Aso Villa Reads for 23/04/18
Every day, we bring you the best stories the media is reporting about the Government of Nigeria.
“The Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing has renewed its commitment to the construction of new roads and the maintenance of existing road infrastructure. The assurances were given in a national survey conducted nationwide by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the on-going rehabilitation and reconstruction of federal roads in the country. The officials, who spoke with in interviews with NAN, explained that repair work and reconstruction had been carried out on most federal roads in their areas, within the level of resources available for such activities. According to Mr Ayoola Bolaji, the Maintenance Engineer, Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA) in Bayelsa, the state has a total of six federal roads.” The Nation reported.
According to a report by Business Day Newspaper (Monday, 23rd April 2018, page 42), “Gloria Elemo, Director General and Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Institute of Industrial Research Oshodi (FIIRO), says an inclusion of High Quality Cassava Flour (HQCF) into wheat has the capacity to generate N96 billion revenue for farmers and players in the value chain, based on 1.2 million metric tonnes per annum demand estimate by flour millers. Elemo, who disclosed this last Tuesday during a courtesy visit of board members of FIIRO to the institute, stated that the HQCF industry alone could generate three million jobs for over 5000 small and medium cassava processing plants required to produce the 1.2 million tonnes of cassava. She added that FIIRO was currently developing food products for people with special needs, including children suffering from acute malnutrition, diabetes, HIV/AIDS and sickle cell, among others.”
“The Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, has refuted report by an online medium, Premium Times, about illegal sharing of N10 billion from the national treasury. The Minister wishes to debunk the entire mischievous and made-up report of the online medium, which negates the ethics, and professionalism of journalism. The article displays a worrying lack of understanding of Appropriation, Payments and Control, and therefore be disregarded by the public. The Minister further wishes to state that warrants are issued in accordance with Appropriation and after due approval by the Cash Plan Committee chaired by the Minister. There is absolutely no truth in the report of the Minister being involved in any fraudulent scandal as alleged by the mischievous online medium, Adeosun declared.” Business Day Newspaper (Monday, 23rd April 2018, page 45) reported.
“The Federal Government has guaranteed about $25 billion foreign direct investment for critical infrastructure in the country. This is part of the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) package by the government aimed at stimulating the economy. This disclosure was said to have been made known to participants of the just concluded six-week Focus lab for members of the ERGP group.” Business Day Newspaper (Monday, 23rd April 2018, page 45) reported that “some members of the group stated that the money was going to be invested in critical infrastructure such as power, manufacturing, transportation, health, education, works and others. They added that the government had asked them to bring forward projects that could be supported for the purpose of ease of doing business in their sectors, so that it could facilitate their execution.”
“The Federal Ministry of Science and Technology has urged research institutes under the ministry to intensify effort in producing affordable sporting equipment that will empower Nigeria to excel in international competitions. Ogbonnaya Onu, the Minister of Science and Technology, gave the advice when he received “RIGAN 2019 Hosting Right Flag for NBRRI OTA 2019“ from Prof. Rabiu Adamu, the President, Research Institute Games Association of Nigeria (RIGAN). According to him, such effort will create added value to the nation’s sporting equipment and help sportsmen and women to excel in competitions. Onu said the National Institute of Leather Science and Technology (NILST) and the National Research for Chemical Technology (NARICT) had produced high-quality football of international standard to promote sporting activities. He said their efforts had started yielding results of creating jobs and reducing poverty in the country.” So writes Business Day Newspaper (Monday, 23rd April 2018, page 47).
“The Federal Government has committed to secure US$300 million from the World Bank, Islamic Development Bank and African Development Bank to eliminate malaria in the country. This is contained in a statement issued by the African Leaders Malaria Alliance (ALMA) on the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2018 just ended in London. The government said in the statement that it would elevate malaria on the national priority list and finance its national malaria elimination strategy.” According to Guardian “The statement said Nigeria also pledged an additional US$18.7 million to leverage US$37 million from the Global Fund to distribute 15 million mosquito nets and to support the local manufacture of essential malaria commodities. It said that ALMA applauds the commitment by 53 Commonwealth leaders to halve malaria across the Commonwealth nations within the next five years.”
“With the growing incidence of Nigerians falling victims of cash fraud to cybercriminals, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has kicked off nationwide cyber security awareness workshops to sensitize people on how to protect themselves online. The first and second phases of the series of workshop held in Katsina State for the North West zone and Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, for the south-south zone in March and April attracted participants from government agencies, military and paramilitary organisations, the academia, registered cooperatives and associations and the private sector from all the states of the zones.” A statement by the Director-General of NITDA, Dr. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, said the workshops were part of the agency’s continuous efforts aimed at equipping citizens with foundational knowledge as well as share best practices on staying safe in cyberspace.” Leadership reported.
