Naija Ratels, sports enthusiasts protest as Presidency plans to turn Area 10 Pitch Into Grains Storage Ground

Protests are growing across the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) against plans of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) to turn the football pitch of the Area 10 Sports Complex (Old Parade Ground) into a maize and rice pyramids center. 

Already, some hired workers today breached the perimeter fence of the pitch in readiness for the arrival of hundreds of trucks alleged to be carrying biologically modified maize (BMO). 

The Area 10 Sports Complex, also known as the Old Parade Ground is where most Football teams in the FCT practise and play their competitive league Matches every week. 

Few months ago, Ratels Sports Development Foundation (RSDF) owners of NWFL Premiership side,  Naija Ratels spent millions of Naira in the re-grassing  of the pitch, renovation of the dressing rooms and the stands.

Top Sports enthusiast Peter Aduebe believes that the decision is too hasty and shouldn't have been made at all. The football pitch is where many youths in Abuja showcase their talents and play competitive games for their various clubs. It is a way of livelihood for both the male and female athletes as a whole. 

"I am so disappointed about this. I feel the Federal Government should encourage the youths more, not discourage them in exhibiting what they can do. 

"The Area 10 Sports Complex is has produced alot of great talents and is still producing. Instead of the FCTA to build more Sporting Facilities, they are thinking of destroying the ones already available.

In his thoughts, Abuja based Journalist, Tunde Adebayo noted that the Government inability to provide suitable sporting facilities for the youth is frustrating, not to talk of destroying one available for the youths in Abuja. 

"This is unfair to thousands of youths who look forward to promoting their God given talents through sports. Recently, someone spent millions of Naira to renovate the Arena and all the FCTA could do is to turn the pitch into an agricultural storage avenue.

The Area 10 Sports Complex is a stadium in the Garki District of Abuja, Nigeria. Built in the early 1980s, it is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home stadium of various teams in the Federal Capital Territory. The stadium has a capacity of about 5,000

FG's School Feeding Programme Achieving its Objectives in Kogi - Focal Person

By Stephen Adeleye

The Kogi State Focal Person of the Federal Government's National Social Investment Programme (NSIP), Hon Abdulkareem Suleiman Onyekehi, has said that national Home Grown School Feeding Programme (HGSFP) was achieving its key goals and objectives in the state.

Onyekehi disclosed this in an interview with NAN at the sideline of the flag off of the distribution of Feeding Utensils to the beneficiaries of the HGSFP in Kogi, at Saint Luke Primary School, Lokoja.

According to Onyekehi, the aimed at delivering feeding to public schools' pupils from  primary 1 to 3, was achieving its purpose and objectives in Kogi State.

Onyekehi said that the NHGSFP covered about 1800 schools, and 177,000 pupils out of the total of 258,000 that had been captured were benefitting from the program. 

He added that efforts were on top gear to capture all pupils in public primary schools from class 1-3 as they progressed. 

He emphasised that the HGSFP had geometrically increased school enrollment in Kogi according to pupils' population statistics from 115,000 to 258,000 pupils.

Onyekehi, who doubles as the Special Adviser to the Governor on Special Projects, stressed that the feeding programme had also drastically reduced malnutrition among the pupils while alleviating the suffering of their parents and guardians.

He added the other components of NSIP such as the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) the NPower,  the Government Enterprise and Empowerment program (GEEP), had impacted posively in the lives of the beneficiaries as well as the economy of the state.

He said that number of CCT beneficiaries in Kogi for the poor and vulnerable citizens, had increased steadily from about 11,000 to 74,111 in 2021 describing it as a huge success.

He reiterated that the NSIP remained the most impactful social intervention programmes any government had ever initiated in this country in terms of poverty alleviation, entrepreneurial and job creation. 

Onyekehi further said that, the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs is currently carryout pupils  enumeration exercise in the state to digitize and authenticate the data. The Ministry has also  engaged independent monitors across the 21 LGAs for the monitoring of National Social Investment Programme in the state. 

He said that the school feeding component of the NSIP has the widest value chain. The program creates empowerment for women as cooks, it boost the income of local  farmers, industries and traders. 

He commended the Minister for the distribution of the feeding utensils, while appreciating President Muhamadu Buhari for the initiative.

He eulogised the governor for his unalloyed support for the programme, saying, ''we are grateful to our amiable and pragmatic Governor for taking the lead as far as the NSIP is concerned in Nigeria.

NAN reports that the distribution of the utensils was launched by the Secretary to Kogi State Government, Dr Afolashade Ayoade on behalf of the Governor, after they were handed over to the state by the Minister's representative, Mallam Sule Aliyu Chogudo, a Deputy Director of Social Welfare in the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development.

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Cash Transfer: FG disburses new round of stipends to vulnerable households in Kogi

 

By Stephen Adeleye

The Federal Government has disbursed another round of payment of two months' arrears of stipend to each of over 74,000 beneficiaries in Kogi State, under its Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) programme.

The CCT is the disbursement of N5,000 monthly stipend to the poor and vulnerable households under the National Social Investment Programme (NSIP) of the Federal Government.

Hajia Falilat Abdurasaq, the Head of Kogi State CCT Unit, disclosed this to journalists at the payment venue at LGEA School, Mopo, Isanlu, Yagba East Local Government Area.

She noted that the Federal Government had recently introduced digital mode of payment of stipends to beneficiaries to replace the usual table payment.

She added that the Federal Government had in August, disbursed N20,000 stipend to each of over 74,000 beneficiaries in the state, for January to April 2021 arrears.

She added that the payment of N10,000 to each beneficiary, for stipends' arears of May and June 2021, commenced on Thursday Oct. 7,  and has been completed.

She stressed that the essence of the cash transfer was to fulfill President Muhammadu Buhari’s promise to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty.

Abdulrasaq commended the federal government for digitalising the payment, saying it was a great relief to the beneficiaries and CCT officials considering the challenges encountered during table payment.

According to her, the disbursement is digitalised to mitigate the risk involved in carrying huge cash about, and gathering of many vulnerable old women in one place and under harsh weather condition.

She further commended the efforts of the National Programme Coordinator, Hajiya Halima Shehu; and the Honourable Minister for Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajiya Sadiya Umar Farouq, for initiating the digital payment and esuring a hitch free processes.

Also speaking, Mr Stephen Mohammed, the Team Lead of Fortis Mobile Money, a company responsible for disbursement of  CCT in Kogi, earlier told NAN at one of the Cash-out point in Lokoja that the digital payment had come to stay.

''We are no longer test running the digital payment but it has come to stay; though beneficiaries seem not to understand, but we will not relent to keep educating them.

''We are sensitising the beneficiaries on the need to accept and adopt the digital payment of their stipends, but sometimes change is difficult.

''We will keep educating the beneficiaries because of their level of understanding until they adapt to the system'', he said.

According to him, the beneficiaries can now walk into any available Fortis Agent or point of sales (POS) stand to cash out their stipends without any form of stress.

He added that Fortis Mobile Money, had developed an App, that would help beneficiaries to stay at the comfort of their homes and access the money in their wallet.

He emphasized that the beneficiaries could also access their money anywhere in the country irrespective of their location unlike before when it was table payment at a designated centre.

''Another benefit is that if beneficiaries missed their stipend in any cycle, the money will still be in their wallet.

''But before, once beneficiaries missed their payment they would not be able to get it again for that cycle, because no arrears'', Mohammed said.

Some of the beneficiaries, thanked President Muhammadu Buhari for alleviating the suffering of the poor and the vulnerable at the grassroots.

Two beneficiaries, Mrs Lydia Babatege and Emiola Matthew both from Isanlu, in their separate interviews expressed their gratitude to the federal government for remembering the aged, the poor and widows in the society.

Sefiyat Osagada, a top-up beneficiary, who cashed out her stipend in Adavi LGA, commended the federal government for the disbursement, saying the top-up fund had helped her child to access healthcare services as well as completing the routine immunization.

Knocks, anger, frustration trail independence celebration

 

Mixed reactions bordering on anger, frustration and outright despondency, today trail Nigeria’s 61st Independence anniversary with a resonating conclusion among many prominent Nigerians that the country has substantially failed to meet the aspiration of its founding fathers.

Those interviewed told Daily Sun that rather than celebrate today, it should be a time for sober reflections on the journey so far. They also believe that only such deep reflections would produce the needed panacea for the myriads of maladies bedeviling the country at present.

Nigerians should mourn 61 years of backwardness –Ezeife

Former governor of Anambra State, Dr. Chukwuemeka Ezeife believes that Nigeria has not made any progress in its 61-year chequered history as an independent nation. To him, Nigerians should be mourning 61 years of backward growth and not celebrate failure. “It has been 61 years of non-achievement; everything is comprehensively going negative. “We have been saying the same thing for many years without any result. So, it is quite unfortunate and saddening that instead of growing forward, we have been growing backward,” he said.

Military cause of our woes –Yakasai

Elder statesman and Second Republic Presidential Adviser, Tanko Yakasai has blamed military involvement in politics for Nigeria’s economic and political misfortunes.

He said the dreams of Nigeria’s founding fathers could have been substantially realised if civilians were allowed to remain in the leadership of the country..

Alhaji Yakasai affirmed that Nigeria has not been able to exploit its full potentials and stressed that military intervention in politics had stalled the pace of rapid growth and development that heralded Independence.

“So far, we have not achieved what we had hoped to achieve. What brought about this? There is no doubt that it was the military’s intervention into the politics of Nigeria.

“If political parties had been allowed to flourish uninterrupted, perhaps we would have been closer to our dreams. I have said this before that what we are operating is a military constitution and not a civilian one. And that the set of real civilians that came to power since 1999 to date are few. A lot of them came to power through the instrumentality of the good offices of the military.

“From 1999 to date, we have had four Presidents – Obasanjo , Buhari, Jonathan and Yar’Adua, that is two from the North and two from the South. The question is why is it that these people were not able to make progress? The answer is that these political parties were not the creation of the people of Nigeria. They were the creation of military fiat.

“I was a member of one of the two political parties at the time of their creation and I know how the two political parties came to be through the intervention of the military.

“And you should note that the richest people in Nigeria are either the military or the people who are close to the military.  So, until we create a situation whereby we have political parties who are the creation of the people, we may not be there.

“The trouble is that the military had tasted power and they do not want to leave the stage or to do without it.”

Speaking on the growing agitation for secession and break up of Nigeria by different groups in the country years after independence, Yakasai admitted that there were calls for seperation but added that, “The people who are making this call for separation are the minority, not ethnic minority, but numerical minority when compared to those who are not opposed to the oneness of the country”.

He added: “Younger people who got university education and hoped to get jobs, but the system has not provided jobs for them. The opportunities are not there, a reason they resort to this call for separation”.

“The matured people like Edwin Clerk and Adebanjo and all those who are in the vanguard for the restructuring of Nigeria, I have been asking  them to produce a road map of what they meant by restructuring,  to provide us with a blue print for a restructured Nigeria.

“You cannot just go about calling for a restructured Nigeria without telling the people exactly what you mean by restructuring and how the country should be recreated and this is the result of the restructuring. I still have hope in Nigeria as a united country, I have hope in Nigeria because nobody has been able to produce an alternative to the Nigeria project”

Nigeria has not been fair to ordinary man –Ambassador Yahaya Kwande

Former Ambassador to Switzerland, said he was not happy and that the nation has been unfair to the ordinary Nigerians.

He said: “When we took over the government from the colonial masters in the 60s compared with the development that we have now, we should have been placed better than where we are today. This is because we haven’t added much; but people will see that there is much in the sense of the numbers of schools. There used to be only one secondary school in the whole of Northern Nigeria, today we have millions, not thousands but the quality of people produced in that millions schools you cannot compare it with what it used to be.

“We have been very careless, we misunderstand what is a government, we seem not to understand what is a government. Government is to look after the welfare of the people it is governing; see about their health, see about their security, see about the education of their children so that we can progress. But is it what we are doing. How can you have somebody who is coming from secondary school that cannot spell right and cannot make correct sentence or whatever language he is learning?

There are no teachers; we just park children into dilapidated schools under trees. To school under trees would have been 50 or 100 years back now. We should be ashamed about our education and the environment we teach, we are going backward and backward.

Nigeria at 61: Only with deliberate, scalable investment in our youth can Nigeria become greater - Sunday Dare

 

Today, Friday, October 1, 2021, as Nigeria clocks 61 years of independence, It has been 61 years of remarkable journey characterised by challenges, struggles and triumphs.

As the Minister of Youth and Sports Development of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, I pledge my loyalty to Nigeria and look to her future with hope and optimism.

As a Ministry, we have adopted a number of programmes specially designed to uplift our youth, and the good news is that these programmes are already yielding positive results.

Nigeria's greatest natural resource is her youth. Only with deliberate, scalable investment in our youth can Nigeria become greater than she is today.

Our DEEL initiative which focuses on Digital Literacy and Skills Acquisition, Entrepreneurship, Employability and Leadership has led to some crucial breakthrough collaborations and partnerships with some technological giants and leading E-Commerce solutions platforms. These partnerships are guaranteed to get at least 200,000 youth trained and placed in Entrepreneurship by 2023. The Ministry’s Training into Enterprise continues to deliver results across the country. We appreciate many other Ministries, Departments and Agencies who also contribute to the training and empowerment of the youth in Nigeria. 

A lot of our youth are  being empowered through the Nigeria Youth Investment Fund(NYIF). Over 5,225 have benefited and recently over 20,000’have been screened and shortlisted for the final stage of training and funds disbursement. 

In the area of sports development, youth oriented programmes like the 'Adopt-an-Athlete' and 'Talent Hunt Program initiatives have been central to all our activities. These initiatives have led to podium finishes at the recent Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics Games, as well as the World U-20 Athletics Championships in Nairobi, Kenya with Nigeria hauling 19 medals from these competitions. Just recently, the Nigeria women basket ball team, D’Tigress won the Afro Basketball Gold for the 3rd consecutive time making them the best women basketball team in Africa. 

Many young talents in all sports have been identified, a lot more will be identified. These talents will be adopted, harnessed, supported, financed and exposed to the best facilities, coaching and training programmes possible so they can become world beaters in the near future.

As a Ministry, we have also embarked on an aggressive drive to upgrade our sporting facilities so that our sports men and women can utilise them optimally.

The national stadia in Lagos and Abuja have had the football pitches of their mainbowls regrassed; because we know that great talents can only be birthed in an enabling environment and our infrastructure is key to creating it.

In addition, towards ensuring that sports enthusiasts at the grassroots have access to quality sporting facilities, the football pitch of the Daura Township Stadium in Daura, Katsina State has been completely rehabilitated and boasts of having one of the most modern synthetic AstroTurf pitches in Nigeria.

The Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development also ensured the classification of sports as a business and not mere recreation.

We believe more glorious years are ahead for the Nigerian youth in all spheres of their endeavours.

Happy 61st independence anniversary Nigeria!

Nigeria @ 61: Expert seeks governments' collaboration to curb menace of insecurity

 

By Stephen Adeleye

A Security Expert, Mr Austine Ogaga, has advised the Federal Government to  partner with the private sector and individual to curb the rising insecurity in the country through the use of technology.

Ogaga gave the advise in an interview with our Correspondent on Friday in Lokoja, as part of activities to mark the Nigeria's 61st independent anniversary.

According to him, as the nation continue to grapple with incessant kidnappings, killings and other related security threats, the best way to tackling the disturbing menace in the country is through the use of technology.

The security expert, who is an American based Nigerian, said that he had recently developed a software that could prevent, respond and investigate crime digitally.

He, therefore expressed his willingness to collaborate with the Federal and State Governments and other relevant stakeholders in curbing insecurity in Nigeria.

He explained that his organisation, WestZone Services Limited, is a software development company, interested in partnering with the Government to manage insecurity through tailored security apps,trackers and monitoring systems both online and offline.

Ogaga reiterated confidence in the President Mohammadu Buhari, as well as Governor Yahaha Bello led administrations in addressing the rising security threats and enjoined them to adopt technology as a way out.

''The software developed by my organisation would go a long way in complimenting the proposed community policing and promoting Digital Policing System in the country.

"This is the 21st Century and war against terrorism, kidnapping and other insecurity are fought via technology globally. This is where Nigeria is lacking. 

''Technology should be deployed along with Artificial Intelligence (AI) to fight insecurity. Once technology is deployed offline and online insecurity rate would drop drastically.

''Today, police departments around the world are using surveillance cameras, gunshot detection systems, automated license plate readers, facial recognition software, body cameras, drones, DNA Based Identification and Tracking System and numerous databases to prevent, respond and investigate crimes. 

Once deployed as designed and managed fully in line with recommendations, criminals would think twice before they act" he added.

The expert assured that Nigeria would be a safer country when the digital policing system is adopted. While saying the project could generate revenue for the nation and states.

Ogaga added that it would also create employment opportunities through the running of it's operations when his software is deployed to the fullest.

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Nigerian government raises investment in youth to boost economy

The Federal Government has reassured that it will continue to harness youth potentials in the country with a view to enhancing sustainable economic growth and development.

The Honourable Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Mr Sunday Akin Dare disclosed this  in Lagos at the closing ceremony of the six-week training on Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP), organised by the Ministry across the 36 States of the Federation, including the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

He said deliberate and strategic investment in young people is required for the high percentage of the youth population in the country to become a demographic dividend.

“When the youth are positively engaged, there will be a reduction in the indices of crime and delinquency, which are factors that are inimical to national development efforts”, Dare said.

He stated that the approach of the Ministry has been the inclusion of youth employment as a priority segment of the National Youth Policy (NYP) for which a framework for implementation has been provided in the Nigerian Youth Employment Plan (NYEP), adding that the agenda which will be launched in the next few weeks, will deliver a comprehensive approach to youth employment interventions through multi sector collaborations, that emphasize on the Four Es: Employability, Entrepreneurship Development, Employment Creation and Equal Opportunity.

“This framework will ensure the inclusion of partners across sectors and will create a robust partnership base through my Ministry that will ensure wider reach of youth employment programmes across the country. With new challenges arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, innovative solutions and a robust partnership are required to support youth participation in the process of rebuilding through deliberate and strategic investment that will lead to sustainable economic growth and transformation”, the Minister added.

According to him, the programme is an expression of the priority focus of the President Muhammadu Buhari Administration which is to among other things ensure “job creation for youth and to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in the next ten years”.

He therefore called on all Nigerian youth to take up the challenge for self-development that will support their inclusion in nation building, stating further that youth have the potentials, talents and energy for skills development and other opportunities that will give them leverage in the global economy.

Mr. Dare assured further that the present Administration is committed to the task of youth development and will continue to provide an enabling environment and innovative solutions to challenges of youth in the country.

Also speaking, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development, Mr. Nebeolisa Anako while distributing starter packs and other empowerment tools to the participants at the closing ceremony in Abuja, stated that the Ministry will continue to ensure full implementation of the programmes and projects of the Federal Government in line with the policy thrust of the present Administration.

He explained that the Ministry will continue to monitor their progress periodically to provide guidance and ensure compliance in line with the objectives of the programme.

Mr. Anako who applauded the Federal Government on its various interventions on youth empowerment, particularly the DEEL initiative which was conceived and launched by the Honourable Minister of Youth and Sports, Mr. Sunday Dare, said that the programme was designed to ensure a coordinated mechanism that will employ strategies to enhance the competitive aged of Nigerian youth with a focus on Digital Skills, Employability, Entrepreneurship, Leadership and Mentoring.

Earlier in his welcome address, the Director, Enterprise Development and Promotion Department of the Ministry, Mr. Gbenga Momoh  assured that participants will put the skills they acquired during the training into practice for the purpose of self-development so as to enhance economic growth.

FG pays cash transfer beneficiaries backlog stipends in Kogi State, introduces digitalised payment

By Stephen Adeleye

Some beneficiaries of the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) in Kogi, have expressed joy over payment of their backlog of stipends by the Federal Government from January to April 2021. 

Thew CCT is the disbursement of N5,000 monthly stipend to the poor and the vulnerable households under the Household Uplifting Programme of FG's National Social Investment Programme (NSIP).

The beneficiaries, who spoke to our Correspondent through interpreter on Tuesday in Okene, who were mostly elderly women, widows and vulnerable citizens, commended President Muhammadu Buhari for the gesture.

They also thanked the federal government for choosing Okene as one of the LGAs to test run the introduction of the Digitalised mode of payment to beneficiaries.

Halimat Usman, 75, and Ikhmat Shaibu 70 , both from Upogoro-eba community, said they felt excited receiving the money to take care of themselves and cater for their well beings.

''We are very grateful to our President Buhari, for remembering the aged and widow in the rural communities, and we are very happy with the money'', Shaibu and Usman said.

A physically challenged female beneficiary, Oke Usman, 30, from Idiche community, told NAN that she was particularly happy about the introduction of digital payment, saying, ''I can now access my stipend anywhere without stress.

''I thank the President and the Governor for considering persons living with disability even in the rural communities''.

Aishat Suleiman, 60, and Sikiratu Isiaka, 67, from Orere and Ozi-Ahache communities respectively, expressed their gratitude to the President, and prayed God to bless and reward him.

In his remarks, the State Focal Person of NSIP, Mr Abdulkareem Onyekehi, commended President Buhari for his commitment to uplifting the people of Nigeria out of poverty through the social investment programme.

Onyekehi noted that on assuming office in 2019, the CCT beneficiaries was about 11,500, saying it has grown progressively to 74,111 in the state.

He said that the programme had brought development to the people of the state, adding that the payment of the N20,000 to the poor and vulnerable was ongoing simultaneously across the 21 LGAs of the state. 

''It is a good development for us as a people, as a government and the team involved; it has really impacted the lives of the poor and vulnerable people in Kogi'', he said.

He commended His Excellency, Governor Yahaya Bello, for creating the enabling environment and supporting the full implementation of the NSIP in the state.

He noted that the Federal Government was test running 30 per cent of the payment to be digitalised, which was being practicalised in Okene, saying, ''you can see that the beneficiaries are very happy with the digitalised payment.

''But, we are still using cash payment in other LGAs, until we go into full automation and cashless payment.

''The FG decided to introduce the digitalised payment to reduce the risk involved in carrying cash about into rural communities''.

He added that the CCT was having a huge impact on the economy of Kogi State, saying the FG is paying each beneficiary 20,000 which is a backlog of N5000 for four months, from January to April 2021.

He advised the beneficiaries to take good advantage of the programme and make good use of the money to do something meaningful to their lives.

Also speaking, Mrs Falilat Abdurasaq, the Head of Kogi State CCT Unit, said a  total of 3, 632  CCT beneficiaries were captured in Okene LGA.

Abdulrasaq said that with digitalised payment, the beneficiaries would easily have access to their stipend anywhere they are without stress of queueing and waiting in the sun.

She explained that some beneficiaries who were pregnant or lactating women or have a child between zero to five years during the time of capturing were categorised under 'Top-Up' households.

She added that the top-up households were being paid N30, 000 instead of N20,000, to alleviate their burdens. 

''The program is to enable that we lift these women out of poverty; we don't want to leave them the way we met them at the beginning of this programme.

''We have built their confidence, introduced them to banking sector, and they formed themselves into cooperative groups, save their money in the bank or among themselves.

''Because of this, a lot of them have acquired assets, start businesses, farming, bought grinding machines, and canoe to transport their goods in riverine areas'', she said.

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