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Borno has emerged as the best-performing state in primary healthcare delivery in the country and took home on Wednesday night, the sum of $1.2 m.

The flagship programme, a leadership challenge, is aimed at revamping the Primary Health Care Under One Roof policy in Nigeria through the commitment of State Governors to Primary Healthcare Funding.

For the feat, Borno State got $700,000 for emerging as the best-performing state overall and $500,000 for emerging winner in the Northeast in the best-performing zonal awards category.

The Zonal winners who got $500,000 each included Kwara, Jigawa, Rivers, Ondo, and Ebonyi States for North-Central, North-West, South-South, North-West and South-East respectively.

The first runner-ups in each zone got $400,000 each and comprised the Federal Capital Territory for (North-Central), Bauchi for North-East, Zamfara for North-West, Abia for South-East, Edo for South-South and Ogun for South-West.

Speaking at the event held at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, Abuja, a representative of the United Nations Children’s FUND, Christian Munduate said 13 states got prices totaling $6.1 million, in recognition and honour of “The exceptional leadership of Governors who have made significant investments in Primary Health Care across the country.

According to her, the awards carry not only prestige but also huge significance given the positive impact made by the states in the lives of their people.

According to Munduate, the award came into being in November 2019, “Where the Nigerian Governors were hosted in Seattle by visionaries Bill Gates and Alhaji Aliko Dangote. This historical gathering led to the creation of the primary healthcare leadership challenge.

“This initiative is organised by the Nigerian Governors Forum, the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, and UNICEF, with the generous support of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Aliko Dangote Foundation.

“The challenge aimed at enhancing Governors’ commitment to human capital development and primary health care, mobilize state resources, promote accountability and also to innovate for gender-specific health outcomes,” she said

On the honours, she added that “These awards highlight the value placed on progress made towards primary health care and will be used by the winning states to further strengthen their existing efforts and initiatives for primary health care.

“The Governors being recognized today have not only excelled but have also become shining examples for others to follow.

Their achievements will be celebrated not only through public recognition, but also through personnel commendation by distinguished individuals, such as the Vice President, the Ministry of Health, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Aliko Dangote Foundation”, she said.

The UNICEF Country Representatives said the vision behind the investment is not unconnected with the need to make primary healthcare accessible to women, girls, and children in Nigeria “Improve the leadership oversight management and delivery of essential health services at the sub-national level where there are building blocks for enhancing an overall health outcome.”

She continued: “The 36 executive governors of Nigeria, under whose leadership we stand today (Wednesday) have a unique opportunity to accelerate progress and to create lasting challenges.

The federal government has threatened to hire ad-hoc doctors with salaries of the striking resident doctors.

The Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, gave the hint during a Channels Television programme.

The National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) began a five-day warning strike, on Wednesday, over unmet demands.

The association is, among other things, demanding increment in the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure to the tune of 200 per cent of the current gross salary of doctors; new allowances included in its letter to the Minister of Health on July 7, 2022, on the review of CONMESS; payment of the 2023 Medical Residency Training Fund; payment of salary arrears and consequential adjustment of the minimum wage.

Ngige said the striking resident doctors were crying wolf.

He also said the NARD was disrespectful to the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), which was already negotiating with the government on its behalf.

“The resident doctors are part of NMA. They are young doctors in training. So if the NMA is negotiating on their behalf as the parent body, what these young people (resident doctors) are doing is disrespecting the NMA. They are crying wolf when there is none,” he said.

Age many will say is just number. This is true of 70 year old Ben-Lutnaan Duamlong who recently graduated from the department of Fine and Applied Arts, University of Jos. Not only that Duamlong graduated at that age, he graduated with a starling 4.32 CGPA.

Ben-Lutnaan Duamlong graduated top of his class from the University of Jos, Plateau State, a feat many have described as astonishingly outstanding for someone of his age.

At 70, he became the oldest graduate from the university during its just concluded 33rd & 34th Combined Convocation.

Congratulations to Mr. Duamlong. He is a huge inspiration for both the young and the old.

The jailed former Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu is said to have turned into a teacher and reformer in a United Kingdom prison where he is currently serving a jail term for attempted kidney harvesting. 

Ekweremadu, who is currently serving a jail term alongside his wife Beatrice Ekweremadu and a medical practitioner Dr. Obinna Obete is said to have volunteered himself as an English Teacher for inmates mainly from non-English speaking part of Europe, Arab and Asia.

An inmate who recently was discharged and who shared the same space with Ekweremadu in jail said that aside from teaching English, Ekweremadu spends most of his time reading letters from well-wishers, studying the scriptures and praying.

The ex-inmate who will not want his name in print said that Ekweremadu has been of very outstanding behaviour.  He encourages other inmates to be of good characters and to see life beyond the prison walls. The source further said that Ekweremadu periodically breaks down in tears and at some point, resorts to reclusiveness when those moments of despair sets in.

Recall that an Old Bailey Jury most recently sentenced Ekweremadu and his wife to several jail terms for the exploitation of a young poor boy whom they brought from the streets of Lagos Nigeria to London with the intention of harvesting his Kidney to donate to their ailing daughter Sonia Ekweremadu.

They were handed down different jail terms along Dr. Obinna Obete who is believed to have acted as a facilitator for the organ harvesting.

No less than 58 soldiers selected from various units of the Nigerian Army in Jos were rewarded with cash gifts and bicycles, in recognition of their hard work, dedication to duty, and good conduct.

The General Officer Commanding 3 Division and Commander of Operation SAFE HAVEN, Major General Abdulsalam Bagudu Ibrahim, made the presentation at Headquarters 3 Division Auditorium, Jos, Plateau State.

Photos from the event were shared on the Facebook page of the Nigerian Army on Tuesday.

The Presidential Election Petition Court has adjourned to Friday, May 19, 2023, the pre-hearing of the petition against the President-elect, Bola Tinubu, by the Labour Party and its presidential candidate, Peter Obi.

The court headed by Justice Haruna Tsammani fixed the date, following the failure of parties in the petition to agree on documents among other reasons.

“his presence a rude reminder of a bloody war”

The former military head of state, General Yakubu Gowon (rtd) may have shelved his proposed prayer meeting in Umuahia, emotions are still raging on why such invitation should at all, be extended to him. The proposed prayer session which was at the instance of the Governor-Elect of Abia State, Alex Otti would feature personalities from religious organizations, organized private sector and other invited guests.

The invitation was greeted with a lot of protests and emotions across South East Region of Nigeria.  It was generally believed that his invitation would become a rude reminder of bloody policies that caused the deaths of over three million Biafran children who perished during the war.  General Yakubu Gowon (Rtd) was the Military Head of State during the three year war.  Gowon floated a policy that hindered the supply of food and drugs to hungry and dying children as a way of weakening the Biafrans who opted out of Nigeria State.

General Gowon was the head of state during the Nigeria-Biafran war that lasted between 1967 and 1970. Although the war ended with the a “No Victor, No Vanquished” verdict, the war saw the death of millions of Igbo children who were starved to death, following a policy implemented by Gowon’s government that blocked off food and drugs supply to dying Igbo children.

Information availed LeadingReporters suggested that the invitation to Gen. Gowon to attend the prayer session may have been canceled.  Many believe that the cancellation may not be unconnected with reports of planned protests and the attendant insecurity that may arise because of his presence for a national prayer in Umuahia.

Some of the respondents spoken to believe that General Gowon has not toed the path of restitution by openly condemning the bloody war and apologizing for the role he played that led to the deaths of millions of Igbos. 

“One thing is repentance.  Another is restitution.  General Gowon was part of the bloody leadership that caused and supervised the deaths of countless Igbos during the infamous Nigerian-Biafran war.  If he claims to have repented and became a minister of the gospel, fine.  But he needs to restitute for the deaths he caused.  He needs to pray for forgiveness to God and the families that lost their loved ones during the war.  Without that, his actions are sheer hypocrisy.  Said Mr. Dan

“Let him not come.  Alex Otti should do everything possible to avoid starting on a controversial note.  He should not lose the trust reposed on him by the people.  General Gowon has fences to mend.  He has blood to account for.  He should come.  Echoed Mr. Chuks

No fewer than 37 bank accounts linked to the Managing Director/CEO of Rural Electrification Agency, Engr. Ahmad Salihijo Ahmad, have been uncovered.

The Eagle Online recalls that the 39-year-old MD was recently dragged before the Code of Conduct Bureau for an alleged infraction.

Ahmad was accused of alleged breach of contract code.

In the latest discovery, the 37 bank accounts were in Ahmad’s name, that of a supposed relative, companies and a amorphous Non Governmental Organisation, but all with the same Bank Verification Number: 22266427052, linked to the MD’s account

The startling discovery is the result of a discreet investigation by this medium.

On the long list are: two in Standard Chartered Bank with the name: Needle Technology; five in Guarantee Trust Bank in the same name, while in his personal name, with variations in how the three names, Ahmad Salihijo Ahmad, were arranged, has six with GT, four with First Bank, one with United Bank for Africa, three with Fidelity Bank, one in Stanbic IBTC with the account name, Salihijo Ahmad Foundation.

Others in his name are one in Jaiz Bank, two at Access Bank, four at First Bank and two at Ecobank.

Also found linked to the REA MD’s BVN are two GTB accounts of an NGO, Flexisaf Foundation; two in Jaiz Bank with the name: Flexisaf Edusoft Limited; another: Velocity Group Limited in Keystone Bank; one En Consulting And Projects Limited in First Bank.

The others are two under the name: Bilikisu Ahmad Salihijo, are domiciled in Zenith Bank and Jaiz Bank with all the aforementioned accounts opened with varying dates of birth of the operator.

Insiders said the accounts have come in handy when the owner desired to conceal his shares of proceeds accruing from monkey businesses he has hands in, in the agency created in 2006 as part of the Electric Power Sector Reform Act.

Last year, a Civil Society Organisation, Stop Corruption in Nigeria Foundation, called Engr. Ahmad and the REA’s Executive Director, Technical Service, Engr. Barka Sajor Joda, out.

This was done by a petition against them to the Minister for Power, Abubakar Aliyu, in which the CSO accused the duo of N2 billion misapplication.

In it, Ahmad and Joda were alleged to have awarded supervision contracts to the tune of N2 billion to 37 companies, most of which have no background in engineering to oversee jobs contracted out to engineering firms.

The report added that both sidestepped due process and bypassed over 150 engineers in REA’s employ to award the supervision to their ill-qualified cronies with each receiving N49 million.

By that account, many of the beneficiaries of the imprudence eventually engaged the services of some REA engineers with peanuts to do the jobs on their behalves.

The petitioner’s application, dated March 10, 2022 and entitled: “Corruption Alert in Rural Electrification Agency (REA) Again, reads in part: “We have it on good authority that some unwholesome activities have been going on unabated at REA since February 2021 till date. Hon. Minister Sir, it would interest you to learn that the Managing Director and Executive Director Technical Service have turned your agency into personal business ventures where they now award what they tag ‘Consultancy Service’ almost on a weekly basis! ‘Consultancy Services’ contracts were awarded by the duo without due process. A breakdown of details of the consultancy services used to siphon funds from the coffer of REA is attached as Annexure.

“We discovered that the Agency has expended at least Forty Nine Million Naira (N49 million) on each ‘Consultancy Service’ contract and close to total of Two Billion Naira (N2bn) in above regard in the last one year. The funds expended in this regard do not constitute line budget of the ministry, instead, same is diverted from the funds meant for Monitoring and sundry projects and consequently shrinking the budget and limiting the effectiveness of Monitoring Unit and projects mainly because some officers are hellbent on embezzling the funds of REA. These are verifiable facts and we urge you and the relevant bodies, authorities and agencies to investigate every shred of our petition.”

In a similar fashion to that of his MD with whom Sajor is accused of wheeling and dealing together in the agency, the latter has 14 bank accounts to his BVN: 22169699916, seven in GTB, six of which are in his name, while one is under the name of Estate of Joseph Joda Sajou.

Three are in Standard Chartered Bank, same number in Ecobank, while two are in Access Bank.

Meanwhile, an aggrieved consultant in the Advanced Cargo Declaration/Cargo Tracking Note Scheme, Donnington Nigeria Limited, has written the Code of Conduct Bureau over the alleged unlawful role played by Ahmad in the award of the project.

The firm in a letter of complaint dated April 25, 2023 and addressed to the CCB’s Chairman, specifically accused Ahmad of conflict of Interest as well as breach of Section 5 and 6 of the CCB and the Code of Conduct Tribunal Act.

According to the petitioner, it was wrong and unlawful for Ahmad to hold the position of a Director in Velocity Logistics and Marine Services Limited (Velocity), while at the same time being the boss of the NREA.

Donnington Nigeria Limited in the letter recalled that while Velocity “was incorporated at the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) with RC:666694 with Ahmad as one of the directors in September 14, 2006, the federal government however appointed Ahmad as the Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer of REA in 2019”, adding: “The said appointment was accepted by Ahmad Salihijo Ahmad, without relinquishing his Directorship of the private Company, Velocity Logistics & Marine Services Ltd.”

Lead lawyer to the firm, Dr. R. O. Atabo (SAN), went ahead to point out: “Ahmad, being a prominent personality in this administration, at the helm of affairs of REA and on the corridors of power, must have directly or indirectly influenced the ‘No Objection’ granted on 24th November, 2022 By Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) for the fraudulent award of Contract for the Implementation of Advance Cargo Declaration/Cargo Tracking Note Scheme Regime to include Crude Oil Tracking to five companies, including Velocity Logistics & Marine Services Ltd, on the Board of which Ahmad Salihijo Ahmad remains an active director, but must have deliberately refused to disclose the fact on oath to BPP, who in due diligence, would not have issued ‘the No Objection’, if the fact of such conflict of interest was disclosed. A suit has been instituted at the Federal High Court, Abuja in this regard.

“That the object of Velocity is such that Ahmad Salihijo Ahmad’s continuous sojourning as a Director of Velocity Logistics & Marine Services Ltd even as he serves as the MD/CEO of REA is tantamount to conflict of interest and contravention of Code of Conduct as a public officer as provided in Sections 5 and 6 of the Code of Conduct Bureau Act. Consequent upon the forgoing ’Dr. Reuben Atabo’ SAN humbly request the CCB to use its good offices pursuant to Section 23 of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act to investigate and sanction this impunity.

“Consequent upon the foregoing, we humbly request that you use your good offices, pursuant to Section 23 of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act, to investigate and sanction this impunity, recklessness, abuse of office and breach of Laws appropriately.”

In the suit filed before a Federal High Court in Abuja last year, the firm had asked the court to stop the Federal Government from interfering in the implementation of the Cargo Tracking Note Scheme.

Defendants in the suit are the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Federal Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Transportation.

The suit was as a result of the alleged breach of the contract agreement by the Federal Government.

According to the plaintiff, proposal for the re-introduction of Cargo Tracking Scheme as a source of foreign exchange earnings for the government was approved by the President Muhammadu Buhari on May 4, 2021 for implementation of Advanced Cargo declaration/Cargo Tracking Note Scheme Regime to include Crude Oil for exportation.

The Plaintiff said after the approval, it engaged two technical partners, Messrs Vortexa Limited, UK and OPE World Dubai UAE respectively.

The suit said: “The Plaintiff/Applicant brought the Technical Partners from the United Kingdom (UK) and the United Arab Emirate (UAE) for the display of the Advanced Advanced Cargo declaration/Cargo Tracking Note Regime to the Government agencies of the Defendants/Respondents on the requests of the Defendants and after the display, the agencies of the Federal Government of Nigeria were Satisfied.

“Following the request by the 1st Defendant and some of its agencies particularly the 37 and 4th Defendants, the Plaintiff/Applicant embarked on the procurement of a portal wherein it was charged about $370,000 and a deposit payment of $170,000 was made.

“The Plaintiff has expended over $3,000,000 in the process of complying with the requirements F. A “No Objection” Certificate was to be issued by the bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) which is the final stage of the process but the Bureau for Public Procurement (BPP) in defiance of the Presidential approval of May 4, 2021 has failed/ neglected to issue the certificate.

“It is necessary for this Honourable Court to restrain the Defendants from engaging any other consultants to execute the Advanced Cargo declaration/Cargo Tracking Note Scheme.”

Donnington Nigeria Limited accordingly prayed the court for an interlocutory injunction restraining the respondent either by themselves, agents, privies, and or servants from engaging another Consultant to implement the Advanced Cargo declaration/Cargo Tracking Note Regime or taking any steps or further steps in respect of the subject matter of this suit, other than the Plaintiff/Applicant pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit.

The plaintiffs also prayed the court to make an order against the government of Nigeria from interfering or stopping the further implementation of the Advanced Cargo declaration/Cargo Tracking Note Regime already commenced by the plaintiff/Applicant pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit.

The firm prayed for an order restraining the Defendants either by themselves, agents, privies, assigns, and or servants including any agency or agencies of the federal government of Nigeria from engaging any Consultant(s), Companies or firms, or nominating any other firm other than the Plaintiff/Applicant which was commenced through the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources sometime in 2021 pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit. News credit: TheBridgenewsng.com