NEWS
Tiv Stakeholders Harp on Unity, Development of Benue
By David Torough, Abuja
Stakeholders have called for the unity of purpose among Tiv sons and daughters to attract peace and development in Tiv land particularly and Benue state at large.
They made the call over the weekend at this year’s annual general meeting and reception for appointed and elected Tiv sons and daughters at the national level organized by Ontiv Professionals Association (OPA) in Abuja.
In their separate remarks, former Nigeria Ambassador to Mexico and Canada, Professor Iyorwuese Hagher commended the association for their various interventions and leadership role in Tiv land.
Hagher said that Tiv was bless and pleaded with leaders at various levels to unite and promote development in Benue.
He stated that “languages is power” and as the fourth ethnic group in the country, there was need for educational system to be strengthened and urged the association to give their support so as to help build the capacity of Young people.
President General, Mdzough U Tiv, Iorbee Ihaghar said he was excited for the opportunity God has given to Tiv sons and daughters and called on them to be united to attract development to the state.
Ihaghar, a retired Controller of Prisons (CP), who decried the level of under development at the local government level in the state, called on the association to always intervene where necessary within their capacity adding, that the Tiv traditional council and Mdzough U Tiv held the association with pride.
He urged Tiv people to respect constituted authorities even as he called on leaders to shun corruption and create job opportunities for the youths.
In a goodwill message, Publisher, DAILY ASSET Dr. Cletus Akwaya who acknowledged that providing infrastructure requires huge amount of money and a collective effort, called for prudent utilization of government resources and a public-private partnership to develop the state.
Guest speaker at the occasion and Resident Electoral Commissioner, Plateau state, Dr. Oliver Agundu identified lack of basic infrastructure and as well as lack of opportunities as causes of poverty in Benue and the society at large and called for concerted effort to reduce the suffering in the society.
President, OPA, Abraham Aku in his welcome address stated that it was the desire of the association to bring together, all the elected and appointed Tiv sons and daughters to identify and honour them with a view to fashion out ways on how they would bring ideas that would be beneficial to the people at the grass roots.
He said the association has always lend its voice against matters adversely affecting the Tiv people including; introduction of the RUGA settlement idea through a world press release, supported publicity, the Anti-open Grazing Law which was passed by the Benue state government supporting ranching as the best global practice amongst others.
He added that the association looks forward to engaging the government of Governor Hyacinths Alia with the professional inputs on the development of the state.
NEWS
Gunmen Attack Police Station, Kill 2 in Anambra
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)NEWS
IPPIS Data Base not Compromised, OAGF Assures Employees
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.NEWS
Again, Inflation Drops to 32.15% in August
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).