NEWS
Interior Minister Promises to Reform Four Services
The Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, has promised to embark on comprehensive reforms in key sectors under his ministry to enhance their operational capabilities.
In a video broadcast on Sunday monitored by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Tunji-Ojo reaffirmed his commitment to executing the “Renewed Hope Agenda” of President Bola Tinubu, a transformative plan aimed at revamping sectors.
The four sectors include the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCOs), the Federal Fire Service (FFS) as well as the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).
Acknowledging the leadership of Tinubu, Tunji-Ojo expressed his gratitude for the opportunity to serve and promised to uphold the responsibilities entrusted to him.
He emphasised that his focus would be on ensuring that the government’s promises translate into meaningful action, making a positive impact on the lives of Nigerians.
The minister promised to do all he could within his capacity not to disappoint the president in terms of the implementation of the “Renewed Hope Agenda”.
In addressing challenges relating to NIS, the minister highlighted his determination to enhance the experience of Nigerians seeking to register and obtain passports for various purposes.
“I assure Nigerians of our desire to proceed with reforms in our NIS, such that Nigerians can be treated with respect, and that we get to unbuckle all bottlenecks of passport collections.
“We will also ensure that other issues associated with the service in general are under control,” he stressed.
Besides, Tunji-Ojo said he would ensure the decongestion in NCoS custodial centres as well as providing inmates with the opportunity for rehabilitation and re-integration into the society.
“Of course, with beaming life, and hope we’d groom inmates and help inmates to ensure proper re-integration into the society.”
The minister further said that on the proposed reforms for the FFS, he would ensure that response times to emergencies was enhanced.
“We will do everything within our power as a ministry to ensure that there are key reforms in the nation’s fire service centres and turn around the response time to say 15 minutes.
“The commitment further reflects the administration’s recognition of the critical role played by the service in safeguarding citizens and infrastructure.”
Tunji-Ojo further pledged to prioritise the protection of national assets and facilities, as well as to ensure the effective protection of national infrastructure by the NSCDC.
The minister added that his commitments to reform all the services under his ministry reflect the administration’s vision for a more secure, efficient and prosperous Nigeria.
“We will ensure that in terms of protection of national assets, it’s expected of the NSCDC to respond to ensuring that our national asset are well protected.
“I assure Nigerians that under my leadership as the Minister of Interior, I will not rest on my promise of taking a clue from the zeal, determination and commitment of the President.
“I also assure that the Renewed Hope finds its footings in the Interior Ministry, and Nigerians will be proud of this administration,” he added. (NAN)
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)
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. (NAN
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)
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