NEWS
Prioritise Corps Members’ Security, Welfare – NYSC Urges Employers
The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) has urged employers to ensure safety and improved welfare of the corps members for higher productivity.
The NYSC Director-General, Brig.-Gen. Ahmed Yusha’u, gave the charge at the inauguration of the 2023 Corps Employers’ workshop, on Thursday in Sokoto.
The theme of the workshop is: ”Evolving Strategies for Promoting a Healthy Work/ Life Balance for Corps Members – The Role of Employers”.
Represented by Namadi Hamisu, the Deputy Director, NYSC Northwest Area Office, Yushe’u decried spate of corps members’ rejection by employers.
He urged employers to expose corps members who staged manage their rejections, and display bad habits for appropriate sanctions.
He advised them against delays in the issuance of monthly clearance and recognitions to deserving corps members, which he said are some of the challenges facing the scheme.
“Some lapses experienced also included delay in requesting, not request of relevant corps members and expecting them to be posted.
“Absconding of corps members, ill treatment at workplaces, lack of support for corps members’ to Community Development Service (CDS) projects and lack of accommodation were among the hitches being experienced”.
The NYSC State Coordinator, Alhaji Usman Yakubu-Yaro, expressed happiness over the drop in cases of rejection of corps members by employers in the state.
He described the corps members as highly productive, especially when engaged in an enabling environment.
According to him, the feat is achieved sequel to regular meeting with the employers and other critical stakeholders to forge a way forward.
“Most youths are restless because they’re not meaningfully engaged in an enabling environment. But if you create a stable emotional atmosphere, these corp members can give you much more than you bargain,” he said.
The Coordinator lauded the state governor, Ahmed Aliyu for payment of N5,000 monthly stipend to the corps members and called for upward review of the allowances.
“The governor’s favourable disposition to issues concerning the scheme is a clear manifestation of his youth driven policies and his dogged determination to ensure that the state continues to be at the forefront in issues affecting the youth.
“Besides, the governor has been addressing the issues of brain drain, including recruitment of teachers and medical personnel. On our part, corps members have also been filling the gaps.
“But with the prevailing economic situation, N33,000 can barely take care of these basic needs, when someone isn’t settled, it affects the mind.
“The corps members have the energy, initiatives and capacity to adapt to working environment,” he said.
Commenting on the workshop, Yakubu-Yaro said it served as an avenue for cross fertilisation of ideas towards improving its operations, especially through creation of enabling environment for corps members to render quality services.
While reitrating commitment to fulfil its mandate, the Coordinator said the scheme has achieved much in promoting national unity as well as accelerate social and economic development in the country.
He said the NYSC Management/Corps Employers’ Forum has enabled both parties to enhance the capacity of Corps members for their effective engagement.
He stressed the need for the stakeholders to consider the role of members of the scheme as change agents who are key to the development of the country. (NAN
The Police Command in Anambra says gunmen have burnt its station in Umunze, Orumba South Local Government Area, killing two officers.SP Tochukwu Ikenga, the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, announced this in a statement issued in Awka on Monday.He said that the gunmen attacked the police facility with improvised explosives, shooting sporadically, which caused a fire to burn part of the station.
He said further that during the attack, two police operatives on duty were killed when they attempted to resist the gunmen. Ikenga stated that the bodies of the deceased policemen had been recovered and taken to the morgue.He also noted that joint security forces, including the police, army and navy, among others, had recovered five unexploded improvised explosives.Ikenga noted that the Commissioner of Police in Anambra, CP Nnaghe Itam, had visited the scene for assessment.He said that Itam called on anyone with information that could assist in the investigation to come forward, assuring then that such information would be treated confidential.(NAN)
By Tony Obiechina, Abuja
The Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF) has reiterated the Federal Government’s determination to maintain and operate a secure and efficient personnel and payroll system.In a statement by the Director of Press and Public Relations, Mr Bawa Mokwa on Monday, the OAGF maintained that the Integrated Personal and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) database has not been compromised, assuring that employees personal data on the IPPIS database is safe and secured.
The OAGF, which manages the IPPIS and other financial management initiatives of the Federal Government, said it is already implementing its ICT Security Policy that aims to ensure that its digital assets are secured in line with global best practices. The Office explained that no data is saved on its website, adding that the IPPIS uses the website to only share information and not for any transaction. “The IPPIS is not using the OAGF website for any transaction. The website is actually the medium to share information. Neither payroll nor payment is made through the website, therefore, no data is contained in the website”, it said. The OAGF stated that the IPPIS validation portal that was recently developed for updates of employees information was deployed for a period and after the exercise was over, the data were pulled out and the site shut down permanently.According to the statement, “the IPPIS Validation Portal was deployed on a secure platform. A secured database and application were purchased from the popular HELIX-FONS.”The Office acknowledged that the IPPIS is of utmost importance to Nigerian workers, thus it became imperative to assuage the fears of any loss or breach of employees personal data in the IPPIS database. The OAGF noted that the IPPIS has put in place necessary mechanism to resolve any problem that may arise in its operations and advised workers that observe anomalies in their salaries to follow the official procedures inorder to get such issues resolved.
By Tony Obiechina, Abuja
Nigeria’s headline inflation dropped to 32.15 percent in August, according to National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) report
The report released on Monday said the inflation eased the second time in 2024 after a 19 month increase that peaked at 34.19 percent in June.
“Looking at the movement, the August 2024 headline inflation
rate showed a decrease of 1.
It however, said on a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 6.35 percent points higher compared to the rate recorded in August 2023 (25.80%).
“This shows that the headline inflation rate (year-on-year basis) increased in August 2024 when compared to the same month in the preceding year (i.
e, August 2023).Furthermore, on a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate in August 2024 was 2.22%, which was 0.06% lower than the rate recorded in August 2024 (2.28%).
” This means that in August 2024, the rate of increase in the average price level is lower than the rate of increase in the
average price level in July 2024.”
The report added that food inflation rate in August 2024 was 37.52 percent on a year-on-year basis, which was 8.18% points higher compared to the rate recorded in August 2023 (29.34%).
It said the rise in food inflation
on a year-on-year basis was caused by increases in prices of; “Bread, Maize Grains, Guinea Corn, etc (Bread and Cereals Class), Yam, Irish Potatoes, Water Yam, Cassava Tuber, etc (Potatoes, Yam & Other Tubers Class), Palm Oil, Vegetable, etc (Oil & Fats Class) and
Ovaltine, Milo, Lipton, etc (Coffee, Tea & Cocoa Class).”
But on a month-on-month basis, the food inflation rate in August 2024 was 2.37 percent, a 0.10% decrease compared to the rate recorded in July 2024 (2.47 percent).
“The fall can be attributed to the decline in the rate of increase in the average prices of Tobacco, Tea, Coco, Coffee, Groundnut Oil, Milk, Yam, Irish Potatoes, Water Yam, Cassava Tuber, Palm Oil, Vegetable etc.”
It added that the average annual rate of Food inflation for the twelve months ending August 2024 over the previous twelve-month average was 36.99 percent, which was 11.98 percent points increase from the average annual rate of change recorded in August 2023 (25.01 percent).
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