NEWS
You Are a Courageous Leader, Anglican Church Tells Ortom
In far away Portharcourt, the Rivers State capital, Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State was on Wednesday, February 23rd, 2022, again honoured. This time with the prestigious “Courageous and Purposeful Leadership Award” by the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion).
It was an elaborate ceremony that had the cream of the clergy, not just the Anglican Communion family, but from different denominations.
The Diocese of Evo, Ecclesiastical Province of Niger Delta which hosted the ceremony was filled to the brim. Apart from political associates, the Benue community in Port Harcourt were also on hand to cheer up their governor for this honour.
At about 13:25pm when a Venerable gentleman was called up to read Governor Ortom’s citation, the entire hall went wild with a thunderous ovation. To add pep to it, the Venerable gentleman rendered some Yoruba icing to stress the governors unbending stand against his traducers. The oral Yoruba rendition typified the strength of Ortoms character in his leadership style.
The Governor stood still and listened, and let out smiles that captured the mood of the moment.
Although the Governor has not shied away from telling his chequered life story, it reverberates anytime it is told. Two aged women who sat across the aisle from where I sat could not help but stood up, clapping all through when the last part of the citation was read.
Governor Ortom’s leadership truly typifies an uncommon courage never seen in Nigeria. This is despite the challenges he has faced in taking this lonely road, his faith in what he is doing for the people who elected him as Governor in 2015 and 2019 is unwavering.
So, while picking on Governor Ortom among other distinguished Nigerians for this award, the Church in Nigeria, Anglican Communion did not make any mistake about him at all. They described Governor Ortom as a courageous leader, who saw clear danger, but stood firmly for and with his people. The church was full of praises for Gov Ortom for what they said was his “bravery in defense of not just Benue people, but that of all Nigerians”
Hear part of the citation: “Your Excellency, this award is our own way of saying a big thank you to you, for standing tall in the face of danger, to execute a David’s mission against Goliath. Thank you for standing by not just the people of Benue State, but for the entire people of Nigeria.”
Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike and the Primate of Anglican Church, Revd Ndukuba re-echoed what Governor Ortom has been calling for.
In their separate speeches, they admonished the church to rise from its slumber and mobilise its members to change what is happening in the country right now.
Governor Wike particularly said that the Church “must start to mobilize its members and Nigerians in general to join and actively participate in the political process to bring about the genuine and sustainable change that the our country so urgently needs.”
Governor Ortom was accompanied to the award by the Benue State Chairman of Christian Association of Nigeria, Rev. Akpen Leva, PhD; Dr Cletus Tyokyaa, Dr Laha Dzever, Hon David Tsevende, Dr James Anbua, Principal Special Assistant on Government House Administration, Hon. Steven Amase, Principal Private Secretary, Hon Abrahams Kwaghngu, Principal Special Assistant on Special Duties and other close aides of the governor.
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)
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.
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).
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