Former Anambra state governor Chris Ngige speaks during the second day of the senate screening of new ministers in Abuja

From Magnus Eze, Abuja

Ahead of the December 1, 2016, commencement date for the 200,000 graduates being enrolled in the integrated social protection scheme of the Federal Government, Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, has said that government would capture at least 50 per cent of the population in the social security net.
A statement from the Deputy Director (Press) in the ministry, Mr. Samuel Olowokere, in Abuja yesterday, quoted Ngige as saying, at the on-going World Social Security Summit in Panama City, Panama, that the social intervention scheme was one of the cardinal programmes of the administration to address unemployment.
Presenting the nation’s position, he said that the objective was to tackle youth unemployment and restiveness through job creation, regardless of the tough economic challenges facing the country.
Ngige said: “Some of the programmes in our integrated social protection scheme are already being implemented as evidenced in the 200,000 graduates who will commence work by next month.
“More of the jobs are in the offing. Our target is to ensure that millions of Nigerians are lifted out of poverty line while at least 50 per cent of the population is captured in the social security net.”
The minister, who spoke on the theme, “Evolving Role of Social Security in a Changing World,” gave assurances that the activities of the National Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITFund) were being enhanced to make it more responsive to achieving social security goals.
He also said that the government was poised to give more support to the operations of the National Health Insurance Scheme as well as that of the National Pension Commission.


 

Audit: Auditor-General, UK Audit Office charge workers on transparency

From Uche Usim, Abuja

The Auditor-General of the Federation, Mrs. Florence Anyanwu and officials of the United Kingdom’s National Audit Office (UK-NAO) have charged auditors and workers in general to live above board in all their dealings, in line with President Muhammadu Buhari’s anti-corruption stance.
Speaking at a training programme on financial auditing organised by the Office of the Auditor General of the Federation (OAuGF), in conjunction with the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID), in Abuja yesterday, Anyanwu described the programme as a platform needed to retool auditors in the country.
She said: “This training is meant to equip the participants with the rudiments and modern techniques of financial auditing with particular reference to the public sector.
“This journey started about five years ago when the OAuGF reassessed and realised the need to be more active in the comity of Supreme Auditing Institutions that used international best practice as benchmark for their audit works. Again, the programme is in furtherance to the open government partnership that the current administration of President Buhari signed with the UK government.
“Even though the OAuGF had an existing working relationship with the DFID, the MoU makes our cooperation stronger,” she said.


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TECH: Onu tasks chemical engineers on commercial processing

From Magnus Eze, Abuja

Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, has charged members of the Nigerian Society of Chemical Engineers to find solution to commercial processing and utilisation of key minerals found in the country.
He gave the charge at the 46th annual general meeting of Nigerian Society of Chemical Engineers in Abuja, with the theme “Development and Optimisation of Nigeria’s Solid Mineral Sector for National Development: The Role of Chemical Engineering.” The minister said that chemical engineers have a great role to play in all phases of the solid mineral sector of the country, particularly in processing and beneficiation activities, which are meant to add value to raw solid minerals adding: “They are well suited for this because, among others, they have a role in catalyst technology for industrial purposes and for the benefit of mankind.”
He urged the conference to work on how minerals, such as bentonite, barite and gypsum, which are in high demand in the petroleum and cement industries, could be produced and commercialised in Nigeria.
Onu, who was represented by the Director General of the National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion, Dr. Danazumi Ibrahim, regretted that 90 per cent of the technology powering Nigeria’s economy was imported and called for a change of approach.


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BUDGET: 2017 budget’ll stimulate private sector investment – Udoma

From Basil Obasi, Abuja

The Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma, has said that the 2017 budget, which will soon to be submitted for National Assembly consideration, is targeted at stimulating private sector investment and fast-tracking the exit of the economy from recession.
Udoma, who made this disclosure during a breakfast interaction with chief finance officers of top private sector entities, facilitated by KPMG Consulting, yesterday in Lagos, noted that the 2017 budget was almost ready and would be submitted to the National Assembly for consideration very soon.
In a statement, the media aide to the minister, Mr. James Akpandem, explained that the renewed emphasis on stimulating private sector investment was predicated on government’s belief that it was only by partnering with the private sector that the economy could be propelled out of recession and onto the path of sustainable growth.
The minister said: “Government has identified a number of short-term recovery initiatives and has also worked out a long-term growth plan, all of which have been incorporated in the National Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (NERGP), and part of which has been considered in the preparation of the 2017 Federal Government Budget.
This NERGP, according to him, will present a coherent summary of Nigeria’s short and medium-term economic plans for the period 2017 to 2020.