APO House

Sunday, November 10, 2019

Equipped With Required Skills, Youths Are Nigeria’s Greatest Asset – ILO Director

BY OBIOMA C. APPOLOS

Against the much expressed fear that Nigeria’s skyrocketing youth population would be a detriment to the progress of the country, the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone Country Director, Dennis Zulu, has said that the reverse is rather the case.

He added that with the enthusiasm he saw in many Nigerian youths, the country will become a powerful nation in all ramifications if the youths are equipped with the required skills needed for the future of world of work, and enabling environment that would channel the skills to positive production facilitated.

Mr Zulu, went on to say rather than being pessimistic about what he termed ‘Nigeria’s greatest asset’, government at all levels and Nigerians in their different strata should see the country’s growing youth population as an advantage to becoming a reckoning powerful nation in the world.

He then tasked government and giant business owners to get busy with structural planning which its focal point should be training and retraining the youths in the required skills that would usher in growth in every sector of the economy, investment in developmental projects and provision of basic amenities such as electricity that would fast track the desired development and of course, impactful economic growth.

Zulu in an exclusive interview with THE LABOUR, enjoined Nigeria government to take facilitation of business-thriving environment seriously ; as part of its conviction that a drastic action needed taken in order to prevent the country from falling into precarious state, and also as a commitment towards achieving desired goals.

“Government exists to provide an enabling environment, to facilitate a business-thriving environment for people to grow. That is one area Nigeria government need to do more, that is what the government and should be seriously doing.

“People talk about the growing number of young Nigerians in the country, yes it might be a challenge but it is also an opportunity and Nigeria’s greatest asset.

“There are some countries in the world that are facing human resource challenges, they don’t have sufficient men and women to do the work and their population is shrinking.

“If you have a growing youth population what does that mean, it means a growth in demand for certain things that young people need. If you are a business man that is a great opportunity to provide those needs because you have a growing consumer base and when you have an increased aggregate demand for goods and services propelled by a growing youth population, it means that it also propels the economy to grow.

“So if an economy is growing, obviously it is a cyclic of things. It is an ecosystem being established, it is an increase in demand, it is that companies are set up to meet the demand and these companies need employees to work for them and employees will generate income and that income will need goods and services. To cut the long story short about the future of work, we need to prepare, we know what the drivers are, we know what the issues will be, the question is are we preparing sufficiently and are we doing the right thing?”

Furthermore, Zulu praised what he called business oriented and surviving spirit enthusiasm that average Nigeria youth possesses. He then task government to seriously key into that spirit and do more to helping the youth. He also stressed the need to redirect some skills that youths have already acquired but are using on a negative direction , such as for “Yahoo Yahoo”.

“In Nigeria you say hustle. That itself shows the uniqueness that young Nigerians will not sit back and wait for government to make a difference for their lives. I see young Nigerians carrying sewing machines on their shoulder looking for business but in other countries the young person will sit with his sewing machine at the house waiting for customers to come and they won’t come.

“The drive that a young Nigerian has to carry a sewing machine or the stuffs used to fix shoes and walks around looking for business, tells you that there is something distinctively different. You speak to these people and you are amazed by the sort of ambition that they have. They say one day I would be able to drive a car or I will be able to afford housing that is the drive you need.

“Now, how has does government nurture that enthusiasm that is already there, the entrepreneurial spirit that is already there, the drive that is already there in the young Nigerian, by providing an enabling environment for them to be able to grow, there is need to facilitate and it is only when they facilitated that hopefully the opportunities will grow.

“On the “yahoo yahoo” issue, I was in Enugu a week ago speaking to the trade unions and I talked about “yahoo yahoo”. I spoke again about it in another meeting, I said look, let’s nurture that talent, let’s use that skill towards something productive for the country”.

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TWO BROTHERS GET FIVE YEARS JAIL TIME FOR $788 SCAM

Justice J. K. Omotosho of the Federal High Court, Port Harcourt, has convicted and sentenced two brothers to five years imprisonment for obtaining money under false pretences.

According to @officialEFCC ,The duo are Otojareri Governor Lucky (a.k.a Sam Lewis) and Otojareri President Mayor (a.k.a John Jacob Carison). Their offences run contrary to Section 1(1)(a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006 and punishable under Section 1(3) of the same Act.

Lucky and Mayor were arraigned by thPort Harcourt Zonal office of the EFCC, on Thursday, October 25, 2019 on one-count charge bordering on obtaining the sum of $788.00(USD) under false pretences.

Domesticate Child Right Act Now, UNICEF Tells Northern Nigerian States

Over 200 young Nigerians converged in Bauchi to discuss issues hindering them to attain their potentials.

This year’s theme is tagged: “The Nigeria We Want: Voices from Bauchi”.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has said that 11 of 36 Nigerian States are yet to domesticate the Child Right Act.

UNICEF stated this on Saturday at a joint programme put together with the Bauchi State Universal Basic Education Board to mark the 30th anniversary of the Convention on the Right of the Child (CRC) in Bauchi.

UNICEF boss, Bauchi Field Office, Mr. Bhanu Pathak, said that the increasing number of child brides is another major factor contributing to the menace of out-of-school children which Bauchi accounts for over 1 million.

While addressing youth from six northern States: Bauchi, Taraba, Adamawa, Jigawa, Plateau and Gombe, Pathak said that an estimated 3 in 5 children have suffered one or more forms of violence before reaching 18, with over 70 per cent experiencing multiple incidents of violence.

Pathak said: “Only 25 States in Nigeria have the Child Right Law in place. Eleven States are yet to enact this law, these States are from the Northern part of Nigeria”.

He said that for Nigeria to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, things must clearly change.

Pathak maintained that Nigerian children and young people need to be able to access the opportunities they need to develop in a safe environment.

However, Wife of Bauchi State Governor, Hajiya Aisha Bala Mohammed, challenged youths in the country to take up the task of rebuilding the nation, while noting that multinational corporations and agencies should not be left alone in fixing Nigeria’s problems.

She said: “We know our problems and we must fix them ourselves, some parents still take education for granted in this part of the country. This, we can say is contributing to the nation’s insecurity”.

She further enjoined parents to ensure that their children enrol and attend school regularly.

Also, Bauchi State Commissioner of Education, Dr. Aliyu Usman Tilde, assured the State’s youth of accessible and quality education.

FCT State Minister Promises 720 Skill Acquisition Jobs

FCT Minister of State, Dr. Ramatu Tijjani Aliyu, has assured that the FCT Administration will creates 120 skill acquisition jobs for women and youths in each of the six Area Councils of the territory by December 1, 2019.

In a statement by Austine Elemue, S.A Media To FCT Minister of State on

10th November, 2019, says

The measure according to her will pull out a total of 720 women and youths from joblessness to employers of labour in the first 100 days in office of the present FCT Administration.

Aliyu, who stated this during "An Evening with Friends of NTA Channel 5 Abuja", also assured that plans have reached an advanced stage for the provision of 10 boreholes in each of the six Area Councils to address the challenges of water and sanitation among rural communities in the territory.

The minister who was represented at the occasion by the Director of Information and Communications, Mr. Stella Ojeme, acknowledged that the task of running a mega city is enormous, but not insurmountable, also solicited for the support of NTA Channel 5 and other notable media organisations for the realization of Abuja of our dream.

According to Aliyu, "In the past three weeks, I have embarked on tour of facilities in the six Area Councils to ascertain the level of infrastructural decay in the rural communities with a view to fixing them in line with President Muhammadu Buhari's mandate to complete all abandoned and ongoing projects.

"In all of these inspection tours, I have been able to identity areas of needs and prioritized them for proper execution. To start with, we are carrying out a comprehensive work on our youth centre in Nyanya for skills acquisition of women and youths across the Area Councils.

"It is my pleasure to report to you that by December 1, 2019, as part of activities to mark 100 days in office, we will engage 120 women and youths in different skills in each Area Council of the Territory. Also, plans have been concluded to provide 10 boreholes in each Area Council to address challenges of adequate water supply and sanitation".

She, however, thanked NTA Channel 5 for the support she has received from the station since her assumption of office by broadcasting the activities and events of the Administration, while looking forward for a more rewarding and fruitful relationship.

Saturday, November 09, 2019

Hotel Cleaner Inserted Millionaires Sperm From A Used Condom, Conceived A Boy

Hotel cleaner who stole sperm from a used condom won child support battle By Nistrator - November 9, 2019 A 40-year-old Las Vegas hotel cleaner won a child support battle against a 28-year-old millionaire who she never slept with. Jane was 36 when she stole a used condom from a then 24-year-old tech millionaire’s hotel garbage can. She inserted the semen inside her vagina and became pregnant with a baby boy who is now 4-years-old.

During the child support hearing, Jane confessed that she never slept with the young millionaire and that she impregnated herself with his sperm while she was cleaning his room. “He left his bank statement on the nightstand in his hotel room and I saw it when I was cleaning, at the time I wanted a baby so bad and I thought it would be better if I had a baby with a rich man” The paternity test where conducted and the young millionaire is the father. The court ordered him to pay the mother of the child $2 million for the 3 years of his son’s life he missed.

Ending Learning Poverty: A Target to Galvanize Action on Literacy

At a school in Malawi, students are enjoying play time at recess. Unfortunately, sometimes recess lasts all day because the teacher doesn’t come to work.

In a classroom in Armenia, students are receiving grades for their ability to repeat memorized text, with textbooks dominating the learning process rather than teacher instruction and innovation, leaving graduates unprepared for a competitive work environment.

In Bangladesh, despite improving enrollment rates, girls are still not learning as much as boys, and dropout rates are high – with lost years in schooling being attributed to child marriage, household responsibilities and other factors.

Measuring ‘Learning Poverty’

Evidence reveals that we are in the midst of a global learning crisis that threatens countries’ efforts to build human capital – the skills and know-how needed for the jobs of the future. Attaining the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is also at risk – including the goal to end extreme poverty.

To highlight the scope of the problem, the World Bank has introduced the new concept of learning poverty, drawing on new data developed in coordination with the UNESCO Institute for Statistics.

Learning poverty is defined as being unable to read and understand a simple text by age 10. This indicator brings together schooling and learning indicators: it starts with the share of children who haven’t achieved minimum reading proficiency (as measured in schools) and adjusts it by the proportion of children who are out of school (and are assumed not to read proficiently).

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The new data show that 53% of all children in low- and middle-income countries suffer from learning poverty. And progress in reducing learning poverty is far too slow to meet the aspirations laid out in SDG4 – to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education. At the current rate of improvement, in 2030 about 43% of children will still be learning-poor. If countries reduce learning poverty at the fastest rates we have seen so far in this century, the global rate of learning poverty would drop to 28%.

This high rate of learning poverty and slow progress in low and middle-income countries is an early warning sign that all of the targets outlined in SDG4 are at risk – including the target to increase the number of youth and adults who have relevant skills for employment, decent jobs, and entrepreneurship.

Learning Target Launched

To galvanize action towards meeting global education goals and tackling the global learning crisis, World Bank Group President David Malpass announced a new operational global learning target to cut the learning poverty rate by at least half by 2030. Simulations show that this target, while ambitious, is achievable if all countries manage to improve learning as well as the top performers of the 2000-2015 period did—which means on average nearly tripling the global rate of progress.

Reducing learning poverty by half is effectively an intermediate target. Countries should define their own path (and intermediate targets) in terms of financing and implementation of reforms to make sure that all their children have an opportunity in life. In many countries, reaching this development objective might take some time, but the social contract in the country must be designed so that everyone, regardless of their socioeconomic background, race or gender, has access to a good quality education.

Why Focus on Reading?

In literate societies around the world, reading has for centuries been at the core of formal education. Parents and other stakeholders everywhere share an understanding that a school’s first task is to ensure that children can read proficiently.

When a child becomes proficient in reading, it unlocks the door to the vast knowledge codified in texts of all types. Whether the child takes advantage of that ability will depend on many factors—including the quality of the school system in later grades—but failure to acquire reading proficiency would clearly hinder their ability to learn throughout their social and working life.

Reading proficiency also serves as a proxy for foundational learning in other subjects, in the same way that the absence of childhood stunting is a marker of healthy early childhood development. Systems that ensure that all children can read are likely to succeed in helping them learn other subjects as well. The data bear this out: across countries and schools, proficiency rates in reading are highly correlated with proficiency in other subjects.

For example, a country’s reading score on the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) assessment and its math score – measured by Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) – are almost perfectly correlated. The cross-subject correlations within other assessments are strong too, as the Bank’s new report explains. Language development, which is enhanced by reading skills, is also nurtured along with the development of a child’s self-regulation, a fundamental socioemotional skill.

What Can Be Done to Ensure Children Learn to Read?

To support country efforts to improve literacy, the Bank introduced a Literacy Policy package outlining interventions that have proven successful in boosting literacy in several countries and subnational entities. For example, in Egypt, the government is implementing a reform program to change its curriculum and assessment systems so students are evaluated throughout the year, with exams that focus on acquiring skills, and teachers receiving coaching and peer-learning credentials. A key element of the reforms has been a shift toward learning, not to get a credential. And in Brazil, in states like Ceara, Espirito Santo, Acre, and Pernambuco, the quality of delivery of the education service is steadily improving, showing that change is possible. These are just a few examples; more are described in the new paper: “Ending Learning Poverty: What will it take?”

Successful countries invest in shifting the mindsets of all actors of the education system to focus relentlessly on learning. They provide teachers with support materials, like teaching guides, that can facilitate their day-to-day work; provide coaching and feedback to teachers to improve their classroom practices; assure that all children have reading material; and assure a simple and effective curriculum to guide teachers.

In many countries, shifting to teaching in the mother tongue in the early primary years proves to be essential to improving performance. Systems with stronger institutional capacity increase their investment in quality early childhood education, implement structures that enable children to be taught at the right level, and strengthen the principals’ career stream. In all cases technology can make implementation of these interventions more cost effective – and measurement of learning is essential to monitor progress and guide system improvement. Although the type of assessment may vary, it is essential for assessment systems to have well-defined ways of feeding information on student performance back into the system to drive decisions. In school systems where 90% of children learn to read, most have explicit, concrete, and time-bound goals for early grade readers.

To succeed and focus the whole system around student learning, countries will want to take a two-pronged approach, implementing short-term reforms today – as outlined in the Literacy Policy Package – that will improve service delivery for the students going to school now. At the same, they will want to establish systemic changes to improve how the education system functions over the long term. The Education Approach may include reforming the teaching career to attract and retain good professionals, reform preservice training, reform the management structure of the whole system, and expand infrastructure.

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Education Interventions Are Not Enough

The fight against learning poverty will require an approach supported by actions beyond the education sector. Water and sanitation, transportation, cash transfer programs, health and nutrition, and civil service reforms—all are essential to improve learning. The World Bank Group’s Human Capital Project recognizes the need for a whole-of-government approach to improve human capital. Reducing the rate of learning poverty is also going to require renewed attention to the role that families and communities play in building the demand for education, creating the right environment for learning, and creating social demand for the right education reforms.

Join Our Movement to End Learning Poverty

Learning poverty should be zero everywhere. All children should be able to read by age 10. Reading is a basic human right and critical for anyone to participate fully in society.

As a way to engage on what it will take to end the learning crisis, our new global campaign, Literacy Makes Sense, offers ideas to key stakeholders in the education community – such as parents, teachers, principals, education officials, and employers – on what actions they can take to engage on this issue and help end learning poverty.

Join us and be part of the movement to end #LearningPoverty, because literacy makes sense! Everyone has a role to play.

BUHARI, OSINBAJO RIFT DEEPENS OVER SACK OF VP STAFF. BUT PRESIDENCY SAYS, TOGETHER, ITS A SCRIPT FOR GLORIOUS FUTURE FOR NIGERIA

The Presidency on Friday confirmed that there is, on-going, an unprecedented overhaul of the nation’s seat of government, arising from which a number of political appointments have either been revoked or not renewed in the Second Term.

The exercise, which has been ordered by the President, is to streamline decision-making, cut down multiple authorities and reduce the cost of administration.

In a statement issued by the senior special assistant to the President on media and publicity Garba Shehu , The presidency noted that the decision is also an appropriate response to the general perception that the Presidency has an oversized and bloated workforce which acts as a drag on efficiency.

As may have been noticed by discerning members of the public, a number of political appointees among the few that served in the office of the President were not returned for the Second Term.

The office of the Vice President, His Excellency Yemi Osinbajo has, in compliance with the directive of the President, equally been shed of a number of such appointees.

In carrying out these exercises, the overriding objective is to save taxpayer money and deliver needed service to the public. As far as the President is concerned, there is no scope for an excuse for administration after getting a huge mandate to run the country for four more years.

In the light of this, the Presidency wishes to strongly deny rumours of a rift between President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo. The relationship between the two leaders remains excellent and trusting. Together, they will script a glorious future for the nation.

The media reports of a soured relationship are originating from the minds and mouths of mischief makers, who are desperate for entertaining stories from the Aso Rock Villa with which to titillate the public. This ulterior motive is the basis of the wrong interpretation given to the recent exercise in the Presidency.

There has been a streamlining of staff going on for a while. The President has always had fewer staff than the Vice President, and there were always plans to reduce the number of staff at the Villa.

The streamlining was not personal or targeted to undermine the Vice President's office, as the so-called insider sources quoted by the media appear to make it seem.

The President is in absolute control of his government. The media should stop attributing non-existent powers to some people. There cannot be anyone too powerful for President Buhari to control.

Labour Minister Assumes Office as PGE of ILO, Pushes for Democratization.

The Hon. Minister of Labour and Employment, Sen. Chris Ngige today assumed office as the President Groupe Gouvernemental (PGE) – President of the Government Group of the Governing Board(GB) of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) at its 337 session ongoing in Geneva, Switzerland.

In a statement by Deputy Director press in the Ministry of Labour and employment, Charlse Aakpan said the Minister was handed over the office, domiciled in the ILO’s Headquarters by Nigeria’s Labour Attaché in Geneva, Mr. Aniefiok Essa who has been overlooking it on behalf of the Nigeria Mission since June 2019.

In his address to the Governing Board plenary, Sen. Ngige gave a remarkable push to the agitation for the democratization of the ILO Governing Board, throwing his weight behind the Africa Group position that the democratization process started since 1986 be fast forwarded to assist the Tripartite Working Group established by the 108^thsession of the International Labour Conference in June this year.

He said that though the ratification of the democratization amendments has been yielding acceptance among members since it commenced thirty-three years ago, the organization has got unfinished business as regards the democratization of its structures to ensure fair representation of all regions and equity among member states.

“We are however encouraged that the continuous promotion of this ratification is not only a permanent item on our GB agenda whose report is expected from the DG, but also an opportunity to constantly remind our members of the unfinished business of democratization of the Governing body of our organization,” he said.

The Minister further asked the Director General to clarify the ambiguities surrounding the Tripartite Working Group such as the status and source of the powers of the group, its size, who and what qualifies the membership, composition, duration of assignment as well as the terms of reference.

Based on the strength of these questions which obviously threw up new issues, the Director General had to adjourn the session while adjusting its timetable to enable his office to critically examine and provide adequate answers.

Nasarawa Deputy Governor Attacked, four killed

Gunmen attack Nasarawa deputy governor convoy, kill four.

By Donatus Nadi, Lafia August 20, 2019

Three policemen were reportedly killed by suspected gunmen when the convoy of the Nasarawa state deputy governor, Dr. Emmanuel Akabe ran into the assailants around Gako hill in Nasarawa Eggon local government.

The incident which also claimed the life of a civilian driver was said to have happened around 8pm as the deputy governor was heading to Abuja for the swearing-in of ministers scheduled to take place on Wednesday.

The Nation reliably gathered that when the escort commander was informed that there were suspected gunmen on the road, he stopped the convoy and took two other mobile police officers with him alongside the civilian driver to fend off the gunmen and open the road.

Our source said upon hearing gunshots from an oncoming Hilux van the gunmen took cover and ambushed the police officers and the driver killing all four.

The rifles of the officers were also said to be taken away leaving behind only a magazine.

As at the time of filing this report, the corpses of the slain policemen and their driver were deposited at the Dalhatu Araf Specialist Hospital in Lafia.

When contacted, the Police spokesman in the state, Othman Ismaeel said the state police commissioner and other senior officers were at the scene of the incidence as he was yet to be fully briefed.

Source: The Nation Newspaper.

Abuja Noodles factory explosion

Explosion rocks Royal Noodle Company. Destroys three houses. Information on casualty still scatchy

APO House

Sunday, November 10, 2019