Olawepo-Hashim: Presidential Candidates Must Not Divide Nigeria over 2023 Ambition

 A Chieftain of the ruling All Progressive Congress, APC and former  Presidential  Candidate has warned political gladiators, especially the presidential candidates of the various political parties against further widening the existing gulf and divisions in the country in their race and ambition for 2023. 

[ al Olawepo-Hashim

 

 

In a release from his media office in Abuja on Sunday Olawepo-Hashim explained that in the quest for power by the candidates,  rather than addressing  issues that are germaine to our nationhood, the actors have been inflaming the passion of tribal and religious anger among the people.

 The supporters of the candidates, he added, are also driving  their campaigns and marketing of their candidates via intimidation, threat, disinformation and blackmail, without any word of caution from their principals. 

The Presidential Candidate of the People's Trust in the  2019 General  election recalled that "even before independence, Nigeria had a rich history of politics and political campaigns, which gave the electorates big opportunity to interrogate the candidates and party programmes before making informed choices and decisions.

 "Campaigns were built around issues which had been properly elucidated in the party's manifestoes.

"Parties were also held accountable for their programmes and the candidates toed  the line of the parties in their conducts and utterances."

According to him, "in the first Republic, the four dominant parties: the AG, the NPC, the NCNC and NEPU were distinct and original in form and deeds before the electorates.

"Ditto in the second Republic when we had the NPN, the UPN, the NPP, GNPP, PRP and the NAP which were known by their programmes and issues raised in their campaigns."

 He lamented that "what is however at play presently is sadly at variance with the good old days. While the country is presently held down by the demons of insecurity, energy/power, education and unemployment crisis, the parties and the political actors are dancing around these critical issues."

 He also maintained that "sadly  the North is currently being divided between Christians and  Muslims and not- Muslim -enough, while the South is been ripped apart by propaganda that pitch Christians of  the South West against their Muslim siblings;  on the one hand, Yorubas against the Ibos on the other hand as well as the old against the young."

 The parties he said, have lost their voices and supremacy to the rampaging candidates and their army of supporters.

 "The point is that there is danger ahead if this monster is not tamed. Our democracy faces the danger of been trapped by a self-inflicted convulsion which may damage the current fragile ethno-religious situation in the country," he added.

 Olawepo-Hashim argued that the "nation cannot afford to crash this democratic process on the altar of narrow self-interest by politicians who are merely on a mission of personal ambition and self-aggrandizement."

IBEDC, USAID Collaborate on Empowering Women in Power Sector

The Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) is collaborating with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to promote gender equality and empower women in the power sector.  The News Agency of Nigeria reports that this was the focus of ” IBEDC 2022 DISCO for Women Conference” held in Ibadan on Thursday.

The conference had the theme, “Breaking the Glass Ceiling”. Speaking at the event,Mr Kingsley Achife, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, IBEDC, said that the power industry had long been seen as the domain of the male gender.

He said this was the reason for the terminologies used in the industry such as linesmen, draftsmen, among others. Achife, who was represented by Mr Iranola Ayodeji, Chief Business Transformation and Strategy Officer, IBEDC, said the company had changed the narrative by being the first Disco to adopt more gender-friendly nomenclatures such as lines worker.

He expressed the hope that other Discos will follow suit. “It is in view of this that IBEDC partnered with the USAID to push the engendering agenda across the power sector in Nigeria and beyond.

“IBEDC has established a team of employees nicknamed MANBASSADORS and trained by USAID, to engage the male and female gender from all walks of life to embrace the concept of gender equality.

“Yours truly has been appointed the MenEngage Champion.

“Furthermore, IBEDC has plans to improve the gender mix for female employees to at least 20 per cent in the short term and then scale up as time goes by,” Achife said.

He said that statistics had shown that, on average, women in leadership roles performed better than their male counterparts in strategic decision-making.

“The gut feeling and instinct that women are known for cannot be overshadowed by cold hard facts and figures that male managers tend to base their decision on,” the managing director said.

The Guest Speaker, Mrs Patricia Akinlotan, Executive Director, EZ 37 Solutions Ltd, said that the conference was about empowering women to rise above the limitations placed on them.

“Everything starts with you and if you remove the glass ceiling on your mind, you clear all obstacles, and you have intentional focus, then you see what others are not seeing.

“You can have access to information, because we live in a digital age and information is power,” Akinlotan said.

She enjoined the government to prioritise education for women, “because if you educate a woman, you train a generation”.

A gender equality advocate, 14-year-old Aline Shahimi, said “change starts from the house.

If you want a society where we are developed, and men and women are valued equally, then you must start from the home.

”

In her remarks, Ms Ehi Obaseki, Chief Human Resources Officer, IBEDC, said that gender equality had come to stay, adding that there was the need to change our thinking and the gender stereotypes.

“Women need to be more visible and step up to apply for jobs.

When we put out job adverts, we noticed men are quicker to apply than women, who have other considerations.

“Women need to break that glass ceiling, be visible and pursue careers, ” Obaseki said.

NAN reports that in 2015, USAID and IBEDC  signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on engendering utility programmes.

This is a platform to infuse the needed diversity required to recruit, train, and empower more women into IBEDC workforce.

-NAN

Ogun Politician, Seye Odufejo's House of Assembly Bid Receives A Boost As ICG Pledges Support

Hon. Odufejo

 

The APC candidate for Ijebu East State Constituency today received members of Independent Support Group (ICG) for endorsement at his Ikija residence, Ijebu East Local Government.

 

 

The group expressed confidence in his capacity and ability to deliver the dividend of democracy to his constituent. The group believes his grassroots popularity is an added advantage for the party and will help the party to deliver for APC.

 

 

Speaking on behalf of the group, the local government coordinator, Alfa Taofiq Olaomopo Zadious, said the endorsement visitation became necessary as official campaign will soon kickstart. In his words, the APC candidate is the people's choice and most popular and as a result, ICG would work with Odufejo Michael Oluseye Oluomo to make the forthcoming election a success.

 

 

Candidate Odufejo Michael Oluwaseye Oluomo then thanked ICG for the endorsement visitation and assured them of his determination to work for the interest of the party and all the good people of Ijebu East State Constituency.

 

 

"I am committed to the good of Ijebu East State Constituency and her people as well the reelection bid of Governor Dapo Abiodun come 2023".

 

 

"The governor has done well and we needs the support of all and sundry to return this performing governor."

 

Odufejo, therefore, enjoined the good people of Ijebu East State Constituency and Ogun State to vote overwhelmingly for the APC candidates from top to bottom.

 

 

"On my part, I will partner all party leaders and stakeholders to deliver Ijebu East Local Government for the APC. You will recall that recently a meeting of the aspirant and myself was held where we resolved issues and agreed to making Ijebu East Local Government better than it currently is".

 

 

He then thanked all and promised not to fail his constituency.

World Institute of Peace Names Buratai First Bearer of Security Torch

 

Former Chief of Army Staff and Nigerian Ambassador to the Republic of Benin, Lt Gen (Rtd) Tukur Yusufu Buratai has become the first bearer of security torch in the whole world. This Honour was bestowed on him at the World Peace Symposium by the World Institute for Peace (WIP) on August 28 in Lagos.

 

Buratai was highly praised by the ambassadors of World Institute of Peace as a result of his committed efforts at ensuring peace in Nigeria that has been under attack by Boko Haram insurgents.

 

One of the ambassadors from Greece, Amb. Rania Angelakoudi, called Buratai an extraordinary soldier who devoted his life for the safety of life and property in Nigeria.

 

She congratulated Buratai for the great feats he has achieved as the First Bearer of the Security Torch.

 

A staff of honour was also presented to Buratai to commend his service to Nigeria.

 

In his acceptance speech, Ambassador Buratai noted that the issue of security should be of utmost concerns to everyone because "Nuclear arsenal is on the rise globally. About 27 countries are currently engulfed in conflicts worldwide and two billion people live in war affected areas. In this, children are mostly affected.

 

"Therefore, I dedicate my life to defend Nigeria, Africa and the world as I wholeheartedly accept this honour as a global touch bearer of peace and a for runner of global peace," he stated.

 

The event was graced by various dignitaries such as Honorable Jafar Ribadu, Mr Salaudeen Hashim, Princess gloria akobundu, Alhaji Manzo Daniel, Commissioner of Police, Lagos, Alhaji Hassan Sultan and many others.

Unveiling Gifted C&S Female Talking Drummer, Damola Oyewale

It is commonly said that "Search within yourself to discover your gifts that are meant to be shared with others". 

Delectable Damola Oyewale, has done due diligence by looking within, and discovered the gift of playing the talking drum. Being a female makes her more unique, as this area is majorly dominated by the male gender.

Speaking about what inspired her to be a talking drummer she said: " About inspiration, wow nothing really inspired me though, just that I love drum beat. I listened, shake my body to every beat, then my dad suggested playing talking drum, and he bought my first drum".

About when she started she said: "I started solidly around 2015, but due to school I paused for a while"

She went further to specify where and what kind of events, she could play at; "Playing the talking drum for me is For church and every other gathering...."

Damola Oyewale is a talking drummer for the cherubim and seraphim church Nigeria. She is a graduate of history and international relations, from Lagos state university. Her stage name is also Damola Oyewale.

https://youtu.be/9YCMKjKiFj4

How New FIRS Training Strategy Will Save Billions in Few Years *by Kelechi Okoronkwo

  

For big and critical organisations such the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) which has a workforce of over 11,000 staff, the issue of human capacity development is a big deal. With the preponderance of technology in all facets of human endeavour, the world keeps evolving by the day; and the workforce of such organisations like the FIRS needs to evolve at a higher speed per day in order to stay ahead of evolving trends.

 

This is the rationale for the frequent subject-matter training which the FIRS schedules for all staff. To sharpen the skills of staff, the Management expects that all staff of the Service, including contract drivers, should be trained on their job functions at least once in two years- that is, as a worst-case scenario. In practice, staff could get training on their job functions at an average rate of three times in one year. To achieve the above schedule, it becomes inevitable that the Service has to spend a lot of money on training. Considering the high cost of training using consultants in Nigeria at the moment, the cost of achieving high quality training for all of FIRS workforce over a two-year period could run into billions of Naira; and since such trainings are a necessity, the Service would have no option other than to pay for its staff development.

 

Recently, in line with its policy of cost saving and obtaining value for money, the Service introduced a new training strategy—Train the Trainer Strategy. The Management called for applications from suitably qualified staff to serve as Subject Matter Experts and from the numerous applications, selected outstanding staff who have expert knowledge of the subject matter, deploying them to handle various programs based on their expertise. As a result, FIRS does not need to utilise training consultants for all capacity building programs; the Service needs only to outsource experts to handle trainings where internal capacity is not available.

 

The Service has deployed the above strategy for about six months now and it is working seamlessly so far. During the strategy assessment engagement recently, some of the trainees as well as the facilitators praised FIRS Management for thinking out of the box. A class of staff who were undergoing a training on Fundamentals of Taxation at the FIRS training school in Durumi, Area 1, Abuja, gave a standing ovation to one of their colleagues after handling the training.

 

 

Reacting to the development, one of the trainees said that he was happy that the FIRS Management is now using FIRS staff to train FIRS staff.

 

He said: “This is a great initiative by the Management. You can see that everyone is happy. You are motivated because the person standing before you is also your colleague. You are freer to ask them questions, the class becomes more relaxed and interactive. You are also motivated to learn the subject matter so that one day, you can stand before other colleagues and lecture them. This is commendable and we want the Management to keep it up. Apart from making the class more relaxed, it also saves costs. Using this strategy, the Management does not need to always use training consultants. We can save the money and use it for other pressing needs of the Service. It also helps both the trainers and the trainees; the trainers would internalise the subject matter more if they keep teaching other staff; because you would not want to come here and mess up yourself, you would try to read the subject matter very well. By doing so, the trainers are equipping themselves more. For the trainees, you are challenged and motivated to do better”.

 

Responding to accolades, one of the trainers said “We will report back to the Management that you said that this strategy is good. We also believe that it is good. Thank you very much”, the trainer said.

The Director of Career and Skills Development Department of the FIRS, Mrs. Angel Fadahunsi, said that the Service is convinced that using competent staff to train other staff would be more productive.

 

“Yes, that is the way the Service is going. Why should we be paying consultants to come and train our staff when we have the capacity to train ourselves? There is no reason for that. This is one of my Department’s 2022 Key Performance Indicators (KPI) and we are working hard to achieve it.

 

By next year, more training programs which were outsourced will be handled by staff. We are not outsourcing them any longer. You can see that both the trainers and the trainees are happy; and at the same time, the Management is saving money. We are using our competent staff to train other staff.

 

 

This is the way the Service is going and it’s just one of many innovations that the ECFIRS has encouraged us to adopt; watch out for more” she said.

 

-Okoronkwo is a Technical Staff to FIRS Executive Chairman

Real Reason Naziru Isyaku Rabiu Resigned as Executive Director from BUA Foods

Naziru Isyaku Rabiu

 

Naziru Isyaku Rabiu has resigned from his Executive Director post at his father’s BUA Foods PLC less than a year after his appointment.

 BUA Foods Plc, one of Nigeria’s biggest and publicly-traded food production companies.

More facts have emerged revealing the reasons behind his resignation.

A corporate disclosure that was filed with the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) said the resignation took effect on August 17, 2022. The statement did not offer further explanations.

“BUA Foods Plc (the Company) hereby notifies the Nigerian Exchange Limited and the investing public of the resignation of Isyaku Naziru Rabiu as a Director on the Board of Directors of the Company with effect from 17th August 2022,” the brief statement said.

However, a source at the company who spoke to us anonymously revealed that Rabiu’s resignation became necessary to enable BUA Foods to meet some regulatory requirements as set by NGEX.

Nigeria’s Code of Corporate Governance (on family and interlocking directorship) requires that “not more than two members of the same family shall sit on the Board of a public company at the same time,” the source said.

In the same vein, the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) in Nigeria has a similar requirement under its Corporate Governance Guidelines.

 Naziru Isyaku Rabiu is the son of Nigerian billionaire Abdul Samad Rabiu, who currently serves as the Chairman and CEO of BUA Group owners of BUA Foods PLC. Already another member of the family is on the Board as an Executive Director.

Before he was appointed an Executive Director at BUA Foods Plc in November 2021, he was a director at IRS Pasta & Flour Limited which was later merged with other companies to form BUA Foods Plc. In January 2022, BUA Foods Plc was listed on the Nigerian Exchange. And this necessitated the latest board changes.

The source who spoke to us in confidence maintained that Naziru Isyaku Rabiu remains an Executive at BUA Foods in the meantime.

The young professional, who holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Economics from the University of Hertfordshire, has held previous positions within the conglomerate, including Commercial Director and Business Development Officer.

Naziru had also briefly worked as a business analyst at Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc, one of Nigeria’s leading indigenous oil exploration firms.