NEWS
NCGF Holds 49th Annual Conference in Bayelsa
From Mike Tayese, Yenagoa
All was now set for the 49th Annual National Conference of the Nigeria Christian Graduate Fellowship (NCGF) and the 27th Anniversary of her Missionary Arm, in Bayelsa, with the Theme: “More Than Conquerors”, on Wednesday 28th to 31st August, 2024.
President of Nigeria Christian Graduate Fellowship (NCGF) Bayelsa chapter, Peter Great Temedie, stated this on Wednesday in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa capital, during a courtesy visit to the Federated Correspondent Chapel of the NUJ.
According to him, Nigeria Christian Graduate Fellowship of Nigeria, is a non-denominational faith based organisation, established in 1975 by the then City Graduates, who were Christians.
Temedie, who also doubled as the National Legal Adviser to the Association, said upon graduation the traditional church setting of exposure and then realizing the power of education and the influence it could have in the society, they decided to form the association called NCGF.
To enable them to use their position as Christians and their training and their experience as graduates to influence government policies positively to ensure that the government policies and programmes do not adversely affect the church.
“Then to also carry out other humanitarian activities like outreaches, through tracks and distribution in various languages across the globe, even around Africa.
“Also on medical missions organize free medical training or medical services for the less privileged and one is even ongoing as we speak in Uyo Akwa Ibom State by this body.
“We do a lot of things, we influence government policies positively, the church position in critical national issues and our drive is to see that the society becomes a better place where righteousness, integrity and justice rules and reins.
“That drive made the group to develop two documents to assist christians in politics, number one is the Christian Manifesto for Good Governance and Manual for Christian in Politics and Governance,” he explained.
According to him, in 2021 during the public hearing for constitutional amendment all over the federation this body took a very radical position which has gone rival today.
“If you log in on YouTube fresh constitution the first thing that will pop up is our presentation held in Asaba, we advocated for a fresh constitution which was very radical.
“I thank God the Tinubu led administration is moving towards getting a fresh constitution for the federal republic of Nigeria,” 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)