Aso Villa Reads for 05/08/2020
Every day, we bring you the best stories that the Media is reporting about the Government of Nigeria
The National Security Adviser, Major General Babagana Monguno (retd.), on Tuesday said the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), has again expressed his dissatisfaction over the security situation in the country. He said the President has therefore ordered “an immediate re-engineering of the entire security apparatus.” Monguno disclosed this while briefing State House correspondents of the outcome of a meeting of the National Security Council presided over by the President. The meeting, which was attended by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo; heads of the nation’s security agencies and relevant ministers, was held a day after the Nigeria Governors Forum decried what it described as the nation’s worsening security situation. But Monguno told reporters that the President, at the meeting, reaffirmed his earlier message to the security chiefs that their best is not enough. The NSA said after his briefing on the two issues, the President also directed that security agencies should rejig their strategies both in terms of operations and intelligence. “We must bear in mind that we owe a duty to the people that elected this government and at the end of the day, without securing the nation all other things such as revamping the economy and fighting corruption cannot be addressed,” he said. Punch reports.
The Federal Government on Tuesday raised the fine for hate speech from N500,000 to 5 million naira, Punch has learnt. The government also mandated broadcast stations to devote airtime for public education on emergencies such as the COVID-19 pandemic. The Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, made this known in Lagos on Tuesday while unveiling the Reviewed Broadcasting Code. This was contained in a statement by the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture, titled, ‘Remarks By The Hon. Minister Of Information And Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, At The Unveiling Of The Reviewed Broadcasting Code In Lagos On Tuesday, Aug. 4th 2020’. According to the statement made available on the verified social media platforms of the ministry, Mohammed said the amendments were necessitated by a Presidential directive in the wake of the 2019 general elections for an inquiry into the regulatory role of the National Broadcasting Commission as well as the conduct of the various broadcast stations before, during and after elections. The minister noted that the recommendations were approved by the President, Major General Mohammed Buhari (retd.), to reposition the NBC to better perform its regulatory role in the areas of political broadcasting, local content, coverage of emergencies, advertising, and anti-competitive behaviour.
The President, Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), has ordered the Niger Delta Development Commission to pay its scholarship beneficiaries studying abroad. This was contained in a statement titled ‘NDDC invites President Buhari to Commission Signature Project’ and signed by the NDDC Director, Corporate Affairs, Charles Odili, on Tuesday. Odili said Buhari conveyed the directive to the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio. The order is coming barely 24 hours after the abandoned students protested at the Nigeria High Commission office in London. Odili explained that scholars of the Commission, who are facing hardships abroad because of the non-remittance of their fees and stipends, would be paid by the end of the week. He said the delay in the remittance of the fees was caused by the sudden death of Chief Ibanga Etang, the then Acting Executive Director, Finance and Administration, EDFA, of the Commission in May. Punch reported.
Having identified 10 commodities for its special intervention under the Anchor Borrowers Programme (ABP), the Central Bank of Nigeria ( CBN) has disbursed N700 million to 3,500 cassava farmers, just as the apex bank captures 70,000 small-holder farmers and agro processors for 2020 planting seasons. Recall that the CBN has a five- year plan to channel special intervention towards the planting and production of 10 focal commodities, including rice, maize, cassava, cocoa, tomato, cotton, oil-palm, poultry, fish and livestock/ dairy with a view to providing improved seedlings and funds to farmers which boost agricultural productivity and reduce balance of payment deficit as a result of foods and textiles imports. Consequently, the apex bank has begun the registration of thousands of small-holder farmers and agro processors in Ogun State with a special focus on rice, cassava and cotton where the State Government coordinates farmers and CBN’S intervention that boosts cotton production, cassava planting and rice farming and processing. Business Day reported.
