The National Commission for Nomadic Education (NCNE) has trained 150 nomadic youths and women across Anambra, Delta, Katsina, Osun, Yobe and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on livestock production, hair dressing and fashion designing.

The Executive Secretary of the Commission, Prof.

Bashir Usman, made this known during a three-day capacity training which began on Tuesday in Kaduna.

The Secretary, represented by the Director, Extension Education and Skills Development, NCNE, Dr.

Abdu Umar Ardo, explained that the training will play a vital role in addressing food security and youth restiveness in the country.

According to him, empowering youths and women is the means through which they are assisted to succeed in life .

He said the gesture will also give them  the opportunity to develop the ability they need to become role models who can influence their communities and earn a living for socio-economic and sustainable livelihoods development.

“Youths and women empowerment is of importance to both the nation and the

empowered. With youths and women empowerment, the future prosperity of the country is secured because these are the people that are future entrepreneurs of any nation.

“When they are empowered, through need based skills, the  society becomes a good place for all to live,” he said.

“They will assist in the economic activities of the society where they find themselves and in turn, both families and the entire nation benefit.

“The commission’s initiative of empowering youths and women through Vocational Education and Value Orientation can go a long way in reducing poverty percentage of many rural societies, restiveness, social vices such as cattle rustling, kidnapping, raping, rural banditry, piracy and incessant conflicts leading to wanton destruction of lives and properties.

“Empowerment with skills and acquisition training is basically to ensure poverty eradication, good education standard, job creation, good governance, security/crime reduction, national growth, technological development and employment, wealth creation and self-reliance.”

He therefore urged the participants to be more determined in ensuring that 3.5 million out-of-school nomadic children are enrolled in schools.

He further urged the Kaduna State Government and other States in the Country to provide adequate teachers and infrastructure for Nomadic Primary Schools as well as include the training of Nomadic Youths in their programmes.

Mr Simon Lalong, Minister of Labour and Employment, says he has set up a committee to probe alleged complaints by staff against the management of Nigerian Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF).

Lalong disclosed this during a  familiarisation visit to the fund on Tuesday in Abuja.

The minister was accompanied by the Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Mrs Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, and other top directors in the ministry.

Lalong said the visit was to look at some of the complaints filed by staff against the management and to also address them holistically.

According to him, there are a lot of complaints in the ministry lodged against the fund and some of them are internal and external petitions.

“We saw complaints of refunds of money paid and refunded; we had complaints of unfair administrative practices and also irregular promotions.

“We had complaints of lack of vacancies and stagnation of staff;  court cases regrading the disengagement of certain staff and disharmony between in-house union and the fund.

“Staff grievances of irregularities of grade levels, mass employment of persons to fill up vacancies in the fund and staff condition of service.’’

He also noted that the ministry received complaints of disharmony among management staff and insubordination of staff of the fund among others.

Lalong added that, as a way forward, he had set up a committee that would be inaugurated on Wednesday.

According to him, the committee will investigate the issues so that  they can be resolved as soon as possible.

“This is meant to improve your services and not to witch hunt anybody but to add value to the ministry as a lot is expected from us and our agencies,“ he said.

Earlier, Mrs Maureen Allagoa, Managing Director of NSITF, while commending the ministers for their visit, highlighted the challenges facing the fund.

“A prominent challenge that has occurred in 2022 with a threat to reoccur in 2023 is the implementation of the deduction of 40 per cent of the employers’ contribution to the Fund by the Ministry of Finance.

“N1.4 billion was deducted and paid into the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) in line with the Finance Act 2020.

“There is also the challenge of the limitations of the Employees Compensation Act(EAC) 2010 in that it does not cover some situations.

“Especially in the areas of claims and compensation and the informal sector.

“These existing gaps in the law have variously been exploited by dubious employers to the detriment of employees,” she said.

Allagoa added that there was a need for an amendment of the Act to close up these gaps among other challenges.

She also noted that the fund had developed a strategic plan with 50 strategic objectives that drives a new direction of the new NSITF.

The managing director added that the strategic plan already approved by the board and the ministry had keyed into the agenda of the current administration.

A professor of Animal Genetics, Mike Iloeje, has charged Nigerian professors to lead by example and create the desired change needed in the country.

Iloeje, emeritus professor of Animal Genetics at the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO) made the call at the 2nd Enugu Independence Lecture Series held in Enugu on Tuesday.

The lecture series was organized by a group called the Agbaja Professors Worldwide to mark the 63rd Independence Anniversary with the topic “How Far Nigeria and Nigerians at 63?”.

The don expressed dismay that professors in higher institutions had not lived to the desired expectations from the citizenry noting that they had been involved in allegations of fraud and corrupt enrichment.

According to him, can we really not stamp out from our universities the cankerworms of sex-4-grades, examination malpractices, jaundiced appointments and promotions, misappropriation and embezzlement of funds?

“Isi it not true that our election umpires either as returning officers, resident electoral commissioners, or chairmen at the national level are many a time selected from the professorial class?

“Ministers, commissioners, secretaries to government, chiefs of staff, chief executives of MDAs, registrar of JAMB among others are routinely chosen from members of the professorial class.

“How many of these our fellow professors have completed their tenures without allegations of fraud and corrupt enrichment? Have we shown exemplary integrity? he queried.

Iloeje, a former Rector of the Institute of Management and Technology (IMT),Enugu, urged professors to contribute their quota to make Nigeria’s dream possible by creating the desired change to move Nigeria from being a country to being a nation.

In a paper presentation, a onetime Science and Technology Minister, Prof Barth Nnaji emphasized the need for governments to be more inclusive in the country’s management than exclusive .

Speaking on the topic “The Socio-Political and Economic Consequences of the Politics of Sectional Domination and Marginalisation in Nigeria”, Nnaji said that the policy of inclusion was the only way to achieve economic, social and technological progress.

He listed the advantages of inclusion to include synergistic economic growth, political stability, unity, sustainable development, progress and love among all groups among others.

“For a nation of 205 million people from 350 ethnic groups who belong to different religious traditions, it is extremely risky to practice sectionalism,” the robotic engineer said.

While commending the Agbaja professors for organizing the event, Nnaji called on all sections of Enugu State to advocate for accommodation, tolerance and inclusion for economic development.

Earlier, the chairman of the Agbaja Professors, Prof Chike Anibeze, said the group was an umbrella for all professors of Agbaja extraction of Udi and Ezeagu Local Government Areas of Enugu State.

Anibeze said the group functioned to promote education and learning related activities in Agbaja land adding that it had instituted an annual prize for outstanding personalities in defined areas of economic and educational development.

Highlights of the event was presentations of the Okibe Prize to distinguished personalities including Rev Ugochukwu Chime, a surveyor and real estate developer, Mr Kingsley Eze, an IT expert and CEO, Tenece Holdings Ltd and Chinedu Ochinanwata, a professor of Digital Economy.