Day: March 28, 2023

The Federal Government has urged the contractor handling shoreline protection of Tombia community in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa to work according to the job’s specification and fast-track the process.

The Permanent Secretary, Ecological Project Office (EPO), Shehu Ibrahim, made the call at the inspection tour of some ecological projects in Yenagoa.

Ibrahim identified the project’s specification as 800 metres shoreline protection of River Nun.

He, therefore, frowned at the quality of work done so far, giving the contractor MW Global Services, three weeks to make amends and ensure the completion of the project within the time frame.

According to him, Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) was not carried out hence the challenge.

Mr Stanley Odenigbo, Managing Director of the company however assured the EPO boss and entire community of delivering a quality project within the stipulated time.

He attributed the setback to flood, adding that the 2022 flood ravaged the project.

According to Odenigbo, the completion of the project will safeguard the community from flood.

Meanwhile, Chief Patrick Ikpaikpai, the Community leader, has commended the Federal Government for the intervention by giving succour to the community members during raining and dry seasons.

One of the residents, Okpoffaa Julius, decried that prior to the project, flood had ravaged the community and farmlands rendering a lot of people homeless, while some non-indigenes relocated.

“Since the commencement of this project in year 2022, we have been believing that God has finally answered our prayers.” he said. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

The National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) says it will raise a bilateral committee to fine-tune the protocol of enrolling 237,000 pensioners under Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) for health insurance.

The NHIA Deputy General Manager, Emmanuel Ononokpono, made this known in a statement on Tuesday in Abuja, adding that the Director-General of NHIA, Prof. Mohammed Sambo, disclosed this when Dr Chioma Ejikeme, Executive Secretary

of PTAD paid him a courtesy visit.

He quoted Sambo as saying “the authority has put in motion, the process leading up to extending health insurance to pensioners.

“Extending health insurance to pensioners is consistent with best practices around the world.”

According to him, the most effective care for aging persons is to give them adequate access to affordable and quality healthcare.

The authority boss said that health insurance coverage for pensioners is a critical aspect of attaining Universal Health Coverage (UHC).

He added that government is favourably disposed to ensuring that persons who served the country with better part of their lives should have access to care without further financial burden.

On the issue of how the initiative would be funded, Sambo said that healthcare must be paid for because it is impossible for it to be free.

He said that support of relevant government agencies would be required to achieve sustainable financing.

According to him, the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) and the Department of State Services (DSS) are already paying for healthcare coverage of their retirees.

“Funding healthcare for pensioners is critical to institutionalising the initiative and making it enduring,” he stressed.

Sambo also said that the authority is in a position to start the process of coverage of pensioners through an internal budgetary provision.

Ejikeme, who highlighted the plight of pensioners around the country, added that the law setting up PTAD gave leverage to the agency to explore ways of improving the welfare of pensioners.

She said that promoting the welfare of pensioners is central to the operations of the agency.

According to her, PTAD has worked to ensure transparent and accountable system for retirees.

She said that an ICT-driven system codenamed — “I am Alive” Confirmation Solution” enabled a verification process

that cleaned up the database by removing fictitious pensioners, maintaining that PTAD has developed the most reliable data on pensioners.(NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

The people of Emadike community, Ogbia Local Government Area (LGA) of Bayelsa has commended the Federal Government’s intervention in reclaiming their land from being submerged by flood.

Dr Azibapu Eruani, President and Chief Executive Officer of Azikel Group, made the commendation when he received Mallam Shehu Ibrahim, Permanent Secretary, Ecological Project Office (EPO) and his team in Yenagoa.

He said that the Federal Government reclaimed the land through EPO.

Eruani, the Contractor of Shoreline Protection and Reclamation Project in Emadike Community, described the presence of the permanent secretary for an on-the-spot assessment as a demonstration of the importance of the project and the commitment of EPO in achieving its mandate.

“The intervention has addressed two significant areas of protecting the community coastal borders and also preventing flooding.

“Emadike project is a testament of a project that is sited, executed, visited and being put to use. The community is very grateful to the Federal Government and EPO for the intervention.

“The project is the realisation of my late father’s dream who during his lifetime tried to address the flooding challenge and reclaim our land.

“My father, the then Chief of Emadike, had tried in vain to protect the community from the menace of flooding,” he said.

The Azikel group president said the project is challenging but it is worth the pains due to its relevant to the community and other neighbouring communities.

He said that when the whole of Bayelsa was submerged by flood in 2022, Emadike stood out. About 18 communities around Emadike were inundated and it served as refuge camp for residents of those communities.

Ibrahim said his visit was to carry out an inspection of shoreline protection and reclamation work in Emadike phase II, as well as the shoreline protection of Tombia and Agudama communities in Yenagoa Local Government Area.

He said that the perennial floods which had taken its toll on the community and its surroundings over the years came to an end in 2022, after the award of the contract for the project.

He said the scope of the intervention included 850 metres shoreline protection, using the sheet pile method to tackle ocean surge and a 16-hectare land reclamation using sand filling to stop the flood erosion that devastated the community.

”Through the execution of the project in Emadike, the community is now a safe heaven for shelter to neighbouring communities during the rainy seasons,” he said.

The permanent secretary expressed satisfaction over the level of the on-going remediation works at the shoreline protection and reclamation in the community, describing the facility as historic and impactful.

He noted that the project was one of the ecological intervention efforts of the Federal Government to tackle the coastal and flooding challenges in the community and to meet the yearnings of the people.

The EPO boss lauded President Muhammadu Buhari for approving the intervention for the community.

”This is the kind of intervention Mr President likes as it impacts the community directly.

“I am also impressed with how the community organised itself in terms of having the youth and vigilante vanguards to maintain and secure the facility.

“The project was awarded in July 2020 with a completion duration of 15 months,” he said.

Also, Hon. Graham Ipigansi, a resident of the community and former House of Representatives member, said that the community survived 2022 flood with the reclamation and shoreline protection works currently at 97 per cent completion.

“I call this a pilot project in the Niger Delta because during the 2022 flood disaster, all the neighbouring communities came here to take refuge being the only community that was not submerged by water in the whole of Bayelsa,” he said.

Similarly, The Chairman, Community Development Council, Mr Johnson Jeremiah, thanked Buhari for doing a great job for the community.

According to him, this has gone a long way in saving the entire residents of the community from flood.

However, Mr Ebipamowe Wodu of Toru-Ebi Konsult, said the contractor had met all specifications of the contract, giving the assurance of 25 years life span for the project. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has dismissed an online notification of admission into National Diploma/Higher National Diploma (ND/HND) Nursing Programmes for the 2023/2024 Academic Session at NAF School of Medical Sciences and Aviation Medicine (NAFSMSAM), Kaduna.

The Director, Public Relations and Information, NAF, Air Commodore Ayodele Famuyiwa, in a statement on Tuesday, described the said online admission notification as “spurious and fraudulent”.

Famuyiwa said the advert signed by an ‘impostor, Air Commodore Anike Obinna’, asking unsuspecting members of the public to pay a non-refundable fee of N15,000.00 for the purchase of admission form was fake.

According to him, the fraudster also provided two fake telephone numbers 07047290540 and 09169461866 for enquiries in an effort to legitimize the illicit act.

“The NAF wishes to inform the public that it has nothing to do with the person or claims by the fraudster.

“The Service is yet to commence admission process into ND/HND programmes at NAFSMSAM and has not authorised any agent or third party to advertise or collect money on its behalf for such things.

“Admission into ND/HND Nursing programmes is conducted by the NAF College of Nursing Sciences through the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB).

“Also, Information regarding admission into ND/HND programmes at NAFCONS will be communicated to the general public in due course through the College official website www.nafcons.edu.ng.

“Therefore, members of the public are advised to disregard the advert currently being circulated on social media platforms as anyone involved does so at his/her risk,” he said. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

Source: News Agency of Nigeria