Aso Villa Reads for 17/08/2020
Every day, we bring you the best stories that the Media is reporting about the Government of Nigeria
Punch reports that the Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending is supporting the 2020 wet season farming operations of 2,987 maize farmers in Borno State with essential supplies, structuring, training and supervision. NIRSAL, a participating financial institution under the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Anchor Borrower Programme, announced this on Sunday in a statement issued in Abuja by its spokesperson, Hauwa Ali. It said the support would further assist in enhancing the Federal Government’s efforts at restoring socio-economic stability in Borno State and North-Eastern Nigeria. The agency said, “Through the ongoing NIRSAL Agro Geo-Cooperative formation exercise, the farmers were structured into a group named the Maize Dealers and Marketers Association of Nigeria Farmers AGC and linked with financing under the CBN’s ABP. NIRSAL’s AGCs present viable, safe and controlled investment environments for investor funds, while equipping smallholder farmers with incentives to produce and sell more through comprehensive farm mechanisation and the crowding of other value givers and takers in one project.” It stated that after mapping and delineating individual farmer plots, the farmers were supplied with 59.74 metric tonnes of certified maize seeds and 896 metric tonnes of fertiliser.
The Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, has inaugurated the executive management team of the Federal Housing Authority, Punch reports. He charged the team to strive to complete the ongoing housing projects of the Federal Government across the country, while speaking at the inauguration ceremony at the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing in Abuja. The new FHA team has Senator Olugbenga Ashafa as Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, while Abdulmumuni Jibril is Executive Director, Business Development. Mr Maurice Ekpeyong is Executive Director, Housing Finance and Corporate Services. Fashola congratulated the management team for the confidence reposed on them by the President and expressed hope that the trust and confidence would be justified in the discharge of their duties. The minister told the new FHA management that the Act establishing the authority had set out clear responsibilities for the organisation. He urged the management team to work assiduously to ensure that the challenge of housing gaps in Nigeria was addressed. Fashola further charged the new team to commit to developing new estates in urban centres in order to address the housing needs which were greater in urban centres. “We don’t interfere on what parastatals do but we will intervene if we see you veering off,” the minister told the new FHA management.
The Nigerian Air Force on Sunday deployed Special Forces operatives in Southern Kaduna to join the contingent of the Defence Headquarters SF personnel already on the ground. The SF team, led by the Commander of the 403 Force Protection Group, Sq. Leader Richard Ngaro, was airlifted by a NAF Mi-171E helicopter from NAF Base Kaduna to Kafanchan, where they were received by the Commander Sector 7 of Operation Safe Haven, Col. David Nwakonobi. In his address to the troops during the deployment, the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, who was represented by the Air Officer Commanding Air Training Command, Air Vice Marshal Musa Mukhtar, noted that the deployment was in line with DHQ Directives to beef up Operation Safe Haven. The CAS, according to a statement by the NAF spokesman, Air Comm. Ibikunle Daramola, charged the SF personnel to maintain the high level of discipline that the NAF was known for. Speaking to journalists, Mukhtar stated that the NAF SF were additional elements to augment the DHQ SF personnel already deployed to beef up Sector 7 of Operation Safe Haven in Southern Kaduna. Punch reported.
According to Vanguard, the federal government, Monday, commenced training on the objective setting for some categories of officers in the federal civil service with the sole aim of enhancing service delivery. The three day “Train the Trainers” workshop was organised by the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation in collaboration with the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management of Nigeria, CIPM, for members of the Project Management Team on Performance Management System, PMS. Addressing participants at the event, Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Dr. Folasade Yemi-Esan said the training is necessary to acquaint civil servants on the imperative of increased productivity, not only at the collective level but also at the level of the individual. She also noted that PMS would bring about a total invigoration of the service with emphasis on transparency and accountability. She said: “As you are aware, the Performance Management System, PMS, is one of the eight priority areas in the Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan (FCSSIP2017–2020) which is designed to re-engineer the federal public service for increased productivity and quality service delivery. “The new PMS is based on the principles of accountability, transparency, equity and ownership,” stressing that when fully operational, “every individual, unit, department and institution in the public service shall be held accountable on a continuous basis to ensure that national development goals are met.”
This Day reports that President Muhammadu Buhari has reappointed Nosa Smart Osemwengie as full-time member and judge of the Investments and Securities Tribunal (IST) for a second term. IST is a specialised court for the resolution of disputes in the Nigerian capital market industry. Osemwengie’s reappointment takes effect from August 1, 2020 and would be for a period of four years. Before his reappointment, he had served as Director, Registry Department and the Director, Legal Services at the Tribunal. He had also served as acting Chief Registrar of the Tribunal. He was a member of the national committee that drafted the Investments and Securities Act (ISA), 2007.
In continuation of the air offensive against terrorist elements in the North East of the country, the Air Task Force of Operation LAFIYA DOLE, has eliminated scores of Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP) fighters and destroyed compounds housing them at Tongule in the Lake Chad area of Northern Borno, Defence HQ said. The air strikes were conducted on 12 August 2020 following credible Human Intelligence (HUMINT) reports indicating terrorists’ activities in the village. Accordingly, following confirmatory Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions, which showed presence of a sizable number of the ISWAP elements at designated locations in the settlement, the Air Task Force dispatched a force package of Nigerian Air Force (NAF) fighter jets to attack the location. The NAF Jets took turns in engaging the location scoring devastating hits on the designated targets leading to the destruction of the structures as well as the neutralization of several ISWAP fighters. The Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, commends the Air Task Force for their dedication and professionalism and urges them to intensify the air offensive against the terrorists and all other criminal elements in the country.
Onne Port Berthing meeting, a body of shipping companies at Onne seaport, says the facility is ready for business after it received Nigeria’s largest shipping vessel. The Onne port complex successfully berthed the Maerskline Stardelhorn vessel, one of the biggest gearless Maerskline vessels, during the weekend. With a length of 300 metres and width of 48 metres, the vessel is the biggest-ever container vessel to berth at any port in Nigeria. Speaking after the vessel berthed, Theo Adoki, leader of Onne Port Berthing meeting, described the feat as a welcome development. “I want to give kudos to the management of Nigerian Ports Authority, the port manager, the harbour master and the entire pilots in Onne Port for this great news,” he said. “I want to use this opportunity to let the world know that the eastern ports and Onne Port in particular is ready for shipping business.” J.D. Osaronu, paramount ruler of Onne, said the development shows the federal government has not forgotten the community. The Cable reported.
