NEWS
Ebonyi Gov’t to Empower 1300 Youths with N1.3bn for Shunning Protests
From Godwin Okehm Abakaliki
The Ebonyi State governor, Francis Nwifuru has approved the empowerment of 1,300 youths that hail from the 13 LGAs with one million each for shunning participation in the ongoing nationwide ‘endbadgovernance’ protest in the state.
The commissioner for information and state orientation, Jude Okpor disclosed this while briefing journalists on the outcome of the state executive council meeting that took place at his office, Cabinet office in the old government house, Abakaliki.
He also disclosed that the executive council has constituted a 9-man high powered committee headed by the Deputy Governor, Onyemachi Obila to work out modalities for the implementation and disbursement of the fund.
Okpor further revealed that the empowerment is targeted in appreciation of the Ebonyi youths, who obediently respected the call by the state government to shun the ongoing nationwide ‘endbadgovernance’ protest that was recently crippling the nation’s economy.
According to him: “In furtherance of his Excellency’s earlier pronouncements to empower a total of 1,300 Ebonyi youths with one million naira each at the ratio of 100 youths per local government Area, the council constituted a 9-man high powered committee headed by the Deputy Governor of the state to work out modalities for the implementation and disbursement.
“This is in appreciation of the Ebonyi youths’ obedience to his Excellency’s call for them to embrace peace and shun participation in the ongoing protest in the country.”
He, however, added that the ongoing building construction in the two new universities, ICT university and university of Aeronautics, space Engineering to ensure immediate smooth take-off of academic activities in the two universities.
He said that the state government has directed the key positions of principal Officers in the two universities, vice chancellor, Registrar, Bursar and Librarian among others to be advertised, stressing that the essence, is aimed at putting in place manpower for the supervision of the ongoing projects in the two universities.
“Government has directed that the key positions of principal Officer in the two universities, vice chancellor,Registrar, Bursar and Librarian among others be advertised.
“This, among other things, aimed at putting in place an added manpower for the supervision of the ongoing projects in the two universities” he said.
NEWS
Customs Intercept Contraband Worth N510.92m in Two Conths
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Federal Operations Unit Zone C, says it intercepted contrabands with a Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N510.92 million between July 15th and September 15th, 2024.The zone covers the six states in the South-South geopolitical zone and the five states in the Southeast geopolitical zone.
This is contained in a statement signed by Jerry Attah, Public Relations Officer, NCS, Zone C, and made available to journalists on Wednesday. According to the statement, Comptroller Michael Ugbagu, NCS, Zone C, gave the statistics while showcasing the seized contraband to relevant regulatory agencies at the Government Warehouse in Edo.Ugbagu said that the zone also recovered the sum of N25.57 million from demand notices raised based on some infractions noticed, making a cumulative sum of N536.49 million recorded within the months under review.“The DPV was derived from our seized goods, which include 49,699 sachets of various brands of tramadol and 3,350 bottles of various cough syrups with codeine without an NAFDAC number.“1,015 sacks of dry donkey meat and skin, 75 jumbo bales of second-hand clothing, 463 cartons of foreign spaghetti, 269 pieces of used pneumatic tires, and 56 cartons of smuggled foreign tomato paste.“More worrisome is the interception of 49,699 sachets of various brands of tramadol and 3,350 bottles of various cough syrups with codeine without NAFDAC registration numbers.”He noted that the cough syrup with codeine and tramadol without NAFDAC registration numbers, if not intercepted, could have had adverse effects on youths.He added that the items were mostly intercepted along the Ewu-Okada/Benin expressways based on credible intelligence. (NAN)NEWS
APC Forum Decries Deplorable Condition of Federal Roads
The Forum of Stakeholders of the All Progressive Congress (APC) has decried the deplorable condition of some federal roads in Nigeria. Alhaji Saleh Zazzaga, the North-Central Chairman of the forum, said this in an interaction with newsmen on Wednesday in Jos. Zazzaga described some of the federal roads as ”death traps”, particularly those within the north-central region.
He said that some of the deplorable roads in the region include Jos-Akwanga, Makurdi-Oturkpo-Otukpa, Makurdi-Ankpa, and Jos-Saminaka. Other roads that needed urgent attention, he said, included Suleja-Minna, Ejule-Otukpa, Ganawuri-Manchok, Lokoja-Abuja, Lapai-Agaie-Bida, Birnin-Gwari-Bokani-Mokwa, Minna-Zungeru-Tegina-Kontagora. ”Currently, the north-central region has the most deplorable roads and highways in the country. ”These deplorable roads have brought severe hardship on the people and lost lives and property through preventable road traffic crashes. ”We call on President Bola Tinubu to intervene and ensure the rehabilitation of these roads because good roads are vital enablers of development,” he said. The chairman also called on governors of states within the region to reconstruct the dilapidated roads and seek refunds from the federal government. ”Though these are largely federal roads, they are located within states, and the beneficiaries are the people of these states. ”So we call on state governments to reconstruct these roads and seek refunds from the federal government,” he added. (NANNEWS
Yuan Strengthens 7. 087 Against Dollar
The central parity rate of the Chinese currency renminbi, or the yuan, strengthened 160 pips to 7.087 against the dollar on Wednesday.This is according to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System.In China’s spot foreigners exchange market, the yuan is allowed to rise or fall by two per cent from the central parity rate each trading day.
The central parity rate of the yuan against the dollar is based on a weighted average of prices offered by market makers before the opening of the interbank market each business day. (Xinhua/NAN)