HammerTimes News Online

Tag: #stakeholders

  • APC: Adamu calls for unity among stakeholders in Benue

    Sen. Abdullahi Adamu, National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), on Tuesday in Abuja, urged the party’s critical stakeholders in Benue to be united in the interest of its development in the state.

    He gave the charge when a delegation of the party’s stakeholders from Benue, led by Dr George Akume, Minister of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs, visited him at the party’s national secretariat.

    Adamu promised that the APC National Working Committee (NWC), under his leadership, would do everything possible to ensure that the party took over governance of Benue in the next election.

    Akume was one of the six aspirants that stepped down for Adamu to emerge as APC consensus national chairman at its March 26 National Convention.

    He said the visit was to congratulate Adamu on his emergence as APC national chairman.

    “Basically, we are here on solidarity visit, we came to congratulate the chairman for being elevated to the exalted position of chairman of the greatest party in Africa.

    “This is a party that have membership of over 42 million Nigerians,” he said.

    Akume added that the APC is proud to have carried out a successful revalidation exercise of its members across the country because other political parties tried it and failed.

    “They tried twice and they failed twice, so we are very proud of this record that we are the biggest political party in West Africa,” he said.

    Speaking on the crisis that per aded the party ahead of its national convention, especially in Benue, Akume said a big political party such as the APC even at the state level is expected to have little irritations here and there.

    He said such irritations were however, not sufficiently strong to break the organic unity of the party in Benue, stressing that even members of same family occasionally had issues.

    He assured Nigerians and particularly the APC and its national chairman that the little irritation in the party’s Benue chapter would be squarely addressed in the benefit of party and its teeming supporters.

    According to Akume, the party’s supporters in Benue are looking onto the APC as the only hope of the common man in the state and at the national level.

    “So we are very confident that APC Benue will come on stronger than can ever imagined.

    “We are doing very well, we have registered so many members. We have registered those who are ready to vote and therefore, Benue is ready to go,” he said.

    He added that though President Muhammad Buhari had advised that the #20 million paid by aspirants to purchase the party’s Expression of Interest and Nomination forms to contest its chairmanship position be refunded to them, he had sacrificed his own to the party.

    “We are still members of this party and nothing had distracted us from joining others in finding solutions to the small problems that we have in the APC.

    “The issue on money does not arise. I had willingly donated my own to the party, and I believe others would do the same thing,” he said.

    According to Akume, the aspirants that stepped down for Adamu to emerge as the party’s concensus national chairman had a basic understanding to support the party’s present leadership to succeed.

    “We have this basic understanding, we have to support the present leadership of the party to succeed; that is what is important so that we will continue with the good work President Buhari is doing,” he said.

    Those who stepped down for Adamu included Malam Saliu Mustapha, Sen. George Akume, and Sen. Sani Musa.

    Others are Sen. Tanko Al-Makura, another former governor of Nasarawa, former Gov. Abudulaziz Yari of Zamfara and Etsu Muhammed.

    Until his emergence as APC national chairman, Adamu who was a former Governor of Nasarawa State, was the Senator representing Nasarawa West in the Senate. 

  • Stakeholders urge synergy to address consumer rights in power sector.

    Stakeholders in the power sector has called for synergy of all players to address consumer rights and obligations.

    The stakeholders made the call in a communigue issued  at the end of a one-day National Electricity Consumer Protection Awareness Forum held in Abuja on March 31.

    The communigue was signed by the Director-General of National Power Training Institute (NAPTIN), Mr Ahmed Nagode, and Mr Princewill Okorie, the National President,  Association of Public Policy Analysis (APPA).

    The theme of the forum is “Effective Implementation of Consumer Protection Component of Electric Power Sector Reform Act, 2005”.

    According to the communigue,  the stakeholders agreed that there is need for synergy amongst the various stakeholders in the power sector to ensure consumer rights were protected.

    The communigue said that consumers’ protection right should be given more attention.

    It also said that training on right and obligations of consumers should be embarked upon and supported by stakeholders.

    “Like Governors’ Forum, Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON), NNPC, Oil Companies, Power Utilities and organised private sector.

    “And willing stakeholders who should endeavor to fund this important project as part of their Civic Social Responsibility (CSR),” it said.

    The communigue said there was need for proper coordination of the process and in order to guarantee accountability and optimal use of resources.

    It said that NAPTIN can be supported to perform training functions for  stakeholders, especially non-power sector personnel in consumer education.

    The communigue said that a major instrument for achieving consumer protection education awareness is through training and continuous interaction.“It is important to cascade this enlightenment forum to all the States in Nigeria.

    “The next engagement should hold at NERC’s instance and or facilitation.

    “Efforts should be made to encourage the participation of licensed Electricity Companies (DisCos) in further engagement as service providers with direct interface with consumer and tariff collection,” the communiqué read in part.

  • Stakeholders in education to meet on safety in schools


    Stakeholders and leaders in education from across the country are scheduled to assemble in Abuja for a top level meeting on safe school preparedness following recent security breaches in educational institutions.

    Retired Maj.-Gen. Matthias Efeovbokhan, Chairman, Organising Committee of the 7th Annual Safe School Consultative Conference, disclosed this in a statement in Abuja on Wednesday.

    Efeovbokhan said that the event scheduled from Nov. 22 to Nov. 25 would be hosted against the background that Institutions had recently witnessed various levels of security breaches.

    According to him, these security breaches are related, separately or in combination, to incidents of kidnappings, abductions & hostage-taking; cultism; drug abuse; sexual abuse, harassment and rape; misuse of mobile phones, internet and social media platforms; cybercrimes; armed robbery, among others.

    “Case studies of past attacks confirm that criminals increasingly introduce new technics, tactics and strategies to successfully beach weak spots of the school security infrastructure.

    “Education leaders must be aware of the new tactics and technics being deployed by criminals in order to successfully redesign, refocus and update their safe school policies, practices, protocols and installations to eliminate vulnerabilities and prevent attacks.

    “This is the commendable focus of the 7th Annual Safe School Consultative Conference of Education and Security Leaders scheduled to in Abuja,” he said.

    Efeovbokhan listed agencies billed to make presentations at the conference to include the Federal Ministry of Education, UNESCO, Department of State Security, Nigeria Police, Army, Air Force, Navy, among others.

    He added that education leaders such as: Chairmen and members of Governing Councils of Institutions, Vice-Chancellors, Rectors, Provosts, their Deputies and other Principal Officers of higher institutions; and others were expected to attend the event.

    He, therefore, called on all educational institutions that prioritise the safety and security of their pupils, students, teachers, lecturers and other members of school communities to take part in the conference. (NAN)

  • 2022 budget: Stakeholders commend Buhari, calls for more allocation to education

    Stakeholders in the education sector have commended President Muhammadu Buhari for increasing allocation to the education sector in the 2022 budget.

    They nonetheless asked for more allocation to the sector.

    The stakeholders, who spoke in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Monday, also called for more investment in education to impact greatly on the sector.

    President Buhari on Thursday, Oct. 7 presented the 2022 aggregate expenditure, projected to be N16.39 trillion which is 12.5 per cent higher than the 2021 budget to the National Assembly.

    From the proposal, education got N1.29 trillion, which is 7.9 per cent of the entire allocation.

    A breakdown of N16.39 trillion estimated budget showed that recurrent spending for the projected year is N6.83 trillion, which represented 41.7 per cent of total expenditure and 18.5 per cent higher than the 2021 budget.

    From the estimate, aggregate capital expenditure of N5.35 trillion is earmarked, representing 32.7 per cent of total expenditure.

    In education, N108.1 billion was provided for the Universal Basic Education, N1.2 billion for rehabilitation of classrooms and hostels, N392 million as takeoff grants for six federal science and technical colleges; N4.5 billion as scholarship allowances; and N2 billion as payment to 5,000 Federal Teachers Scheme Allowance.

    The aggregate revealed an increase in the 2022 education budget, compared to the 2021 education budget of N742.5 billion.

    Mr Ike Onyechere, Founder, Exams Ethics Marshall International (EEMI), however, commended the Buhari administration saying it was a move in the right direction.

    Onyechere said that the education sector required initiatives that would improve the teaching profession and make it more attractive.

    According to him, initiatives in the sector required major funding effort to enhance teachers` salary structure and various categories of allowances, bursaries, grants, among others.

    “There is also need to invest heavily in improving safe school infrastructure, facilities and tools in the light of the fact that schools have become targets of choice for criminals.

    “The crying need to allocate more funds to capital projects, overhead and recurrent expenditures in the education sector is still there.

    “It is my considered opinion that the allocation of N1.29 trillion or 7.9 per cent will make very little impact.

    “Consider the fact that UNESCO has proposed allocation of minimum of 26 per cent of national budgets to education in developing countries for any meaningful impact to be achieved.

    “Consider also the fact that Ghana consistently allocates a minimum of average of 20 per cent of their national budget in the past five years while Nigeria’s average stands at about 7 per cent. South Africa allocates average of 17 per cent yearly,” he said.

    Onyechere noted that to deliver on the effort to improve the quality of education in Nigeria, the government must think more creatively on how to improve the budgetary allocation to education.

    Also reacting to the budget, a public affairs analyst, Mr Carl Umegboro, commended President Muhammadu Buhari on the budget increment on education,  stating that the executive action was a step in the right direction.

    Umegboro said that the action of the President showed he clearly understood the challenges facing the nation.He argued that no nation could make meaningful progress without giving critical attention to the education sector.

    However, the analyst said that the good initiatives of the president could only be accomplished if implementation would also be followed to the letter, adding that a major challenge facing most good initiatives of the executive was implementation.

    “I applaud Mr President for the statesmanship he has displayed by paying attention to the education sector through budget increment.

    “However, a challenge facing most executive policies is policy implementation. Thus, if President Buhari can monitor to ensure that the increment does not end in some government officials’ foreign accounts, I believe the action will make a tremendous impact.

    “It is no gainsaying that no nation can survive and rise to the peak without critical attention to the education sector, hence I congratulate Mr President for his thoughtfulness and dynamic leadership,” Umegboro stated.

    In a similar vein, a Professor of Law and Dean, Faculty of Law, Kwara State University (KWASU), Prof. Abiodun Amuda-Kannike, in reaction to the budget increment on education hailed Buhari.

    The don also said that the major challenge hindering the nation from getting to its rightful position on the continent was the negligence of education for years.

    According to him, the narrative is likely to change with the attention the president is giving to the education sector.

  • 2022 budget: Stakeholders commend Buhari, calls for more allocation to education

    Stakeholders in the education sector have commended President Muhammadu Buhari for increasing allocation to the education sector in the 2022 budget.

    They nonetheless asked for more allocation to the sector.

    The stakeholders, who spoke in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Monday, also called for more investment in education to impact greatly on the sector.

    President Buhari on Thursday, Oct. 7 presented the 2022 aggregate expenditure, projected to be N16.39 trillion which is 12.5 per cent higher than the 2021 budget to the National Assembly.

    From the proposal, education got N1.29 trillion, which is 7.9 per cent of the entire allocation.

    A breakdown of N16.39 trillion estimated budget showed that recurrent spending for the projected year is N6.83 trillion, which represented 41.7 per cent of total expenditure and 18.5 per cent higher than the 2021 budget.

    From the estimate, aggregate capital expenditure of N5.35 trillion is earmarked, representing 32.7 per cent of total expenditure.

    In education, N108.1 billion was provided for the Universal Basic Education, N1.2 billion for rehabilitation of classrooms and hostels, N392 million as takeoff grants for six federal science and technical colleges; N4.5 billion as scholarship allowances; and N2 billion as payment to 5,000 Federal Teachers Scheme Allowance.

    The aggregate revealed an increase in the 2022 education budget, compared to the 2021 education budget of N742.5 billion.

    Mr Ike Onyechere, Founder, Exams Ethics Marshall International (EEMI), however, commended the Buhari administration saying it was a move in the right direction.

    Onyechere said that the education sector required initiatives that would improve the teaching profession and make it more attractive.

    According to him, initiatives in the sector required major funding effort to enhance teachers` salary structure and various categories of allowances, bursaries, grants, among others.

    “There is also need to invest heavily in improving safe school infrastructure, facilities and tools in the light of the fact that schools have become targets of choice for criminals.

    “The crying need to allocate more funds to capital projects, overhead and recurrent expenditures in the education sector is still there.

    “It is my considered opinion that the allocation of N1.29 trillion or 7.9 per cent will make very little impact.

    “Consider the fact that UNESCO has proposed allocation of minimum of 26 per cent of national budgets to education in developing countries for any meaningful impact to be achieved.

    “Consider also the fact that Ghana consistently allocates a minimum of average of 20 per cent of their national budget in the past five years while Nigeria’s average stands at about 7 per cent. South Africa allocates average of 17 per cent yearly,” he said.

    Onyechere noted that to deliver on the effort to improve the quality of education in Nigeria, the government must think more creatively on how to improve the budgetary allocation to education.

    Also reacting to the budget, a public affairs analyst, Mr Carl Umegboro, commended President Muhammadu Buhari on the budget increment on education,  stating that the executive action was a step in the right direction.

    Umegboro said that the action of the President showed he clearly understood the challenges facing the nation.He argued that no nation could make meaningful progress without giving critical attention to the education sector.

    However, the analyst said that the good initiatives of the president could only be accomplished if implementation would also be followed to the letter, adding that a major challenge facing most good initiatives of the executive was implementation.

    “I applaud Mr President for the statesmanship he has displayed by paying attention to the education sector through budget increment.

    “However, a challenge facing most executive policies is policy implementation. Thus, if President Buhari can monitor to ensure that the increment does not end in some government officials’ foreign accounts, I believe the action will make a tremendous impact.

    “It is no gainsaying that no nation can survive and rise to the peak without critical attention to the education sector, hence I congratulate Mr President for his thoughtfulness and dynamic leadership,” Umegboro stated.

    In a similar vein, a Professor of Law and Dean, Faculty of Law, Kwara State University (KWASU), Prof. Abiodun Amuda-Kannike, in reaction to the budget increment on education hailed Buhari.

    The don also said that the major challenge hindering the nation from getting to its rightful position on the continent was the negligence of education for years.

    According to him, the narrative is likely to change with the attention the president is giving to the education sector.