₦airaland Forum

Bank to deliver 40m doses of J&J vaccines to Nigeria by 2022

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN has commended the African Export-Import Bank (AFREXIM) for its efforts in stimulating and developing African trade, including its many engagements in Nigeria.

Prof. Osinbajo made the observation today at the Presidential Villa while interacting with a delegation from the bank led by its President, Prof. Benedict Oramah.

Speaking after receiving a brief on the bank’s activities as well as ongoing projects in the country, the Vice President expressed satisfaction with the work done by the bank and the interest shown in areas such as health infrastructure, trade facilitation and tourism, among others.

According to Oramah, AFREXIM is investing in trade and health infrastructure, and is also involved in the procurement and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines to African countries including Nigeria, to enable the continent achieve herd immunity.

The bank is also planning to establish National Quality Assurance Centres in parts of the country in order to support and upgrade export of commodities from Nigeria.

Referencing the planned establishment of quality assurance centres across the country, the VP said it is important because “one of the problems we have had with our exports is really this problem of quality assurance and making sure that we have the facilities to test our export products and get all of our agencies working together. I am sure that you have SON, NAFDAC, and all of our agencies working with you on this project.”

While thanking the bank for its support, Prof. Osinbajo noted that the Federal Government’s programmes in the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) sector, particularly in the Shared Facility Initiative under the National MSMEs Clinic, are important and deserving of AFREXIM’s backing.

He said the initiative which is implemented in collaboration with state governments and aimed at developing manufacturing clusters across the country, could be enhanced through partnership with the bank.

Earlier in his presentation on some of the bank’s projects across Nigeria, Prof. Oramah said AFREXIM has plans of investing in important sectors of the Nigerian economy including health, citing plans to build a world class tertiary hospital and health park in Abuja. He said the 500-bed state-of-the-art hospital will be developed in collaboration with Kings College Hospital in the UK, and other partners.

The CEO also disclosed an arrangement under the AFREXIM Bank facility to deliver 40 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines to Nigeria over a short period of time.

He added that the bank was committed to ensuring that the continent achieved herd immunity by vaccinating about 60% of Africa’s population against the disease.

Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, announced in June this year that Nigeria was expecting 29 million Johnson and Johnson COVID-19 vaccines between June and July, and last week, Dr Faisal Shuaib, the Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) announced the arrival of the first batch of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine in the country.

Laolu Akande,
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Publicity,
*Office of the Vice President.
17th August 2021

https://www.yemiosinbajo.ng/we-are-impressed-by-how-much-afrexim-bank-is-doing-osinbajo/

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo SAN receives the youth members of the All Progressive Congress (APC) and is presented with the communique of their just concluded youth conference at the State House, Abuja. 16th Aug, 2021. Photos; Tolani Alli

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, has said that his primary assignment in government is to serve the people and honour God.

Prof. Osinbajo stated this on Sunday during the 65th birthday and retirement thanksgiving service for a notable Nigerian pilot, Capt. Usman Saleh Yahaya, which was held at ECWA Goodnews Church, Maitama, Abuja yesterday.

The VP said, “the scriptures say that we are the salt of the earth. Every time people ask me, they say, oh, why are you in government? And I say, why not?

“The calling of God upon our lives is that we must be in service. What is the point of light if it is kept under a bushel? What’s the point of salt if it does not go into the soup? If it is afraid of soup, what kind of salt is that?

“The scriptures say that we are the salt, so we should play the role of the salt. Now, salt is to make things better.


The VP then extended the issue to the church as an organization saying “it is the duty of the church never to lose hope. As a matter of fact, the only reason why hope is one of the central pillars of the church is because the history of mankind, the history of people, started from hopelessness. That is why we are there to give hope.”

Expressing optimism in the country’s bright future, Prof. Osinbajo added, “I’m very confident that no matter what we are seeing today, our country will be great. I’m very confident that as the Scriptures say, weeping may endure for a night, but surely joy will come in the morning.”

Indeed prominent Nigerians from all walks of life have continued to praise Osinbajo for his service and dedication as Nigeria’s number two citizen. Some have even described him as the best and most hardworking vice president Nigeria has ever had.

For instance in March this year, the Emir of Gombe, Alhaji Abubakar Shehu Abubakar III, commended the VP for his leadership and being a dependable ally to President Muhammadu Buhari.

“This demonstrates your own role in the Buhari administration and a lot of confidence that Mr President reports on you. We in the North are closely following your steady achievements; first as a successful law professor, a religious leader and now as the Vice President of Nigeria,” the Emir had said when Osinbajo paid him a courtesy visit.

https://www.vanguardngr.com/2021/08/why-i-am-in-government-―-osinbajo/

*VP congratulates new President of Baptist Convention, Revd. Akanji

*Describes him as an "effective bridge builder between faiths and ethnicities”
Nigeria will eventually rise from its security and socio-economic challenges into the glorious light of dawn that would herald greater things for the country and its citizens, because the Spirit of God is in the land, according to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN.

Prof. Osinbajo stated this on Sunday during a Send Forth Service for Revd. Dr. Israel Adelani Akanji, who until recently, served as Senior Pastor and Minister in Charge of the First Baptist Church, Garki, Abuja, for 22 years. Revd. Akanji is now the new President of the Nigerian Baptist Convention.

He spoke in a short remark he gave at the service which was also attended by the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Revd. Olasupo Ayokunle and the Minister of State for Health, Dr. Olorunimbe Mamora, among other dignitaries and Christian leaders.

Quoting from the first chapter in the Biblical Book of Genesis, the Vice President related events surrounding the creation of the heaven and earth to the nation’s present challenges and the lives of great individuals.

Prof. Osinbajo stated that “indeed, the lives of great men and women, even as the lives of nations teach important lessons.”

He noted that, “in the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. The beginning was bleak, confused, without form, empty.

"This is the way of the lives of some of the greatest men and women and also nations. There might be confusion, grief, trouble, darkness and fear. But even in that confusion, the Bible tells us that the Spirit of the Lord was hovering over the face of the deep. God was in the darkness, He did not run away, He is not asleep.

“So, it is with our nation. Today, some things may seem bleak and grave, with insecurity, economic difficulties, but even in the midst of these problems, the Spirit of God is in this land, it is here, hovering over this nation.”

He continued: "so, what happens next in verse three? We are told that suddenly God spoke, ‘let there be light…and there was light.’ The darkness came to an end, the fear, insecurity came to an end. So, it shall be for you and our nation. In the next verse, scripture says, God saw the light that it was good….so it shall be for you and our nation. The light will come and it shall be good, very good.”

The Vice President also commended the attributes of the new President of the Baptist Convention, describing Revd. Akanji as a humble and credible leader who “has continued to forge pathways for peace and unity as an effective bridge builder between faiths and ethnicities, realizing that Christ died for all men, and that our gospel is the gospel of peace."

While congratulating the cleric on his inauguration as President of the Baptist Convention, the Vice President noted that Akanji has also served the Body of Christ in Nigeria as the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) Chairman of Federal Capital Territory, and is still serving as the CAN North Central Zone’s leader.

“Revd. Dr. Israel Akanji now proceeds by the grace of God to the exalted office of the President of the Baptist Convention: the highest office of the Baptist denomination in Nigeria. In this long and arduous journey, Revd. Akanji has had by his side, his dear friend, partner and darling wife, Mrs Victoria Akanji, Mama Sunshine. She has been an effective part of the great works that God has done in her husband’s ministry,” the VP said.

According to him, Revd. Akanji’s “practical demonstration of the gospel of the love of Christ is his recipe for conflict resolution.”

He added, “in those 22 years (serving as pastor of the First Baptist Church Garki) this humble, humorous General of God has also become a foremost, credible and articulate ambassador of the Christian faith in Nigeria."

Noting Revd. Akanji's “determination to forge pathways for peace and unity, the VP observed that his (Dr. Akanji’s) doctorate thesis was on “Theology of Conflict Transformation in Contemporary Nigerian Society."

"I took the trouble to read portions of it to better understand his thoughts. He proposed a new approach which challenges the religious institutions, particularly the Church, through its pastoral ministry, to become actively involved in the transformation of conflict in the nation through a practical theology, a theology of hospitality.”

In the same vein, the Vice President congratulated Akanji on the occasion of his 60th Birthday coming up on Monday August 16. He wished him more strength, wisdom and favour and asked for God's blessing on all Nigerians.

Laolu Akande
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Publicity
Office of the Vice President
15th August 2021.

1. VP’s involvement in TECH brought about the following:
***Google Inc. in July 2020 announced plans to establish its first Google Launchpad Space outside the United States in Lagos
***Facebook, in September 2020 made public its decision to open an office in Lagos as part of its planned expansion in Sub-Saharan Africa.
***HUAWEI on the other hand last November promised the Vice President that the company will position Nigeria as a technology centre for the African continent and give more jobs to young Nigerians.

2. #EndSars Protest
***VP Osinbajo influenced the President to dissolve SARS as a unit of the Police Force

***VP Osinbajo brought about the idea of judicial panels in all states of the federation to deal with cases of police brutality. This was adopted by State governors at the National Economic Council.

3. #EconomicSustainabilityPlan
With VP Osinbajo chairing the Economic Sustainability Plan, the country was able to exit recession faster than anticipated. Several beneficiaries have benefitted from the various tracks such as the Payroll Support Track with 296,032 Employees , Youth Beneficiaries – 242,746 – 82%. The Artisan Track:
166,00 Artisans, Youth Beneficiaries – 64,740 – 39%, Others – 101,260 – 61%

Formalization Support Track
100,000 Business Names Registered
Youth Beneficiaries – 92,000 – 92%
Others – 8000 – 8%

***VP Osinbajo launched the ESP Cash Transfer Scheme facilitated through a wholly technology-based approach called the Rapid Response Register with plans to give 1million households COVID-19 N5000 monthly Cash Transfer for 6 months.

4. #MSMEs
***MSME Clinics have been held in 27 States, twice in Ebonyi across the country including the FCT. 7 One-Stop-Shops for MSMES - Cross River, Kwara, FCT, Abia, Bauchi, Osun, Plateau.

***FG has also launched Shared Facilities for MSMEs in Oyo, Bauchi, Benue, and Lagos. This is to allow MSMEs without the financial capacity to own their equipment and the opportunity to go into a fully equipped cluster style facility to pay a token to use such equipment.

***Over 400,000 MSMEs have so far participated in the MSME clinics nationwide. About 300,000 new business names have been registered by the Cooperate Affairs Commission (CAC) at a reduced 50% price of N5000, down from the normal N10,000.


5. #Social Investment Programmes - SIPs (under VP’s Office) over 12million direct beneficiaries
***Homegrown school feeding programme in 35 states feeding 9.9million children. More than 107,000 cooks engaged.
***Over 500,000 graduates benefitted from N-Power scheme.
***Over 2.3million market women, traders, artisans, farmers across all 36 states of the country and FCT, under Government Enterprise & Empowerment Programme, GEEP.
***Over 3million poor and vulnerable households have registered on National Social Register and more than 1million families are currently benefiting from Conditional Cash Transfer.

6. VP Osinbajo has always stood for the rule of law and in the interest of all Nigerians, regardless of ethnicity. In his capacity as VP, it was VP Osinbajo (then as Acting President) who fired the former DG, SSS, when he violated the sanctity of the National Assembly and violated the Nigerian constitution. VP Osinbajo defended democracy and described the invasion as an assault on Nigeria’s democracy that should not be tolerated. Also, Osinbajo Saved the party, APC, from litigation by suggesting APC EXCO members become Caretakers.

7. #EaseOfDoingBusiness
The work of the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (inaugurated by President Buhari in August 2016) and the Enabling Business Environment Secretariat (EBES) has resulted in Nigeria moving up 39 places on the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business rankings since 2016. In the last 3 years, Nigeria has twice been adjudged one of 10 Most Improved Economies in the Rankings.

8. #NigerDeltaNewVision
VP Osinbajo embarked on a peace keeping mission across the Niger Delta states engaging in strategic engagements with stakeholders and people in the region to ensure that peace and stability are maintained. This ended the series of pipeline explosions, restored the maximum oil productivity, and helped terminate the recession. The take-off of the Nigerian Maritime University in Okerenkoko, Delta State. The University was granted approval in January 2018 by the National Universities Commission (NUC) to commence undergraduate degree programmes effective 2017/18 session and commenced academic activities on April 12, 2018. President Buhari approved 5 billion Naira in take-off grant for the Maritime University.


9. #NationalLivestockTransportationPlan
The NLTP is a creation of NEC, chaired by VP Osinbajo and State Governors and is completely distinct from the now-suspended RUGA: The RUGA initiative was suspended by President Muhammadu Buhari in July 2019. The VP had publicly rejected RUGA and instead articulated the NLTP which has six pillars through which it aims to transform the livestock production system in Nigeria, including through ranching along a market-oriented value chain while ensuring an atmosphere of peace and justice.



10. #EnergisingEconomies and #EnergisingEducation
Osinbajo approved the provision of solar power to markets around the country such as Ariaria in Aba, Sabon Gari in Kano, Sura in Lagos, etc, as part of the energizing economies initiative of the Rural Electrification Agency. VP Osinbajo also commissioned solar power plants in Universities such as Alex Ekwueme University, in Ebonyi, also Bayero University in Kano.

The VP is also canvassing for a just transition from gas to cleaner ways of energy for Nigeria and other African countries. He has also spoken on several occasions against the defunding of gas projects by international finance cooperations. He believes that Nigeria’s rich deposit of gas should be considered first as source of energy before we transition to cleaner energy.

"He was an exceptional statesman"

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, has described the late Alhaji Ahmed Joda as an "exceptional statesman, committed patriot, outstanding technocrat and bridge builder."

In a statement he signed personally, Prof Osinbajo said he will greatly miss Alhaji Joda's "profoundly wise counsel on a wide variety of economic and social issues."

Joda was Chairman of the Presidential Transition that followed the victory of the Buhari/Osinbajo ticket in the 2015 election.

Below is the full text of the Vice President’s statement today on the transition of the elder statesman who passed on yesterday:

"I join the President in expressing sincere condolence to the family and associates of an exceptional statesman, committed patriot, outstanding technocrat and bridge builder: Alhaji Ahmed Joda.  

I will greatly miss his profoundly wise counsel on a wide variety of economic and social issues. We have lost a passionate believer in a nation, where all, regardless of faith or ethnicity can live together and achieve their dreams in peace. 

We pray that the Lord will comfort his family, associates and the people of Adamawa State from whence he hailed. May his memory always remain blessed."

Released by

Laolu Akande
Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the President
Office of the Vice President
14th August 2021

yrret:
Na mouth

Na yansh

Maxymilliano:
Easier sad than done ...

Go school you no gree

LET’S TAKE BOLD, BIG DECISIONS TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN OUR CIVIL SERVICE, SAYS OSINBAJO

*VP adds: Every Civil Servant deserves to live in their own home

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, wants a reform of the Nigerian Civil Service and in order to achieve that “we need to do something bold and big that will make a difference.”

Prof. Osinbajo stated this on Thursday at the Presidential Villa when he received a brief on the Federal Civil Service Strategy & Implementation Plan 2021-2025, presented by the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Dr Folashade Yemi-Esan.

The meeting is a Presidential Level Briefing of the reform process of the Federal Civil Service which has been on since 2017. The reform is being led by Steering and Implementation Committees with membership drawn from the public and private sectors with the engagement of development partners.

Yesterday's meeting was attended by the Attorney General of the Federation, Mr Abubakar Malami; Ministers of Labour & Employment, Dr Chris Ngige; Finance, Mrs Zainab Ahmed; Ministers of State, Budget & National Planning, Prince Clem Agba; and Works and Housing, Engr. Abubakar Aliyu. The Special Adviser to the President on Economic Matters, Dr. Adeyemi Dipeolu, some of Nigeria’s development partners including officials of the World Bank and the President of the Africa Initiative for Governance, Mr Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, (a private sector representative and member of Steering Committee) was also present.


Speaking after listening to Dr Yemi-Esan’s presentation and subsequent contributions by ministers and other participants at the meeting, the Vice President noted that “it is evident that perhaps, for the first time in a long time, some very serious attention is being paid to all of the various issues in our civil service.”

According to the VP, “I think that we should really do something that is bold, big and that will really make the difference in order to address some of the issues especially that of accommodation for civil servants.

“We can do much more with mass housing. We have a target now of 300,000 houses under our ESP social housing scheme. CBN has allocated N200 billion, but we have seen that we can provide mass housing, and we can make civil servants beneficiaries of the scheme.”

“Though the housing scheme is very modest, it is the sort of thing that we can at least do, to begin to take into account, the fact that everybody who worked for the civil service deserves to live in their own home. There must be a strategy for giving everybody a place to live in,” the VP added.

Making the point about access to affordable homes being one of the easiest ways to get people out of poverty, Prof Osinbajo said “it is a vital part of what we are trying to do”, noting that “we must address it. A civil servant ought to be able to own a home, and justify to his family the reason why he went for the job”.

Relating his experience while serving as Attorney General in Lagos State, Prof. Osinbajo said that like what was done with the reform of the Lagos State Judiciary, fixing the welfare of federal civil servants would be key to addressing challenges associated with productivity and corruption.

The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation also presented a report on the implementation status of the Federal Civil Service Strategy Plan 2017-2021.

Earlier in her presentation, Dr Yemi-Esan identified staff welfare particularly, remuneration and housing as areas that require better focus and urgent intervention by the Federal Government.

She appealed for improved support, particularly in funding the implementation of successive strategy and implementation plans to overhaul the service for better productivity.

The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation said the current reform in the Federal Civil Service has enabled government to save huge sums through the verification of personnel payroll and digitization of some operations, among others.

The Head of Service would continue to lead the reform process as the 2021-2025 plan goes forward to the Federal Executive Council for approval.

Yesterday's meeting featured comments and observations on the proposed plan tabled on behalf of the Steering Committee chaired by the Head of Service.

Laolu Akande
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Publicity
Office of the Vice President
13th August, 2021

A stage for national debates on who succeeds the incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari, seems to have been finally set by the former head of state, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, over his submission on the pressing national issues, top of which was the coming 2023 presidential election and who the ideal candidate should be.

The former military President, General Babangida, fondly called IBB, had listed out qualities Nigerians should look out for in the possible successor of President Buhari, when he played up a new angle to the 2023 presidential election debates, during an exclusive interview on the Arise News Channel, last week.

Recalled, Babangida, popularly known as IBB, was a self-styled Nigeria’s former military ruler, who hijacked power on August 27, 1985, at a relatively youthful age of 44, and later transformed himself into a military president. How he slyly arranged to have his way against the popular will of Nigerians while in power fetched him his nickname, ‘Maradona’ and ‘The Evil Genius,’ as on two occasions, he was able to act convincingly and “dribbled” Nigerians to elongate his regime more than the period he had promised to hand over power to the civilians. The “Maradona” coinage was compare IBB with the late ace Argentine footballer, Diego Maradona, a great ball joggler and dribbler, who scored a controversial goal that led Argentina to World Cup glory in 1986.

Even, with his dribbling strategy, later on after eight years in power, it appeared as if Babangida was about to fulfil his pledge of a return to the civilian government when a presidential election was finally held on June 12, 1993. The initial results of the presidential poll had indicated that the candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), a business mogul, Chief Moshood Kashimawo Abiola, popularly called “MKO,” was the apparent winner until the unthinkable happened!

Before the official results were announced, IBB had announced the annulment of the elections, a controversial decision that made his regime unpopular. It was in the wake of the civil unrest that ensued, IBB was forced out of power as he handed over control of the country to an interim civilian government headed by Mr Ernest Shonekan.

Babangida was a Maradona!

Though generally condemned by Nigerians for annulling the country’s freest and fairest presidential election, not withstanding, after he left power, Babangida has been a rallying point among the powerful elite, and has been relevant in the political power game. For this and the influence IBB commands among the Nigerian ruling class as a former military ruler, who escaped a bloody coup d’etat during his eight-year rule, whenever he speaks, his words are weighty enough, like revealing the mind of the oligarchic powerful elite.

So, it is well expected if IBB would stir up national discussions on would-be successors of President Buhari, even with the limiting criteria he listed for Nigerians to consider in choosing their next president, but favourable to some.

In his interview with Arise News Channel, IBB had hinted at the qualities the majority of Nigerians should consider in their choice of the next occupant of Aso Rock, the Presidential Villa, part of which is that individuals standing as potential candidates for either the presidential or vice-presidential positions in 2023 should be in their 60s.

Likewise, IBB said such persons should have a deep knowledge of the economy, must have contacts across the nation and must have been traversing the geo-political zones, marketing their acceptability and capacity.

“If you get a good leadership that links with the people and tries to talk with the people; not talking on top of the people, then we would be okay. I have started visualising a good Nigerian leader. That is, a person, who travels across the country and has a friend virtually everywhere he travels to and he knows at least one person that he can communicate with,” IBB said.

What this portends in the fact that among the top three popular potential candidates for the presidential position, especially within the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP), two of them, a former vice president, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, PDP, and a former governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, APC, both who would be in their 70s by the next election, have been stylishly ruled out of contesting for the presidential office by the IBB’s recommendations.

The last of the three, the incumbent Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, APC, is, however, favoured by all the IBB’s listed qualities. And his candidature was also preferent by a follow-up analysis made by the sister publication to the Arise News Channel, the Thisday newspaper entitled: “2023: Who Leads Nigeria?” With a rider, “With 559 days to the election, search for a new president begins.”

Top among the 30 potential candidates listed by Thisday in its Monday, August 9, 202 publication alongside the Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, included Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi, President of African Development Bank, WTO DG, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala; former Anambra State governor, Mr Peter Obi, Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde, Dr Akinwunmi Adesina; former CBN governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo; UN Deputy Secretary General, Mrs Amina Mohammed; former CBN deputy governor, Prof Kingsley Moghalu; , and Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote and former Senate President, Bukola Saraki, among others.

Thisday in its analysis, juxtaposing issues raised by IBB with Osinbajo’s values contended that, the Vice President, a professor of law, born in March 8, 1957, who will be 66 years by 2023, would be an ideal candidate for the presidential office. Osinbajo, whose introduction to power didn’t start with his office as a VP, had been a successful public servant, especially being a former Attorney General and Commissioner Justice in Lagos State, at a period he introduced series of reforms which has made the Lagos judicial system one of the best across the country.

In the editorial submission, the analysts said: “Given a different field of play, Osinbajo should have been the most eligible to take over from Buhari in 2023,” and while it listed our the VP’s qualities, it said: “First, he is a Christian of the Pentecostal denomination. Two, he is from the Southwest. Three, he is in his sixties. Four, he can combine both politics and the economy for a smooth run governance,” which are exactly IBB’s concerns for a presidential candidate.

The platform though, noted that, Osinbajo, being a thoroughbred technocrat, who has no formal political base, it was also quick to establish that it was “understandable,” admitting that, “it is also arguable that he might have learnt on the job, whilst his understanding of the nation’s economy is by every inch not in doubt.”

Still, in its analysis, Thisday submitted that, in all, Osinbajo, “having walked with Buhari for eight years, no one can sell the programmes of the administration better or able to sustain the programmes of the regime, whose ‘Change’ mantra is predicated on the tripod of economy, corruption and security, the three major monsters still confronting the nation till date, than Osinbajo.”

Then, corroborating the Osinbajo’s nationalism and readiness for the job in a separate discussion, analysts who put forward informed opinions while featuring on the Arise News Channel on Monday night, among whom are the former Chairman of the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Dr Sam Amadi and another analyst, Mahmud Jega, gave credence to the IBB’s position, while both agreed that such criteria fit the current Vice President.

Amadi speaking on the qualities listed by IBB as related to the person of Osinbajo, said the Vice President “is eminently qualified above the other 30 personalities listed in the Thisday report,” stating that: “In normal situations, there should be a line of succession. Prof Osinbajo has the quality, and maybe what he needs to build more is the courage because Nigeria needs somebody who can speak up and intervene more often in crisis facing the people.

While acknowledging the fact that Prof Osinbajo possesses some of the criteria outlined by IBB, Amadi said he was of the view that other candidates will face stiff challenges, noting that Osinbajo is a “is a good candidate and ought to be the number one contender for that position.

Similarly, Mahmud Jega lauded the credentials of Osinbajo, saying, “the current Vice President has all the credentials to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari in 2023,” as according to him, “Anybody who has been Vice President for 8 years should be a frontline candidate. Beyond this, Osinbajo is extremely capable technocratically to lead this country in 2023. He has all the qualities and is naturally in the lead ahead of the others.”

• Osinbajo as an Acting President

Recalled Osinbajo is not new to the role he is being pitched for, as though a Vice President, he has acted in the capacity of an Acting president in at least three occasions, the first time being in 2016, when the president went on vacation, between February 5 and 10 in 2016, also in January 19, 2017, when the president wrote to the Nigerian Senate, notifying the Parliament of his intention to travel abroad on a 10-day vacation and that he would hand over to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

• Successful handling of security issues

During this period, Osinbajo proved his mettled as someone qualified for the job. Top among his achievements was his ability to hold the country together peacefully, as he was able to contain the restive insurgents to establish for a relative peaceful coordination of the national affairs.

• Stabilisation plans and national economic growth

At that time, the Acting President Osinbajo, presiding over the National Economic Council meeting, issued a directive to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), to review its foreign exchange policy that weakened the national currency, as the apex bank released $500 million to the banks, and this forced dollars to crash, 24 hours after, stabilising the exchange rate at N450 from N525. It was during this period Osinbajo declared open the Agenda for Consultative Forum on Economic Recovery and Growth Plan, where he told the forum that the nation was in a very serious economic situation, but assured that the government remained committed to putting the economy on the path to sustainable growth

• Confirmation of Onnoghen as Chief Justice of Nigeria

Osinbajo here proved to be a detribalised Nigerian. After series of controversy on the appointment of a substantive Chief Justice of Nigeria, it was then as the Acting President, Osinbajo submitted the name of Justice Walter Onnoghen to the National Assembly for confirmation, and this was even less than 24 hours to the expiration of his three-month acting period. It was this singular act that saved the country from a constitutional crisis, as it was believed that Onnoghen had been sidelined from occupying the office being from the Southern Nigeria, against a botched decision of a “cabal” to reproduce a Northerner in the office. But that Onnoghen was next in line to emerge and this was stamped by Osinbajo defined his nationalism and positioned him as a leader who is fair and just.

• Regulation of skyrocketing food prices

At this period there was hike in the food prices, and to contain this, the Acting President set up a presidential task force to address the skyrocketing prices of foodstuff across the country. He also met with the executive director of the World Food Programme (WFP), Ms Ertharin Cousin. Afterwards, the Presidential Task Force on Food Security was mandated to reduce prices of food items in the country.

At a particular Federal Executive Council, measures were adopted to reduce prices of food items in the country, while the importation from ECOWAS countries, of finished products that could be produced locally, were restricted, in addition to the approval by the FEC, of N21 billion for the construction of the Ilorin-Omu Aran-Kabba Road, Section, which will also ease the transportation of foodstuffs across the country’s north and south.

• Solving of Niger Delta militants uprising

Osinbajo as the Acting President held a face-to-face talks with communities in the creeks of the oil-rich Niger Delta on how to stabilise the region, fix their infrastructure and ensure a hitch-free flow of crude to the international market. The purported neglect of the region, being the country’s economic power base has been the reason the militants put forward as the cause of their restiveness.

The Acting President also made a follow up visit to Port Harcourt, Rivers State, where he met with stakeholders of the oil producing communities, and later rolled out the framework for the clean-up exercise of Ogoni land.

• Strategic plans for growth and economic recovery

During his days as the Acting President, Osinbajo presided over the Presidential Business Forum, after which 59 strategies for implementing the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) were unveiled. He launched the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Clinics at the Presidential Villa.

Part of the growth strategy was the adoption of 60-day national action plan for business, in an expanded meeting of the Presidential Enabling Business Council, chaired by Osinbajo as the Acting President, and was attended by the then Senate President Bukola Saraki, former House of Representatives Speaker Yakubu Dogara and other government officials. It was after the meeting Osinbajo told the nation to expect changes in business visas, as well as seaports and airports.

To solidify the plans, he also paid an unscheduled visit to the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, where he inspected facilities and interacted with airport officials. But less than 24 hours after his unscheduled visit to Lagos airport, the Federal Government announced the sack of 10 directors of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA). Three new directors and a general manager were also appointed for the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), to boost efficiency at the country’s airports.

• Sack of DSS boss, Lawal Daura

In corroboration of views earlier expressed by analysts that a firm holder of authority who is prudent can only rule successfully, Osinbajo had displayed these traits in power, when also in 2018 as the Acting President ordered the sack of the Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS), Mr. Lawal Musa Daura following the operatives blockade of the National Assembly complex.

Osinbajo, who described the unauthorized takeover of the National Assembly complex as a gross violation of constitutional order, rule of law and all acceptable notions of law and order, did not prolong the matter before approving the removal from office of Daura, considered to be part of the “untouchable” “Cabal” in Aso Rock.

Masked operatives of the DSS had prevented lawmakers, staff and journalists from entering the National Assembly, and its fallout was the opposition lawmakers accusing accusing the ruling APC of being behind the blockade which saw the lawmakers locked out of their offices. The clerk of the National Assembly was also refused entry to the Assembly complex.

Daura, had earlier been summoned to the presidential villa by the Acting President few minutes before his sack, and was later directed to hand over to the most senior officer of the DSS until further notice.

Announcing his sack, the presidential spokesperson, Laolu Akande, in a statement, wrote: “Acting Yemi Osinbajo has directed the termination of the appointment of the DG of the DSS, Mr. Lawal Musa Daura. Mr. Daura has been directed to hand over to the most senior officer of the State Security Service until further notice.”

As the Acting President, Osinbajo successfully combined his duties with various responsibilities assigned to him as the Vice President, such as chairing of the National Economic Council (NEC), the National Economic Management Team (NEMT), the government’s think-tank responsible for the formulation of the country’s economic policy direction, saddled with the responsibility of guiding the president on his functions.

Now, for over seven weeks of his active engagement as Acting President, Osinbajo navigated the country in the right direction without fear or favour, which his loyalty to his boss, President Buhari, who was out of the country at this period was undeterred. At the same time, Osinbajo’s commitment to Nigerians welfare was top notch.

Then, till date, Osinbajo has travelled round the country solving problems and binding friendships in Nigerians across different divides, especially in April, when he visited Ebonyi after the communal clash that led to the killing of 22 people in four communities of Ishielu Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, which he described as “sad and unacceptable,” while he promised that the Federal Government will ensure justice for the victims of the unfortunate incident in the State.

Same was the situation in Imo State, in April, where the Vice President visited twice in 48 hours, first after the attack on the police stations and the state’s prison, and the following day was to commission projects.

In Imo, Osinbajo admonished Nigerians to come together and reject the agents of anarchy seeking to cause chaos for their own selfish interests, especially as there are many more who are working tirelessly to build up the country’s system and to enhance it.

• National Economic Sustainability Plan

Now, whether as the Acting President or back to his office as the Vice President, Osinbajo through policy formulation had redirected the economy of this country for good, in both capacities. Even, as NEC chairman. Likewise, driving the National Economic Sustainability Plans (ESP) of the Buhari administration, which has been a lifeline for many hit by the aftermath effects of Covid-19 devastation on the economy, a lot of Nigerians have benefitted in the unprecedented government largesse, while millions of businesses have been brought back to shape.

In all, it has been a success story for Osinbajo, who has shown competence and has proven to be qualified for this exalted and highly coveted office. So, if he is now becoming a recurring decimal in the power game towards who takes over as Nigeria’s President in 2023, it is understood. He is a man of sterling qualities, will Osinbajo emerge as a national consensus presidential candidate?

• Usman, a political and public affairs analyst, writes from Kano.

OSINBAJO LEADS 30 OTHER PRESIDENTIAL HOPEFULS IN THISDAY 2023 POLL 

*Osinbajo fits description of an ideal Nigerian President

As conversations around who emerges Nigeria’s next president in 2023 gradually takes centre stage, pundits and analysts are positioning Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, ahead of other eminent Nigerians listed in a poll published by ThisDay newspaper on July 9, 2021.


The poll followed an interview of former Head of State, General Ibrahim Babangida conducted by Arise TV on who should be Nigeria’s president in 2023.

Aside educational qualification, Babagida cited age and experience as important determinants for selecting Buhari’s successor in 2023, stating categorically that an energetic individual in his 60s should be considered by Nigerians for the job.

The poll published by ThisDay on Monday listed eminent Nigerians, leading with Prof. Osinbajo as qualified persons to occupy the top position.

Others listed include, President of African Development Bank, Dr Akinwunmi Adesina; former CBN governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo; current CBN governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele; UN Deputy Secretary General, Mrs Amina Mohammed; former CBN deputy governor, Prof. Kingsley Moghalu; WTO DG, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala; former Anambra State governor, Mr Peter Obi, and Ekiti State governor, Mr Kayode Fayemi, among 22 others.

Building their analysis on the criteria established by former military leader on the Arise News Channel on Monday night, former Chairman of the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Dr Sam Amadi, said Prof. Osinbajo is eminently qualified above the other 30 personalities listed in the ThisDay report.

According to him, “in normal situations, there should be a line of succession. Prof. Osinbajo has the quality, and maybe what he needs to build more is the courage because Nigeria needs somebody who can speak up and intervene more often in crisis facing the people.

“He is a good candidate and ought to be the number one contender for that position.”

Dr Amadi acknowledged the fact that Prof. Osinbajo possesses some of the criteria outlined by IBB in an earlier interview conducted by Arise TV. He said other candidates will face stiff challenges.

In the same vein, Arise News analyst, Mr Mahmud Jega agreed that the current Vice President has all the credentials to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari in 2023, noting that “Anybody who has been Vice President for 8 years should be a frontline candidate.”

“Beyond this, Osinbajo is extremely capable technocratically to lead this country in 2023. He has all the qualities and is naturally in the lead ahead of the others.”

Jega also said Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has a strong international background but weak grassroot connection, noting that the perception of her management of the economy will also count against her if she were to run for the presidency.

IBB had hinted at the qualities majority of Nigerians should consider in their choice of the next President. He suggested that individuals in their 60s should be the focus of Nigerians as potential presidential candidate in 2023.

Further, IBB said such persons should have deep knowledge of the economy, must have contacts across the nation and must have been traversing the geo-political zones, marketing their acceptability and capacity.

Compared to the other candidates listed in the ThisDay report, Osinbajo is the most eligible to take over from Buhari in 2023. Aside being a Christian of the Pentecostal denomination from the Southwest and in his 60s, the VP can conveniently combine both politics and the economy as he has done previously when Buahri was away on medical vacation.

Regardless of his political base, it is also unarguable that he might have learnt on the job, and his understanding of the nation’s economy is not in doubt.

A point both Amadi, Jega and even IBB have alluded to is the VP’s experience working as PMB’s deputy for 8 years. For the sake of continuity, according to the ThisDay poll, “no one can sell the programmes of the APC administration better or able to sustain the programmes of the regime, better than Osinbajo.”

In the course of discharging his responsibilities, the VP has over the years interacted with Nigerians in the grassroots in ways unprecedented in the history of the country.

Osinbajo understands the country better. He deserve a chance.

Osinbajo fits description of an ideal Nigerian President

As conversations around who emerges Nigeria’s next president in 2023 gradually takes centre stage, pundits and analysts are positioning Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, ahead of other eminent Nigerians listed in a poll published by ThisDay newspaper on July 9, 2021.


The poll followed an interview of former Head of State, General Ibrahim Babangida conducted by Arise TV on who should be Nigeria’s president in 2023.

Aside educational qualification, Babagida cited age and experience as important determinants for selecting Buhari’s successor in 2023, stating categorically that an energetic individual in his 60s should be considered by Nigerians for the job.

The poll published by ThisDay on Monday listed eminent Nigerians, leading with Prof. Osinbajo as qualified persons to occupy the top position.

Others listed include, President of African Development Bank, Dr Akinwunmi Adesina; former CBN governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo; current CBN governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele; UN Deputy Secretary General, Mrs Amina Mohammed; former CBN deputy governor, Prof. Kingsley Moghalu; WTO DG, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala; former Anambra State governor, Mr Peter Obi, and Ekiti State governor, Mr Kayode Fayemi, among 22 others.

Building their analysis on the criteria established by former military leader on the Arise News Channel on Monday night, former Chairman of the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Dr Sam Amadi, said Prof. Osinbajo is eminently qualified above the other 30 personalities listed in the ThisDay report.

According to him, “in normal situations, there should be a line of succession. Prof. Osinbajo has the quality, and maybe what he needs to build more is the courage because Nigeria needs somebody who can speak up and intervene more often in crisis facing the people.

“He is a good candidate and ought to be the number one contender for that position.”

Dr Amadi acknowledged the fact that Prof. Osinbajo possesses some of the criteria outlined by IBB in an earlier interview conducted by Arise TV. He said other candidates will face stiff challenges.

In the same vein, Arise News analyst, Mr Mahmud Jega agreed that the current Vice President has all the credentials to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari in 2023, noting that “Anybody who has been Vice President for 8 years should be a frontline candidate.”

“Beyond this, Osinbajo is extremely capable technocratically to lead this country in 2023. He has all the qualities and is naturally in the lead ahead of the others.”

Jega also said Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has a strong international background but weak grassroot connection, noting that the perception of her management of the economy will also count against her if she were to run for the presidency.

IBB had hinted at the qualities majority of Nigerians should consider in their choice of the next President. He suggested that individuals in their 60s should be the focus of Nigerians as potential presidential candidate in 2023.

Further, IBB said such persons should have deep knowledge of the economy, must have contacts across the nation and must have been traversing the geo-political zones, marketing their acceptability and capacity.

Compared to the other candidates listed in the ThisDay report, Osinbajo is the most eligible to take over from Buhari in 2023. Aside being a Christian of the Pentecostal denomination from the Southwest and in his 60s, the VP can conveniently combine both politics and the economy as he has done previously when Buahri was away on medical vacation.

Regardless of his political base, it is also unarguable that he might have learnt on the job, and his understanding of the nation’s economy is not in doubt.

A point both Amadi, Jega and even IBB have alluded to is the VP’s experience working as PMB’s deputy for 8 years. For the sake of continuity, according to the ThisDay poll, “no one can sell the programmes of the APC administration better or able to sustain the programmes of the regime, better than Osinbajo.”

In the course of discharging his responsibilities, the VP has over the years interacted with Nigerians in the grassroots in ways unprecedented in the history of the country.

https://www.legit.ng/1428723-2023-osinbajo-leads-30-other-presidential-hopefuls-in-latest-poll.html

AGRIC, TECH COLLABORATION BETWEEN NIGERIA, VIETNAM WILL DEEPEN RELATIONSHIP – OSINBAJO

VP to Envoy: _Let’s explore opportunities for our young people_


Vietnam recognizes Nigeria’s role in Africa as enormous_


With the opportunities existing in agriculture & technology in Nigeria and Vietnam, both countries will benefit from effective collaboration in these sectors and thereby deepen their friendly relationships.

Prof. Osinbajo made this assertion on Monday at the Presidential Villa during a courtesy visit by the Ambassador of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to Nigeria, Luong Quoe.

“There are specific areas where we have talked about in the past, agriculture is one. There was also talk about cashew processing and rice growing and rice processing where Vietnam has shown great innovation and great success. We think that these are areas where we certainly can do a lot more with cooperation.”

The Vice President also noted that other areas of collaboration between Nigeria and Vietnam would be in the interaction of young people actively engaged within the technology space in both countries.

According to him, “I know that Vietnam is doing interesting things in technology and telecoms sectors. I think that we should look for opportunities where young people in Nigeria and Vietnam can interact especially in technology and share ideas, innovation, and their different attainments. I certainly would like us to explore that possibility, especially in the area of technology with our young people.”

Prof Osinbajo further stated that there was plenty room for cooperation, and one of such ways is being effective in establishing relationships and ensuring the relationships endure if both countries are “able to structure the Bi-national Commission and then also some of the economic collaboration through agriculture and technology.”

The Vice President thanked the Vietnamese Government for the kind donation of medical supplies comprising of Droplet Resistant and Antibacterial Fabric Masks, Medical Face Masks and Real–Time Reverse Transcriptase (RT-PCR) Diagnostic Panel for SARS-COV 2 to the Nigerian Mission in Hanoi, Vietnam, in addition, to the donation of 100,000 high-quality 4-Fly Anti- Bacterial Medical face masks by a Vietnamese Pharmaceutical Company known as ANH THU Pharmaceutical and Medical Equipment Investment Joint Stock Company–PSD Group.

In his remarks, Ambassador Quoe commended Nigeria’s role in Africa “as being enormous” and stated that Vietnam “would always wish to have Nigeria’s support in multilateral forums, most importantly the United Nations.”

He also mentioned that the economic potential between both countries is huge and hopes Nigeria “would soon recognize Vietnam as a country of full market economy and Nigeria and Vietnam would sign an agreement on investment, promotion, and protection.”

The Ambassador added that “there are five to seven thousand Nigerians studying and helping in the development of the economy of Vietnam” and also requested the consideration of direct flights between Nigeria and Vietnam.

Also present at the meeting was the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Geoffrey Onyeama and other top government officials.

Laolu Akande,
Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity,
Office of the Vice President.
10th August, 2021

Take it or leave it, Osinbajo is a blessing to this country. He’s redefined leadership

SUPPORT FOR MSMEs WILL CONTINUE, OSINBAJO ASSURES AFTER INAUGURAL LECTURE AT BABCOCK UNIVERSITY

*Prof Oduyoye, the inaugural lecturer, to small business owners: integrity, customer satisfaction key to success

A pivotal element of the Buhari administration's economic direction is providing support to Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in order to raise hope, create jobs and opportunities that will produce growth and development in the country.

This was the summation of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, yesterday at Babcock University, Ilishan-Remo, Ogun State, where he was Special Guest of Honour at the University’s 33rd Inaugural Lecture, titled “From the Small Business to Big Business: A Future with Little Hope,”’ delivered by Prof. Oluseyi Oduyoye.

Earlier in the lecture, Prof. Oduyoye, who attended Igbobi College, Yaba, Lagos, at the same time with the Vice President, said while there was much to be done in the MSMEs space to achieve the desired objectives, issues around integrity in the conduct of small businesses has to be addressed as well. He submitted that lack of integrity is among factors militating against the growth of small businesses in the country.

He urged “aspiring small business owners who have the ambition of becoming big players in the future to note that the qualities of integrity and customer satisfaction are key to the success of any business.”

Prof. Oduyoye, a professor of Business Administration, further stated that as significant as MSMEs are to the economy of nations, it is noteworthy that the financing gap for the sector in many developing countries is a militating factor for growth. Hence the need for government, particularly the Federal Government, to give more financial assistance to small businesses.

Prof. Osinbajo who spoke briefly at the end of the inaugural lecture noted that Federal and State Governments "must keep working on small businesses because that is the future of our country. There is no question that the economic future of our country will depend on small businesses."

He then explained that this was why the MSME Clinics were designed by the Federal Government to bring regulatory agencies, whose work affects the business experience of MSMEs, in direct interface with small business owners in the same spot.

"What we do is to visit the States with the regulatory agencies, we would also go with FIRS, NAFDAC, SON, CAC, and co. These regulatory agencies would meet with the MSMEs and discuss their various problems. The obvious reason is that MSMEs are indisputably the engine of growth in any economy.”

Speaking specifically on recent government interventions, Prof. Osinbajo said “one of the things we did with MSMEs during the COVID-19 pandemic and right afterward is what we call the MSMEs Survival Fund.”

“The MSMEs Survival Fund gave almost a million businesses support after the pandemic. We paid three months' salary of several of the MSMEs, especially private schools - private primary schools, private secondary schools. We paid for teachers and also for several other businesses.”

According to the VP, “as I keep saying, Nigeria is a large country, in order to deal with all those issues and in order to support more businesses in a way that they ought to be supported, a lot more money is needed.”

He added that the African Development Bank (AfDB) has agreed to support the government with $500million for MSMEs in technology in particular, noting that “this is something that will be very helpful in addition to the N75 billion (Youth Fund) which the government has set aside for young people in small businesses.”

Prof. Osinbajo commended the Seventh-Day Adventist Church, owners of the University, for the investment they have made in education, noting that “this is very commendable indeed and this is the direction that several religious organizations must follow.”

“The real work of ministry is a work of ministering to the people, especially those who cannot afford to do many of those things themselves. The work that the ministries did was the reason the likes of Professor Oduyoye and I are here.

“So, I believe that it is very important that religious organizations see this as primary in all of the tasks and things they choose to do,” the VP added.

Other dignitaries present at the event include Ogun State Deputy Governor, Mrs Noimot Salako-Oyedele; Former Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) Boss, Dr. Babatunde Fowler; board member of Nigeria-Canada Trade and Investment Group, Chief Taiwo Odutola; the Vice Chancellor of Babcock University, Prof. Ademola Tayo; the Akarigbo of Remo, Oba Babatunde Adewale Ajayi; the Olofin of Ilishan, Oba Arimasakin Olufemi Shonuga, among others.

Laolu Akande,
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Publicity,
Office of the Vice President.
9th August 2021

AXA Mansard Insurance delivers strong performance with 22% growth in Gross Written Premium

AXA Mansard Insurance Plc, a member of the AXA Group has recorded a Gross Written Premium of N37.18 billion, up 22 per cent from N30.54 billion in June 2020.

According to the company, Net Premium Income of N17.42 billion, up 11 per cent from N15.67 billion in the same year. Investment and Other Income of N1.24 billion, down70 per cent from4.10 billion; Operating Expenses of N4.41bn, up 43 per cent N3.89 billion in June 2020, while profit before tax of N3.16 billion, down 28 per cent from N4.4 billion recorded in June 2020 and profit after Tax of N2.29bn, down37 per cent from N3.61bn in June 2020.

Commenting on the results, the Chief Financial Officer, Mrs. Ngozi Ola-Israel, said “Despite the tough operating environment, AXA mansard delivered strong results in the half-year ended 30th June 2021. The performance further re-enforces resilience and capacity to produce sustainable results.

Ola- Israel stressed that the organisation delivered ₦37 billion in revenues, up 22% from ₦30.5 billion recorded in the corresponding period last year. The decline in PBT was driven by fair value losses on financial assets, which is reflective of the financial market conditions in Nigeria. We however remain committed to delivering strong growth and profitability in the 2nd half of the year.

Commenting on the development of the AXA Mansard's financials position at the end of the first quarter of 2021, the Chief Executive Officer, AXA Mansard Insurance, Mr. Kunle Ahmed, said “The revenue growth recorded, despite the effects of the economy and COVID 19 new normal on businesses and household income is attributable to the support of our Partners, the continued improvement in service delivery to our clients and the commitments of our people. We have maintained a strong performance especially in our P & C and Health portfolios in the first six months of the year. We will continue to work hard to accelerate growth across all our lines of businesses by launching digital solutions to improve our engagement with Partners and refine our Risk Management advisory services as a value add to our various customers.

Osinbajo possesses impeccable leadership qualities to continue the works of President Muhammadu Buhari. Also he has at several instances displayed his competence and ability to govern Nigeria.

OSINBAJO TO DEVP PLANNERS:
WITH FOCUS, SENSE OF URGENCY, WE CAN OVERCOME TOUGH SOCIO-ECONOMIC CONDITIONS

*VP Commends Zulum’s incredible achievements, lists COVID - 19 response, Security, Climate Change, Education, 4th Industrial Revolution, & AfCFTA, as priority areas


*Says all tiers of government must be open-minded, collaborative


Despite the current turbulent socio-economic conditions in the country and the tough challenges they pose, generating economic growth, eradicating poverty, developing human capital and building up Nigeria’s infrastructural backbone in a sustainable manner is certainly doable, especially with a sense of urgency, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, has said.

In that effort therefore, all the tiers of government and critical partners ought to be focused, open-minded and collaborative in meeting shared aspirations, providing better and fuller lives, and decent jobs for Nigerians, especially the youths.

Prof Osinbajo expressed these views while virtually declaring open, the 20th meeting of the Joint Planning Board and the National Council on Development Planning holding today in Maiduguri, Borno State. Members of the Board and Council are drawn from the Federal Government and Economic Planning Commissioners from State Governments.

The Vice President who spoke mainly on the COVID - 19 Pandemic, Security, Climate Change, Education, the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, noted that these issues require deliberate policy responses and deserve the attention of economic managers.

Speaking on the government’s response to the pandemic, the VP said “the COVID-19 pandemic has had a unique and devastating impact on our health, economic systems, and social life. For a vibrant and enterprising people like ours, the whole experience of lockdowns and social distancing has been quite trying while economic difficulties made existing socio-economic conditions even harder.

“The Federal Government responded by way of the Economic Sustainability Plan which focused on saving and creating businesses and jobs while boosting local production. Thus we had the very impactful MSME Survival Fund, the Agriculture for Food and Jobs, Mass Housing, the Rapid Response Register, and the SolarPowerNaija Programmes amongst other things.

“It can be said that the ESP worked in the sense that the economy recovered quite early from the recession occasioned by the pandemic, but it must also be said that we are not yet out of the woods.”

COVID-19
Continuing, he said “some people have described the current wave as a pandemic of the un-vaccinated in the sense that it is people who have not been vaccinated in developed economies that are most seriously affected.

“As economic managers, we are faced with two related challenges that might hinder our return fully to economic activity.”

“First we must find the resources to procure and administer sufficient quantities of COVID-19 vaccines and actively encourage our people to get vaccinated to enable us as a country to reach herd immunity. Secondly, we must ponder on ways and means of restoring and boosting local capacity to produce vaccinations, not only for COVID-19 but for the other diseases that continue to stalk the land.”

CLIMATE CHANGE
On climate change, Prof. Osinbajo restated his earlier calls for a just transition to net-zero emission, noting that Africa has contributed least to global warming but is expected to suffer the most from its consequences.

According to him, “global efforts to tackle climate change and ensure environmental sustainability will challenge us here in Nigeria in a number of ways. Quite evidently, the global drive to reduce the use of fossil fuels to mitigate the rise in global temperature will reduce demand for fossil fuels. This will affect us because of our dependence on oil and gas for revenues and foreign exchange earnings. We just have to find alternative sources.

JUST TRANSITION
“At the same time, we have limited resources with which to finance the technological and lifestyle changes needed to adapt to climate change. This means that the push by multilateral finance institutions to defund oil and gas projects will be particularly hurtful.

“This is why I continue to join other well-meaning leaders across the world to call for a just transition and a standstill of attempts to defund gas projects at the forthcoming 26th Conference of Parties of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow.”


SECURITY
On security, the VP said the Federal Government has over the past few years invested huge resources in equipment and human resources, noting that the emphasis for stakeholders including economic planners, “must be on effective synergies with the Federal Government.”


HUMAN CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT
Emphasizing the focus on human capital development, Prof. Osinbajo expressed the view that with adept planning, Nigeria can leapfrog into the digital age.

He explained: “there are those who wonder how a country like Nigeria will cope with the 4th Industrial Revolution given that we have struggled to catch up with the 2nd and 3rd Industrial Revolutions. But the answer is simple: education, education, education, especially basic education. It is scandalous for us to be dealing with out-of-school children.

“We must put resources into education; today we have no choice but to focus on relevant education. Education that will prepare our young people for 21st-century jobs and opportunities.

“At the same time, we must find the resources to invest in technology and related broadband infrastructure if we are to help the budding technology ecosystem in our country to continue to excel.”


$500M INNOVATION FUND
“This is why the Federal Government is working assiduously with the African Development Bank to launch the Nigerian Innovation Programme which will be backed by a $500 million fund to support the technology and creative sectors of the economy,” he added.

AfCFTA
On the African Continental Free Trade Area, the VP said “it is another development with great promise for Nigeria’s economic prospects but one for which we have to be well prepared.

“First, we must especially, as sub-nationals, take a more active interest in the agreement, its implications and opportunities for our States. The businesses and enterprises that will benefit or be at disadvantage on account of the free trade agreement are in our States. And we owe them and our governments a duty to look out for their interests.”

Prof Osinbajo also commended the Borno State Governor, Prof Babagana Zulum, acknowledging “the great strides that he has been making.”

The VP observed that “looking at the work he has done in housing, education, small businesses, with little resources and in one of the worst-hit States in terms of terrorist disruptions, it is evident that our problem is often not the paucity of funds, but a paucity of dedication to the people and their wellbeing. Your Excellency, we are proud of the incredible achievements you have made in barely three years.”

Earlier in his remarks, Governor Zulum said the hosting of the annual meeting of economic planners across the country affords the State the opportunity to showcase its efforts across different sectors aimed at improving the lives of the people.

He said the reforms the State government introduced are rejuvenating the State’s economy despite the challenges posed by the insurgency and the COVID-19 pandemic and acknowledged the support of the Federal Government in the implementation of the measures.

On her part, the Minister of Finance, Mrs (Dr) Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed said the challenging times confronting the global and local economies required constant interactions among policymakers and synergy of ideas and resources with a view to finding possible solutions.

In a goodwill message, the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, Mr Edward Kallon while commending the efforts of the Federal and State governments, said addressing the security challenge in Borno State and the entire Northeast will be critical to economic stability and general wellbeing of the people of the entire Lake Chad region.

Other officials present at the event include the Deputy Governor of Borno State, Alhaji Umar Kadafur; Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Prince Clem Agba; Commissioners of Budget & Economic Planning across the Federation, and representatives of development partners, among others.

Laolu Akande
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Publicity
Office of the Vice President
5th August 2021
https://www.yemiosinbajo.ng/osinbajo-to-devp-planners-with-focus-sense-of-urgency-we-can-overcome-tough-socio-economic-conditions/

*Receives NDC Course 29 research report

*VP commends restructuring of Nigeria’s stock exchange

Determined to create more opportunities for Nigerians and close the unemployment gap in the country, the Buhari administration has over the years, prioritized employment generation by integrating job creation in all its major policies, projects and programmes, according to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN.

Prof. Osinbajo disclosed this on Monday at the formal presentation of the Research Report of Course 29 of the National Defence College, titled “Creating Jobs & Opportunities for Africa’s Largest Youth Population”, at the Presidential Villa.

According to him, “If you recall, when the President was speaking concerning the budget in 2019, he mentioned that one of the critical things to do, concerning every Minister, is that, with every policy, we must state how many jobs to create.

“So, the key question that we ask regarding any government policy is how many jobs will this bring about, how many jobs it will create. And aside from that, there have also been several engagements with different policy bodies and ideas concerning job creation.”

Continuing, the VP said, “the whole idea of creating jobs and opportunities especially in an economy this size, is that government’s involvement must be in creating the enabling environment.”

Speaking on some of the programmes specifically designed to create jobs, Prof. Osinbajo noted that “you are probably aware of the current effort of the Presidential Economic Advisory Council which was launched recently - the National Poverty Reduction with Growth Strategy, which I have the privilege of chairing its Steering Committee. This is another of the very broad plans of creating opportunities and more jobs.”

The VP noted that “there are also other several job initiatives. The Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP) is a major plan of job creation, as a matter of fact, the major focus of our ESP is job creation - sustaining existing jobs and then being able to create other jobs.”

“The Food for Jobs programme which is an agricultural programme is a major initiative that has led to the identification of 5 million farmers, and these farmers are geo-tagged to their farmlands which is the first time that this has been done in the history of the country.

“They now have BVN numbers so that loans can be given to them and farm inputs as well. So, the Food for Jobs Programme is a major agricultural plan” Prof. Osinbajo added.

The Vice President also spoke about the social housing and solar connections being components of the ESP which have been prioritized by the Buhari administration to create jobs directly and indirectly for thousands of Nigerians, especially youths across the country.

Commending the management of the College, the VP said the NDC research initiative has been “extremely useful in agitating the ideas, thoughts and policies that could influence the direction of government.”

His words: “I really want to commend the resourceful and insightful work that has been done especially with this issue of job creation, as you can imagine, this is obviously one of the critical problems that we have as an economy and a nation.”

Earlier in his remarks, the Commandant of the National Defence College, Rear Admiral Oladele Daji, said the presentation of the research report was in response to the request by the Vice President to look into job creation scenarios and strategy.

He noted that Course 29 of the College which comprised 96 participants across services within and outside the country, was presenting the report in fulfillment of the Higher Defence Management and Strategic Research.

The research report was presented on behalf of the Course 29 participants by Navy Capt TS Ngada. In 2019, the Vice President received a report from Course 27 on “Water Resource Management and Regional Security: Lake Chad in perspective”, and in 2020, Course 28 participants made a virtual presentation to the VP on “Border Management & National Development”.

In another development, Prof. Osinbajo has commended the completion of the demutualization of the stock exchange, noting that “it is a welcome development and fantastic that the process is now complete.”

The Vice President stated this when he received, on a courtesy visit to the Presidential Villa, the management of the Nigerian Exchange Limited led by its Chief Executive Officer, Mr Temi Popoola. The delegation made a presentation on the post-demutualization activities of the Nigerian Exchange Group to the VP, who urged the management of the company to explore areas of growing the stock market by venturing into emerging frontiers.

He assured the management of government’s support by way of policy to enable the company and the stock market reach greater heights.

Earlier in his presentation, the CEO of the Nigerian Exchange Ltd, Mr Popoola said the organisation has been repositioned for profit and to align to the tastes and preferences of the market.

He said under the new arrangement, the market will be opened up for more companies to be listed, resulting in more revenues for government as listed companies pay more taxes and are more responsible to the environment they operate in.

He appealed to the Federal Government to support the rejuvenation of the stock exchange, assuring of better times ahead both for the public and corporate.

Laolu Akande
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Publicity
Office of the Vice President
2nd August 2021

The Africa Report published a piece on 27 July that asserted that the chances of Nigeria's Vice President Yemi Osinbajo winning the 2023 presidential poll were growing slimmer.
Arukaino Umukoro, the Special Assistant on Communication Projects, at the Presidency, Nigeria, requested this right of reply.
Re: Nigeria 2023: Osinbajo’s chances grow slimmer as cabal tightens grip on presidency

BY ARUKAINO UMUKORO
The Africa Report has an understandable fascination with Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, Vice President of Nigeria, given that stories about him help to sell copy and boost its online trends. This is understandable, but its recent coverage of him does The Africa Report no credit in the eyes of well-meaning observers.
Contrary to the impression put out in the article titled ‘Nigeria: 2023: Osinbajo’s chances grow slimmer as cabal tightens grip on presidency’, which was published on Tuesday, July 27, 2021, Prof Osinbajo maintains his reputation as a hardworking, diligent, loyal and much-loved deputy to Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari.
The article in question repeats and repackages lies and mischievous rumours to fit into a false narrative. So, I am putting out this response to set the records straight.  It would be tedious and time-wasting to debunk each and every one of the lies and twisting of facts, but I will respond to them in summary form before proceeding to show that the conclusions reached by Mr. Akin Irede, the writer of the said article, are wrong and misleading.
The assertion that several of VP Osinbajo’s aides were sacked is false and was publicly denied by President Buhari himself. A false assertion.


The claim that the Vice President nominated Nigeria’s former Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Okechukwu Enelamah, as Minister is laughable. The President appoints his Ministers, and if someone nominated Dr. Enelamah, he can confirm whom it was. A good journalist would have sought his views. Another false claim.

A simple fact check would have shown that it was President Buhari that nominated Mr. Ibrahim Magu as then Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in November 2015.  Surely, he who appoints can also decide to change his appointment. A false contention.
The same argument applies to the former Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Mr. Babatunde Fowler, who, by the way, was chosen to head FIRS because of his outstanding performance at the Lagos State Internal Revenue Service (LIRS). The fact that Lagos State is one of those that does not depend on allocations from the centre for its budgetary needs is proof of this. Again, pure mischief by The Africa Report writer.
In terms of the sack of former Director-General of the Department of State Security, Mr. Lawal Daura. An up-to-date journalist with the presence of mind would have noted the statement of Mr. Femi Adesina, Presidential Spokesman, that President Buhari was fully aware of the events that led to the sacking of Mr Daura. A false postulation.
Turning the issue involving the Chief of Staff to the President at the coronation of the Emir of Kano into a matter of state policy is yet another example of a writer bent on being mischievous. The Chief of Staff who turned up for the coronation of his nephew read out the congratulatory letter of the President to the Emir out at the ceremony. Is this now a matter of State policy? Mischief again.
There are many other such inaccuracies, but the point has been made. So, let me now turn to the meat of the matter, which is the insinuation by Africa Report that Prof. Osinbajo is being sidelined and made ineffective. Really?
President Buhari – a retired military officer who is well known for keeping his counsel, AND for speaking his mind when the occasion demands – has this to say about Prof. Osinbajo: Felicitating with the VP on his 61st birthday, the President thanked him “for being a loyal and dependable partner”, and wished him “many more years of service to God, to Nigeria, and to humanity.”
Recently, the President, again, commended Prof. Osinbajo’s loyalty and dedication, stating that “the intellectual capacity of the Vice-President has impacted positively on the overall accomplishments of the Federal Government, most notably, in the economic and social intervention programmes.”
This is not how to sideline someone.
Prof. Osinbajo continues in his constitutional role as Chair of the National Economic Council (NEC), which continues to coordinate national and state efforts to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic. Also, during the EndSARS protests in 2020, the Osinbajo-led NEC directed the establishment of state judicial panels nationwide in Nigeria to investigate issues of police brutality and provide compensation and justice to victims. NEC has also recently signed off on the Infraco, which is a $15bn fund to provide and build infrastructure in Nigeria.  The Council has also been actively engaged in helping States to manage their financial difficulties that arose as an effect of the pandemic.
The Vice President also undertakes specific tasks assigned to him by the President.  He was put in charge of the Economic Sustainability Committee set up to design a national response to the economic fallout of COVID-19.  The ESC came up with the Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP) which is credited with helping the Nigerian economy to exit the COVID-19 induced recession. Some key programmes of the ESP which are impacting of lives of ordinary Nigerians, include the MSME Survival Fund, which extended direct payroll support to employees of small companies and to artisans and transport workers. Similarly, over 1 million people were supported under this scheme.
In the same vein, similar in impact is the registration of 6 million farmers who have been geo-tagged to their land and will be receiving support from selected partners to regard to inputs and guaranteed off-take of their produce under the ESP Agro scheme.  The ESP Mass Housing scheme and the Solar Naija schemes are also programmes being implemented under the supervision of the ESC. The National Gas Expansion Programme, which has a key role in helping to reduce the dependence of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) and avoid the social tensions that accompany the efforts to remove the fuel subsidy, is an integral part of the ESP.
The Africa Report article makes much ado about the Social Investment Programmes (SIPs), despite the explanation that the creation of a Ministry was intended to institutionalise it and turn it from an initiative into an enduring programme.  Not surprisingly therefore, the extension of the SIPs was part and parcel of the ESP, including the creation of a Rapid Response Register intended to make direct cash transfers to the urban poor.
Another Presidential assignment recently given to the Vice President is for him to Chair the Steering Committee of the National Poverty Reduction with Growth Strategy, which is the flagship programme for lifting 100 million Nigerians out of poverty within a decade.
Vice President Osinbajo is also leading several pathbreaking initiatives with an inter-Ministerial remit, such as the Nigerian Innovation Programme which is being established as a $500m fund in partnership with the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) and others. Similarly, being established under ambit of the Vice President is a Jubilee Fellows Programme which will recruit 20,000 graduates post-NYSC in work placement schemes.
The truth is that Prof. Osinbajo continues to be very much in demand to lead major Federal Government initiatives and is swamped by requests for interviews, invitations to speaking engagements and proposals to give him awards at home and abroad. He has become the voice of developing countries in calling for a just transition to net zero emissions by 2050, especially with regard to ensuring the continued funding of gas projects since gas is less polluting that oil and coal.
In the face of all these facts, one wonders whether or not The Africa Report writer, Mr. Akin Irede, has allowed misguided sentiments, few vested individuals and bias to influence his conclusions. After all, proper fact-checking and objective analysis of truth, rather than falsehood and misrepresentations, should be the hallmarks of journalistic pieces.
Arukaino Umukoro
Special Assistant on Communication Projects, Presidency, Nigeria


https://www.theafricareport.com/114320/letter-rejoinder-to-article-on-nigerias-vice-president-yemi-osinbajo/

PRESS RELEASE



IGP APPOINTS DCP TUNJI DISU AS HEAD, POLICE INTELLIGENCE RESPONSE TEAM

· Assures the IRT will remain focused in the discharge of its professional mandate



The Inspector-General of Police, IGP Usman Alkali Baba, psc (+), NPM, fdc has today, 2nd August, 2021 approved the posting of DCP Tunji Disu as the new Head of the Police Intelligence Response Team (IRT). The posting of the officer is on the heels of Management’s decision to fill the leadership gap within the IRT and refocus the Unit for better service delivery.


2. The IGP has charged the new Head of the IRT to demonstrate his professional competence in his leadership of the Unit. He also assured citizens that the IRT will remain focused in the discharge of its duties in line with national statutes and international best practices.

3. Prior to his appointment as the new Head of the IRT, DCP Tunji Disu, a former Commander of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) Lagos State, was the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Department of Operations, Force Headquarters, Abuja. He had also previously served at the State CID, Rivers State as the Deputy Head of the Unit. He was also a former Commander of the Nigeria Police Contingent to the African Union (AU) Peace Keeping Mission in Dafur, Sudan.

4. DCP Disu holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the Lagos State University (LASU) and a Masters Degree in Public Administration from the Adekunle Ajasin University, Ondo State. He has also attended several professional courses both at home and abroad: Small Arms Smuggling Training in Botswana, Internet Fraud Training at the Cambridge University, UK, Strategic Leadership Command Course at the Police Staff College, Jos, Forensic Investigations and Criminal Intelligence Course at the University of Lagos, amongst others. He is a member of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, Nigeria Institute of Public Relations and Chattered Institute of Personnel management, amongst other professional bodies.


His posting is with immediate effect.




CP FRANK MBA

FORCE PUBLIC RELATIONS OFFICER

FORCE HEADQUARTERS

ABUJA

The same Malami that is comparing spare parts sellers to killer herders? That one na affidavit AGF

*At NBA Lagos Law week, VP suggests hybrid approach to legal education

*Adds: Innovation is a matter of urgency for the legal profession

*Calls for deterrent costs against dilatory tactics

The Nigerian judiciary must embrace technology and innovation, not only for the evolution of the profession and national development but also to ensure that the country’s justice delivery mechanism is run on a system of enforceable, discernible laws and efficient institutions, according to Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, SAN.

Prof. Osinbajo stated this in a pre-recorded speech on Monday as guest speaker at the 2021 Annual Law Week of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Lagos Branch, themed ‘Disruption, Innovation and The Bar’.

Speaking on how the country’s justice delivery system can support critical investments in today’s very dynamic economy, the VP noted that “questions also need be asked about the readiness of our profession to engage in new markets as presented by the African Continental Free Trade Area. Already Nigerian Banks and financial services are crossing borders in Africa, acquiring banks in several African countries. So, the AfCTA will open new trans-border commercial opportunities, and our profession should pay attention to the rules of engagement for legal services and how they may propel our business.”

According to the Vice President, innovation in Nigeria’s legal profession requires urgency in both thought and action, especially in a world which currently thrives on knowledge economy, and where some jobs, including legal jobs, are being threatened by digitization and Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Citing the example of how continuous improvement in the quality of smartphone cameras disrupted global sales of digital camera, the VP observed that now “AI is commonly used to perform tasks such as legal research and due diligence, document and contract review, and the prediction of legal outcomes - these are tasks that would have been performed by lawyers.”

“With the continuing progress in technology, it is only a matter of time before the time capsule catches up with us in Nigeria,” he stated while calling for continuous improvement in the institutional capacity of judges, court registries, court staff, and court infrastructure.

He added, “As digitalisation has already disrupted other industries, it is possible to predict that AI will go further and disrupt the business model of the legal industry.

"For example, the AI legal service called ROSS is an AI system that can research and offer legal opinions about questions that may be posed by lawyers. And ROSS is then able to provide an answer; a properly considered legal opinion, taking into account the case laws and statutory authority in order to be able to come to that conclusion… So, providing predictive legal opinion is no longer the exclusive domain of lawyers, and as the years go by, it will become even more so.

“We are part of the global marketplace for investment and legal services. So, the extent to which we can attract business to our country depends in part upon investor perception of the quality of our justice delivery system. If we are seen as inefficient and ineffective, we would lose out to more efficient systems.”

Speaking on the issue of delay in the country’s justice delivery process, Prof. Osinbajo further noted that the country’s judiciary ought to find ways to tackle jurisdictional challenges, particularly delays in court judgments, among others.

“I argued an appeal at the Court of Appeal in 2013, only to learn yesterday as I discussed with former colleagues in the law firm where I worked, that the appeal at the Supreme Court is not even listed to be heard in 2021. As someone said; our problem is not access to justice, it is exiting the justice system with some credible result.

"Should we not be evolving a cost award system that recognizes the court as a finite public resource, and as such delays and other dilatory tactics are visited with deterrent costs?

Noting that the Law week, as well as future engagements, provided an opportunity for some reflections by legal practitioners, the VP raised pertinent issues that would spur innovation and growth in the country’s judiciary.

He said, “For example, our jurisprudence on jurisdiction - does it promote legal certainty or help to cloud the issues even further? Have jurisdictional challenges become a potent weapon that strike blindly in all directions? What is the quality of judicial thinking, is it a mere recourse to formulas, catchphrases, and clichés instead of a rigorous analysis of legislative intent and public interest adding some common sense? Are procedural and adjectival rules a bane or tool for justice and speed?

“How does a system explain to society that the current rule established by our apex court is that the signature of a law firm instead of that of an individual legal practitioner on a court process could negate or extinguish the substance of the rights of individuals and commercial parties to justice in a decade’s old case or even in a case that is much older?

"Or how does justice delayed at the convenience of legal practitioners or the benefit of litigants become justice attained?

Also highlighting the need for innovation in legal training and the necessity of virtual hearings, the VP stated that “change is happening quickly all around us in every sphere of life. A sentimental clutching on to traditions will not serve us well. We have seen already that there is nothing sacrosanct about proceedings taking place in physical courtrooms. Virtual hearings are efficient and speedy.”

He commended States, including Lagos, that have embraced innovation and issued practice directions that permitted virtual proceedings during the pandemic lockdown, which he noted was “in line with the commitment the Chief Justice of Nigeria made recently to a full-scale digital revolution in the judiciary that would guarantee electronic filing of court processes, virtual hearings and delivery of judgments.”

Particularly, the VP highlighted how the Supreme Court delivered some time-bound judgments by Zoom (video platform) during the recent strike by Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) strike.

Suggesting a hybrid approach to legal education in the country, the Vice President urged the Association to consider how innovation in technology would impact on legal education in the future.

He said, “aside from all the issues around moving firmly to clinical legal education and a more problem-solving teaching orientation, we must also decide the question of whether the Nigerian law school needs to be an in-person residential course or mostly online, including taking examinations online.

"Today it is becoming obvious that cramping thousands of students into a classroom for lectures at the law school is a suboptimal teaching and learning environment.”

He added that “even mock trials can be more effectively done online and courtroom processes can be put on videos and re-watched several times by students. Of course, we may still retain court and chamber attachments.”

The Vice President further stated that the legal profession needs to go a step further by institutionalizing these innovations, because “our justice delivery system, practice norms, and service levels must also show a propensity for innovation, for growth and evolution.”


Laolu Akande
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Publicity
Office of the Vice President
26th July 2021

Osinbajo is a blessing to Nigeria. I wish he is the president

Right: Nigeria’s Vice President Yemi Osinbajo meets a schoolboy, Bethuel, who mimics his mannerism, on Sunday, July 18, 2021. Photo: State House/Tolani Alli. Left: A teenage Bill Clinton shaking hands with President John F. Kennedy on July 24, 1963. Photo: Arnold Sachs/Getty Images

As Vice President Yemi Osinbajo made a warm touch with this young lad, Bethuel, so was young Bill Clinton then, as a student, just 16 years old, was able to meet with former US President John F. Kennedy, on July 24, 1963.
It was that brief interaction between JFK and Bill Clinton that inspired him as a teenager to a life of public service, and helped lead him to a fruitful lifestyle, willing to be useful for his country. And on that 1963 encounter with JKF, he rode on, until he, Bill Clinton, won his own election, and was sworn in as the US President 30 years later, on January 20, 1993.

This is how leaders can create hope and inspire excellence in the young ones. Leadership is all about influence.
Now, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo is a beacon of hope for the Nigerian youth — against the battered past, he has this reassuring ambience in his carriage and how he identifies with the youth is soothing, with assuasive touch, that their tomorrow is full of today’s dreams fulfilled! It depicts a Nigeria that will be sought after by nationals across the globe. With his profound leadership style, Prof Yemi Osinbajo (PYO), a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), has created a realisable hope for the Nigerian youth!
— Seyi Gesinde

https://www.legit.ng/1425992-opinion-osinbajo-a-beacon-hope-nigerian-youths.html

Health Management Organisation(HMO) AXA Mansard Health Limited, has emerged as the best Health Insurance Company in Nigeria, at the just concluded 2021 International Finance Awards.

AXA Mansard Health has a 24-hour call center, a team of highly trained and dedicated professionals, service portals at all AXA Mansard Welcome Centres nationwide and has deployed state-of-the-art technology to attain operational excellence while contributing to prompt service delivery and overcoming of challenges being encountered in the Nigerian health insurance industry. The Company is today positioned as the No 1 health management organization in Nigeria providing health related services to both individuals and corporate bodies.

Speaking on the award, Chief Customer and Marketing Officer, AXA Mansard, Jumoke Odunlami said, “We are indeed elated that our continuous strive for excellence is once again being recognised globally as it has always been here in Nigeria. At AXA, We Act for Human Progress by protecting what matters. At AXA Mansard Health, we have never been more convinced about this purpose (which we consider a higher calling) than during a period like this with the pandemic ravaging the world. Our Customers and Nations health and wellbeing will therefore always remain a major priority for us””

AXA Mansard Health Limited has several products to ensure that our Customers are truly protected by providing a world-class health cover for its customers.

The products are flexible enough to suit one’s needs whilst also providing other value-added benefits such as 24 hour dedicated Telemedicine service, home vaccination service, home laboratory service, free home delivery of special medications, partnership with healthy eating restaurants, smarter budget-friendly discounts on healthy meals and many more.

AXA Mansard Health Limited is the Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) arm of the AXA Mansard group of companies. The HMO is geared to promote her members’ wellbeing. It is able to serve all clients across the country virtually and has established functional offices in Lagos (the head office), Abuja, Port-Harcourt, Enugu, with ongoing plans to open offices in other locations.

By Oluwafemi Popola
No need bringing Osinbajo into ‘weakening of Northern economy with privatisation plans’
Last week, I stumbled upon a news publication from online credited to Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) with its headline that says: “Don’t Weaken North’s Economy With Your Privatization Plans, Northern Coalition Tells Osinbajo.”
This allegation of sabotaging the northern economy to protect the interest of the southern region levelled against the cerebral Nigerian Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, by this northern coalition, is something that ignited my curiosity being an ardent follower of the 64 year old’s numerous activities that transcends beyond ethnic and tribal poles. The allegation as I summed it undermines the VP’s nationalism, numerous achievements and outstanding successes in the entire northern region.
The Group in the media report had said that the Vice President Yemi Osinbajo’s economic team was planning to weaken the economy of the northern region through his team’s recently approved privatisation plans of five power plants. They include Calabar, Ihovbor, Olorunsogo, Omotosho and Geregu power plants.
The group’s spokesman, Abdul-Azeez Suleiman, was quoted to have described the plans “most dubious, unreasonable and unacceptable act of injustice” against northerners and in particular, asked leaders of the region to raise the alarm over the move.


In order to make sense out of this, it is either the group overrates the powers of the VP being the chairman of the National Council of Privatization (NCP) or the group was only being hypocritical or playing a tribal card on the VP.
The CNG must have issued that statement in swift reaction to the decision of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) to sell these five National Integrated Power Plants (NIPPs) to prospective power investors.
As earlier read in news publication, the decision to sell these government’s properties had earlier been made known by the Director General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), the agency overseeing the privatisation of the five plants barely three weeks ago quoting the Federal Government as the major driver of the policy.
While it is true that Osinbajo is both the chairman of National Privatization council, (NCP) and the Niger Delta Power Holding Company Limited (NDPHC), one is also aware that with the government’s formations, it should also be made clear that the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), is the only agency empowered without any interference from the member of the executive to oversee the privatisation of those five plants which also has a task of implementing government’s several privatisation programmes.


What this automatically mean is that the agency in charge of the privatization is an independent body and the VP doesn’t give them orders, like the way a high school teacher does with his students.


Although, the agency reports to his office which is a statutorily role and function but that doesn’t mean he calls the shot or dictates what is to be done that will now warrant him lording the privatization plans over the Director General of the agency in a bid to push a bogus southern agenda against its northern counterpart. So, dragging him into the privatization process as the major enforcer of the move is not only ridiculous but an outright display of chronic ignorance.
For clarity purposes, the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) is the Federal Government agency tasked with implementing the government’s privatisation programme, as the Secretariat to the National Council on Privatisation (NCP).

The agency has evolved from the Technical Committee for Privatisation and Commercialisation (TCPC), which was established in 1988 to carry out the government’s privatisation programme.


The TCPC was transformed into the BPE in 1993, with a supervisory and technical board, although BPE retained the organizational structure and personnel of the TCPC and was made part of the public service.
BPE was recreated in 1999 as an independent body without a board, reporting only to the National Council on Privatisation (NCP), which is chaired by the Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The Director General of the BPE is also the member-secretary to the NCP, which is the policy agency charged by the President with overseeing the proper and effective implementation of privatisation.
Let’s not forget that Amperion Power Distribution Company Limited, a subsidiary of Forte Oil Plc owned by a southerner, Femi Otedola acquired the Geregu power plant 1 in 2013 and invested a whooping $94 million in the power plant, while also in 2014, the Federal Government handed over Olorunsogo Power Plc to SEPCO Pacific Partners Ltd, with another southerner as its Chairman Adedeji Adeleke.
It is not out of place for someone to think that some northern forces are not happy and comfortable with the manner at which all these power plants are falling into the hands of some rich southern private individuals, hence, the dragging, Osinbajo, being a Southerner into what can be taken as a “false campaign” of a Southern agenda against the North
Some of us and many others who have been keen observers of the Vice President’s significant contributions to national development and to humanity as a whole, would rise in his defense against any misrepresentation, falsehood, or statement that may sully his long years of selfless service to his country.
It is on record that, Osinbajo has championed and overseen a lot of projects in the Northern Nigerian more than what he has ever done in the South or even in his hometown, Ikenne, in Ogun State, where he came from and there are evidences to back it up.

It is in this spirit of nationalism that the Vice President, Prof Osinbajo, and his wife, Dolapo, built a state- of-the-art primary schools and learning centers for the orphans of those affected by the insurgency in the northeast region.
This is a testament and a reflection of Osinbajo’s humaneness and passion for the northern people, especially, Borno State, where he has personally raised funds to cater for the education of out of school children when many of the northern leaders looked the other way.
Due to his unassuming personality and his quiet life of not wanting accolades or recognition, some of these achievements have been underreported which explains his own kind of politician as opposed to the traditional Nigerian politicians that would deploy all the instruments of propaganda, even on a smallest project.
It would also be recalled that as Acting President in 2017, Prof. Osinbajo, in total disregard to safety concerns amidst security fears, visited Borno State a day after the terrorist Boko Haram attack.
Many Nigerians and security experts and stakeholders during that time said it was unsafe to do so, but he exhibited true service and commitment to not only the victims of the incident in Borno State, but to the entire nation at large, yet a civilian with no military training. That is bravery and unadulterated nationalism.
In a one-day working visit to Maiduguri, Borno State capital. Osinbajo flagged off the distribution of 30,000 metric tonnes of assorted grains for the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), in the northeast. Coincidentally, this was a time the North-East and the entire region was facing a severe humanitarian crisis. That was a demonstration of love and real humanity.
In this same North, Vice President Osinbajo, in his bid to ensure stable power supply to better the lives of the people and their economy, he spearheaded the launching the Solar Power Naija programme in Jigawa State commencing with the Jangefe Community which will get 1,000 Solar Home Systems connections.
This gesture was still in pursuit of the Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP) of Buhari’s administration. And this flagging off which commenced the installation in Jigawa, is part of a 100,000 scheme with A-Solar, a local solar power company implementing part of the ESP Solar Power Naija’s planned 5 million connections across the country.
These and many others are the Osinbajo’s contributions to the economic development in the North. So, saying the otherwise is a ruse! Therefore, I can only advise the Northern Coalition Group to jettison politics and desist from attacking Osinbajo that many Nigerians see as a great nationalist, who believes in the progress of every region in Nigeria, which has been made manifest with his deliverables thus far.
Prejudice and logic they say are strange bedfellows. This display of vitriol and animosity directed at the Vice President by CNG is a distraction he can’t afford at the moment for the sake of national development.
* Popoola is a political analyst, content analyser and news aggregator


https://dailytrust.com/an-unfair-criticism-of-osinbajo

OSINBAJO TO ECOWAS TRADE PROMOTION ORGANIZATIONS: LET'S DRIVE INCLUSIVE TRADE TO BOOST SUB-REGIONAL ECONOMY

With the opportunities presented by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement, there is need to drive more inclusive trade initiatives and expand intra-regional trade in the ECOWAS sub-region, according to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN.

Prof. Osinbajo stated this Friday evening in Abuja at the inaugural gala night of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Trade Promotion Organizations (TPO) Network.

The President of ECOWAS TPO Network is the Executive Director/CEO, Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Mr. Segun Awolowo; and the Vice President is the CEO of Cote d’Ivoire Export Promotion Organisation, Mr. Guy M'Bengue.

According to the Vice President, the TPO Network, which was established with the support of the International Trade Centre (ITC), “is a farsighted and insightful initiative of the ECOWAS, trade promotion organizations in the ECOWAS community.”

He added that the Network “must present a trustworthy platform for cross learning and the sharing of knowledge and information assets.”

The Vice President said, “the vision of our Heads of State and Governments in resolving to establish this network (TPO) is to build a more robust and broader economic space for trade and investment. A major part of that effort is that the network serves as a platform for businesses and trade promotion agencies in our sub-region to share knowledge and business opportunities, and develop trade capacity in our sub-region.”

According to the ECOWAS, the TPO Network is a public-sector led entity and will work in partnership with the ECOWAS commission to drive inclusive trade development initiatives within West Africa and beyond.

Prof. Osinbajo further said the Network has world class human resource capacity to succeed in achieving its set objectives.

“The combined experience of the TPOs that form the network is mind boggling. Second is our confidence in your resilience and commitment, which assures us that beyond the tunnel of those obvious challenges lies the bright light of a new era of trade prosperity for the people of the West Africa region and, indeed, the continent,” he said.

Commending the ECOWAS and the TPO network for the success of the launch and its First Annual General Assembly, the Vice President noted that “there is the imminent task of enabling our region benefit maximally from the AfCFTA and other intra and extra regional export opportunities.”

Dignitaries present at the event include the wife of the Vice President, Mrs. Dolapo Osinbajo; Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama; Industry, Trade and Investment; Otunba Niyi Adebayo; his colleague Minister of State, Ambassador Mariam Katagum; Executive Director/CEO, NEPC, Segun Awolowo; the CEO of Cote d’Ivoire Export Promotion Organisation, Mr. Guy M'Bengue; the Vice President, ECOWAS Commission, Finda Koroma; among other senior government officials and development partners.

Laolu Akande
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Publicity
Office of the Vice President
18th July, 2021

Burden of leadership requires us to act in faith at all times
In the midst of adversity, leaders must and are expected to remain calm, so that the people being led will follow in their footsteps, according to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN.
He made this assertion today at the 25th year anniversary conference of the Redeemer’s International Leadership Academy themed: Winning in Adversity, organised by the Redeemed Christian Church of God.
Prof Osinbajo stated that “it is in times of adversity or difficulty, or hardship that leaders are most relevant and most needed.
“The leader cannot afford to lose his cool or his focus. He must calm himself down and calm the people down as well.”
According to the Vice President, “when all is well, there is no need for guidance, encouragement or instruction, but it is especially in the midst of wars, conflicts, insurgency, famines, danger, and fear, that people look to leadership.”
Referencing the story of Moses and the Israelites in the Bible, Prof Osinbajo noted that “Moses looked up to God for help and God spoke to Him. But note that Moses first gave the people confidence in the power of God to deliver and fulfil His promises.
“He had not yet heard from God on this particular problem, but because he knew the God he served, he was able to say this with confidence.”
In the virtual keynote address at the conference of the Redeemer’s International Leadership Academy, the VP stressed the need for leaders to remain unruffled because “in adversity, especially where the future looks bleak, people want to give up, retreat, go back and they certainly don’t want to go forward.”
Prof. Osinbajo himself an alumnus of the Academy then encouraged leaders, particularly Christian leaders, to act in faith and not fear when they are faced with crisis, especially existential crisis.
His words, “God knows all things; we must obey in faith even when we are afraid. This is the burden of leadership, especially leadership according to the principles of scripture.”
In attendance at the conference were Pastor A.A Bolarinwa, Assistant Continental Overseer, Research and Development of the RCCG, Pastor Idowu Iluyomade, Intercontinental Overseer for Corporate Social Responsibility and Pastor in Charge, RCCG Region 20 and Pastor Banky Ladele, the Acting Rector RILA.
There were also business and secular speakers at the event including Mr. Kayode Pitan, CEO/Managing Director of the Bank of Industry; Mrs Ndidi Nwuneli, Managing Partner, Sahel Consulting; Mrs Adenike Adeyemi, Executive Director, Fate Foundation and Mrs Oluwatoyin Asiru-Balogun, the CEO TY Farm Place.


https://www.yemiosinbajo.ng/why-leaders-must-remain-calm-in-crisis-osinbajo/

EFFECTIVE COLLABORATION WILL HELP ADDRESS SUB-REGIONAL SECURITY CHALLENGES - OSINBAJO*

_*Nigeria, ECOWAS sign MoU on implementing Early Warning mechanism, centre_
 
Since security threats confronting Nigeria and the rest of West Africa are becoming more violent, asymmetric, cross-border by nature, and spreading faster than before, the need for an effective sub-regional collaboration on early warning systems has become a necessity, according to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN.
 
Prof. Osinbajo stated this on Tuesday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, during a signing ceremony of a Memorandum of Understanding between Nigeria and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on the implementation of an Early Warning mechanism and for the establishment of a National Early Warning and Response Centre in the country.
 
The Strategic Framework for the establishment of National Early Warning and Response mechanisms was adopted by the ECOWAS Heads of State and Government at the 45th ordinary session which held in Accra, Ghana in July, 2014.
 
According to the Framework, the establishment of the early warning system is to provide real-time information on events or other incidents likely to affect social peace and security in the West African region. It also seeks to provide information on the occurrence of social and political events and climate change.
 
A major objective of a national Coordination Centre for the early warning mechanism is to strengthen the ECOWAS strategy for information sharing among Member States, so as to avert or reduce threats.
 
According to the Vice President, “I don’t think there is a better time for this process (than now) which will lead to full implementation of the Early Warning and Response System. We are at a time nationally, and sub-regionally, where the security threats that confront us are becoming more violent, they are asymmetric, spread faster than before, and they are cross border in their nature.
 
“There is no question at all that this is a moment when we really should be looking at how to collaborate in real-time and in increasingly more imaginative ways in sharing information, and also in sharing competence in order to confront our security challenges.”
 
Commending the sub-regional body for its foresight in the design of the regional warning system, the VP said “the clear expansion of the ECOWAS early warning and response network to include terrorism indicators is a very important thing.
 
“I think this has helped a great deal in not only focusing on terrorism, which is, today, possibly the most lethal threat that we face, but also in giving us an opportunity as a sub-region to bring the very best possible ideas and to be able to check these threats as quickly and as efficiently as possible.”
 
While assuring partners of the Buhari administration’s commitment to the programme, the Vice President said “the administration will ensure that the early warning and response system is implemented and we look forward to working with you – ECOWAS -in ensuring that it is fully implemented.”
 
On his part, the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Amb. Zubairu Dada, said the signing of the MoU was a consolidation of discussions held at different levels by ECOWAS leaders to find ways of containing threats to security in the sub-region.
 
Also in his remarks, the President of the ECOWAS Commission, Jean-Claude Kassi Brou, said the signing of the MoU reiterates Nigeria’s commitment to promoting peace and security in West Africa.
 
He recalled that the regional early warning mechanism was set up by the ECOWAS 1999 protocol relating to the mechanism for conflict prevention, management, resolution, peacekeeping and security, and to support the region in anticipating, mitigating and responding to challenges of human security.
 
“In order to support member states in strengthening their capacity in preventing human security challenges, the ECOWAS Heads of State and Government in 2014 signed a supplementary Act, adopting the policy framework on the establishment of national early warnings, and rapid response mechanism,” he added.
 
While commending the Vice President’s leadership and support, Brou appealed to Nigeria to sign an Executive Order to give legal backing to the planned National Centre for Early Warning and Response System.
 
Senior government officials present at the ceremony included the Ministers of Defence, Maj. Gen. Bashir Magashi (retd.); Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola; Finance, Budget and National Planning, Dr. Zainab Ahmed; Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajiya Sadiya Farouq; Women Affairs, Dame Pauline Tallen; and National Security Adviser, Maj. Gen. Babagana Monguno (retd.), among others.
 
*Laolu Akande,*
*Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Publicity,*
*Office of the Vice President.*
*14th July, 2021*