NEWS
Army Conducts Examination for 286 Captains for Promotion to Major
No fewer than 286 officers of the Nigerian Army are taking part in the 2023 Captain to Major practical examination, to test the proficiency of officer for higher responsibilities.
Addressing candidates and officers in Abeokuta on Sunday, the Commander Training and Doctrine Command of the Nigerian Army, Maj.
-Gen. Kevin Aligbe, said officers would be assessed accordingly during the examination.Aligbe added that the candidates would be assessed in the areas of mental and physical fitness, communications, logical reasoning among others.
He urged them to approach the examination with all sincerity of purpose, saying that cheating and other examination malpractices would not be allowed.
He said that the examination remained necessary, especially in the face of the current security challenges facing the country.
He explained that the current global security challenges, especially terrorism and insurgency had continued to be of great concerns to relevant authorities and no stone would be left unturn to combat the challenge frontally.
He noted that the examination would be based on global challenge of terrorism and insurgency, effective communication, logical reasoning, map reading among others.
Aligbe added that to be qualified and promoted from the current rank of Captain to Major ,officers must score 50 per cent in all subjects and 60 per cent overall aggregate .
“This practical promotion examination from Captain to Major for these 286 officers across the country and beyond is to evaluate their proficiency for higher responsibilities, manpower development, especially in counter terrorism and insurgency,” he said.
Earlier, the General Officer Commanding , 81 Division, Nigerian Army, Maj.-Gen Muhammed Usman,
explained that the relevance of the examination towards building capacity for junior leadership to achieve national security objectives could not be over-emphasised.
He noted that the examination was meant to broaden the candidate’s knowledge and understanding of various aspects of military operations with emphasis on Counter Terrorism and Counter Insurgency Operations.
“We are all aware that the aim of this examination is to evaluate the proficiency of this category of officers and develop their junior leadership capabilities for higher responsibilities in the Nigerian Army.
“I would like to state that your performance in the examination is a key determinant of progress in your career and it is important you all put in seriousness and determination to excel,” he said. (NAN)
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)