Marvangel Kids: Arts display

Today was the successful event of Marvangel Kids just like it promised to be, Kids displayed crafts as prepared.

See photos below

President Buhari Hosts Tinubu, Awujale In London

President Muhammadu Buhari, on Thursday, played host to the leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and the Awujale of Ijebuland, Oba Sikiru Adetona in London, United Kingdom.

The President shared photos of their visit via his Twitter handle on Thursday.

President Buhari has been away on a 10-day medical vacation to take care of an ear infection.

L: President Buhari with Asiwaju Bola Tinubu; R: President Buhari with the Awujale of Ijebu land

He was scheduled to end the vacation on Friday but would be arriving Nigeria on Sunday, June 19.

The Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, disclosed this to State House correspondents just before the National Executive Council meeting on Wednesday.

Japan Advises Nigeria To Adopt Renewable Energy For Electricity

The Japanese government has advised Nigeria to adopt renewable energy for the provision of electricity in the country.

The leader of a Japanese delegation to Nigeria, Mr Shinichi Kitaoka, gave the advice in relation to the continuous militant activities which is disrupting gas supply for the generation of electricity.

He addressed the issue during his visit to a solar power plant built by the Japanese government to ease water supply in Abuja, the nation’s capital.

Mr Kitaoka, after a tour of the facility with his team, explained that investing in renewable energy to provide stable electricity supply will help encourage industrialisation in the country.

The Ministry of Power, Works and Housing, immediately took up the challenge and promised to embark on similar projects to ensure increase in electricity supply across the country.

The Director of Renewable and Rural Power Access at the Ministry of Power, Mr Abayomi Adebisi, assured the Japanese delegation that the Nigerian government would explore the idea.

The solar power project, when completed, would provide electricity for the lower Usman dam which supplies water around the Federal Capital Territory.

The Executive Director of the FCT Water Board, Mr Hudu Bello expressed happiness that the project would help save cost and eliminate challenges of poor power supply which the agency has grappled with over the years.

FG To Speed Up Work On Four Hydropower Plants – Fashola

The Federal Government has promised to speed up work on four hydropower plants in order to boost power supply in the country.

The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola (SAN), who made the pledge Thursday, listed the hydropower plants where government would speed up work as Gurara hydropower plant phase one and phase two, Zungeru, Dadin Kowa and Mambilla power plants.

According to Fashola, continuous vandalism of gas pipelines and infrastructures across the country had forced government to divert attention to other alternative sources of energy to meet the country’s power needs.

The destruction of pipelines in the Niger Delta conveying gas to some of the gas-powered plants in the country has seen power generation drop to its lowest in recent times.

However, speaking at the launch of Building Energy Efficiency Guideline (BEEG) for Nigeria, the minister assured that embarking on alternative sources of energy by government would make it impossible for anybody to hold Nigeria to ransom in future by controlling any particular source of fuel for electricity.

The minister said: “We have seen from events that started from around the 14th of February this year, repeated acts of vandalism on our gas pipelines and infrastructure that renders us clearly vulnerable to one source of fuel for our energy development.

“That has challenged us to develop options, alternatives – solar in particular and of course hydropower plants in more quantitative response. So we will be accelerating work on project like Gurara hydropower plant phase one and phase two. Work has started on Zungeru hydropower plant. We will also be accelerating work on Dadin Kowa power plant, as we will on Mambilla power plant which will give us the biggest single electrification source over a period of seven years that it is estimated to take to conclude it.

“To us, this is a journey of diversification, a journey of electricity security for Nigeria, it is a journey that has already started and it is a journey that will ensure that in future, it will be impossible to hold this country to ransom by controlling any particular source of fuel for electricity”.

Lagos State Government Seals Company Producing CWAY Bottle Drink And Others

Lagos State agencies in charge of Quality, Standard and Regulation in the state have sealed off the premises of CWAY Nigeria Drinking Water Science and Technology Company Limited and Figol Water in various locations in state in its determination to ensure compliance with the State Groundwater Quality Control Regulation and the State Drinking Water Quality Standard.

Executive Secretary, Lagos State Water Regulatory Commission (LSWRC), Arc. Ahmed Kabiru Abdullahi, who led the team on the compliance and enforcement exercise, also visited Nigerian Breweries Limited, La Casera, Cascade Waters, 7up, Coca cola and Guinness Nig. Plc. and said CWAY Limited, was sealed for non-declaration of all its facilities and non-compliance as stipulated in the regulatory guidelines of the Lagos State Water Sector Law (LSWSL) 2004.

Ahmed opined that “this move is in line with the vision of the state government to curb the occurrence and spread of water borne diseases in the state, as well as, improve the standard of living and promote safety culture at all times. The State Government is leaving no stone unturned to ensure that all stakeholders in the water sector comply with the guidelines and regulations for water abstraction/consumption as stipulated by the law.”

He stated further that “the administration of His Excellency, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, being a very responsive and responsible government, would no longer fold its hands and watch the pollution of the groundwater through indiscriminate abstraction and illegal borehole drilling that is polluting the groundwater on a daily basis.”

He revealed that the 1st and 2nd aquifers of underground water are the worst hit and that the state government is taking adequate steps to ensure the preservation and conservation of all the aquifers of underground water to ensure safety of lives, provision of portable water that is of good quality and a water sector that is sustainable and viable.

Ahmed said that a sustainability plan by the state government would soon be launched by His Excellency, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode and it will involve corporate private sector participation.

While acknowledging the challenges associated with the supply of water to residents of the State, Ahmed said the intention of government is to ensure a well regulated water sector devoid of abuse by all stakeholders, adding that this will ensure the attractiveness of the sector to participation by the private sector.

He stressed that by the year 2020, the present 33% water provision would rise to 100% when the sector is expected to be fully compliant with the regulations.

He reminded all borehole operators to regularize and get permits for drilling boreholes for water abstraction and that all water service providers and borehole drillers should obtain requisite licenses for their operations, adding that the government is set to implement the provisions of the Lagos State Water Sector Law (LSWSL) 2004 to the letter.

Constitution Review: NASS is Not Trying to Dent the 1999 Constitution Integrity – Saraki

President of the Senate, Dr. Bukola Saraki, has said that the ongoing process of reviewing the 1999 Constitution was not intended to dent the solemnity, integrity and infallibility of the Constitution.

Saraki made this known on Friday at a two-day retreat in Lagos organised by the Senate Ad hoc Committee on Constitution Review, with the theme, “Towards Ensuring Governance Accountability in Nigerian Federalism”.

He said that the National Assembly was by the process, celebrating and affirming the inviolability of the Constitution and its integrity, adding that the process was in no way a ritual or routine.

“This National Assembly is seeking to further consolidate and entrench the essence of our Constitution as the only basis for the exercise of all powers under a constitutional democracy forged under the rule of law.

Since independence, our nation has sought to develop for itself workable constitution on which her unity can be perfected. Other nations have trodden a similar path.

For instance, following the Declaration of Independence and the Revolutionary War in 1776, the original 13 States of the United States of America operated an Article of Confederacy.

This is a necessary but unwieldy document that institutionalised a central government. The Article lasted for eight years before it was jettisoned for the current Constitution of the United States,” he said.

Saraki explained that constitution making had always been a challenging issue in any polity.

According to him, it is because it is expected to put together the aspiration, commitment, values and agreement of different communities.

He said that debates on constitution could be polarising and contentious.

He added that as polarising as the issues could be, “with robust engagement, inclusive participation and process-led initiatives, we can resolve the contentions and agree on some of the issues”.

The president of the senate urged the review committee to concentrate on the 4th Alteration Bill before dealing with other proposals.

He also urged them to pay attention to the alteration in view of the immense work and national consensus garnered in determining it.

According to him, it will help the committee in concentrating its effort on agreed areas and few exceptional issues that were integral.

He said that it would help to deliver a more acceptable constitution before the commencement of political activities in first quarter of 2017.

Saraki recalled that the 7th National Assembly obtained national consensus on key challenges to the operation of the Constitution for national development through its work on the bill.

He said that the legislature was poised toward proffering workable solutions for freedom, abhorrence of discrimination, enthronement of the rule of law and accountability as well as continuity of governance.

He remarked that although some national questions would remain contentious and unresolved in spite of the review, they would help in cementing the process and deepen constitutional framework through a second phase of amendment.

Saraki expressed optimism that with the crop of participants at the retreat, there was no doubt that the deliberations would be robust and the recommendations far-reaching.

In his remarks, Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, lauded the effort of the national assembly and other stakeholders at reviewing the Constitution.

The governor, who was represented by the state Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Adeniji Kazeem, said that the process would deepen democracy, adding that, Constitution was the guiding principle for good governance.

“The Fourth Alteration to the 1999 Constitution by the 7th National Assembly is commendable and the effort to review it again shows that the legislature is living up to expectation,” he said.

Ambode expressed hope that the retreat would further enshrine the culture of transparency and accountability in realising “the true federalism of our dream”.

Niger Delta Avengers Meet Kachikwu, Tompolo Reportedly Appears

Following the concession between the Niger Delta militants groups and the Federal Government of Nigeria to enter into a negotiation to end the crisis of the destruction of oil facilities in the region, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu visited Asaba in Delta State where he met with the stakeholders in the region.

The meeting took place yesterday, 16th of June, 2016 ath the office of governor, Ifeanyi Okowa with the representatives of the notorious Niger Delta Avengers group in attendance. It should be noted that oil production in Nigeria has dipped to 680,000 barrels per day from the usual 2.2 million which spells doom for the country.

A copy of the communique of the meeting obtained by SaharaReporters shows that the meeting also had in attendance the Delta State Governor, Patrick Ifeanyi Okowa; an Itsekiri leader, Ayirimi Emami; a representative of Gbaramatu Kingdom, Michael Johny; and two persons representing the interest of the Niger Delta Avengers: Gbeneka Godspower and Dan Ekpebide.

The meeting resolved that Mr. Kachikwu would visit Gbaramatu to show good faith by the federal government to reinstate the “Maritime University” project, which is one of the key issues in the conflict.

As a result, the Minister traveled to the kingdom yesterday and met with various stakeholders. A source told the online news platform that while in the area, Kachikwu also met with wanted Niger Delta militant, Tompolo, but the information couldn’t be verified. In previous statements, Tompolo had stated that he was not in the area, and he has recently been reported to be abroad.

A source at the meeting said that from all indications at the meeting the Delta State Governor and Mr. Kachikwu clearly knew who the ND Avengers are, and had brought in Ayiri, as a way of reconciling both sides.

See copies of the communique: