News
Bauchi gov approves recruitment of 3,000 teachers
By Francesca Hangeior
Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, has approved the recruitment of 3,000 teachers to be deployed to Junior and Senior secondary schools across the state.
The Project Coordinator, Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment in the state, Ali Gar, stated this on Thursday during a sensitisation meeting on the Girls Scholarship Programme with stakeholders from the Bauchi Local Government.
According to Gar, the move was part of the conditions for the implementation of the AGILE project in the state.
He explained that 2,000 teachers out of the figure would be deployed to Junior secondary schools while the remaining 1,000 would go to Senior secondary schools.
He said the move is to breach the pupils and students-teacher ratio gap across the benefitting schools under the project.
Gar emphasised “The teachers would be under the payroll of the state government and not AGILE Project.
“They would be recruited from the benefitting communities and this would ensure maximum participation on the side of the teachers, ease access, monitoring, and ensure ownership.”
The AGILE Project Coordinator equally revealed that the project would commence the payment of Conditional Cash Transfers to about 9,000 girls selected and registered as beneficiaries under the project in the next two weeks.
He explained that the conditional cash transfer scheme involved the payment of N15,000 as a registration fee to each of the beneficiaries and N20,000 as a stipend for the first term session.
He added that N10,000 would be paid to them for second and third term sessions respectively with the condition that each beneficiary must have 75 per cent attendance.
Gar, who said all ICT facilities, and skills acquisition tools for the project implementation have been procured, added that officials deployed to various communities were able to capture only 9,000 out of the 20,250 targeted beneficiaries in the past ten weeks.
He appealed to all stakeholders to monitor activities in their respective wards and communities to ensure that teachers perform their duties diligently.
On his part, while reacting to the development, the Executive Chairman, Bauchi Local Government, Mahmood Babama’aji commended the AGILE technical team for its effort toward the implementation of the project.
He expressed optimism in the capacity of all the School Based Management Committee members in delivering on their mandate.
The leadership of the 10th Senate has postponed the passage of President Bola Tinubu’s tax reform bills to Wednesday (Today) for proper scrutiny and debate.
Recall that the four bills, Nigerian Tax Bill, Tax Administration Bill, Revenue Tax Board Bill, and Nigerian Revenue Service Establishment Bill were forwarded by the President six months ago as part of efforts to reform the country’s fiscal policies and boost revenue generation.
The delay in the passage of the bills had raised concerns, especially after the House of Representatives approved them two weeks ago, putting pressure on the Red Chamber.
In a related development, the Senate leadership resolved to hold a two-day national security summit to brainstorm a solution to the rising wave of killings and other forms of insecurity in the country.
The decision followed a motion sponsored by Jimoh Ibrahim, senator representing Ondo south, at the resumption of plenary on Tuesday.
While on a working visit to France, bandits in a senseless campaign of violence killed innocent Nigerians in Plateau, Benue and Zamfara States, culminating in calls for President Bola Tinubu to cut short his vacation to return home to lead the fight against insecurity from the front.
Leading the debate, Ibrahim said the “high level” of global insecurity is driven by events in Russia and Ukraine and compounded by tensions between the global north and global south.
According to him, the issues have continuously worsened food insecurity and affected the attainment of the sustainable development goals.
By Gloria Ikibah
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rep. Tajudeen Abbas, has hailed his Deputy, Rep. Benjamin Okezie Kalu, as a rising force in Nigeria’s political landscape, describing him as a man whose journey is only just beginning.
Abbas gave the remarks on Tuesday inside the chamber, shortly after plenary, as members of the House gathered to celebrate Kalu’s 54th birthday with a brief ceremony and a cake-cutting session.
Kalu, who represents Bende Federal Constituency of Abia State, turned 54 on Monday.
A lawyer by training and former spokesperson for the House, he has grown into a familiar face not just within Nigeria’s legislature but also across international parliamentary networks.
In recent times, Kalu has taken on significant continental and global responsibilities. He chairs the Finance and Administrative Committee of the ECOWAS Parliament and leads the African Union Parliament’s Committee on Monetary and Financial Affairs. He is also an active member of the Inter-Parliamentary Union and sits on the steering committee of the Parliamentary Conference on the World Trade Organization.
His colleagues describe him as strategic, forward-looking, and quietly ambitious, a lawmaker whose blend of eloquence and diplomacy has made him a respected voice both at home and abroad.
Speaking to journalists after the brief celebration, Abbas said, “Benjamin Kalu is not just a Deputy Speaker. He is a man with vision, poise, and the kind of political maturity that Nigeria will need even more in the years to come. His future is very bright.
Lagos State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) is working towards consensus candidates for the upcoming primary election scheduled for Saturday.
The move is part of the party’s efforts to maintain unity and reduce internal frictions.
Five aspirants emerged unopposed following the screening organised by the party.
The incumbent Chairman of Surulere Local Government, Sulaimon Yusuf; his counterpart in Iba Local Council Development Area (LCDA), Jubril Yisa; Motunrayo Alogba of Ijede LCDA and Kasali Bamidele in Lekki LCDA emerged unopposed. A new aspirant, Azeez Kareem, was the only person cleared to contest in Oto-Awori LCDA.
Chairman of the APC Lagos State Electoral Committee, Babatunde Ogala, SAN, in an interview with The Nation, disclosed that more aspirants had emerged unopposed following interventions from the party leaders.
He expressed optimism that many more aspirants would step down before the Saturday primary election.
“We are hoping to have at least 70 per cent consensus candidates going into the primary election. If we can achieve that, it will leave us with only 30 per cent to conduct primaries for,” he said.
According to him, the appeal committee, headed by Mr. Adeniji Kazeem, SAN, has been sitting for the past two days and has received over 100 petitions.
Ogala said the committee had treated over 70 of the petitions and would conclude their assignment today (Wednesday).
He explained that while the party had prepared for indirect primaries, involving delegates drawn from local government executives, efforts were ongoing at various levels to arrive at consensus candidacies in many wards.
He said electoral materials were being finalised for distribution by Saturday, with electoral officers already appointed to oversee the process in all 57 local councils.
Ogala said security had been fully arranged in collaboration with the police, DSS, civil defence and Lagos traffic officials to ensure order and smooth movement at the secretariats where the primaries were expected to take place.
According to him, the party is also scheduled to hold a key stakeholders’ meeting today with senior officials and aspirants to finalise agreements and chart the way forward.
-
Opinion21 hours agoRIVERS, WIKE, FUBARA, AND THE WAY FORWARD
-
Politics19 hours agoJust in: Delta PDP Reps members defect to APC
-
News22 hours agoNANS Barricades Lagos-Ibadan Expressway Over Alleged NELFUND Mismanagement
-
News18 hours agoTension As Lawmakers Warns of Public Revolt Over Insecurity
-
News22 hours agoCourt bans Nnamdi Kanu’s in-law from 3 proceedings over live streaming
-
News17 hours agoEdo Speaker, Two Other Lawmakers, Formally Join APC
-
News18 hours agoRep Raises Alarm After Deadly Attacks In Borno, Says Boko Haram Is Returning Stronger
-
News6 hours agoTinubu presents N1.78 trillion FCT budget to NASS