₦airaland Forum

“Do Not Set Foot in America” – President Tinubu Orders, Limits Gov’t Officials at UN Meeting

President Bola Tinubu has issued a stern directive to government officials, warning them not to attend the upcoming United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) meeting in New York, United States, unless necessary.

According to a statement by presidential spokesperson Ajuri Ngalale, the President has ordered a reduction in the size of Nigeria’s official delegation to the UNGA meeting, citing the need to reduce the cost of governance and ensure prudent management of resources.

The directive was disclosed by Chief of Staff Femi Gbajabiamila during a one-day retreat for heads of government agencies in Abuja.

The statement reads further:

Addressing participants at the retreat, the Chief of Staff said the decision to streamline Nigeria’s delegation to the 79th session of UNGA in September is part of the administration’s commitment to ensure prudent management of resources and reduce the cost of governance.

Highlighting the need for the State House and agencies under its supervision to ensure that its functions are guided by statutes, regulations, policy decisions, and presidential directives, Honourable Gbajabiamila hinted at upcoming policy announcements aimed at ensuring efficient service delivery in government operations.

”I just discussed with the President this afternoon. In the next few weeks, we are going to see a test of this policy during UNGA in New York.

”During recent protests, there were talks about reduction in cost of governance. Everyone is waiting to see if Nigeria, as in the past, will send the ‘largest delegation’ to UNGA.

”From experience, we know that some individuals use the opportunity of such international meetings to go about their personal businesses.

”I have received a directive from Mr. President that this time, we will be strict. If you have no business at the UN General Assembly, do not step foot in America, and this is a directive from Mr. President,” he said.

The Chief of Staff urged heads of agencies at the retreat to comply strictly, adding that the President is listening to the concerns of Nigerians and is committed to addressing them diligently.

On the retreat, Honourable Gbajabiamila noted that it will facilitate collaboration and coordination among government agencies, particularly those under the direct supervision of the State House.

”The idea is to ensure coherence as we jointly work together to achieve the objectives of President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

”Coordination is not just a choice but a necessity for the government to succeed and for us to meet the expectations of the Nigerian people,” he said.

He said the retreat would be a continuous exercise, as governance is an evolving process that requires regular adjustments.

The Chief of Staff also urged the State House management and chief executives of agencies under its supervision to lead by example by ensuring compliance with statutes, laws, regulations, and various policies designed to enhance governance.

”We must demonstrate excellence in our compliance with the Public Procurement Act, Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria Act, the Finance Act, and various appropriation acts in operation.

”Compliance with the civil service rules and the scheme of service guidelines, especially regarding recruitment, promotion and presidential approvals is also non-negotiable,” Honourable Gbajabiamila said.

The theme of the one-day retreat was ‘Strengthening Institutional Mechanism for Effective Delivery.’

Kobojunkieee:
So, all the billions of Naira wey im chop as a result, na mistakenly him take chop am as well? Abegi, throw the man in jail and throw away the ke. Sell the Presidential planes and pay off the debt already make we hear word!

I mistakenly signed away Ogun multibillion-naira trade zone to dubious Chinese investors, Ibikunle Amosun confesses

Former Governor Ibikunle Amosun on Saturday said he was deceived into handing over a free trade facility in Ogun State to an investment group from China, introducing a disturbing dimension to the ongoing legal battle that threatens the depletion of Nigeria’s assets abroad.

Mr Amosun, governor of the southwestern Nigerian state from 2011 to 2019, admitted in a statement personally signed by him that he didn’t do even a cursory assessment of facts before asking a Chinese team to take over the Ogun-Guandong Free Trade Zone in 2012. His decision marked the onset of a protracted legal crisis that led to aggrieved Chinese investors’ recent targeting of Nigeria’s assets in Europe and the United States.

The free trade zone was conceived in 2007 between Ogun State under Governor Gbenga Daniel and Guangdong Xinguang International China Africa Investment Ltd (or China Africa) to facility seamless trade between Nigeria and China in Igbesa, Ogun State. China Africa, the major investor at 60 per cent of the stake, was developing the 10,000 hectares facility when, in 2012, a year after Mr Amosun assumed office, another firm that identified itself as Zhongfu International Investment Ltd came in with tales about how the place was being poorly administered and thereafter sought to manage it.

Mr Amosun, in his statement, said he subsequently asked Zhongfu investors to take over as the interim managers of the trade zone before his administration could find time to investigate the allegations.

“Zhongfu International Investment FXE, pretending to be a concerned and genuine tenant and Zone stakeholder, volunteered very damaging and destructive information about the official representatives of Guangdong Province, the Joint Venturer and lawful Zone Managers, China Africa Investment FXE and subsequently requested to be appointed as Interim Zone Managers.

“Based on the information at the government’s disposal at the time, Zhongfu International Investment FXE was appointed interim zone manager on March 15, 2012, pending further evaluation. The whole idea was to ensure that someone was in charge and thereby prevent unwholesome and untoward development in the zone pending the completion of our fact-finding exercise.

“It was later discovered that the information and claims volunteered by Zhongfu International Investment FXE against China Africa Investment FXE were tissues of lies.

“Unknown to Ogun government at the time, Zhongfu International Investment FXE merely sought to de-market China Africa Investment FXE and to surreptitiously covert the state-owned assets of Guangdong Province in China together with the zone ownership and management rights of their business rival,” Mr Amosun said.

The former governor said Chinese authorities later directly intervened through several notes from the country’s mission in Nigeria.

“It was further discovered – much later – through the intervention of the Chinese Government via Diplomatic Note 1601, dated March 11, 2016,” Mr Amosun said, saying the Chinese government told him the company he had terminated was the rightful owner of the investment.

Mr Amosun said that after he ousted Zhongfu International Investment, the company approached Nigerian courts in different jurisdictions to ventilate its legal and business rights but lost all four cases filed. He didn’t list out the cases.

Consequently, the former governor urged the federal government and Ogun State to continue desisting from entering into any resolutions that would benefit Zhongfu.

“Nigeria should not give Zhongfu International Investment FXE any listening ear as doing so would amount to indulging and, encouraging an unlawful entity without locus standi to appropriate our common patrimon,” Mr Amosun said. “This matter of Zhongfu International Investment FXE should be treated the way Nigeria treated the P&ID case. There is no basis for negotiation.”

Mr Amosun has recently been criticised as the source of Nigeria’s confrontation with Chinese investors before international arbitration panels. The Chinese have been trying to seize private jets used by President Bola Tinubu in France.

On August 9, an appellate judicial panel in the United States authorised Zhongfu’s parent firm Zhongshan to proceed with its legal efforts to seize Nigeria’s assets in the U.S. Zhongshan had in 2021 obtained a compensation judgment in the United Kingdom to the tune of $60 million, which it has since been trying to enforce in France, the U.S. and other countries where Nigeria’s assets could be targeted.

RuggedBiafran:
Soludo is just useless.

He wanted a society wedding for this daughter and used Abuja. Why not use his Anambra State.? Truly Anambra State failed voting for a failure like Soludo

I wished he was the person kidnapped..

Mtcheeeew

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has released the sum of N50 billion to the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) from recovered assets to support the student loan scheme.

The anti-graft agency announced this in a press statement on Tuesday, following a visit by NELFUND’s head, Akinwunmi Sawyerr, to the EFCC headquarters.

According to the statement, the chairman of EFCC, Ola Olukoyede, lauded the student loan programme, describing it as a policy issue to tackle corruption.

Olukoyede also mentioned that the inability of many parents to fund the education of their children had always been a predisposing factor of corruption, making students vulnerable to all forms of economic and financial crimes.

“One of the main incentives to cybercrimes is the inability of parents to fund the education of their children. NELFUND is a policy issue against crimes. President Tinubu should be commended for initiating the Fund”, he said.

More Insights
On his part, Sawyerr said NELFUND was a programme designed to provide funding for the education of indigent students.

He also thanked EFCC for the N50 billion injected into NELFUND from the proceeds of crime recovered by the Commission.

“We are aware of the funds from the proceeds of crime extended to NELFUND. We are here to express our gratitude for the gesture. We also want the EFCC to exercise oversight on what we are doing”, he said.

What you should know
The revised Student Loan Act of 2024 was created to make education more accessible to all Nigerian students, regardless of their financial situation.

The Act aims to remove the financial barriers that often prevent students from pursuing higher education.

The National Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) will receive money from several sources, including a small percentage of taxes and duties collected by key government agencies like the Federal Inland Revenue Service, Nigerian Immigration Service, and Nigerian Customs Service.

Additionally, profits from the government’s natural resource activities, education bonds, and donations from individuals and organizations will also contribute to the fund.

These loans will help cover tuition, fees, and living expenses. Graduates will start repaying the loan two years after completing the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) program, giving them time to settle into their careers before beginning repayment.

In July, the Fund disbursed N2.5 billion to various institutions across the country.

The management also said that it has released the sum of N20,000 as July stipends to students across the country in August.

Health Minister Ali Pate says doctors and nurses trained in Nigeria are sought-after globally, and that 67% of them work in the United Kingdom (UK).

The minister, on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Tuesday, said if health workers of Nigerian origin pull out of the National Health Service (NHS), the service will struggle.

He spoke on the new National Policy on Health Workforce Migration approved by President Bola Tinubu to tackle the exodus of health workers from Nigeria in a phenomenon colloquially known as ‘Japa’.

He said Nigerian doctors and nurses are attractive and the country should be proud of that. He noted that not all Nigerian health workers leave the country and that those who leave have their reasons for exiting.

He said the policy “is really about health diplomacy and promoting ethical recruitment practices”.

“The recruitment countries; that recruit our professionals, should they not have some responsibilities help us expand the training? Because the strain of health workers’ migration is continuous; it’s not going to stop tomorrow.

“UK will need Nigerian doctors. 67% of our doctors go to the United Kingdom and 25% of the NHIS workforce is Nigerian.

“Does the UK, for instance, want to consider expanding the pre-service education? Can we have corridors that allow us to have a compact that ‘you’ll take so but you will also help us train more so you will replace them’? That is in the realm of health diplomacy and ethical replacement,” Pate said.

“Nigerians are very vibrant, very entrepreneurial, and very capable wherever they are. If Nigerians hold back from the UK, for instance, the NHS will struggle to provide the services that many Nigerians are going there to get,” he added.

Pate said over 75% of health workers trained in the last year have left Nigeria to other countries as economic migrants. “We have good training centres here, and the universities are doing a great job,” he admitted.

He said there is freedom of movement and the government cannot stop them from leaving but the government will make it conducive for them to stay and practice in Nigeria.

He said the new policy will facilitate incentives for medical workers to stay in Nigeria with improved welfare packages as well as enhanced capacity development.

Another area of focus of the new policy is the promotion of a decent work environment that is not beyond 12 hours per shift.