Day: July 24, 2024

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), says disaster management is everybody’s business and not just the business of government agencies.

Zainab Suleiman-Saidu, Hajiya Zainab Suleiman-Saidu, Head of Operations, NEMA, Minna Operations Office said this at a one-day stakeholders’ workshop on Sustainable Waste Management and Flood Preparedness, on Tuesday in Ilorin.

According to her, flood preparedness and waste management require a collaborative effort from governments, private sector and local communities to build resilience against natural disasters.

She said with the increasing frequency and severity of floods due to climate change, proactive measures are essential.

‘Disaster management is not just the business of NEMA or government agencies. It is everybody’s business.

‘We must put our heads together to manage disaster in year 2024. We must show concern and stop showing negligence.

‘Flood preparedness is very vital for safeguarding lives and property. Sustainable solutions are achievable thro
ugh cooperation and dedication,’ she said.

She warned that Kwara had been marked among the high risk areas this rainy season, and called for pro-active measures to mitigate the disaster.

The NEMA official urged the people to desist from indiscriminate dumping of waste in drains to keep the environment safe, adding that waste should be properly dump in designated collection centres.

‘Drop the waste into a designated place and it can be taken to a recycling company to be re-used.

‘It is not every waste that is useless. Most are very useful when they get to the recycling companies,’ she said.

The Commissioner for Environment, Hajia Nafisat Buge, also appealed to the public to adhere strictly to the warnings of NEMA.

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Represented by Mrs Mary Mustapha, an official of the ministry, Buge stressed that the public must be safety-conscious and stop being careless about the environment.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

Chief Ajuri Ngelale, Chairman of the Presidential Steering Committee on Project Evergreen, said the committee held a strategic meeting with the management of CATL, EV Battery Manufacturer, on Wednesday in Ningde, China.

He said the meeting was part of a working visit by the team overseeing the execution of Nigeria’s renewable energy technology manufacturing zone, Evergreen City, to the company.

In a statement on Wednesday in Abuja, Ngelale said that the team included Gov. Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State and Dr Lazarus Angbazo, Managing Director/CEO of the Infrastructure Corporation of Nigeria (InfraCorp).

‘We began with a tour of their facilities, which provided a window into the company’s history, present, and future development plans.

‘We were given a no-photographs-allowed tour of the automated production lines, which were an inspiring marvel to behold.

‘After the tour, our team interfaced with CATL’s Executive Management and apprised them of our zone’s progress with a detailed view into what our col
laboration would entail,’ he said.

Ngelale said the management of CATL made a presentation of how their technologies and associated financing platforms could be tailored to the unique requirements of Evergreen City.

He said that Sule detailed local policy and how the partnership would be supported at the sub-national level, ‘While I communicated the vision of the zone in the context of the specific technologies being produced by CATL.

‘InfraCorp MD, Dr Lazarus Angbazo asked pertinent questions about their proposed concepts of collaboration. We all agreed on finite next steps.

‘We are thrilled about the opportunity to site the EV Battery Manufacturer supplying Tesla, BMW, and others within our Lithium-rich zone. But we have a lot of work to do before any of us will be celebrating,’ he said.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday received former Senate President, Pius Anyim, who recently defected from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

Speaking to State House correspondents after his presentation to Tinubu by Gov. Hope Uzodinma, Chairman of the Progressives Governors’ Forum (PGF), Anyim said he defected because the country was facing challenges, which required collaboration.

‘The country is passing through turbulent times and it is the duty of all patriots to ensure a peaceful atmosphere,’ he said.

Anyim defected from PDP to APC in Abakaliki, Ebonyi during the grand finale of the APC Local Government Election Campaign on Saturday.

Dr Abdullahi Ganduje, the APC National Chairman, Gov. Hope Uzodinma, Chairman of Progressive Governors Forum, Gov. Francis Nwifuru of Ebonyi State and Sen. David Umahi, Minister of Works, Mr Stanley Meghan, State Chairman of the party, and other party chieftains were on hand to receive him.

Umahi commended Anyim for all t
he support he gave to APC during the 2023 elections, adding that it was only right he formally joined the party.

Umahi thanked President Bola Tinubu for all the support given to him when he faced legal battles after joining the party.

He said, ‘President Tinubu called me to come and see him, and when I came, he carried me in his car personally to meet a Senior Advocate of Nigeria who handled our case.’

Anyim, who served as the 9th president of the Senate from 2000 to 2003, was Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) during Goodluck Jonathan presidency.

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He was elected Senator on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 1999 for the Ebonyi South constituency and was elected President of the Senate in August 2000.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

Mr Daniel Bwala, former spokesman for the former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, paid a solidarity visit to President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday.

Speaking to State House correspondents, Bwala said he visited the President to show solidarity for what he was doing to address some of the concerns of Nigerians.

‘If you see some of the issues the people planning to protest are raising, they talk about hunger in the land, lack of transportation; minimum wage for the workers, and Mr President has taken good steps.

‘He has agreed to a new minimum wage, which is now a law. We have seen the release of the truckloads of food to the Nigerian people, and in the coming days, more are going to be done in that regard,’ he said.

He said the planned protest, to a large extent, had the element of politics.

‘Everybody in Nigeria acknowledges that there is suffering and the suffering did not start last year.

‘There is no reform that is easy. Go to Brazil, any part of the world, if you’re going to do reform, it is not g
oing to be easy.

‘It means that all of us will have to readjust, but the role of the government when initiating a reform is to bring about interventions, which is what the President is doing,’ said Bwala.

He said the Local Government Autonomy recently granted by the Supreme Court was the masterstroke because it had taken governance to the grassroots.

‘So, I came to celebrate, encourage and show our solidarity and encourage the Nigerian people to rally round the President.

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‘We have only one President, and to me patriotism is defending the leader, patriotism is showing support and ensuring that we push the development of this country.

‘What is exciting for me in all of this situation is that the President has a firm grasp of what is going on in the country, the sufferings of the Nigerian people, and he has shown that concern,’ he said.

He said he had officially left the Peoples Democratic Party and was making
plans to join the All Progressives Congress (APC).

‘So, yes, I’m on my way to APC and that is where I have always belonged.

‘Remember, I had been in APC for eight years, from the days of President Buhari.

‘I left because of differences but I’m back, and this time it is not about party, is about us coming together as a country to make sure that the country not only survives, that it is on a good trajectory.

‘When that time for politics comes, those who are there will do. But I’m fully committed to President Bola Tinubu and in the coming days I will do my official re-entry to APC,’ he said.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

President Bola Tinubu has signed into law bills to accelerate development across geo-political zones in the country.

This is contained in a statement by Chief Ajuri Ngelale, the Special Adviser to the President, Media and Publicity, on Wednesday in Abuja.

The statement said the President assented to the North-West Development Commission (Establishment) Bill, 2024, and the South-East Development Commission (Establishment) Bill, 2023.

According to the statement, the North-West Development Commission is set up to facilitate the reconstruction of roads, houses, and business premises destroyed by multidimensional crisis.

It is also expected to tackle poverty, literacy level, ecological problems, and any other related environmental or development challenges in North-West states.

It added that the South-East Development Commission was established to ensure the reconstruction and rehabilitation of roads, houses and other infrastructural damages suffered by the zone.

It is also expected to tackle ecological prob
lems and other related environmental or developmental challenges in South-East states.

‘President Tinubu believes in building the nation on the fulcrum of fairness, equity, and unity.

‘Hence, he is committed to ensuring equitable development, inclusive governance, and the provision of qualitative services to all Nigerians – no matter where they reside – while knitting even more tightly together the national fabric,’ it said.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria