Category: General

Some residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have decried the continuous rise in the prices of food items in Abuja, amidst the removal of fuel subsidy.

A market survey conducted by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday, revealed that residents are worried by the steady increase in the price of foodstuffs in the past two months.

Mrs Happiness Benjamin, a civil servant, said she has adopted a method of eating twice a day in her house due to the current economic situation.

“We eat mostly twice a day this period because of the high cost of foodstuff,”she said.

Mr Ikechukwu Eze, a trader at Dutse market, said that transportation was a major cause of the constant increase in the prices of foodstuff.

“We spend a lot of money on transportation to bring goods from various states to sell to our customers.

“Before now, a bag of white garri was sold for N17, 000 but now it is sold for N24, 000 and N25, 000.

“While a Mudu of white garri is sold for N500 and N600 and red garri is goes for N700 as against N300 and N350 for white garri and N500 for red,” Ikechukwu said.

Rose Bayo, a trader in Dutse market, said a bag of local rice currently goes for N45, 000 and N46,000, while foreign rice goes for N50,000 as against N35,000 and N44,000 respectively.

“We currently sell a mudu of local rice for N1,350 and N1,400 while the foreign rice is sold for N1,700 and N1,800 as against N900 and N1,500 in July,” she said.

Bayo said the high prices of foodstuffs were not only affecting the buyers but also the traders.

Mallam Musa Ibrahim, a trader at the Bwari market, said that a bag of beans currently sells for N65, 000 as against the previous price of N49, 000.

“We sell a mudu of beans for N900 as against the previous price of N700,” he said.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

Mr Nyesom Wike, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, says the FCT Administration has concluded plans to reintroduce monthly sanitation as part of strategies to keep the city clean.

Wike stated this in Abuja on Monday, after a closed-door meeting with contractors handling different projects in the FCT.

He said that he had already briefed President Bola Tinubu on the idea that at least two Saturdays in a month would be declared for sanitation from 7a.m. to 10 a.m.

He explained that the move would enable companies supporting the FCT with logistics to go to market, and other public places to evacuate refuse.

According to him, for Abuja to be clean, everybody has to cooperate.

“We must all make sacrifices. There is nothing like we are going to suffer. You also contribute to refuse.

“So, if you spare three hours on a Saturday at home, to clear the refuse and bring them out for us to evacuate and dispose, then that is the little way you can help.

“We are appealing to you (residents) to cooperate with us so we can achieve our goals.”

On streetlights, the minister said that there were some improvements: “We are not there yet, but I can assure you that everywhere in Abuja will be lit up.”

For those who have distorted the Abuja Master Plan, Wike said that the issue would soon be addressed.

He added that the Federal Capital Territory Administration was working out which areas the parks and the greens were supposed to be and those that were built on.

He also said that the government would look into those who refused to develop their plots for many years.

Wike said that the President Tinubu-led administration would not continue to allow undeveloped land across the city where criminals were taking refuge.

“How can you have empty land in the city and allow people to build shanties on them because you did not develop them.

“Some properties were built for 20 years but not completed. Go and see what is happening there, criminals have taken over the place and as a serious government, we will not allow that.

“We want to make Abuja a safe environment, but we can’t do it alone; we require the support of every stakeholder,” the minister said.

He also said that attention would be given to satellite towns beginning with a visit to the areas to determine the needs and decide on what can be done to improve their facilities and infrastructure.

He pointed out that there was no funding to intervene in all the satellite towns at the same time but one at a time subject to the availability of funds.

“It is unfortunate that contracts were awarded in virtually all the satellite towns but where is the funding? The finding is not there,” Wike said.

He said that what was approved for FCT in the 2022 national budget was N15 billion for “not less than a trillion naira worth of contracts”, stressing the need for the ministry to prioritise its spending.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja, Mr Nyesom Wike, says the FCTA is considering transportation and food supplies support with the N5 billion palliative received from the Federal Government.

Wike stated this in Abuja on Monday after a closed-door meeting with contractors handling different projects in the FCT.

The Federal Government had on Aug. 17 announced a N5 billion palliative for each state of the federation, including the FCT, to cushion the impact of the removal of the petrol subsidy.

Some of the state governments have confirmed receiving N2 billion from the amount, while awaiting the N3 billion balance.

However, the minister said that the FCT was not included in the N5 billion palliative until he wrote a memo informing President Bola Tinubu of the development.

He added that Tinubu has approved the amount, adding that other states have received N2 billion already, expressing confidence that the FCT will equally receive soon.

“But we are yet to decide on what to do with the N2 billion palliative. We have not chosen any area yet.

“Are we going to concentrate on food, but we are thinking that the issue of transportation is very very important, particularly the urban mass transit.

“People would like to have easy transportation to go to where they want to go, and if you give them rice and they eat the rice today, what about transportation tomorrow?

“So, we have not come up with what actually we are going to use the money for, but I believe food support and transportation is very key,” he said.

The minister added that efforts were ongoing to bring back urban mass transportation to be able to reduce the suffering of the masses in terms of transportation.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Mr Nyesom Wike said on Monday, that the ministry will deliver the Millennium Tower project in the next two years.

Wike stated this in Abuja after a closed-door meeting with contractors handling different projects in the FCT.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Millennium Tower at Central Area, Abuja, is a multifunctional edifice with facilities for cultural exposition, tourism, socialisation, recreation, hospitality, and commercial activities.

The project is being handled by Salini Construction Nigeria Limited but was abandoned due to lack of funds.

He said that the tower was a very important project that would change the landscape of Abuja city.

“It is a very very ambitious project, but again if we are talking of Abuja being one of the best cities in the world, then we must have such a facility.

“I can tell you it is not easy to go into that project, but we have decided that whatever it takes, it is going to be one of the legacy projects for President Bola Tinubu.

“In fact, we are looking at the next two years, if the way we are going to structure our payment is agreeable with the contractor,” Wike said.

NAN reports that the project, conceived in 2005 had reached 40 per cent completion, and is expected to, upon completion, self-finance itself from revenues generated from all the commercial activities in the complex.

The scope of the project comprises a cultural centre with four museums, an expansive arcade consisting of 40,000m2 platform for hosting national and other events.

It also consists of a five-star hotel with 55 luxury rooms and nine suites for about 130 persons, offices, passive and active recreational facilities, 1200 capacity auditorium, conference rooms,

Others are exhibition halls, shops, a sport centre with an indoor pool, gyms, fitness, squash courts and a two-level 1,200 capacity basement car park.

The millennium tower itself is a 170-meter-tall structure accommodating a revolving panoramic restaurant for more than 130 diners.

The minister added that a careful analysis of all the awarded contracts with the contractors and his team have revealed that most of the projects were abandoned for lack of funds.

“The Minister of State, myself, the permanent secretary, and directors have concluded that it is not possible to carry on with the entire projects in the FCT.

“Therefore, we agreed to take them in order of priority. We have tried to work out most of the projects being handled by Julius Berger and agreed to see that these projects are fully completed,” he said.

Wike added that the Villa Roundabout being handled by China Geo-engineering Corporation (CGC) Nigeria Limited, would be completed in the next six to eight months.

He equally said that the ministry would ensure the completion of the projects being handled by Cetraco Nigeria Ltd, and also put a facelift on Garki, Wuse and part of Maitama in the next one week.

He said that the contractors would be mobilised immediately, adding that Asokoro would equally have a facelift in no distant time.

On the Abuja light rail rehabilitation project, the minister said that an agreement has been concluded with CCECC Nigeria Limited to give them their money in the next two days so they can go to work.

“We are also discussing with the company on the operation cost, because it will not be good to rehabilitate and then you cannot operate.

“We have told them that on Thursday, we are going to meet to talk about the operation cost,” he said.

Wike pointed out that part of the problems of the projects was because they were not being funded by the national budget.

He said that in view of the funding challenge, the ministry would pick some projects that could be completed within a specific period and then decide on what to do again in the following year. (NAN)

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

A 39-year-old man allegedly stole seven goats worth N.dollars 7 000 from his employer at Okandombo village in the Oshikoto Region.

According to a crime report issued by Namibian Police Force spokesperson for the Oshikoto Region, Inspector Ellen Nehale, the incident is suspected to have occurred sometime between December 2022 and April 2023.

Nehale said the suspect stole seven goats from his employer where he was employed as a domestic worker.

“The suspect started taking goats one by one from the complainant’s house where he was employed, to Onamavo village in Omuntele Constituency,” she said.

Nehale said the suspect was arrested at Okaluwa village in Omuntele, while trying to sell one goat around April 2023.

“Six goats were recovered and the investigation continues,” Nehale reported.

The suspect will appear before the magistrate’s court at Ondangwa on 29 August 2023.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency

Fatherlessness is predominantly the result of absence rather than death in numerous countries, including Namibia.

In such cases, men often fail to take responsibility for their children, either immediately after conception or after a collapse in marital relations, British High Commissioner to Namibia, Charles Moore, said during the high-level panel discussion on the theme ‘Fatherlessness in Namibia’ and how it affects both individuals and society.

The panel discussion, organised by the Hanns Seidel Foundation with the assistance of the British High Commission, took place in Windhoek last week.

Moore stated that fatherlessness is not just a problem for Namibia, but for the United Kingdom as well, where it is more likely that parental responsibility has been rejected, rather than fathers being absent because they choose to live and work away from home.

“Fatherlessness cannot be blamed on governments: it’s entirely our own fault. It’s about our own individual beliefs and experiences, often brought about by a change in society and tradition,” he said.

Meanwhile, James Itana, the Executive Director of the Regain Trust, said the emotional gap between fathers and their children could be attributed to the gap that arises at childbirth. Itana noted that men, particularly in traditional settings, are advised to remain on the sidelines while the mother spends the majority of the time with the newborns.

Itana said many Namibian men are unable to emotionally connect with their children because they have been denied the ability to do so since birth.

“It is essential to engage with the boy-child to try and shift the narrative that has been established that guys can’t be emotional with their children when they’re born, or that it’s the role of women to care for the child when they’re born,” he said.

He advocated open discussions about paternity leave and said men should not be driven out of maternal spaces because becoming a father is about more than just money.

“Men have been raised to assume fairly traditional views of what it means to be a father, so we must consider if parenthood is nature or nurture. This is a very important conversation that Namibians should have,” he said.

Sister Namibia Programme Coordinator Ndapwa Alweendo stated that while Namibia is not alone when it comes to the issue of fatherlessness and its challenges, access to data may be the most pressing worry.

“Often times, the data that does exist is quite difficult to acquire, making it extremely tough to deconstruct this very significant issue,” she said.

She shared Itana’s comments, noting that debates regarding fatherlessness should be placed in the appropriate context by having conversations about what it means to be a parent, as it entails much more than just having children.

The discussion was aimed at raising awareness of the severity of fatherlessness in Namibia and its effects on people and society, sharing information about institutions responsible for enforcing the law and protecting the rights of women and children, as well as to encourage discussion about aspects of Namibian culture that affect the family structure.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency