Gunmen kidnap NTA News manager

The Assistant Manager News and Current Affairs of Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) Channel 6 Aba, Mrs. Chinyere Okoye has been reportedly kidnapped by gunmen.

The incident took place on Wednesday night at Obikabia road off Ogbor Hill, in Obingwa Local Government Area of the state as she was heading back from work.

Details shortly…

Adesina: I’m still AfDB’s president

AFRICAN Development Bank (AfDB) President Dr. Akinwumi Adesina has not stepped down from office.

Adesina, in a statement, said “the bank’s institutional framework is solid and efficient, adding that he stands by it”.

The statement reads: “In recent weeks and over the last few days especially, I have been overwhelmed by the tremendous support received from around the world. I have absolute confidence in the integrity of the Bank that I lead and its governance systems, rules and procedures.

“In spite of unprecedented attempts by some to tarnish my reputation and prejudice the Bank’s governance procedures, I maintain my innocence with regard to trumped up allegations that unjustly seek to impugn my honour and integrity, as well as the reputation of the African Development Bank.

“I sincerely appreciate the support of the Bank’s shareholders.

“At this time, I remain confident that ultimately and as one collective, the Bank will emerge stronger than before and continue to support Africa’s development drive. I draw great inspiration from my heroes, Nelson Mandela and Kofi Annan, whose lives have shown that through pain we grow. As Martin Luther King Jnr. once said, “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.”

“I am confident that fair, transparent and just processes that respect the rules, procedures and governance systems of the Bank, and the rule of law, will ultimately prove that I have not violated the Code of Ethics of this extraordinary institution.

“I will therefore continue to work with each and every one of our shareholders to ensure that the African Development Bank maintains its hard earned global reputation; and that our credible and well-functioning institutional and governance systems are reinforced, as we collectively press on to fulfill the mission of our founder to accelerate and transform Africa’s development.”

The bank’s Board of Governors cleared him of the allegations after its ethics committee looked into the matter.

Sources indicated that the news first carried by Bloomberg to the effect that the AfDB President had stepped aside for so-called “independent investigation” was false. “The Bank’s Board of Governors has not conceded to America’s demands, the source stated, adding that to do so would be to concede to the implied position that the bank’s internal structures are compromised. “The full course of the Bank’s internal framework was resorted to with the United States in tow, and the Whistleblowers’ allegations against Adesina were declared to be spurious. “Now, the three American officials involved in this show of shame have resorted to thuggery and fake news as their medium for besmearing an otherwise respected institution”.

(The Nation)

Presidential Power Initiative: Buhari directs Finance ministry, BPE to conclude plans with Siemens

President Muhammadu Buhari has directed the Ministry of Power, Ministry of Finance, and the Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE) to conclude the engagement with Siemens AG to commence the pre-engineering & concessionary financing aspects of the Presidential Power Initiative.

The Presidential Power Initiative (PPI) is a power infrastructure upgrade and modernization Programme agreed to by the Nigerian Government and Siemens AG of Germany, with the support of the German Government.

Under the PPI, The Nigerian Government will on behalf of the other shareholders in the Electricity Distribution Cos. invest in infrastructure upgrades in the form of improved payment systems, distribution substations, transformers, protection devices, smart meters, transmission lines, etc.

All DisCos have, directly, and through the BPE, been diligently carried along over the last 15 months to understand in detail the challenges in the electricity systems.

All items to be purchased were provided by the DisCos and Transmission Company of Nigeria and they will be vetted by a professional Project Management Office.

The funding for the PPI will be secured under concessionary terms (up to 3-year moratorium and 12-year repayment at concessionary interest rates) through the German Euler Hermes cover, which The Nigerian Government will on-lend as a convertible loan to the other shareholders in the DisCos.

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the release of funding for the first part of Phase 1 of the PPI, to kick-off the pre-engineering and concession financing workstreams.

To ensure fairness and transparency of the intervention, the President has also directed that The Nigerian Government engage the International Finance Corporation (‘IFC’) to assist in developing the commercial structure of the intervention under this Presidential Power Initiative (PPI), as well as in undertaking an independent company valuation of the DisCos.

The President has also directed that to ensure value for money and preserve the integrity & transparency of the procurement process under the Govt-to-Govt framework, Siemens AG shall be solely responsible for nominating its EPC partners to perform all onshore works; NO middlemen.

“Our goal is simply to deliver electricity to Nigerian businesses and homes… Our intention is to ensure that our cooperation is structured under a Govt-to-Govt framework. No middlemen will be involved, so that we can achieve value for money for Nigerians.” — President Muhammadu Buhari

The PPI journey started on August 31, 2018, when Chancellor Angela Merkel visited Nigeria and met with President Buhari.

Chancellor brought along with her a business delegation that included the Global CEO of Siemens. Nigeria and Germany agreed to explore cooperation in a number of areas, including Power.

The Presidential Power Initiative (PPI): 

a. Will deliver improved power supply nationwide, with attendant results in job creation, investor confidence, cost and ease of doing business and economic growth.

b. Will provide training & capacity building for thousands of young Nigerians (non-graduates, students & graduates)

c. Will create economic opportunities for Nigerian engineering companies that will serve as local vendors for the provision of manpower and equipment.

d. Will stimulate/encourage inflow of additional investment into the power sector. 

The ultimate goal of the Nigerian PPI is to modernize and increase the Nigerian electricity grid capacity from about 5 GW currently to 25 GW, over three phases.

200 Zamfara, Katsina bandits killed in air strikes — DHQ

Over 200 bandits have been killed by the army between Zamfara and Katsina states in multiple air strikes.

The strike was conducted at Ibrahim Mai’Bai ’s Camp in Jibia Local Government Area of Katsina State and Kurmin Kura in Zurmi of Zamfara State between 22 and 23 , May this year.

Confirming the incident the Coordinator , Defence Media Operations Maj . Gen . John Enenche, said the air strikes were executed after a series of Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance missions.

The two locations , according to Ehenche were being used as hideouts for some notorious bandit leaders whilst also serving as collection points for rustled cattle.

Accordingly , Air Component, employing Nigerian Air Force ground attack aircraft and helicopter gunships, engaged the two locations in multiple passes, destroying the makeshift structures in the camps as well as killing the bandit leaders and their fighters.

“ Human Intelligence (HUMINT ) sources later confirmed that close to 200 armed bandits were killed in the air strikes at the target locations ” He added.

Commenting on the issue , the Chief of the Air Staff , Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar , commended the Air Component of Operation Hadarin Daji for their professionalism and directed them to remain resolute towards eradicating all armed bandits.

Air Marshall Sadique said this would lead to achieving directives of the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) of restoring normalcy in the North West and North Central Zones of the Country.

(Punch)

Ekiti State College Of Agriculture and Technology, Isan-Ekiti Advertisement for Academic and Non-Acadmic Staff Positions

Ekiti State College of Agriculture and Technology - The College was established in the year 2014 as College of Technical and Commercial Agriculture at Isan-Ekiti by Dr. Kayode Fayemi led Government of Ekiti-State with focus on middle-level manpower development in the Agricultural sector, Having considered the shift of Nigeria focus on Oil to Agriculture for economic growth, the College pose to fill the gap of the diversification by training and producing a graduate who will be verse in Agricultural and Technological knowledge needed to do great exploit in the sector.

Applications are invited for both 

1. Academic Positions 

Academic Positions

1.) Senior Librarian 

2.) Principal Librarian

3.) Senior (Accountancy)

4.) Lecturer IIInstructor (Accountancy)

5.) Lecturer II (Computer Science)

6.) Lecturer III (Accountancy)

7.) Lecturer I (Accountancy)

8.) Technologist I (Computer Science)

9.) Lecturer III (Computer Science)

10.) Technologist I (Agricultural and Bio-Enviromental Engineering)

11.) Lecturer I (Computer Science)

12.) Lecturer III (Agricultural and Bio-Enviromental Engineering)

13.) Technologist I (Electrical / Electronics Engineering)

14.) Lecturer II (Agricultural and Bio-Enviromental Engineering)

15.) Lecturer I (Agricultural and Bio-Enviromental Engineering)

16.) Lecturer II (Electrical / Electronics Engineering)

17.) Technologist I (Agricultural Technology)

18.) Lecturer III (Electrical / Electronics Engineering)

19.) Lecturer II (Agricultural Technology)

20.) Lecturer III (Agricultural Technology)

21.) Lecturer II (General Studies)

22.) Lecturer III (General Studies)

23.) Lecturer I (Agricultural Technology)

24.) Lecturer I (General Studies)

25.) Lecturer I (Electrical / Electronics Engineering)

26.) Technologist I (Poultry)

27.) Technologist I (Mechanical / Machinist)

28.) Technologist I (Fisheries)

29.) Technologist I (Electrical / Electronics Gadgets)

30.) Lecturer I (Animal Production)

31.) Lecturer I (Aquaculture)

32.) Lecturer I (Crop Production)

33.) Lecturer I (Mechatronics and Robotic Engineering Technology)

34.) Lecturer I (Machine Learning & Artificial Intelligence Technology)

2. Non-Academic Position

Applications are invited for the following positions below:

 *Non Academic Position* 

1.) Assistant Registrar

2.) Senior Assistant Registrar

3.) Administrative Officer I 

4.) Senior Confidential Secretary

5.) Confidential Secretary I

6.) Administrative Officer II

7.) Sport Coach II

8.) Senior Accountant

9.) Accountant II

10.) Security Officer

11.) Higher Executive Officer (Bursary)

12.) Hostel Supervisor

13.) Higher Executive Officer (Audit)

14.) Senior Executive Officer

15.) Library Officer

16.) Internal Auditor II

17.) Engineer II

18.) Procurement Officer II

19.) Medical Officer I

20.) Procurement Officer I

21.) Staff Nurse I / Staff Midwife I

22.) Senior Staff Nurse / Senior Staff Midwife

23.) Higher Lab. Technician (Records)

24.) Senior Data Processing Officer

25.) Programmer / System Analyst II

26.) Architect I

27.) Statistician II

28.) Quantity Surveyor I

29.) Engineer I (Physical Planning)

30.) Principal Engineer

31.) Engineer I (Work and Service Department)

Follow this link and apply

Deadline: 4th June 2020

Nigeria records 389 new COVID-19 cases, total now 8,733

Nigeria's coronavirus (COVID-19) cases, on Wednesday, increased to 8,733 as 389 new infections were announced by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).

The NCDC disclosed this on its verified Twitter handle on Wednesday night.

“389 new cases of #COVID19; Lagos-256 Katsina-23 Edo-22 Rivers-14 Kano-13 Adamawa-11 Akwa Ibom-11 Kaduna-7 Kwara-6 Nasarawa-6 Gombe-2 Plateau-2 Abia-2 Delta-2 Benue-2 Niger-2 Kogi-2 Oyo-2 Imo-1 Borno-1 Ogun-1 Anambra-1.”