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The Ministry of Works and Housing on Tuesday got the highest projected allocation of N262 billion from the N10. 33 trillion budget estimates.

This was contained in the proposal as presented by President Muhammadu Buhari to a joint session of the National Assembly on Tuesday.

He said that the projected allocation of Ministry of Power was N127 billion and that of Transportation was N123 billion

“Other of the key capital spending allocations in the 2020 Budget include Universal Basic Education Commission; N112 billion, Defence; N100 billion.

“Zonal Intervention Projects; N100 billion, Agriculture and Rural Development; N83 billion, Water Resources; N82 billion, Niger Delta Development Commission; N81 billion;

“Education; N48 billion, Health; N46 billion, Industry, Trade and Investment; N40 billion, North East Development Commission; N38 billion, Interior; N35 billion, Social Investment Programmes; N30 billion,

“Federal Capital Territory; N28 billion and
Niger Delta Affairs Ministry; N24 billion.”

President Buhari in the budget proposals anchored all the estimates and projections on parameters earlier proposed and approved by the National Assembly as contained in the 2020 to 2022 Medium Term Expenditure Frame work ( MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper ( FSP).

“Distinguished and Honourable Members of the National Assembly, the 2020 to 2022 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP) set out the parameters for the 2020 Budget.

” We have adopted a conservative oil price benchmark of 57 dollars per barrel, daily oil production estimate of 2.18 mbpd and an exchange rate of N305 per U.S. dollars for 2020.

“We expect enhanced real GDP growth of 2.93 per cent in 2020, driven largely by non-oil output, as economic diversification accelerates, and the enabling business environment improves. However, inflation is expected to remain slightly above single digits in 2020”, he said.(NAN)

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) on Tuesday said that it was working with the Federal Government and some States to eliminate child labour in the country by 2025.

Mr Dennis Zulu, Director, ILO Country Office for Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone made this known in Minna at a one day stakeholders meeting on elimination of child labour in Niger.

The project being funded by the Government of Netherlands was tagged, “Accelerating Action for the Elimination of Child Labour in Supply Chains in Africa.”

Zulu, who was represented by Dr Agatha Kolawole, National Coordinator ACCEL Africa project, said that Nigeria had indicated interest to eradicate child labour at the fourth Global Conference on the Sustained Eradication of Child Labour held in Argentina in November 2018.

“Nigeria indicated interest in being a pathfinder country and this is a giant stride in the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 8.7, given it’s position as Africa’s most populous nation and its impact at the regional level.

“As you are aware, SDG 8.7 states that member states should take immediate and effective measures to eradicate forced labour, end modern slavery and human trafficking.

“Also to secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour, including recruitment and use of child soldiers, and by 2025 end child labour in all it’s forms.

“The willingness and commitment of the Nigeria government in the eradication of child labour led to the support from the government of the Netherlands to fund the project being officially presented in Niger state today,” he said.

He said that the federal and Niger governments had expressed interest to collaborate with the ILO in the implementation of the ACCEL Africa project.

“Let me inform you that in Nigeria, the project will focus on two supply chains: artisanal gold mines in Niger state and cocoa in Ondo state,” he said.

The Director, who is also in charge of the Liaison Office for the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), said the project would support stakeholders in accelerating action in the elimination of child labour using the supply chain approach.

He expressed optimism that the effective and efficient implementation of the project would result in the reduction of child exploitation in the artisanal gold mines and the cocoa supply chains.

Similarly, Mr Ajuwon Adeniyi, Deputy Director, Inspectorate, Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment noted that some challenges were militating against the elimination of child labour.

Adeniyi said that one of the factors was inadequate funding from national and state actors, International donors and private sector.

He said that skills and material deficiencies limit the capacity of labour inspectors to access the rural areas and the informal economy of the urban centres where child labour was predominant.

The Deputy Director said that other factors included lack of accurate data on child labour, lack of active and sustain referral mechanism, ethno-cultural/religious beliefs and pervasive poverty.

He suggested empowerment of the household with multiple income stream through skills acquisitions in order to eliminate child labour.

Adeniyi said that a baseline survey on child labour be carried out to end the menace.

He suggested the development of a database platform using case management approach that would ensure that victims were identified and managed by case workers.

Also, Alhaji Abubakar Aliyu and Dr Joseph James, Permanent Secretaries Ministries of Education and Mineral Resources respectively said that the state government’s free and compulsory education policy would help the project eliminate child labour because it was the key to empowerment.

According to them, “both formal and informal education are critical in eliminating child labour.” (NAN)

The Kebbi Government is partnering the World Fish Programme to boost the fisheries potentials of the State.

Gov. Abubakar Bagudu said on Tuesday while receiving officials of the programme in Birnin Kebbi that the state’s huge fisheries potentials were being affected by the effects of climate change.

He noted that even the Matanfada river, where the Argungu International Fishing Festival takes place, is already drying up.

Bagudu said in spite of the set back, the government was determined to invest in the sector as the “state has the potential to do much better in fishery, just like rice farming”.

“We are going to improve fishing activities in the state because Kebbi is the home of farmers and fishery.

“Many fishermen around Nigeria particularly in places like Bornu, Kogi, Taraba are from Kebbi.

“We acknowledge that climate change is frustrating our fishing activities in the country.

“In 2018 I visited Argungu, the Emir of Argungu took me to Matanfada, we stood on its stone and he said never in his life had he ever seen the stone with his naked eyes which was at the bottom of the river, but now drying up,” he said.

The government will mobilise all fishing communities to change the situation, he said.

The governor, therefore, urged the world fish programme to bring in its expertise and work with local experts to improve the situation.

Bagudu said his administration’s target was to help lower income earners get out of poverty.

Earlier, the World Fish Program Coordinator, Dr Harrison Charo, said they were in the state on the invitation of the governor to assist in harnessing the enormous fish resources available in the state.

Charo said ”we are ready to work and improve the status of fishing activities in the state.”

Representatives of Gwandu, Arungungu and Yauri Emirates, made presentations on the effects of climate change, use of chemicals and smaller nets on fish production in the state.(NAN)

After successfully pioneering its anti-fake news project in Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Cameroon and Senegal, Facebook says it has expanded its Third-Party Fact-Checking Programme to 10 additional African countries.

Kojo Boakye, Facebook Head of Public Policy in Africa, said in a statement that the global media outfit has partnered with Agence France-Presse (AFP), France 24 Observers, Pesa Check and Dubawa to help reduce the spread of misinformation and assess the accuracy and quality of news people find on Facebook.

“Working with a network of fact-checking organizations, certified by the non-partisan International Fact-Checking Network, third-party fact-checking will now be available in Ethiopia, Zambia, Somalia and Burkina Faso through AFP.

“Other countries including Uganda and Tanzania through both Pesa Check and AFP; Democratic Republic of Congo and Cote d’Ivoire through France 24 Observers and AFP, Guinea Conakry through France 24 Observers, and Ghana through Dubawa.

“Feedback from the Facebook community is one of many signals we use to raise potentially false stories to fact-checkers for review,” he said.

Boakye noted that local articles will be fact-checked alongside the verification of photos and videos.

He said that if one of their fact-checking partners identifies a story as false, Facebook would show it lower in News Feed, significantly reducing its distribution.

“The expansion of third-party fact-checking now covering 15 countries in a little over a year shows a firsthand commitment and dedication to the continent on our part.

“Taking steps to help tackle false news on Facebook is a responsibility we take seriously.

“We know misinformation is a problem, and these are important steps in continuing to address this issue,” he said.

He said that third-party fact-checking alone was not the solution but was one of many initiatives and programmes the company was investing in to help to improve the quality of information people see on Facebook.

Boakye noted that while they had made great progress, the company would keep investing to ensure Facebook remained a place for all ideas, but not for the spread of false news.

Phil Chetwynd, AFP Global News Director, said that the company was delighted to be expanding its fact-checking project with Facebook.

“We are known for the high quality of our journalism from across Africa and we will be leveraging our unparalleled network of bureaus and journalists on the continent to combat misinformation.

Eric Mugendi, Managing Editor at Pesa Check, who would provide fact-checking services in Swahili and English, added that social networks like Facebook had changed how Africans consume the news.

“Social media is often the primary access to digital content or the ‘Internet’ for many Africans. They shape our perceptions of the world, our public discourse, and how we interact with public figures,” he said.

He noted that the project would help them dramatically expand fact-checking to debunk claims that could otherwise cause real-world harm.

Mugendi said that the project would also help them understand the information vacuum and other viral dynamics that drove the spread of false information in Africa.

Caroline Anipah, Dubawa Programme Officer, said that the company was excited to be in Ghana where the misinformation and disinformation had become widespread as a result of technological advancement and increasing internet penetration.

“Dubawa intends to raise the quality of information available to the public with the ultimate aim of curbing the spread of misinformation and disinformation and promoting good governance and accountability,” Anipah said.

Derek Thomson, Editor-in-Chief of France 24 Observers, said that African users were constantly sending questionable images and messages they received via social media to them to confirm its authenticity.

He noted that it was their responsibility as fact-checking journalists to verify the information that was circulating and get the truth back out there.

“Participating in the Facebook programme helps ensure that our fact-checks are reaching the people who shared the false news in the first place,” Thomson said. (NAN)

The Abia House of Assemby has called on federal lawmakers from the state to draw Federal Government’s attention to the deplorable condition of federal roads in the state.
The call was part of the resolutions taken during Tuesday’s plenary session of the house, presided over by its Speaker, Mr Chinedum Orji.
The house also urged the state government to mandate the Abia State Road Maintenance Agency (ABROMA) to apply some palliatives on the failed portions of the roads, pending the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the roads by the federal government.
The house listed the dilapidated roads in the state to include the Umuahia-Ikwuano Road, Umuahia-Bende Road and Ohafia-Arochukwu Road, among others.
The resolution followed a motion of urgent public importance moved by Mr Stanley Nwabuis, representing Ikwuano State Constituency.
In the motion, Nwabuisi drew the attention of the house to the increasing dilapidation on the Umuahia-Ikwuano-Ikote Ekpene Road.
He regretted that the road, which serves as a major economic access point linking the state to Akwa Ibom, Rivers and Cross River, had completely collapsed.
He said that the poor road condition posed a serious challenge to evacuation of farm produce from the area.
He said that the federal government in May approved N13.2 billion for the reconstruction of the road but regretted that work had yet to commence on the project.
Nwabuisi acknowledged the efforts of Rep. Sam Onuigbo, representing Ikwuano/Umuahia Federal Consitiuency, toward the reconstruction of the road. (NAN)

President Muhammadu Buhari has condoled with the families of the 38 victims of a boat mishap in Kirfi Local Council, Bauchi State.

In a condolence message by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, in Abuja on Tuesday, Buhari described the incident “as a devastating tragedy not only for families of victims, but also for the country.’’

The President, who has been informed of the tragedy, said: “I am profoundly touched by the death of these fellow Nigerians who had no idea they were embarking on their last journey.

“As the families of the unfortunate victims mourn, I extend my sympathies to them at this very difficult and trying moment, and pray that Allah comfort and give them the fortitude to bear this irreparable loss.”

The President also commiserated with the government and people of Bauchi State, urging steadfastness in prayer for the souls of the departed, and their families.(NAN)