Britons Now Buy Made-In-Nigeria Suits – FG

The Federal Government’s policy of patronising
made-in-Nigeria goods by the citizens is yielding
results as some citizens of the United Kingdom
now order for Nigeria locally made suits,
Vanguard claims.

This came as Nigerian citizens residing in China
have appealed to the Federal Government to
involve them in any bilateral relations so that
they could make some expertise inputs that will
benefit the country.

Senior Special Assistant to the President on
Foreign Affairs and Diaspora Matters, Mrs. Abike
Dabiri-Eruwa, who disclosed the remarkable
improvement the made-in-Nigeria goods have
made when she received some Nigerians living in
the United Kingdom and the People Republic of
China, who paid her a visit at the Presidential
Villa, said the economic challenges the
administration met had helped it to look inwards.
She advised the youths to be good ambassadors
of the country and identify with the Government at
their home country.

She said: “We have people like you in the
Diaspora that are doing great things anywhere in
the world.

The passion that you also bring to your country
is very encouraging. There are some who came
to the UK and they decided that they were going
to sew their suits in Nigeria.

“These are British citizens who decided that the
suits they got in Nigeria were better than the one
they saw in their host country and got our locally
made designers to make these suits for them and
they do them in dozens.”

FG to Spend N56m Daily to Feed 800,000 Kaduna Pupils

The homegrown feeding programme in Kaduna
State alone will cost the Nigerian government a
whooping N1.1billion every month.

The Federal Government’ s Home Grown School
Feeding Programme has commenced in Kaduna
State on July 25, a director in the State Ministry of
Education, Science and Technology, Mr. John
Gora, says.
Gora, who oversees the programme, said on
Monday in Kaduna that about 800,000 pupils
would be fed at N70 per meal.
According to him, the government will spend
about N56m daily, N280m a week and N1.1bn
every month in feeding the pupils.
The director said that out of the 20,146 vendors
shortlisted for the programme, only 9,000 would
participate.
“Based on the arrangement, the federal
government will feed primary one to three pupils,
while the state government will feed primary four
to six pupils.
“However if you remember, in 2016, when the
programme was implemented in the state, the
state government fed all the pupils from primary
one to primary six at the cost of over N10bn.
“It shouldered the responsibility of the federal
government on the agreement that the federal
government would refund to the state the amount
it spent on feeding primary one to three pupils.
“The amount was about seven billion and so far,
the federal government has refunded N3.5bn to
the state.”
Gora said that as soon as the federal government
refund the remaining balance, the state would
commence the feeding of primary 4-6 pupils. He
said that the 20,146 vendors were supposed to
provide services to both the state and the federal
government components.
“So far, only 9000 vendor accounts have been
verified, while the remaining vendors are being
processed.
“I am sure we will complete the verification
process before the state government’s component
comes on stream,’’ the director said.
He acknowledged that the programme was,
however, experiencing some challenges.
“From the report on my table, some vendors were
posted to different communities, far away from
home and this is a problem for us.
“For example, some vendors were posted to a
primary school in Maraban Jos instead of schools
in their community as planned.
“Out of suspicion, the parents of the pupils
stopped their children from eating the food on the
grounds that the vendors were not from that
community and so should not be trusted.
“We are however doing all we can to address this
and other challenges,’’ Gora added.
Meanwhile, Dr Adebayo Dotun, the programme’s
Operation Manager, said that more than 200
people were being trained to monitor and ensure
the success of the programme.
“After the one-day training, these trainees would
go out to the field to ensure that the women are
cooking, the quality of the food is adequate, the
quantity and hygiene are maintained,’’ Dotun
said.

Federal government doing nothing in Igbo land – Rochas Okorocha

Federal government doing nothing in Igbo land – Rochas Okorocha

The Governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha has admitted that the Southeastern part of the country has been highly marginalized by the present and past governments.

The governor said this was responsible for the call for secession by different groups in the region.

He said there was no single federal presence in the southeast as no government considered the welfare of the people of that region.

Addressing reporters in Owerri, Okorocha said, “The South -East has been neglected overtime politically, economically, socially and all that.

“Their roads are impassable; you cannot pass Port Harcourt road, Enugu road, Aba Road, Bayelsa road and all the roads.

“You can hardly see federal government presence in the South- East, all the things you see are through self help.

“Even the Onitsha Bridge has been a theoretical talk, fabrications which does not represent realities.”

Okorocha, however insisted that Nigeria will remain one, adding, “Very soon, some of us have taken it upon ourselves to reach out to these young men and talk to them.

“We must understand that our young men are frustrated; if they are as comfortable as we are they will not be able to say those things they are saying.”