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Tinubu’s Ministers not Doing Enough on Public Enlightenment, Says Idi Farouk

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A former Director-General of National Orientation Agency (NOA), Alhaji Idi Farouk, says the programmes and policies of President Bola Tinubu needed to be amplified more for Nigerians to understand better.

Farouk maintained that Mr President’s appointees, particularly ministers, who needed to bridge the communication gap, were not doing enough.

Farouk stated these in an interview on Wednesday in Abuja.

When asked to assess the Tinubu-led administration in the past 18 months, he said there was the need for the appointees, particularly ministers, to step up their games on sensitisation on government’s policies and programmes.

“There are certain things that the government is doing that we do not know about and that brings me back to the issue of public enlightenment, educating the populace and even giving right orientation.

“When people don’t know what your actions are, they are bound to give you a fail mark.

“I sympathise with the president because when I heard him talking on the national broadcast on the ‘Endbadgovernance’ issue, he reeled out so many things that his administration had done and that is why I feel for him.

“What are his ministers doing? If the ministers are doing their tasks, we won’t just be hearing it from the president.

“You know this issue of blowing your trumpet. All of us have trumpets; if you don’t blow it; it’s only the one that is being blown that people will hear.

“It seems to me that while there are some good things, there are also some things that are not so good to the citizens,’’ he said.

Farouk, who described Tinubu as his friend, advised him to listen more to the people while continuing with his critical economic reforms and actions.

“The president should listen more through the feedback mechanism such as NOA, the Ministry of Information and National Orientation and personal aides who feed him with information from ordinary citizens,” he said.

Farouk, also a former commissioner for information in Kaduna State, also advised the president to look into the number of his media aides, saying ‘too many cooks spoil the pots’.

On the recent appointments and cabinet reshuffle by Tinubu, he advised the president to go deeper and look into the activities of some ministers who were not performing.

“If I am the president, some of the ministers would not have retained their appointments, though some are doing very well, while some need to be kicked out.

“Whether you like him or not, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesome Wike, understands his mandate to administer the affairs of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

“I can also say that for the Minister of Aviation, Festus Keyamo; he is equally working because I travel a lot, and I have observed great jobs done by the minister.

“But I know all of us here will fail the test if I ask you to give me the names of all the ministers in this government and their offices.

“As a minister and the chief advisor to Mr President on every issue of your ministry, you have to be seen to be fully in charge and doing things well. That’s why the operations of some of them are robbing negatively on the president because they are not talking.

“This job is not for you alone; it’s a job for you to work and be seen to be working, in the interest of Nigerians,’’ he said.

Farouk said that if he was the president, the former minister of sports would not retain his job, and the minister of power too, due to the incessant collapse of national grids.

He said that the recent appointment of Dr Daniel Bwala as one of the president’s media spokesmen portrayed Tinubu as very forgiving one.

He said, if he was the president, he would just accept Bwala back as a friend, but not to appoint him into his government.

The former director-general recalled that Bwala used to be a very strong stalwart of All Progressives Congress (APC) but left Tinubu for Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) due to his choice of Muslim-Muslim ticket.

“I heard some people saying he could have been a mole in the PDP. No, that was correct; even if he was a mole, he overran the runway because nobody had done so much damage or tried to do so much damage to the character of Tibunu than Bwala.

“That is why I say he (Tinubu) is a long-suffering person; so the beneficiary of this appointment is not Bwala, but Mr President.

“As a matter of fact, how will Bwala come back to talk to the Muslim community that he so much despised because of the choice of the vice president?

“How can he now also be trusted by the Christian community who saw him as a defender of the faith? How can he be trusted because Nigeria has Muslims and Christians?

“But, like I said, the greatest beneficiary (of Bwala’s appointment) is Mr President because we now see him as a long-suffering and forgiving person,’’ he said. (NAN)

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FG Directs Stop to Work on Sagamu-Iperu Road over Poor Quality

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The Federal Government has directed that work should stop on the 12km Sagamu-Iperu Road by the Sagamu Interchange on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.The Minister of Works, Sen. Dave Umahi, gave the directive on Thursday during an inspection tour of road projects in Lagos and Ogun states.

He expressed displeasure at the quality and speed of work on the road.
He gave a seven-day period to the contractor handling the project to remedy the situation and remove the stone base.
Umahi also directed the contractor to bring in the right milling machine and the right mixture of stone base.He also directed the contractor to speed up the work.The minister said that the contractor had all the ramps and retaining walls on some bridges.
He added that some piers on some of the bridges had rusted rods.“That is very dangerous.“ I am giving seven days, I am leaving behind the design head so that they can work till Sunday to come up with a comprehensive drawing and then costing, so that I can appeal to Mr President.“This is very urgent. If any of them should collapse, it will take multi-billion Naira to get them reconstructed, but now it will take less to get them amended. (NAN)

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Wike Visits China over Water Project for FCT Satellite Towns

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The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Mr Nyeson Wike, is enroute to China for a series of official engagements toward the provision of water for satellite towns in the FCT.

Mr Lere Olayinka, Senior Special Assistant to the minister on Public Communications and Social disclosed this in a statement in Abuja on Thursday.

Olayinka said that the minister was currently in  Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, en route to China.

He explained that while in China, Wike would meet with officials of the China Geo-Engineering Corporation Overseas Construction (CGCOC) Group over the water project.

He recalled that President Bola Tinubu had visited China in September 2024 and signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) and CGCOC Group.

The MoU, he said, was to improve electricity and water supply in the FCT, particularly in satellite towns.

He added that projects were part of Tinubu’s agenda to renew the hope and confidence of FCT residents in the government, through the execution of people-oriented projects.

He said that Tinubu had approved N50 billion for the provision of potable water in FCT satellite towns.

The spokesman said that Wike’s trip to China was to finalise discussion with CGCOC on the project in fulfillment of Tinubu’s directive to ensure water supply in Gwagwalada, Kwali and Kuje area councils. (NAN)

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NSSF urges Robust Policy Reform to Revamp Maternal Health Equity

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The Nigeria Solidarity Support Fund (NSSF) has called for a robust policy reform and financial commitment to revamp maternal health equity through health insurance. This is contained in a statement signed by Ms Esther Anolu, Head, Marketing and Communications, NSSF, and made available to Newsmen on Thursday in Lagos.

The Managing Director/CEO, NSSF, Dr Fejiro Chinye-Nwoko, reaffirmed its commitment to championing maternal health equity in Nigeria during the 7th edition of its Fireside Chat Series in Abuja.
Chinye-Nwoko said that the theme of the chat, “Breaking Barriers to Maternal Health Equity: The Role of Health Insurance in Promoting Women’s Wellness,” was apt considering the staggering statistics of maternal health in the country.
“Nigeria’s maternal mortality rate remains unacceptably high with over 1,000 deaths per 100,000 live births. “This cannot continue.“We are here to ask the hard questions: how can we ensure that when a woman needs care, she can access it without money in her pocket and without delay? “That’s what health insurance is meant to do, and it must be inclusive and accessible.” During the panel discussions, Dr Mojisola Odeku, Senior Officer at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, underscored the need to leverage donor support to improve access to women’s health services. Prof. Chima Onoka, representing the Director– General/CEO of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), highlighted the Authority’s work in expanding insurance coverage and digitizing registration processes.Dr Binyerem Ukaire, Director and Head, Family Health Department, Federal Ministry of Health, discussed national interventions, including free emergency cesarean sections (C-sections) and treatment for Vesico-Vaginal Fistula (VVF) in over 20 states. Chinye-Nwoko added:“We know from our work in the field that women are not just uninformed — they’re unregistered, unempowered, and underserved. Awareness is low. Access is difficult.“But we have the tools, the data, and the partnerships to change that. What we need now is policy implementation and financial commitment that match the urgency of this crisis.”According to the statement, one of the most urgent conversations that emerged from the event was the question: “Who pays for the health of the poor?”It said the question sparked robust dialogue around the need for sustainable financing models that ensure maternal care is not a burden for vulnerable women. The statement said that there was a consensus that without strong financial support systems including government-subsidized health coverage, millions of women will continue to fall through the cracks. “Another key theme was the importance of prevention as a cost-saving strategy. “Panelists agreed that scaling up preventive care, such as screenings, mental health support, and access to contraception, would significantly reduce maternal deaths and lower long-term healthcare costs. “NSSF also shared insights from its grassroots work, including field experiences in Ekiti State and its WeNaija Impact Cohort programme. “These programmes have revealed the real-world barriers women face, including misinformation, lack of trust, affordability concerns, and difficulties navigating the enrollment process,” the statement said.It expressed the commitment of the fund to transforming the resolution of the conversation into action. The NSSF would be developing a set of targeted policy briefs, capturing the key insights shared at the Fireside Chat, and presenting them to relevant stakeholders in government, health institutions, and civil society. “These briefs will offer actionable recommendations aimed at shaping inclusive, gender-sensitive health insurance policies that prioritize maternal wellness. “As part of our next steps, we are also adapting some of these learnings into our internal programmes, particularly through the WeNaija Impact Cohort. “This is where community advocates are integrating innovative solutions such as insurance education, wellness voucher models, and localised engagement strategies to improve maternal health access at the grassroots,” the statement said.(NAN)

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