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How Lalong’s Five Years of Stewardship Impact on Civil Service-HOS

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Plateau State Head of Civil Service, Izam Atang Azi, In this interview with our Correspondent JUDE DANGWAM, disclosed how the Civil Service received an unprecedented reform in the last five years of Governor Simon Lalong.

Excerpt.

What are some of the developments that the Plateau State Civil Service can boost of in the last five years?

You know the Civil Service is only a service delivery agency, we may not have physical project for people to see, but our own is human capital development.

By ensuring that the welfare of workers is uplifted and also ensuring that we have a good working relationship between government and labour.

Base on that, we are able to achieve a lot in the payment of salaries and pension gratuities.

Because of this, we then have a situation where civil servants are more comfortable and can even access loans that can help them to do one or two things.

When we came in, the ministries were scattered, especially, those in the storey building because renovation work was not completed. So, we had to appeal to His Excellency and funds were released to the contractors and they were able to do some appreciable work and now all the ministries are back to their respective offices, which have now made work easy.

In the areas of industrial harmony, when this government came in the workers were on strike over outstanding salaries and other issues. So, government was able to clear all the seven month salaries of workers and eight months pension arrears and since then, we have stability in the payment of salaries and pensions.

In addition to that, there was this issues of ‘No Work No Pay’ policy of the previous administration, these are withheld salaries that this government inherited. The workers in the local government, the teachers in primary schools and also the staff of tertiary institutions in the state as well as doctors under the Ministry of Health, that is Plateau hospitals and the Hospital Management board; all had withheld salaries because of the No Work No Pay policy.

So, the case had been in Court, but upon the coming of this administration in 2015, there was an understanding and the governor accepted settlement out of Court and government has, so far, paid 99 percent of the workers who were affected by the No Work No Pay policy, both at the local and state government.

We just have few cases that we are working on, but 99 percent of withheld salaries had been paid, and government had to spend over N7 billion on all the payments for those period.

You know, a committee was earlier on set up to look into the accumulation, and then the committee was able come out with an established list of those who were  been owned both at the state and the local government. Aside that, we were able to settled some contending issues with staff of tertiary institutions in the state, this government has fully implemented their salary structure hundred percent (100%) whether teaching or non teaching staff, which before now, it was not up to one hundred percent.

The state governor then approved the retirement age of staff of the Polytechnic at 65 years and apart from that, all the tertiary institutions in the state now are scheduled bodies, which means their pension now will be more stable and you can move from one place to another.

This is because, when an Agency is not scheduled, it is difficult for you to move from that Agency to another or transfer your service, but now, a staff of Finance can transfer his service to any of the tertiary institutions as long as they have the vacancy and you have the qualification and they are ready to accept you which was not like that before now.

There was this issue of call migration; government has been able to even pay the arrears of such migrations. Even the doctors, their salaries structure was reviewed to eighty (80%) by this government in 2016. Before the year 2016, their salaries were not up to that! This is because the Governor realized that some of the doctors were leaving for a better greener pasture, so because of that he had to review their salaries to 80% these are medical doctors and even veterinary doctors are included since 2016. For some of them we had to even pay them some arrears base on that reviewed. 

What is the workforce of Plateau State civil servants and what is the level of promotion in the last five years?

In the area of promotions, this government has done well in the promotion of civil servants, because promotion was suspended before the government came on board. So, when this government came in, promotion was done to all those who were due for promotion and we have almost 15,000 who have been promoted so far and the exercise is still ongoing.

Almost every year now, the workers are being promoted and are even been paid three months arrears of this promotions, which you know very well that there are states in this country that don’t pay promotion arrears any longer but here we do if you have arrears!.

Another issue is that because of the stability in the payment of salaries, we have been able to enter into an agreement with the Federal Mortgage Bank in 2017. A MoU was signed for the N1million home renovation loans to be given to civil servants and I can tell you that as at the moment, they have so far disbursed about N906 million to 950 civil servants who have benefited from this loan already and is an ongoing process. In fact if not because this COVID-19, we are expecting them to disbursed another N322 million to another set of about 390 civil servants.

This initiative has help most civil servants because many of them are coming 

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Mutfwang Declares War against Land Invaders in Plateau

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From Jude Dangwam, Jos

The Governor of Plateau State, Caleb Mutfwang has declared that the state would not surrender any of its land to any violent body or group.

Mufwang reiterated his commitment in providing adequate securities to farmers across troubled communities in order to boost food production in the state.

He said this while addressing Berom Nation at the 2024 Nzem Berom Cultural Festival held at the famous Rwang Pam Township Stadium at the weekend in Jos, the Plateau State capital.

Mufwang said the State plays a key role in contributing to national food security and as such machineries have since been put in place to safeguard farmers in this year’s farming season.

“Plateau people are not beggars; if nobody supports us, we don’t ourselves. This resilience kept us together over the years despite the attacks.

“And that is why today; the contribution of the people of Plateau State to the national food basket cannot be underestimated. If not for food that comes from Plateau State, Nigeria will go hungry.

“In the coming days, we will stand shoulder to shoulder to resist those who seek to decimate us, we will stand shoulder to shoulder to protect the land that God has given us for inheritance. Though the giants may be on our way to hinder but God will give us victory, God will be with us as He has always over the years,” he stated

He added, “this year, we are making arrangements to beef up the security around our farmlands, I therefore urged you to go back to the farm, we will not surrender the farmlands to anyone.

“We are trusting God that security will begin to move round and make sure that our people go to the farm and return safely. By the grace of God, we will continue to work with the security agencies on ground and make sure they do their jobs better and better.” He noted

He commended the Berom Nation for their doggedness and determination to add value to their society with the launching and fund raising for the building of a training hub to complement government efforts as a people.

The Governor further appealed to citizens of the state who have gotten fertilizer not to resale them but make good use of the fertilizers on their farms, adding that the state is expecting a little more from the federal government and only verified farmers will have access to them.

Mutfwang promised to redeem the pledges made four years ago to the Berom Nation by the last administration of Simon Lalong at the turn of N25mn.

He equally announced his personal support to the “Wurom Legacy Trust Fund” to support the training of 75 young women, and 75 young men at the Hub respectively.

The President of the Plateau State Council of Chiefs and the Gbong Gwom Jos, Da Jacob Gyang Buba appealed for adequate protection of his people as they returned back to their ancestral land to cultivate which were earlier displaced from.

“Our people have gone back to their lands to continue the age-old traditions of farming. We will appeal that the security works with the government of Plateau state to ensure protection for the people so that we can produce the food that we will need to sustain our lives, not only in Plateau state, but in Nigeria as a whole,” he stated

The Royal father lamented that prices of food have been so disturbing because the demand has kept rising on a daily basis with the supply being shut down by the displacement of locals at various locations in the state.

“The food supply has been shut, not because our people are lazy, but because of the insecurity. And so we will appeal for security so that we can continue to farm and feed our people accordingly.

“We will also appeal to the government to ensure the peaceful coexistence of the people of Plateau State. But like I said, the lands that each ethnic nationality occupies was given by God,” Buba reiterated

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Again, TAJBank Wins ‘Best Islamic Bank Award’

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By Tony Obiechina, Abuja

TAJBank Limited, Nigeria’s fastest-growing non-interest banking services provider, has won the Islamic Finance News’ (IFN’s) “Best Islamic Bank in Nigeria 2023”, beating other nominees from across the global geopolitical zones in the competition.

The IFN’s Organizing Committee stated that the award was conferred on TAJBank in recognition of its superior value-adding, world-class products and innovative service delivery to non-interest banking customers globally.

In his acceptance speech, the bank’s Founder/CEO, Mr. Hamid Joda, commended the IFN’s Committee for the global recognition, saying “the Board and management of TAJBank are grateful for recognizing our bank as an emerging frontline player in the global Islamic banking landscape and my humble self for the IFN Award for 2023.

“As we keep saying, these awards and several others TAJBank has received in the past three years will further encourage us to do more in surpassing the expectations of our growing customers in terms of quality products and service delivery for invaluable value-addition to them and their businesses”, Joda added.

Also commenting on the IFN 2023 awards, the bank’s Co-Founder/Executive Director, Mr. Sherif Idi, lauded “the IFN for the award and our customers for their growing confidence in TAJBank to deliver superior products and services with, in some cases, personalized touches to confirm to them that our only interest is in them.”

The IFN Organizing Committee commended the TAJBank for hard work, persistence, and innovative strategies that enables the bank to make giant strides despite the whirlwinds in the Nigerian economy.

The selection of winners for the 2023 IFN competition was conducted by the IFN Organizing Committee with support from the Redmoney Group, the foremost global provider of specialized Islamic financial media services across three core divisions of events, publishing, and training.

It would be recalled that TAJBank had won the BusinessDay newspaper’s ‘Islamic Bank of The Year’ awards for 2021, 2022 and 2023 and before then clinched the Leadership newspapers’ ‘Bank Of The Year Award’ in 2020, amongst other laurels since it commenced operations three years ago. 

In recognition of the non-interest lender’s strict compliance with global best practices, particularly in information security standards in all areas of its operations, TAJBank in 2022 received the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) certification and three International Standards Organization (ISO) certifications by the Certification Partner Global (CPG), namely ISO 27001, ISO 22301, and ISO 20000 on Information Security, Business Continuity, and IT Service Management Systems.

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Airports: Tinubu Seeks N24.6bn to Reimburse Nasarawa, Kebbi 

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By Lubem Myaornyi, Abuja

President Bola Tinubu has written to the House of Representatives seeking the preparations and approval of a N24.6 billion Promissory Notes to reimburse Nasarawa and Kebbi States on the costs of their Airports taken over by the Federal Government.

Nasarawa is to be reimbursed N9.5 billion while Kebbi is to be reimbursed to the tune of N15.

1 billion.

In the letter read by the Deputy Speaker, Benjamin Kalu, who presided over the Plenary on Thursday, the President said, the takeover of the airports was in line with Item 3 of the Second Schedule of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) which placed the ownership of Airports and other Aviation related infrastructure in the exclusive list.

Similarly, the President in a separate letter presented an Executive Bill, the National Anti-Doping Bill 2024 for the House consideration.

The President said the bill seeks the creation of an agency for Nigeria to achieve world standards and codes on Doping by signatories to the international regulations.

He urged the House to give the Bill a speedy consideration before the commencement of the Olympic Games coming up later in July.

In another letter, the President sought the approval of a supplementary budget for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) for the 2023 fiscal year.

Tinubu Transmits Bill on Sports Performance Enhancement Drug to Senate

Meanwhile, President Bola Tinubu has forwarded a bill to the Senate seeking to prohibit Nigerian athletes from consuming substances that enhance performance during or after competitions.

The president’s request was contained in a letter read by the Deputy Senate President, Barau Jibrin, who presided over the plenary on Thursday.

The bill titled “National Anti-Doping Bill 2024”, if passed, will regulate substances that can be consumed by athletes during sporting events.

In the letter, Tinubu said the bill would provide a legal framework for the establishment of the National Anti-Doping Organisation to regulate sporting competitions.

He explained that the establishment of the agency was a requirement for Nigeria to achieve compliance with the World Anti-Doping Code.

The World Anti-Doping Code (Code) is the core document that harmonises anti-doping policies, rules and regulations within sports organisations and among public authorities around the world.

Tinubu noted that the law will help Nigeria avoid the imposition of signatory consequences and the inclusion of laws of hosting and participating rights at regional, continental and world championships or major athletic events.

“In accordance with the provisions of section 58 (2) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, as amended, I forward herewith the National Anti-Doping Bill 2024 for the kind consideration of the Senate.

“The National Anti-Doping Bill 2024 seeks to create an administratively independent National Anti-Doping organisation, which is a cardinal requirement for Nigeria to achieve compliance with the World Anti-Doping Code and the international standard for code compliance by signatures.

The enactment of this vital legislation will also help Nigeria avoid the imposition of signatory consequences, the inclusion of laws of hosting and participating rights at regional, continental and world championships or major athletic events”, Mr Tinubu added.

The president, however, urged the lawmakers to consider the bill before the Olympic Games seminar scheduled to be held in Paris in July for Nigerians to be part of the competition.

 “It is my hope that this submission will receive the humankind expeditious consideration of the distinguished members of the Senate of the Federal Nigeria for passage of the same to law before the Olympic Games seminar in Paris in July 2024.

“Please accept, distinguished president, the assurances of our highest consideration. Regards.”

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