport Command, Lagos, has urged stakeholders at the airport to collaborate to carry out fiscal and economic policies of the Federal Government.

Edede made the plea during courtesy visits to heads of Federal Government agencies at the airport on Tuesday.

The controller said his visits were meant to seek the cooperation and understanding of other agencies so that the service could effectively carry out its duties at the airport, while also giving support to other agencies.

Edede said that no agency of government could achieve anything by working alone.

He, therefore, appealed to all agencies to support the Customs, Murtala Muhammed Command, especially in the area of revenue collection and suppression of smuggling at the airport.

The controller noted that all government agencies had their mandates to implement.

“To achieve this, all agencies of government need to collaborate by sharing timely intelligence that could assist them in carrying out their duties.

“In Adamawa where I am coming from, the military and para-military agencies had a good inter-agency relationship. Intelligence was promptly shared, especially as regards smuggling and Boko Haram.

“This to a large extent helped to improve revenue and reduced smuggling significantly,’’ Edede said.

The controller visited the Nigeria Immigration Services (NIS), Nigerian Air Force, the Nigeria Police, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and National Foods, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC).

All heads of agencies at the airport pledged to accord Customs all necessary support in the discharge of their duties.

The controller also met with officials of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) and the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) as well as their members in an interactive session.

 

The Customs agents pledged to work with the controller in order to ensure trade facilitation at the command.

He assured the agents of an open-door policy and told them to feel free to see him anytime they have complaints.

Edede, however, said the agents must obey the rules and regulations, do honest declarations and avoid cutting corners if they want to enjoy Customs’ support.

He said if all stakeholders could meet all requirements by making honest declarations and paying appropriate duty on their cargoes, there shall be no delays in cargo clearance.

“We have a clear mandate on revenue, which we shall not compromise.

“As long as the right thing is done, I can assure you that no officer will delay your cargo,’’ the controller said. (NAN)

AIC/MST

Edited by Muhammad Suleiman Tola

General news

Kano pledges sustained partnership with international donor agencies 

Kano pledges sustained partnership with international donor agencies 

NAN-H-88

Partnership

Kano, March 7, 2017 (NAN)‎ The Kano State Government has on Tuesday pledged to continue to collaborate with international donor agencies for the development of the state.

Gov. Abdullahi Ganduje said this at the two-day donors’ conference in Kano.‎

Ganduje said that the meeting, with theme “Fostering State Development Agenda”,‎ would ‎discuss issues concerning donations and assistance by the international organisations to the state.‎

He noted that some of the problems faced by the partnership were delays in releasing counterpart funds by the state government and economic recession in the country.

‎The state Commissioner for Budget and Planning, Hajiya Zubaida Abubakar, said the importance of the meeting was to know the actual contributions from all the donors that were partnering or coming to partner with the state.

She said that donations from the aid organisations were helping on addressing the critical socio-economic problems and would also help in development plan of the state.

She emphasised the state government’s determination to develop infrastructure in the state as part of initiatives to improve the welfare of the people.‎ (NAN)

MNT/MST

Edited by Muhammad Suleiman Tola‎