Ortom to pay WAEC fees of public school students (Read full details)

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Samuel Ortom

Benue State Government has promised to pay the West African School Certificate, (WAEC) fees of candidates in public secondary schools.Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Professor Dennis Ityavyar, who announced this, yesterday, while presenting his ministry’s scorecard, said the decision was taken to make public schools more attractive.

Ityavyar said the Ministry has constructed blocks of classrooms in major secondary schools across the state. The Commissioner revealed that 10, 000 primary and 6, 000 secondary school teachers have been retrained and Benue People’s Education project was established to raise fund for the development of the sector. He threatened to close all illegal schools and miracle centres to ensure access to quality education.

Responding, NUJ Chairman, Mr. Kris Atsaka, lamented the set back in the education sector over the years, urging the Commissioner to ensure that the lost glory of the sector was restored for the benefit of all.

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Saraki takes plea as government amends charges again

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President of the Senate, Dr. Bukola Saraki PHOTO: TWITTER/BUKOLA SARAKI

The Senate President, Bukola Saraki, was yesterday re-arraigned at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), on an 18-count further amended charge.

He however pleaded not guilty to the charge.

After the new charge was read and accepted by the tribunal, trial resumed with the second prosecution witness admitting before the court that it is lawful for the Senate President to own shares in companies like any other public officers in the country as allowed by law.

The witness, Mr. Samuel Madojemu, stated that Saraki, as a former governor of Kwara State was not prevented by law to own shares in any company.

Under cross-examination by the defense counsel, Mr. Paul Erokoro (SAN, the witness, who is the Head of Investigation Unit, Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), admitted that public officers are allowed to own shares in companies in addition to owning farms for agricultural purposes.

The witness further informed the tribunal that there was no law in the country forbidding public officers from having even majority or controlling shares in any company and that the Senate President has the right to own shares in any company that trades in rice and sugar commodities or any other materials.

Madojemu stated that he never asked the Senate president during investigation, whether he had shares in any company trading in rice and sugar.

The prosecution witness had earlier testified that Saraki, in one of his asset forms claimed to have acquired properties at No. 15a and 17a Macdonald Street Ikoyi, Lagos, from proceeds of rice and sugar commodities .

According to him, while public office holders are permitted to engage in farming only, while in office, he does not know any law permitting them to engage in trading in agricultural produce.

The trial has been adjourned till March 2.

Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2kSxyTT

Home truth

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HR International to hold confab on African economy

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Mining

HR International has announced a plan to hold a conference in Lagos, on the economic challenges and potential in Africa, particularly Nigeria.

The confab, Human Capital Summit Africa, would hold from March 9 to 10, at the Landmark Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos.

The summit is a broad-based human resource platform that attracts a wide spectrum of practitioners and other professionals in the private and public sectors of the economy from across the world.

It is aimed at shaping conversation on human capital development and organisational performance with special focus on new trends and dynamics.

With the topic “Managing New Economy Efficiencies and Old Economy Relationships),” the summit is designed to capture the existing mood, while also shedding light on ideas and efforts that are already defining a way forward.

According to the organisers, the overall objective of the conference is to bring to the fore, ideas with transformative potential to engender sustained productivity.

They stressed that participants would benefit from the defining features of the summit, which are empowerment, access to high-value network, expanding the information pool and laying out strategic plans for professional and social impact.

The summit is expected to feature eminent keynote speakers from around the world in 60 sessions that would accommodate multiple areas of interest.

Expected at the conference are over 100 notable session speakers from around the world, 3000 delegates from across Africa, 500 participating organisations and over 100 top executives of organisations.

As part of the confab, international certifications by Coventry University and London South Bank University would be accorded the participants.

Also to feature is an international exhibition by over 50 companies, followed by a high-profile awards event to celebrate human resource strategy, management and performance in Africa.

An international job fair would hold to provide on-the-spot access to training, skills acquisition, business orientation, funding and job opportunities.

Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2kSwn7e

Nigeria: Different governments, same policies, worse result

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APC. PHOTO: dailypost

Sir: After the election of Muhammadu Buhari as the president of this great nation (Nigeria), Nigerians were happy as they strongly believed that he is the one to take them to the promised land. I was one of those who campaigned and voted for him in the 2015 general elections. A Nigerian even trekked from Lagos to Abuja as part of the celebration for Buhari’s victory.

However, today, many Nigerians are disappointed as things are not happening the way they expect. The killings of innocent Nigerians by herdsmen, the epileptic power supply in many parts of the country, the removal of the fuel subsidy, partiality in the fight against corruption, where only the members of the opposition party are corrupt but those in the ruling party are regarded as saints, have led to disillusionment.

Nevertheless, the ongoing economic crisis (recession) in the country is further compounding issues and exposing the incompetence of the Buhari’s administration. The promised change of the ongoing regime is now regrettable by many Nigerians as hardship seems to be the very change that Nigerians were promised by the present government.

Notwithstanding, the excessive increase in the price of goods and services in the country and the government’s lackadaisical attitude is another issue of concern. The poor are only the victims of every unfortunate condition or situation created by each government in power.

At this point, let me advise Nigerians to pray earnestly for the success of this government and the survival of Nigeria and Nigerians. In God we trust.

Audu Gideon, Makurdi. Benue State.

Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2l5PA0e

Cross River integrates traditional birth attendants into healthcare system (Read full details)

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To check the rate of infant and maternal mortality in the state, Cross River State Government is to integrate traditional birth attendants (TBAs) into its healthcare system.

The state government said this was necessary considering their strategic role in the society, in terms of taking delivery of babies, especially in rural areas.

Director-General, Cross River State Primary HealthCare Delivery Agency, Dr. Beta Edu, yesterday, maintained that the role of TBAs in infant and maternal healthcare cannot be overemphasized, because people have so much confidence in their services, hence they must be trained and fully integrated in the healthcare chain.

She said, “We have commenced the necessary training programme for all TBAs, basically to educate them on their new roles, which is purely referrals of patients from their communities to our health facility in their respective areas.“We do not want our women to be delivered by unskilled birth attendants who may not be able to dictate when complications arise.”

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