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General news

(Audio) We’ve good reason to thank God for our successes — Osinbajo

Successes
By Donald Ugwu
Abuja, May 29, 2018 (NAN) Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Tuesday declared that the country had every reason to thank God for the successes achieved by the Muhammadu Buhari administration in its three years in office.
He stated this in his remark at the 2018 Democracy Day dinner/gala night held at the Conference Hall of the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
At the event, the Vice President also received the Team Nigeria to the 21st Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast 2018, Australia which clinched ninth position out of 53 countries that participated in the games.

Cue in audio (Osinbajo)

“We have every reason to be grateful and thankful to God for the very wonderful way that He has worked with our government and ensured that we have recorded in the past three years such great success.
“I was reminding someone, just about two months ago that we are not even three years old yet and we are being compared, some of our friends who are here who had been in government for 16 years compare themselves to us even when we are two years old.
“It shows we must be doing very well indeed.’’

Cue out audio

The Vice President thanked all those who came to celebrate with the administration and wished them happy democracy day.
He said it was an honour for him to host the guests at the occasion of the gala night in celebration of democracy day and the 3rd anniversary of the Buhari administration.
According to Osinbajo, for those of them in government it is an opportunity for them to thank God for the extraordinary grace that has brought them in office.
He said that for him, if anyone had told him five years ago that he would be the Vice President at all let alone celebrate three years in office he would have doubted that they were right.
Osinbajo said that one of the reasons he never thought that he was cut out for politics was because he always thought that he had had enough baggage already.
He advised politicians to be careful about their calling because people always thought that all politicians were stealing the people’s resources.
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr Boss Mustapha, had described the event as a very auspicious occasion saying that Nigerians deserved applause for sustaining democracy for 19 uninterrupted years.
He expressed optimism that the country would witness better things as the administration moved into its fourth year of service.
According to him, the public lecture organized to mark the administration’s third anniversary is enlightening and if the lessons are applied the country will move forward.
Mr Solomon Dalong, the Minister of Sports, while presenting the 90 Commonwealth athletes hinted that five of them won laurels while the country finished 9th out of 53 commonwealth countries and second in Africa after South Africa at the games. (NAN)
DCU/YEE

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Edted by Emmanuel Yashim

Health

Zakat Commission condemns JOHESU strike

Strike

By Muhammad Nasir Bello
Sokoto, April 22, 2018 (NAN) The Sokoto State Zakkat and Endowment Commission, on Sunday condemned the strike embarked upon by the Joint Health Sector Union (JOHESU).

The Chairman of the commission, Malam Lawal Maidoki, described the action as illegal, inhuman, and unlawful going by the teachings of Islams.

Maidoki was speaking at the monthly disbursement of medical support to various Zakkat committees in Hospitals and pharmaceutical shops across the state.

The Chairman, who is also the National President, Da’awa Coordination Council of Nigeria, said that the union’s action would impact negatively on the health sector.

“This action taken by JOHESU can only hamper our development as a country with a large population.

“As such, we condemn the action and see it as illegal, inhuman and unlawful going by the teachings of Islam, as nothing could be achieved by it.

“Moreover, we have patients, who could not afford medication under our care in various hospitals across the state.

“However, such patients are mostly psychiatric and have no any relative to take care of them, as such the development worsen their situation to be discharged from the hospital, ” he said.

He appealed to the Federal Government and the National Assembly to enact laws that would restrain health workers from embarking on strike as in the case of police and military officers.

Maidoki further said that the commission disbursed N10.45 million as health assistance to the various hospitals and pharmaceutical shops across the state.

Some of the benefitting hospitals are, Kware Psychiatric Hospital (N4.35 million), Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital (N1.5 million) and Specialist Hospital (N1.2 million).

Others are Wamakko Orthopedic Hospital (N.5 million), Maryam Abacha Hospital (N.3 million) and Iman Hospital (N.3 million).

The benefiting pharmaceutical shops include Zumunci Pharmacy (N.5 million), Binji Pharmacy (N.5 million), Rauda Pharmacy (N.4 million) and Iman Pharmacy (N.5 million). (NAN)

BMN/ESAN/YEE
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Edited by Abiodun Esan/Emmanuel Yashim

Foreign

Audio Attached: UN applauds Nigeria for easing up delivery of relief materials to IDPs

NAN-F-41

Commendation

By Prudence Arobani

New York, Jan. 25, 2017 (NAN) The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the Sahel has applauded Nigeria for facilitating aid delivery to Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the North East.

The UN Humanitarian Coordinator for the Sahel, Mr Toby Lanzer, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in New York that the Nigerian government has been responsive.

Cue in audio 1 (Lanzer)

“Congratulations to the authorities in Nigeria, who have been facilitating the work of non-governmental organisations and UN agencies across Adamawa, Yobe, and Borno states.

 

“Really, whether it is facilitating the work of aid agencies by helping with visas or helping with clearing goods through customs or any of the other multiple challenges, which exist in the settings, I think that the Nigerian authorities have been very very attentive.

 

“So that would be work in progress; I think that the Nigerian authorities have been very attentive in this regard.

 

“There are series of measures that have to be taken for an aid operation to work and often it is difficult because you are working in areas of a country that can be insecure.

 

“You are working in places where the logistics challenge can be great.

 

“For example, I know that there was a moment just before Christmas when it was difficult to get Jet-A1 fuel up to Maiduguri and of course that has an impact on the ability of the United Nations to fly its aircrafts.

 

“But these are problems that exist in all aid settings and the key is to overcome them and in that regard, I think the Nigerian authorities have done their very best.”

 

Cue out audio 1

The UN assistant secretary-general explained that due to the logistics support from the Nigerian authorities, aid agencies had been able to reach more survivors of insurgency with relief materials.

 

Cue in audio 2 (Lanzer)

 

“Let me just underline the extent to which the Nigerian authorities at the Federal and the local level have been facilitating the work of NGOs and UN agencies.

 

“I’ve worked in many parts of the world, where there are difficulties.

 

“Aid workers find it hard to get visas, Non-governmental organisations can find it difficult to be registered, clearing goods through customs becomes hard, tax exemptions are absent – we have felt very little of that in Nigeria

 

“And I want to salute the authorities of Nigeria for having accepted, welcomed and facilitated the work of the aid agencies working across the Northeast of the country.

 

“But, is it seamless? No! Of course there are ways that improvements can be made that when I compare this setting with others where I’ve been, we (aid agencies) have been supported in all of the key ways to be able to reach communities, people in desperate need of assistance across the Northeast of Nigeria.”

 

Cue out audio 2 (NAN)

APT/OSA/YEE

Edited by Shittu Obassa/Emmanuel Yashim

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General news

NLC urges FG to stop killings in Southern Kaduna

NAN-H-57

Killings

By Joan Nwagwu

Abuja, Jan. 24, 2017 (NAN) The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has urged the Federal Government to stop the killings in Southern Kaduna.

NLC President Mr Ayuba Wabba made the appeal in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Tuesday.

Wabba described the situation in Southern Kaduna as “unfortunate’’ and “something that is of concern’’.

He said: “It is really (an) unfortunate situation and clearly it demonstrates the fact that good governance is not in place, because for us organised labour, it is something that is of concern.

“The issue of southern Kaduna was actually addressed at a point in time.

“There was a particular administration that was able to find a solution around this issue and suddenly peace actually returned to that part of Nigeria.

“But this issue is resurfacing, which means we are not actually getting it right.

“Therefore, it is high time those gladiators did things that will be in the interest of the citizens.

“Whatever argument is playing out now would not actually address the issue until our leaders take full responsibility to be able to fix and address the issue and anything short of that is failure.

“Governance is about responsibility; the primary purpose of governance anywhere in the world is security, peace of the people.’’ (NAN)

JAN/HAS/YEE

Edited By Hajia Sani/Emmanuel Yashim

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