Over 40 Children Benefit From The Airforce Youth Empowerment Programme

From the just concluded Chief of Air Staff Youth
Empowerment Programme, about 40 children of Nigerian
Airforce personnel serving at the Logistics Command, Lagos
benefited from the programme.
The beneficiaries underwent an intensive three-month
vocational skills training in Lagos, as part of the Chief of Air
Staff,

 Air Marshall Sadiq Abubakar’s efforts to reduce the
rate of unemployment and lessen criminal acts among the
youths in the country. About 86 of the Nigerian airforce
personnel children benefited from the programme
nationwide.
The 86 youths, including the 41 from Lagos, were trained in
skills like Information Technology, Catering and Hotel
Management, Fashion Design, Computer Repair and Internet
Solution, DSTV Installation and Computer Studies at the
Federal Technical and Vocational Centre, Yaba.
The Chief of Air Staff who was represented by Air Vice-
Marshal James Gbum, Chief of Policy and Plans, Nigerian
Air Force headquarters, at the training said it was organized
in pursuance of the federal government’s pledge of curbing
youth unemployment and in line with the first key driver of
his vision for the Nigerian Air Force.
He noted that empowerment centres were designated for the
programme: one in Kaduna to cater for the candidates from
Tactical Air Command and Training Command while the
second centre was sited in Lagos for the candidates under
Mobility Command and Logistics Command.

Wife Of The President Aisha Buhari Visits IDPs in Benue State

31-03-2016
The wife of the President, Mrs Aisha Buhari, on Wednesday
donated assorted relief materials to Internally Displaced
Persons (IDPs) in Benue.
Newsmen report that Mrs Buhari, who was in Benue to
empathise with the state government on the recent farmers/
herdsmen crisis, was represented by the wife of the Vice
President, Mrs Oludolapo Osinbajo.
Donating the materials at Nogowa Secondary School,
Wadata Camp, Makurdi, Mrs Buhari commiserated with the
bereaved families, saying that the government was
committed to their plight.
She said that the Federal Government understood what the
victims were passing through and assured them that
government would not abandon them at this point of their
sufferings.
Earlier in his remarks, Gov. Samuel Ortom appealed to the
Federal Government to tighten security at boarders to end
the continued influx of foreign herdsmen into the state.
Ortom explained that foreign herdsmen were behind the
incessant attacks on his people since 2011.
The Governor said that there was no land for grazing in the
state, explaining that all lands belong to farmers in the
state.

He said that 85 per cent of the state population were
farmers and occupied the little available land, adding that it
would be difficult to create a grazing reserve in the state.
He suggested that the herdsmen should rather embrace
ranches as it was being practiced in developed countries.
Newsmen report that Mrs Buhari donated rice, multivitamins
supplements, cooking oil, garri and tomatoes to the Benue
IDPs.

Kachukwu To Nigerians: Fuel Queues Will Begin To Disappear From April 7th

The lingering queues at filling stations nationwide will
begin to disappear by April 7.

The Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, gave
the assurance in Abuja when he appeared before the Senate
Committee on Petroleum to intimate them with the effort
done to make fuel available.
He told the Senate that the Ministry had developed a
programme that would ensure the constant availability of
sixty percent of the daily fuel need of consumers.
The Minister said the lingering fuel crisis was the product of
decades of fraudulent practices that overwhelmed the
Ministry, which had left what he described as the
“monstrous chain of problems that had ushered in the
annoying scarcity of petrol”.
He advised Nigerians to stop hoarding fuel to help clear the
long queues at filling stations.
He however said the country would rely on the newly-
developed programme for fuel supply until its refineries
were fully rehabilitated.

Kano Fire: 15 People Hospitalised and Over N2tr Worth Of Goods Lost

About N2 trillion worth of goods were destroyed in Kano
market’s fire outbreak, the traders’ association said.
Also, Nigeria’s Disaster Management Agency, NEMA, said
over 3,800 shops were burnt in the inferno which it
described as the worst market fire disaster in Nigeria.
On his part, the Emir of Kano, Mallam Muhammadu Sanusi
ll, has called on the Federal and State Governments to
launch an investigation immediately.
Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje has inaugurated a 9-
man committee to assess the level of damage and the
traders affected.
The Committee, Chaired by Alhaji Alin Bagadaza, was also
mandated to advise the government on how to resettle the
affected traders. The committee has five days to submit its
report.
Speaking to newsmen earlier, the Chairman of Sabon Gari
Market Traders’ Association, Alhaji Nafi’u Nuhu Indabo said
over 75 per cent of the market was burnt down.
He lamented that the fire started in the night when there
was nobody in the market to take preventive measures
against its spread.
During a visit to the market, NEMA Director General Alhaji
Sani Sidi, confirmed to reporters that 3,800 shops were
burnt down by the fire.

He added that 15 people were hospitalised for inhaling too
much smoke and minor injuries.
On assistance, Sidi said an assessment of the situation was
ongoing which would determine the level of help to be
rendered to the victims.
He assured the victims that help would soon come their
way.
Addressing the press after visiting the scene of the disaster,
the emir Mallam Muhammadu Sanusi ll, asked the federal
and state governments to investigate all the causes of
recent fire outbreaks in some Kano markets and schools.
The emir also called on the Kano state government to
restructure all Kano markets in order to modernise them
and make them safe.
Sanusi called on the traders to imbibe the culture of Islamic
insurance (Takaful) so as to recover their losses in case of
disasters.

FG To Teacchers; Obtain Teaching qualificcation Or Be Disenganged

The Federal Government has given teachers in the country a
two-year ultimatum to obtain a Teaching Qualification or be
disengaged.
Minister of State for Education, Professor Anthony Anwukah
announced this while interacting with newsmen in Owerri,
Imo State.
He said government would no longer tolerate a situation
where those without teaching skills were engaged to teach
in schools.

The Minister explained that applicants with certificates in
education would be given priority during the planned mass
recruitment of teachers by the Federal Government.
Professor Anwukah also said Federal Government was
paying attention to skill acquisition to reduce over-
dependence on white collar jobs.
The Minister also gave an assurance that the dichotomy
between University and Polytechnic graduates would soon
be eliminated.