Headlines

The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Establishments and Training, Mr Olawale Musa, has said that the Lagos State Government will begin a “pay-as-you-go” programme next year with regards to the payment of pensions in the state.

Musa also commended the Governor of Lagos State, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, for the consistent and prompt payment of pensions to public service retirees.

Commending the governor on Wednesday while delivering a keynote address at the 101st Bond Certificate presentation ceremony held at Ikeja, Musa said the Sanwo-Olu had been working assiduously “to ensure that the state attains a level where retirees get their entitlement immediately as they retire.”

While also lauding the management of the Lagos Pension Commission for its effort in ensuring the prompt payment of pensions to retirees, Musa said “payment of pensions would not be made in arrears anymore,” adding that the “state government would commence ‘pay as you go’ programme from next year.”

In his remarks, the Director General of LASPEC, Mr Babalola Obilana, stated that the Lagos State Government had paid over N2 billion to 644 retirees of the state’s public service that were present at the ceremony being their past service benefits before the commencement of the Contributory Pension Scheme in 2007.

President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday spoke with Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, seeking help to stop the recurring issue of military coups in Africa.

The appeal came after the military in Gabon deposed President Ali Bongo who had taken power in 2009 following his father’s 42-year rule since 1967.

Following the coup, the country’s military officers declared that 64-year-old Bongo had been placed under house arrest.

The takeover occurred after his victory was announced in the August 26, 2023 election that would have extended his family’s 55-year reign in the Central African nation.

Ajuri Ngelale, President Tinubu’s media adviser said the Nigerian leader and Canada’s Trudeau, in a phone conversation, concurred that safeguarding constitutional democratic governance in Africa remained a critical shared objective.

“The two leaders discussed deepening investments in Nigeria in the sub-sector of Agro-processing and the need for greater support of older democracies in undergirding younger democracies in Africa in the fight against terrorism and poverty.

“The Nigerian leader encouraged the Canadian leader to facilitate enhanced military cooperation while acknowledging the key contributions that Nigerians continue to make toward Canada’s economic development and public sector leadership.

“His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu also shared views with his Canadian counterpart with respect to the crisis in Niger Republic and the unfolding situation in Gabon,” Ngelale added.

Meanwhile, hours after Bongo’s ousting, Gabon’s senior military officers reportedly convened to deliberate on leadership transition.

With unanimous agreement, they selected General Brice Oligui Nguema, the former head of the presidential guard, as the country’s president.

Confined to his residence, Bongo also released a video in which he reached out to international allies to intervene in the situation.

The United Nations Children Fund, UNICEF, has said infants who are not breastfed are fourteen times more likely to die before their first birthday than those who are exclusively breastfed.

The UN body explained that breast milk remains the first vaccine for every child and advocated that mothers, especially those that are working, must be encouraged to exclusively breastfeed their children for six months.

UNICEF Chief of Bauchi Field Office, Dr. Tushar Rane, disclosed this on Tuesday, at a media dialogue in Azare, Bauchi, for journalists from Bauchi, Gombe, Taraba, Adamawa and Plateau states.

According to him, “Breastmilk is the mainstay for safeguarding infants against life-threatening infections, it supports optimal brain development in children, especially in the first 1,000 days and it ultimately lowers healthcare costs.

“Workplaces challenges to breastfeeding are one of the primary factors responsible for early cessation of breastfeeding. For working mothers, juggling between tasks and breastfeeding may be nearly often impossible.

“The government and employers must provide the needed assistance for mothers and caregivers including those in the informal sector or on temporary contracts to conveniently breastfeed or support breastfeeding.

“Policies that encourage breastfeeding, such as paid maternity leave for six months, as well as paid paternity leave, flexible return-to-work options, regular lactation breaks during working hours and adequate facilities that enable mothers to continue exclusive breastfeeding for six months must be promoted.”

Chairman, Bauchi State Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Dr. Rilwanu Mohammed, who also spoke, confirmed that the government is also at the verge of enacting a law that would give nursing mothers ample time to exclusively breastfeed their infants.

He said the state is planning to take a cue from Lagos and Kaduna which had prescribed and regularised six months maternity leave for working class mothers to ensure their infants are adequately taken care of.

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike, has dared the leadership of his party, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to suspend or discipline him.

Wike stated this on Wednesday during his interview with Channels Television’s Politics Today programme.

LEADING REPORTERS recalls that the immediate past governor of Rivers State and a member of the major opposition party, PDP, was sworn in as minister of FCT some days ago under the admiration of President Bola Tinubu of the ruling All Progressive Congress, APC.

Addressing the backslash he received following his appointment, Wike said he informed PDP leadership before he took the ministerial offer of President Tinubu.

Wike, however, said he has not seen any PDP chieftain that will suspend him from the party.

When asked “Are you afraid that your party might move against you or expel you?”

Wike replied: “Who is the party?Who are the PDP people? How can anybody talk about expelling me? A State that brought a governor, a State that brought three senators, a state that produced 32 members out of 32 House of Assembly and produced 11 out of 13 House of Reps.

“The person that would suspend me is the one that couldn’t produce a governor, is the one that couldn’t produce senators and Assembly?

“Look, I have not seen that person with all due respect. I should be the one calling for their discipline for violating the party’s constitution.”

A nonagenarian who designed Nigeria’s flag, Pa. Michael Taiwo Akinkunmi (OFR), is dead.

Pa. Akinkunmi, aged 93, died in the early hours of Tuesday after a brief illness.

His demise was announced via the Facebook account of one of his children.

He wrote, “Life is indeed transient; I can say boldly that you live a life with a landmark. Continue to rest, my father! Pa Michael Taiwo Akinkunmi (O.F.R.): Great Man has gone.”

Pa Akinwumi, a native of Abeokuta, Ogun State, was born on May 10, 1936, but lived in Ibadan until his demise.

He attended Baptist Day Secondary School, Ibadan, for his Primary education and Ibadan Grammar School, Ibadan, for his Secondary education.

He started his career as a Civil Servant at the Secretariat of Ibadan and later travelled overseas to study Agricultural Engineering at Norway Technical College.

In 1958, during his stay abroad, Akinkunmi stumbled upon an advertisement in a national daily calling for the submission of designs for the Nigerian national flag in view of Nigeria’s imminent Independence from British governance.

His entry was adjudged the best among the roughly 2,000 entries submitted.

The original design of the flag featured a white band flanked by two green ones, and a red sun with streaming rays was located on the white band.

The sun was eventually done away with by the overseeing committee to produce the present design.

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory Administration, Nyesom Wike, says his administration is yet to decide on how to expend the N5bn palliative fund expected from the Federal Government.

He stressed that his administration might consider transportation and food support to revive urban mass transportation to the FCT and mitigate the residents’ suffering in terms of transportation .

Speaking to journalists on Monday in Abuja, after meeting with contractors, Wike said “We are yet to decide on what to do with the N5bn palliative. We have not chosen any area yet. Are we going to concentrate on food? But we are thinking that the issue of transportation is very important, particularly the urban mass transit.

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

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

The PUNCH reports that the Federal Government had on August 17 announced a N5bn palliative for each state of the federation, including the FCT, to cushion the impact of the removal of the petrol subsidy

Some state governments have confirmed receiving N2bn from the amount while awaiting the N3bn balance.

Meanwhile, Wike noted that the FCT was not earlier included in the disbursement of the N5bn palliative funds until he wrote a memo informing President Bola Tinubu of the development.

He, however, added that President Tinubu had approved the amount, noting that other states had received N2bn already while expressing confidence that the FCTA will equally soon receive its own.