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Send APC Packing; Atiku, Ayu Tell Nigerians, as Dino Melaye Goes Spiritual

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Kunle Idowu, Abeokuta

Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, and the National Chairman of the Party, Iyorchia Ayu, yesterday, charged members of the party to work hard to wrestle power from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

They both posit that the eight-year rule of the APC had inflicted untold hardship on Nigerians with its alleged irresponsive style of administration.

They both spoke in Abeokuta at the PDP rally which shook Abeokuta to its foundation, causing traffic gridlock in areas around the campaign venue.

Atiku said that winning one’s polling unit was a pre-condition to benefit from his administration.

“Nothing can come to party members if their candidates, either presidential, governorship, senatorial, House of Representatives or House of Assembly, do not win the election,” he said.

He further enjoined members of the PDP who are interested in joining his cabinet or getting a contract in his administration to win his or her polling booth at the February 25 election.

Also speaking, Former National Assembly Member, Senator Dino Melaye went spiritually cursing APC for its alleged misrule quoting the holy Bible and asking God to terminate the government of APC in the country.

In Atiku’s entourage were: the national chairman of PDP, Iyorchia Ayu, former Senate President, Bukola Saraki, former Vice President, Namadi Sambo, former governor of Osun state, Olagunsoye Oyinlola, Osun state governor, Ademola Adeleke.

Others were: Sokoto state governor, Aminu Tambuwa, Akwa Ibom state governor, Udom Emmanuel, former governor of Cross River state, Lyel Imoke, former governor of Jigawa state, Sule Lamido, governorship candidate of Ogun state, Hon. Ladi Adebutu and the governorship candidate of Lagos state, Jide Adeniran (Jandol).

The former Vice President said, if members of the party want PDP to return to power in May 29, they must all go back to their constituencies and work for the party to win the election.

“The fact that you (party members) are following the gubernatorial candidate or the Senatorial candidate or the House of Representatives candidate or the Presidential candidate to campaigns is no qualification that you will get an appointment, it is not a qualification that you will get a contract whether at the local government level, state or the Federal level.

“The only way, as far as I’m concerned, if I’m President, if you come and say you want a job or you want a contract, I will ask you to let me have the result of your polling booth and that is what I’m going to direct to everybody because unless we do that we will not win the elections.

“You are all members of the PDP and supporters of the PDP, you want PDP to return to power, please I beg of you make sure you win your polling booths.

“You cannot be following the governor all the place or the senator all the place and then you don’t win your polling booth and you come and say you want to be a Minister or you want to get this contract.

“So please, as members of our party let us make sure that we go back to our constituencies and make sure that we deliver our polling units,” Atiku said.

Atiku, who also promised to expand the economy to create employment, promised an end of the incessant strike of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) as he would ensure better funding of education and enhance the welfare packages of lecturers.

He also promised to increase funding for Primary Healthcare facilities so that all and sundry can get access to medical care even at the grassroots level.

The meeting, attended by not less than 72 groups, preceded the party’s rally, held at the Alake’s palace in the heart of Abeokuta, the state capital.

While addressing thousands of PDP supporters at the mega rally, Atiku called on residents of the state to vote out the All Progressives Congress (APC).

“The APC government has failed us and therefore it is our responsibility to make sure that they do not return to power”, Atiku said.

The national chairman of the party at the rally presented the flag of the party to Adebutu as the governorship candidate of the party.

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Disability Act: Stakeholders Worry Over Delayed Domestication in Benue

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By David Torough, Abuja

Stakeholders have expressed concern over delay in the domestication of Disability Act in Benue state and called on government to expedite passage of the law in the state.

At the stakeholders’ consultative meeting to domesticate the disability law in the state held Tuesday in Makurdi in collaboration with Inclusive friends Association (IFA), Hope Alive for Possibilities Initiative (HAPI) and JONAPWD, the Director General, Bureau for International Cooperation and Development, Dr Leonard Viashima, represented by the Technical Adviser on Bureau for International Cooperation and Development, John Akuse, however said governor Alia’s administration was willing to domesticate the law in the state.

In his address, the Special Assistant to the Governor on Disability Affairs, Bem Anshe, who doubles as the chairman of JONAPWD, stressed the need for the domestication of the law in Benue, saying it would facilitate the inclusion of people with disability in governance.

Anshe decried the non-passage of the law in the state, lamenting that Benue was the only state in the North Central yet to domesticate it.

In her remarks, the Executive Director of IFA, Grace Jerry, represented by the Programme Manager of IFA, Stephen Idoko, noted that despite the challenges, she was confident that the forum would achieve its objective if all worked together.

She noted that the presence of stakeholders in the meeting reaffirmed the collective commitment to making a lasting impact on the lives of persons with disabilities in the state.

On her part, Prof. Christy Anyogo from IFA expressed hope that Benue would soon join the league of states that have domesticated the disability law, saying governor Hyacinth Alia never looks back on whatever he wants to do.

The consultative forum was attended by stakeholders from the state ministry of Women Affairs, ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, traditional rulers, religious leaders, social investment programme agency, Albinism association of Nigeria, leprosy survivors and spinal cord injury.

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Enugu Embarks on Inspection of Smart Schools, Healthcare Projects Across State

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From Sylvia Udegbunam, Enugu

Governor of Enugu State, Peter Mbah has charged contractors and the site engineers handling construction of the 260 smart schools and 260 Type-2 Primary Health facilities in the 260 wards of the state on the delivery of world-class projects that would stand the test of time.

Governor Mbah enjoined them to deploy quality materials and build according to specifications, warning that any sharp practices would attract stiff sanctions and rejection by the government.
He equally underscored the need for contractors to deliver their projects on schedule as stipulated in their terms of contract.The governor spoke through the Secretary to the State Government, Prof Chidiebere Onyia, during an inspection tour of ongoing projects in Ezeagu LGA on Wednesday.
He said the purpose of the inspection by the project’s monitoring team, which also comprises the Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Engr Gerald Otiji; Commissioner for Education, Prof Nwabueze Mbah; Commissioner for Budget and Planning, Hon. Chris Robert Ozongwu; Chairman of the Enugu State Universal Basic Education Board (ENSUBEB), Dr. Gabriel Ajah; Special Adviser to the Governor on Projects Development and Implementation, Uche Nwatu, among others, was to ensure the quality and integrity of the projects, from start to finish.”We met with the contractors and their site engineers in all the sites we’ve visited. This is to ensure that there is no variation in the work specification, and that the quality of the materials they are using, starting from the foundation to completion, could guarantee the integrity and structural tests of these projects.”What His Excellency is setting out to achieve here is to make sure that we did not run the three risks that we know that are eminent in every construction, considering that a time will come in Enugu State when we will have almost five hundred live projects – smart schools, primary healthcare facilities – in all the 260 wards, in addition to the roads constructions that are going on across the board. So, we are building a very strong monitoring team that will address the quality aspect of it.”We are also taking into consideration the cost risk that comes when the time risk begins to happen, because, once we miss the timeline, the next is that we begin to discuss variation. So, this team here is to ensure that all risks are evaluated and compliance is strictly adhered to.”We are also working on engaging with the local stakeholders to ensure the security of the process here. So, that will help us address issues around theft of materials we brought to the site. But more importantly is that at the end of each project there will be sustainability and that these stakeholders will take ownership of these schools and other projects in their communities.”So, it is not just about monitoring, but also about building on all the key facets that will make sure that these projects achieve the objectives to have smart children and smart teachers coming out of our local governments and a smart workforce for the state,” Prof Onyia stated.That’s why we have accommodation for them and we are also going to ensure that Enugu generally has a smart workforce. That’s why we are here”.He allayed the fears over the culture of abandoned projects by various strata of the government, saying that the allocation of 33 per cent of the entire 2024 budget to education has guaranteed the start, completions, and handover of the smart school projects on schedule.On his part, Chairman of ENSUBEB, Dr. Ajah, said they were happy with the quality of work so far, adding that contractors were complying with specifications and corrections were immediately effected wherever there were gaps.Admonishing communities to take ownership of the projects, he urged them to see the facilities as their own by ensuring the security of the projects.”Security is everybody’s business. The people are happy. The government has never come to the people at ward level like this before now. So, I am calling on our people to protect these projects from vandals by taking charge and ownership of them”, he concluded.

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Benue Govt Abandoned Foreign Exchange Programme Due to N3mn Bursary – DG BEQA

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From Attah Ede, Makurdi

The Director-General, Benue State Education Quality Assurance Agency, BEQA, Dr. Terna Francis, on Thursday, said the administration of Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia is at the verge of reviving the state foreign exchange programme that was abandoned by previous administrations.

Dr. Terna, who said the foreign exchange program that had provided Benue citizens with opportunity to study abroad in the past, was abandoned due to the inability of the government to pay three million naira for those who secured foreign scholarships.
The DG who disclosed while speaking with journalists in his office in Makurdi, said he had already sent a memo to the State government to reintroduce the program in order to add value to the educational system in the state.
”We want to revive the foreign exchange program which was stopped because of just 3 million naira. I have already made a memo to the State government to reintroduce the program.We have some of these people who have benefited from this foreign exchange programme presently working with the state government. Some of them are in government house working while others are in other MDAs working and adding value to what we are doing”,Dr. Terna maintained. He however expressed dismay over the poor quality of education system in the State, saying there is a big mess in the quality of teaching and learning in schools across the State. “It was for this reason that the Governor Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia established this agency with the mandate to document, control and check the quality of learning in the basic and post basic education sector.”We met a mess in the education sector and we are now doing a clean up exercise . Several schools in the State have structural defects. People convert their two (2)bedroom flats into school.”The teachers are just secondary school leavers. Someone who just finished SS3 is giving a teaching job to teach SS3 physics.”Just imagine, a proprietor chokes students in a poultry farm. This is unacceptable and we are going to close the school down. Education is just for profiteering without quality.”We have been doing our best to clean up the mess. The agency is a bureau directly answerable to the Governor. Quality Assurance that means the department of Quality assurance in the Ministry of Education is directly under the agency.”It is a systemic thing. 32,000 is the fee for WAEC. But before now, the students were paying over 50,000 or more as WAEC fees.”We have called for recertification and gathering of data about quality of teachers and paying of annual renewal fees. We sent out our evaluators to confirm the data schools give to us.”I have visited over 300 schools in the State. We have warned school proprietors and proprietresses to put things in place or have their schools sealed. We are not compromising on standard and quality no matter who is involved. We are not backing down. We have the political backing.”It will amaze you to know that 2016 was the last time the examination board conducted BECE without issuing certificates.”You can imagine that a school in Makurdi is using the British curriculum and operating a semester kind of education. The students are made to pay 550,000 as fees.”We have tried to reduce bureaucracy in the establishment of schools before now, which takes up to a year, but now, it takes just a few months to get a provisional approval to establish a school.

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