NEWS
Tinubu Committed to Improving Welfare of Senior Citizens –Alake
Dr Dele Alake, the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, has restated President Bola Tinubu’s commitment to improve the welfare of senior citizens in the country.
Alake said this in an interview in Ikoro-Ekiti, his country home.
According to the minister, Tinubu is determined to accord dignity to senior citizens by giving them a new lease of life in line with his Renewed Hope Mantra.
Alake said that senior citizens had been adequately factored in all the Renewed Hope Agenda of the current administration.
Report says that Alake had on Saturday, distributed 1,200 bags of rice to the elderly in Ekiti, irrespective of the political party they belonged to.
He thanked the president for listening to the people and demonstrating a caring heart, noting “1,200 bags of rice was made available to me and each minister to further supplement the established channels of distribution.
“We need to reach out to our aged fathers and mothers at times like this to demonstrate the Omoluabi values of taking care of the old in the community.
“In the spirit of inclusion, it is important that we channel this intervention to mainly elderly citizens.
” This is because they do not have the strength to compete for welfare goods such as these at the established centres. We have taken their inventory and we are delivering to them.
“Subsequent interventions will target other segments of the populace, such as widows, orphans, persons living with disabilities and students in higher institutions of learning,” he said.
The minister said that the onus was on the people to care for the elderly by focusing on issues affecting them, adding that every individual would grow old and require the support of the younger generation at some point in life.
“This is a bold step in re-writing our history as a people and changing the undesirable narrative of our lack of desire to adequately take care of our elderly population.
“Those of you that are very familiar with me can attest to the fact that at every opportunity, especially at events like this.
“I have always canvassed that nowhere in the world can government alone meet the needs of its citizens.
“Hence, the need to encourage partnership with high networth individuals, corporate organisations and non-governmental agencies to ensure the welfare of the citizens,” he said.
Alake enjoined all public spirited Ekiti people to lend a hand to the needy, adding that all hands must be on deck to support efforts to rid the state of hunger and poverty. NAN)
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)