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  • Lagos Govt Eases Restriction On Social Gathering, Event Centres

    The Lagos State government on Friday relaxed the restrictions on social gatherings and event centres in the state.

    The state government disclosed this in a statement jointly signed by the state’s Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Mrs. Uzamat Akinbile Yusuff, and the Director-General of Lagos State Safety Commission, Mr. Lanre Mojola.

    The state government directed the event centres to register before reopening while the duration for events must not exceed six hours.

    The government warned that any violation of the protocol would attract sanctions in line with the Lagos State Infectious Diseases Control Regulation 2020.

    The Lagos State government had early this year placed a restriction on social gatherings and event centres following the onset of the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in the state.

    The statement read: “The Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu, after due consultation and deliberations with relevant stakeholders and MDA’s including The Lagos State Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, and Lagos State Safety Commission has approved the further easing of social centres across the state with immediate effect.

    “All event centres must hold a valid license of The Lagos State Ministry of Tourism, Arts, and Culture prior to operating as an event center in the state.

    “Safety Marshals shall be deployed by an accredited event safety consultant from Lagos State Safety Commission for every social event with attendance exceeding over 200 people.

    “Occupancy limit at any event must not exceed 50 percent of the maximum design capacity of the hall, wherein Occupancy Limit stickers provided by the Lagos State Safety Commission must be boldly posted at the entrance of the event hall.

    “Maximum allowable capacity for Event Centers irrespective of the occupancy limit is 500 people. Deep cleaning must be carried out before and after every event.

    “Physical distancing shall be maintained between seated guests and a maximum number of seated guests should be six people on a table of 10 persons.

    “Event duration should not exceed a maximum period of six hours.

    “Event center owners/ planners/vendors would be responsible for any breach of protocols by their staff.”

  • Nigerian Govt, UNICEF Collaborate On Review Of Education Policy

    Nigerian Govt, UNICEF Collaborate On Review Of Education Policy

    The Federal Ministry of Education in collaboration with the United Nations International Children Fund (UNICEF) has enacted a comprehensive review of the National Policy on Gender Equality in Basic Education to tackle insecurity and other emerging problems.

    The UNICEF’s Education Specialist, Mrs. Azuka Menki, who disclosed this to journalists at the end of a two-day Consultative and Critique Meeting in Abuja, said the review was long overdue.

    She said the review of the 14-year-old policy was aimed at finding a lasting solution to emerging gender issues.

    She stressed that the review would broaden the scope of the policy which focused only on basic education to ensure inclusiveness for better implementation.

    According to her, works are being concluded on the document for onward presentation to relevant authorities for approval.

    Menki said: “UNICEF, with support from Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), is supporting the Federal Ministry of Education to review the existing National Gender Policy on Basic Education.

    “The existing policy is focused only on basic education and it has been there since 2006.

    “We felt that we needed to support the government to review it, especially because there are emerging gender issues affecting enrolment, retention, completion, and transition, especially for girls.

    “We felt that this is the time to sit down to take a look at the document to see how it fits into emerging issues and how it’s able to solve the issues that are affecting education for children both boys and girls.”

  • Lagos Police, Education Ministry Partner To Protect Schools Amidst Insecurity

    The Lagos Police Command has announced its intention to collaborate with the State Ministry of Education in a bid to provide more security for schools across the metropolis.

    This announcement came in the wake of more schools coming under attacks by bandits nationwide.

    The Commissioner of Police in Lagos State, Mr Hakeem Odumosu, revealed this collaboration with the Commissioner of Education, Mrs Folashade Adefisoye.

    A statement by the Public Relations Officer of the Police Command in Lagos State, Mr Olumuyiwa Adejobi, said on Monday, April 5, that the initiative was a proactive measure to protect boarding schools.

    “The goal is to protect students, staffers, and their facilities,” the statement explained.

    It said that Odumosu recently organised a meeting with the Ministry of Education and stakeholders in the education sector to build confidence towards achieving the goal of improving school security.

    “The meeting was to review the security architecture and improve on the safety of all schools by building confidence in the staffers, students, parents, and the Government of Lagos State.

    “The police commissioner had intensified efforts toward deploying human and material resources to protect lives and property in the schools.”

    It also quoted him as adding that he had shared some security tips with education stakeholders to propel them into actions that would step up general security in schools, both private and public.

    The Police CP urged school owners and principals to remain calm and support measures targeted at warding off bandits from the schools.

    The statement said that intelligence gathering, patrols, raids on black spots, sensitisation programmes, Town Hall Meetings, and threat analyses were being intensified to boost the proactive measures.

    It urged parents and guardians to assist in supervising their children (students), and volunteer information to the police and other security agencies to help the efforts to protect the schools.

  • Lagos Govt Shuts 30 Event Centres, 400 Clubs For Violating COVID-19 Protocols

    Lagos State government has shut down 30 event centres and 400 night clubs across the state for violating the COVID-19 protocols.

    The Director-General of Lagos State Safety Commission (LSSC), Lanre Omojolawho disclosed this at a news conference held on Thursday in Alausa, Ikeja, said the commission was saddled with the responsibility of developing safety guidelines for the reopening of the state for economic activities after the COVID-19 lockdown.

    He said: “The commission was involved in the enforcement of COVID-19 protocols and this led to the sealing of 30 event centres and 400 clubs across the state.”

    According to him, the commission carried out a risk assessment and unscheduled safety inspections of construction sites to ensure safety compliance as well as adherence to COVID-19 protocols to prevent accidents, incidents, illnesses and loss of lives.

    Mojola revealed that the commission issued Provisional Safety Compliance Certificates for 90 days and Safety Compliance Certificates thereafter if compliance status was maintained.

    He said enforcement action was carried out in 609 construction sites for repeated failure to comply with safety regulations.

    He noted that LSSC is developing an Occupational Safety and Health Masterplan for the state.

    Mojola added: “The idea is to provide a comprehensive strategic framework and policy direction for Occupational Safety and Health in Lagos State. This will further protect the human capital which is the state’s most valuable resource and asset by building a safer and healthier Lagos through the development and sustenance of safe and healthy work culture.”

  • Gov Wike Sacks Rivers Environment Commissioner

    The Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has sacked the state’s Commissioner for Environment, Igbiks Tamuno.

    In a statement issued by his Special Assistant on Media, Kelvin Ebiri, the governor directed the commissioner to submit all government documents and properties in his possession to the Permanent Secretary in the ministry.

    However, no reason was given for the commissioner’s sack.

    Wike appointed Tamuno as Rivers State Commissioner for Environment in 2019.

  • Military Implores NASS To Ensure Availability Of Funds For Research, Development

    The Director-General, Defence Research and Development Bureau, AVM Ubrufih Uzezi, on Tuesday, March 30, appealed to the National Assembly to increase its annual budgetary allocation for research and development.

    Uzezi made the appeal when the Senate Committee on Defence, led by its Chairman, Sen. Aliyu Wamakko visited the bureau in Abuja, for oversight.

    Providing a breakdown of the bureau’s budget performance for 2019 and 2021, Uzezi lamented the paucity of funds for research and called for more funds to be allocated to the bureau.

    He said that an upward review of the funds for research would enable the military to effectively prosecute the war against insurgency in the North-East, as well as tackle other security challenges in other parts of the country.

    “The money appropriated has been well spent and for the things we are doing, a lot has to do with funding to solve a lot of problems that our troops are facing in the North-East, North-West and North-Central; the issue of insurgency, banditry.

    “For the 2019-2020 budget you will see that very paltry sum was given to research and development. Research and development cost a lot of money,” Uzezi said.

    The director-general further said that Nigeria was experiencing a lot of insecurity, especially in the North-East, which required the military to prosecute with superior firepower; pointing out that the military research centre was expected to be the driving force.

    “Our country is going through very challenging times and the armed forces is at the fore of resolving the challenges that we are facing.

    “And for any armed forces to function effectively, they need equipment, they need capabilities that are technology-dependent.

    “I believe that those who initiated the idea of a bureau like this to be established, foresaw and indeed there is no country that can attain self reliance in technology without research and development”.

    In his opening remarks, Chairman of the committee, Aliyu Wamakko said the visit was aimed at carrying out a first-hand assessment of the military facility with a view to understanding its challenges.

    “We are here as part of our mandate to have an assessment of the constraints. We want to also hear about your 2019 and 2021 capital budget. We are concerned about the security situation, what is being done and what the constraints are. We are here to have a first hand assessment”, he said.

  • Nigerian Govt Advocates Gender Parity In Education

    The Federal Government on Monday urged the 36 states of the federation to contribute to the review of 14-year-old gender policy on education to eliminate gender disparity in the system.

    The Director of Basic and Secondary Education, Federal Ministry of Education, Hajia Binta Abdulkadri, made the call at a two-day review of the gender policy on education held in Enugu.

    The Federal Ministry of Education is partnering with the United Nations International Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to revise the National Policy on Gender in Basic Education (NPGBE) to cover all levels of education.

    In her remarks, Abdulkadri said the objective of the policy was to promote access, transition and performance in basic education for all, especially the girl child through the creation of favourable learning environment.

    Abdulkadri, who was represented at the forum by the Deputy Director in the ministry, Mrs. Keme Nnorom, noted that the national policy on gender equality in Basic Education and its implementation guidelines were developed in 2006/2007 through the support of UNICEF.

    According to her, a similar review is ongoing across the six geo-political zones of the country to enable the participant to make an input and contribution before the new policy will be adopted.

    She said: “There is a lot of work to be done and your inputs are crucial in ensuring that every state and sector are captured. The task ahead is enormous but surmountable.

    “I encourage you, participants, to accord this assignment the attention it deserves in order to realize the ministry’s desire to achieve equity, equality and eliminate all forms of biases hindering the implementation of gender in basic education in the country.

    “I also urge you all to study the document carefully and determine how it will work in your various states.”

  • Fashola Promises Transparent Process In Management, Development Of Roads

    The Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, said on Tuesday the Federal Government would ensure transparency in the Highway Development Management Initiative (HDMI) for all participants.

    Fashola, who disclosed this at the Ministerial Notice of the commencement of the HDMI in Abuja, said the initiative would be used to manage and develop federal road networks in the country.

    He said the goal of the initiative is to attract sustainable investment and funding in the development of road infrastructure in the country.

    Fashola said: “The rationale behind the private sector engagement under the HDMI would provide an avenue that would mitigate the paucity of funds, which had hindered roads development in the past.”

    According to him, the initiative falls in line with the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan of the country which has been in implementation for almost four years.

    The minister said the federal government was executing over 700 different programmes in the country.

    “This aggregates to 13,000km of roads and bridges on rehabilitation and construction among the 36 states, including the FCT.

    “As a result of the size of project we are taking, there is an increasing demand for funding to finance the project.

    “There is the need to finance other complementary services, rest houses, towing vehicles, which seems suited for commercial initiating compliance.

    “This is another effort to mobilize carrying capacity, resources, and entrepreneurship into the Nigerian highway sector and hopefully convert the roads from the social assets into assets of commercial opportunities.

    “The 12 routes aggregate the total of 1963.24km which represents 5.6 percent of the 35,000km of the federal road network,” he added.

  • Senate Approves Establishment Of National Agricultural Development Fund

    The Senate has approved the establishment of the National Agricultural Development Fund for the purpose of providing finance to support strategic aspects of agricultural development of Nigeria.

    This followed the clause-by-clause consideration of the report presented by the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development by the lawmakers during plenary on Wednesday, March 24.

    Chairman of the committee, Sen. Abdullahi Adamu, had earlier presented the report.

    Adamu also noted that the Bill was read for the second time on Wednesday, March 4, 2020.

    According to him, the Bill seeks to promote and provide for finance to support agriculture development in the country in order to ensure food production and food security in Nigeria.

    “Also to provide finance for the implementation of policies and to strengthen agricultural institutions.

    “It also seeks to encourage donor institutions to provide funding for the agriculture sector to ensure increased food production,” Adamu said.

    He said that the Bill therefore showed that the availability of the fund would meet these requirements among others.

    “With government’s commitment to make agriculture the mainstay of our economy, it is only right to make enabling laws for the purpose of providing sustainable funding for agriculture development in Nigeria.”

    This, he said would be to take into consideration the critical need to address food production and food security, job creation and international competitiveness in agriculture sector in Nigeria.

    In his remarks, the Senate President Ahmad Lawan, said that the establishment of the National Agricultural Development Fund would transform the Nigerian economy and ensure job creation.

  • Tired Of Celebrity Lifestyle, Ex-BBNaija Housemate, Kaisha, Pleads For Her Old Life Back

    Former Big Brother Naija housemate, Kaisha Umaru has taken to social media to urge for her old life back.

    Kaisha participated in the 2020 edition of the Big Brother Naija. Although she didn’t emerge victoriously, she has remained one of the most popular housemates from the edition.

    In a recent post on social media, the 25-year-old reality star stated that all that glitters is not gold.

    According to the reality star and entrepreneur, she is tired of the celebrity lifestyle; she stated that she wants her regular life back.

    She made this statement on the social media platform, Twitter during the early hours of Wednesday, March 17.

    ‘I need my old life back!! , not all that glitters is gold”she tweeted