NEWS
NYSC Decries Deplorable Condition of Niger Orientation Camp
From Dan Amasingha, Minna
The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) has expressed concerns over the deplorable condition of facilities, especially toilet and hostel accommodation at the State Orientation Camp at Paiko, in Paikoro Local Government Area of the state.
Ambassador Fatima Abubakar, Chairman, NYSC National Governing Board, said this when she led a delegation to paid a courtesy visit to the Niger state Governor, Abubakar Sani-Bello, in Minna on Monday.
The delegation had earlier visited the state NYSC orientation camp to inspect facilities at the camp and the scheme’s garment factory.
Abubakar expressed disappointment that facilities at the orientation camp were still left in such condition as they were two years ago despite the state government assurance to improve on the facilities.
She lamented that the toilet facilities and hostel accommodation at the orientation camp were inadequate to carter for the needs and welfare of the corps members posted to the state.
“I have gone to the orientation camp to inspect facilities and interacted with corps members, but what I saw at the camp is not encouraging, therefore, I have come to plead with you to improve on the facilities.
“The camp is very huge, but the facilities there are inadequate, hostel accommodation for both female and male corp members are not comfortable especially in this era of COVID-19 pandemic,” she said.
She said that there was shortage of facilities to accommodate corps members and security officials as well as lack of modern kitchen and cooking equipment.
The chairman added that there was need for additional boreholes for adequate water supply, provision of conducive parade ground and sport center for camp activities.
Responding, Bello, represented by his deputy, Alhaji Ahmed Ketso, gave assurance that the state government would improve and prioritise welfare and well-being of corps members posted to the state in order to sustain its partnership with the scheme.
Also, Alhaji Ahmed Matane, Secretary to the state Government and Chairman of the state NYSC Govern ring Board, said that renovation of orientation camp had started which was interrupted by COVID-19 pandemic and insecurity challenges bedeviling the state.
He said that resources of the state government was channeled into fighting insecurity, assuring that work would soon commenced where they stopped as it has been captured in the state 2022 appropriation.
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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