Africa Prime News

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14/08/2015

Nigeria To Reverse Dependence On Thermal Energy

Kaduna (Nigeria) – Nigeria has assured stakeholders in the energy sector that it will soon fully harness its vast solar energy potentials, as it help to correct the imbalance in its energy mix which skewed in favour of thermal plants.

Permanent Secretary (Power), Godknows Igali, stated this at the launch of Nigeria’s National Renewable Energy Plan, Energy Efficiency Action Plan and the Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL) Action Agenda.

He said these policies have been fashioned under the auspices of the Inter-Ministerial Committee drawn from the agencies like, Environment, National Planning, Finance, Energy Commission, Standard Organization of Nigeria, while donor agencies like European Union, German, International Donor Agency – GIZ have provided facilitation which drew the template for rural electrification projects that is centred on sustainability.

Igali decried a situation where rural electrification projects were hitherto conceived on use of fuel and diesel run generators, describing the practice as non-sustainable, hence depriving the rural areas of access to electricity.

Rural communities cannot benefit from electricity in storing of vaccines and drugs that are used in their Health Centres because of no fuel or money to buy diesel, in most cases.

The current Administration has enunciated its plan to use electricity in cross cutting manner as to impact positively the lives of rural folks through enhanced rural economy.

“We are making steady progress, for the first time in many years, we have experienced steady supply, thanks to no incidence of vandalism. A lot of work is still needed to be done, as we have been challenged by President Muhammadu Buhari.” He said

Looking ahead, the Permanent Secretary expressed his optimism in the direction the power sector is moving, which has been aptly captioned in the theme of the workshop “Improving Energy Access in Nigeria” he said the future is bright, stressing that the importance of this platform is in tandem with our national objective of making more power available to Nigerians.

On the expected support from State Governors, the Permanent Secretary said that Governors should facilitate access to land as building of solar plant which is the future of increased supply would require large expand of land, he urged to facilitate easy access to land for power related projects.

We must reverse the ugly trend of dark images of Africa as shown on the satellite, we must grow and have higher per capita of access to electricity, as it is a reflection of our socio-economic development and growth, so power sector remains the nucleus of envisaged social change.

Earlier, Director, Renewable Energy Desk at the Ministry, Abayomi Adebisi, has noted that these policies and initiatives now condense into one, is aimed at launching the country on the path of achieving robust energy mix, so as to put Nigeria on track of happenings in the region and globally.

He said what the National Renewable Energy and Efficiency policy has done is to provide a single document frame work which all stakeholders can own, as it would form the barometer that will show time line and action path in the nation’s quest for greater access to electricity.

Speaking on behalf of all donor agencies, Daniel Warner of GIZ, commended the direction of policy emanating from the power sector that has considered it expedient to include private sector, he pledged the support of donor agencies for renewable energy and efficiency policy.

Osinbanjo To Textile Workers: Advocate For Made In Nigeria Consumption

Economy

Africaprimenews

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14/08/2015

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Osinbanjo To Textile Workers: Advocate For Made In Nigeria Consumption

Kaduna (Nigeria) – Nigeria’s Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, has tasked Textile Workers’ Union of Nigeria to do more on advocacy to encourage Nigerians to prefer home-made textiles.

Osinbajo gave the task when a delegation of the union paid him a courtesy visit at the State House.

He observed that many Nigerians have become used to imported goods to the detriment of locally- manufactured ones.

“people want to be fashionable, people want to wear nice things. An effective advocacy by the textile industry and unions is therefore needed to change such attitude in favour of Nigerian products, he stated.

He reminded the union that President Muhammadu Buhari had said repeatedly, during the campaigns and afterwards that he would revive the textile industry which would create more jobs for Nigerians, adding that the promise would be fulfilled.

“We can create a significant number of jobs if we revive and sustain the textile industry and time has come for us to get back to the textile industry value chain,’’ he declared.

The Vice President acknowledged various challenges facing the industry including smuggling and the problem of electric power shortage but said it is the desire of the present administration to solve the problems.

According to him, power supply is critical to the industry and government is working hard to provide adequate power for industries and other uses.

He said it is the intention of the administration to locate power plants for and around industrial locations adding that there is the need for consumers to address the issue of paying for the facility in order to sustain it.

“It is important for the union to dialogue with the power companies. The time has come for us as a nation to achieve something meaningful in this direction,’’ he said.

Prof. Osinbajo told the union that it is also important for the nation to begin to give timelines for the attainment of developmental goals.

“As a nation time has come for us to give ourselves timelines and deadlines to achieve something and get things done,’’ he added.

Earlier, the President of the union, Comrade Dosunmu informed the Vice President about the forthcoming 27th Annual National Education Conference of the union holding in Kaduna on August 27, themed Buhari’s Administration: Revival of Textile Industry and Employment.

He then commended the plan of the Buhari administration to revive the textile industry adding that such an agenda will lead to job creation.

In addition, the General Secretary of the Union, Comrade Aremu, noted that the textile industry was one of the highest employers of labour in the past accounting for about 1.5 million jobs in the 80s in the country.

He noted that the industry currently accounts for thirty million jobs in India and three million jobs in Bangladesh adding that if revived in Nigeria millions of jobless youths would be taken out of the streets, expressing the hope that the present administration would revive the industry.

Aremu observed that some of the greatest problems confronting the industry were inadequate power and smuggling and called for the burning of seized smuggled materials rather than confiscating them as the current practice creates rooms for the goods to return to the markets.

He raised an alarm on the practice of some immigrants who enter the country as tourists only to turn around to become foreign textile traders thereby invading the markets and undoing the local manufacturers.

Nigerian Police Strengthens Partnership with IPAS

Rights

Africaprimenews

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14/08/2015

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Nigerian Police Strengthens Partnership with IPAS

By longtong Ibrahim
Kaduna (Nigeria) – Nigerian Police Commission has promised to improve on its existing partnership with IPAS – A non-governmental organization which focuses on promoting women’s rights and ensuring justice for victims of gender crimes.

The Inspector-General of Police, Solomon Arase reiterated this when the IPAS delegation led by its Country Director, Dr. Nihinlola Mabogunje paid him a courtesy call at the Force Headquarters, Abuja.

The IGP posited that, the Nigeria Police is gender sensitive as it could be seen in the commission’s effort in its establishment of a technical platform at the Force Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (FCIID), Abuja, which handle Forensic investigation of gender cases.

He further promised to connect IPAS with the technical platform as well as other gender desks across the nation.

In her remarks, Dr. Nihinlola Mabogunje, mentioned how the NGO and the Police Force collaborated to include training of over four hundred and fifty (450) Police personnel on handling gender based issues.

Nigeria: El-Rufai Swears in New Commissioners

News

Africaprimenews

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13/08/2015

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Nigeria: El-Rufai Swears in New Commissioners

By Longtong Ibrahim
Kaduna (Nigeria) – Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai has sworn into office 13 new Commissioners to help in the running of his administration.

At the swearing-in ceremony at Sir Ibrahim Kashim House, the governor charged them to be honest and just while discharging their responsibilities putting aside sentiments based on religion, tribe, or ethnicity.

“You were selected based on your education, capacity, integrity and track record. You were not appointed to represent your LGA, religion or ethnicity. You were appointed to serve the 8 million Kaduna citizens.”

According to him they should represent change in all their activities so as to make a difference from the previous administration.

He also assured them that, him and his deputy would not interfere in their work, as such he expects good performance from them for the benefit of people in the state.

UNEP Oil Spill Report: Nigerian Government Seeks Cordial Relationship With Niger-Delta Youth

News

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12/08/2015

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UNEP Oil Spill Report: Nigerian Government Seeks Cordial Relationship With Niger-Delta Youth

Abuja (Nigeria) – Nigeria has extended a hand of friendship to Niger-Delta Youths as it gears up for spilled oil clean-up exercise in the area.

The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Nana Fatima Mede, solicited the friendship when a three man delegation from Ogoni Youths Assembly paid her a courtesy call in her office.

The permanent secretary said, President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration is aware of the devastating environmental degradation in the Niger Delta region and the “President shares in the pains and agonies of Ogoni people, especially as the government has often maintained that this administration is for the people.”

She stated that the presidential directive to fast track the UNEP report on the Ogoni land will be carried out without further delay and will not suffer unnecessary bottlenecks in making sure that the report is implemented.

“The UNEP report on Ogoni land is very comprehensive and government is poised to ensure that due diligence is enshrined in the execution of the entire report, not only in Niger delta but all other regions of the country experiencing oil spill”

She further enjoins the Ogoni Youth Assembly to sensitize their people in supporting the efforts of the present administration, more especially the implementation of UNEP report on Ogoniland in bringing succor to the people over the environmental degradation of past years.

Earlier in his speech, leader of the delegation, Piegbe Emmanuel Uebari, commended the effort of the Permanent Secretary of Environment in facilitating the process that led to the presidential approval of the fast tracking of the UNEP report on Ogoni land.

The leader of the delegation who painted a sorry picture of the effects of pollution on the people of Ogoniland stated that the clean up exercise will restore hope and reduce mortality rate being recorded in Ogoni land on daily basis.

He appealed to the Federal Government to include the youths of Ogoni people in the new governance framework of the Hydrocarbon Pollution Restoration project (HYPREP) especially in the project management.

Boko Haram: Nigerian Airforce Canvasses Civilians Support Through Campaign

News

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12/08/2015

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Boko Haram: Nigerian Airforce Canvasses Civilians Support Through Campaign

Kaduna (Nigeria) – Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has intensify effort aimed at eliciting more support from the civilians in its anti-terror drive

To this end, it has flagged-off a campaign tagged ‘See Something, Say Something’ in Yola, northeast Nigeria.
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A statement by Director, Public Relations and Information of Nigerian Airforce, Air Commodore Dele Alonge says, “the objective is to get the civil populace to share information with security agencies or report the activities of suspected persons or members of the Boko Haram Terrorist (BHT) group.”

“The initiative recognizes the collective role and responsibility of the people, military and civil alike, to fighting terrorism. It is thus a new approach by the NAF to enhance the effectiveness of the on-going counter insurgency operation in the North-Eastern part of the country.

“Identifying terrorist activities as senseless and inhuman, the lecture pointed out that it could only bring pain, regrets, poverty and underdevelopment to the people and their community. As such, the participants were urged to be actively involved in the on-going counter-terrorism campaign, and to help spread the message by educating their wards with a view to bringing all hands on deck to defeat the terrorists.

“The new initiative raises the need for the civil populace to be more security conscious and to report observed suspicious behaviours to security forces. The initiative calls for increased human intelligence by employing the individuals to know their neighbours, and to question strangers in the communities. As part of security tips, it enjoins persons having uncompleted buildings in remote locations to regularly inspect such buildings, and to be wary of unidentified luggage, abandoned vehicles and unplanned gatherings in public places.” It says.

International Youth Day Celebrations: Speakers Task Youths Against Idleness

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12/08/2015

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International Youth Day Celebrations: Speakers Task Youths Against Idleness

Longtong Ibrahim

Kaduna (Nigeria) – The need for youths to shun all forms of social vices and actively participate in governance was the main thrust of International Youth Day celebrations in Kaduna, northern Nigeria.

They were encouraged to be innovative and gear their ideas and potentials to prove their worth to the world through hard work.

The event in Kaduna was organised by Aid Foundation with support from Nigeria Stability and Reconciliation Program (NSRP).

The guest speaker, Bello El-Rufai, is the son of Kaduna State Governor, who also observed that of the 170 million Nigerian population, 70 percent are young people below 35 years of age, out of which 54 percent are unemployed, idle and struggling.

He added that so many young people have innovative ideas but lack resources to finance such ideas. He said, “at the moment there are no structure to ensure that young people have a job or means to finance their ideas, neither is there a structure to ensure that they are given loans and support to do it; they also do not have access to certain position in governance, as such they are left out and cannot contribute their own quota to the development of the country.”

He further added that, after several years of decay and neglect, young people would rather compromise than sit to be creative to get their ideas passed, because they lack confidence in governance. “Unless when they are been recognized and they are able to show the leaders that they are capable of handling a certain responsibility handed over to them, then I believe things would get better,” he said.

Bello further advocated for a revisit and speedy passage into Law the bill that concerns young people in Kaduna state, which was passed last in 1982 in the state Assembly While assuring the youths that he would lobby his father on youth policies that would affect them positively. “There is need to work and pass the law that would ensure that young people do away with drugs and violence.”

Executive Director of Aid Foundation, Emmanuel Bonnet in a remark said, the programme was aimed at creating a platform to encourage youths participation in politics, governance and community services; stating that participants were young people from different organisations and associations that cut across the three senatorial zones of the state.

He pointed out that the challenges faced by youths include a long term of non involvement in social, political and economic activities, lack of good planning and merit, as such, there is a need for them to re-strategize and engage in these activities especially political and economic that could turn their fortunes around for youth’s development.

Bonnet also called on the government to make a law that concerns the youth, and back it up with an agency that could coordinate how the youths are reached out to in the society.

He added that the Foundation has come up with a program, Community Peace Partnership (CPP) that involves various stakeholders with youths in active participation, saying “The whole idea is to have what we call early warning sign of something that could lead to violence where they report in their monthly meetings. At the meetings, different institutions responsible would begin to respond before it turns into violence. We have the Police, SS, Civil Defense, NURTW, CAN and JNI, District heads, women and the National Youth Council as members.

In her remarks, the Kaduna State Team Leader of State Accountability and Voice Initiative (SAVI), Rebecca Sako-John congratulated the youth for this year’s celebrations and said, the youths are vital to the society and are central to any change that Nigeria needs.

She stressed that, youths in Nigeria are not mainstreamed into governance as expected, adding that older people of 50 years and above are asked to represent them, while millions of them are out there yearning to contribute to national development and leadership.

“Civic engagement begins with educating the youths to understand their rights and responsibilities in this complex country of ours. Civic engagement also requires skills for informed, effective and participatory citizenship. Youths need to keep themselves well informed on happenings, trends, policies and how government operates to engage effectively especially in explaining and analyzing issues when mobilizing for change.”

“We call on youths to therefore be well armed to participate in the town hall meetings, follow government action through the regular updates and provide feedback where necessary”, she added.