NEWS
Women yet to Achieve Independence – Don
Prof. Chinyere Okunna, a Mass Communication teacher and community chieftain says women have yet to fully attain independence in managing their affairs.
Okunna made the declaration in Awka on Wednesday while addressing a group of beneficiaries of a Women’s Aid Collective (WACOL) at a workshop organised by WACOL to stop harmful cultural practice against women.
She noted that the workshop was apt because women needed to be well-informed about their rights and how to develop their abilities to achieve positive independence in affairs that concerned them.
She said there recent incidents of violence against women trending on social media, one of which was that of an Aguleri woman sent out of her home for not having a male child.
“Women need to be well-informed about rules, laws and guidelines to support their decisions at the earliest moment before life is lost to abuses or violence against them,’’ she said.
She enjoined participants to pay serious attention and to return home with tangible principles that would equip them to achieve desired successes.
Okunna also urged women to take active participation in the political affairs of the state so as to be privileged to have a say in their matters to yield positive results.
She said that time was ripe for women to take ownership of their affairs and positions so that they could be part of governance that would avail them the rights to be heard.
Okunna is the first female professor of Mass Communication, and a former Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka.
She retired from the university on Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2021 and is currently the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Academics at St Paul’s University Awka. (NAN)
NEWS
New Banks’ Minimum Capital Requirement will Enable Long-term Loans, Says ex-ANAN President
A financial expert, Dr Samuel Nzekwe, says the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) new minimum capital requirement for Nigerian banks will enable them to finance more long-term loans.
Nzekwe, a former President of the Association of National Accountants of Nigeria (ANAN), made this assertion in an interview with newsmen on Friday in Ota, Ogun.
NAN recalls that the Acting Director of the Corporate Communications Department of the bank, Mrs Hakama Sidi-Ali, on Thursday, in a statement, announced that the new minimum capital for merchant banks would be N50 billion.
Sidi-Ali also said that the new requirements for non-interest banks with national and regional authorisations are N20 billion and N10 billion, respectively.
For international authorisation, it was raised from N100 billion to N500 billion.
All banks are required to meet the new capital requirements within 24 months, beginning from April 1 to March 31, 2026.
Nzekwe commended the CBN’s decision to increase the minimum capital base of Nigerian banks, saying that move would enable them to fulfil their role as financial intermediaries effectively.
“It is a positive step as it will enable banks to finance large-scale investments in the country.
“For the economy to grow, we need strong banks capable of providing long-term loans, which sometimes require 10 to 15 years for repayment or even offering a five-year moratorium,” he said.
The former ANAN president highlighted the current difficulty faced by banks in financing long-term loans or major projects.
Nzekwe expressed optimism that this development would prompt the apex bank to inject more funds into the financial system.
This, he explained, would encourage more borrowing from banks and therefore stimulate the growth of industries.
He commended the CBN Governor, Yemi Cardoso, for raising the minimum capital requirement for banks to a new level.
The financial expert noted that the apex bank had structured it in a way that banks would not need to bring retained earnings to the capital base but generate new additional funds. (NAN)
NEWS
Board Sanctions 118 Immigration, Civil Defence Officers
The Board of NSCDC, Fire Service, Correctional, and Immigration Service, has approved the sanction of 118 personnel for various offences.
The Board Chairman, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, made this known at the end of their meeting on Thursday in Abuja.
Tunji-Ojo, who is also the Minister of Interior, told newsmen through the board Secretary, Alhaji Ahmed Ja’afaru, that the erring officers were punished after facing disciplinary panels for various offences.
“These offences range from misconduct, negligence of duty and outright absence from duty posts.
“In the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCOs), there were 48 cases of offences, in the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), there were 21 cases.
“Also, in the Federal Fire Service (FFS) there were 12 cases while in the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), there were 37 cases,“the minister said.
Tunji-Ojo added that the board has reviewed and approved new guidelines for appointments, promotions, discipline and general purpose in the services.
He said that the board also considered and approved the timeline for the conduct of the 2024 promotion exercise in the four services.
“The board considered and approved the review timeline for the conduct of the 2023/2024 fire service recruitment.
“As for the ongoing recruitment in the fire service, we hope to publish the names of the successful applicants latest by June 15. That is where we are for now.
“We also want to use this medium to warn the general public to ignore whatever they have been seeing or hearing in the social media space as they did not emanate from the board.
“This is because, we have come to realise that the social media world had been awashed with fake news telling applicants to come for screening exercise or pay certain amount of money.
“Let me put it emphatically that the board is not asking anyone to pay money for recruitment.“
He urged applicants to be patient, saying successful candidates will be notified to come for further screening through their emails and mobile lines. (NAN)
NEWS
NSCDC Inaugurates Female Strike Force to Secure FCT Schools
The FCT Commandant of Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Mr Olusola Odumosu, has inaugurated the corps Female Strike Force to protect schools in the territory.
A statement by the command’s Public Relations Officer, Samuel Idoko, on Thursday in Abuja, said the inauguration followed the completion of a three day training for the personnel.
Odumosu said that the primary responsibility of the strike force was to ensure the safety of all schools in the territory.
He said that the training had equipped them with the needed skills and capabilities to carry out their duties.
According to him, the training is a follow up to the recent meeting of all FSF Unit Commanders with the Commandant General, Ahmed Audi.
Audi had charged them to be up and doing in view of the reported cases of kidnapping in some parts of the country.
“The training is imperative to ensure compliance with the CG’s directive on the mandate of securing schools for the safety of students and staff.
“Cases of abduction in schools must come to an end, that is the primary purpose of this training.
“We need to restore the confidence of the people in our ability to secure schools in the FCT,” the commandant said.
He therefore called on schools in the FCT to register with the National Safe School Response Coordination Centre, so that they could be added to the ecosystem.
Odumosu explained that the registration was free and meant to ensure better coordination and make responses to emergencies more quicker and efficient.
Odumosu assured that the training and retraining of the personnel would be held regularly to ensure prompt response to any security threat.
“We must make schools safe haven once again for children,” he added.
He charged the female strike force to conduct routine patrol and surveillance of schools to prevent threats and attacks.
He also enjoined the strike force to hold periodic security awareness and enlightenment talks for student and teachers.
Odumosu also directed the operatives to abide by the corps’ Standard Operational Procedure in discharging their duties and avoid over zealousness in the use of force or fire arms.(NAN)