RSMs Get 50k Cash Gift From Borno Governor

Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno State on Monday offered a cash gift of N50,000 to each of the RSMs at the ongoing 2015 Regimented Sergeant Majors Conference taking place in Maiduguri.

Governor Shettima who was the special guest of honor at the event said that he was happy that Borno State was chosen to host the RSMs whom he described as the "heart of the barracks."

Earlier, the Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen Tukur Buratai had said that the current counterinsurgency operations in the northeast had exposed some flaws in the Nigerian Army.  He said that the flaws were in the areas of discipline, regimentation, professionalism and general conduct.

Given this scenario, Buratai said that his focus is "to restore the long cherished core values of the Nigerian Army through discipline, regimentation and professionalism.

“It is my belief that the attainment of these three cardinal objectives will refocus the Nigerian Army towards a more responsive force that is ever ready to defend the territorial integrity of our nation and effectively undertake all tasks as enshrined in the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

He described the RSMs “as the most important link between the officers and soldiers as well as the custodians and repository of unit regimentation. "

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Expect My Ministers This Month - Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari has assured Nigerians that he will keep his promise to name his ministers this month.

A statement issued by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adeshina said that Buhari gave the assurance in Accra on Monday during a joint press conference with Ghana's President John Mahama.

Reacting to a question on the appointment of ministers, President Buhari said,

“After I was sworn-in,  I said I will have my cabinet in September. I expect that Nigerians should ask me questions after the 30th of September if I do not do so.”

Since assumption of office on May 29, Buhari has been working with directors and permanent secretaries amid concerns in some quarters that his non appointment of his cabinet has been slowing down the country.

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Lack of Vision, Capacity Killing Civil Service - Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari has blamed the decline of Nigerian civil service over the years on the inability of past administrations to articulate a clear vision and develop the requisite capacity for its implementation.

The president spoke through a paper read on his behalf by Vice president Yemi Osinbajo at the launching of capacity building programmes for public servants, Structured Mandatory Assessment-based Training Programme (SMAT-P) and Leadership Enhancement And Development Programme (LEAD-P) at the Old Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

“Here, we’re launching capacity building initiatives designed to strengthen the leadership at all levels in the service and build a new performance management system. But the fundamental questions are: what is the ethos, the ethical and ideological world view that the service is to deliver? To what purpose do we deploy leadership skills and for what ends? How can we measure performance when the objective itself is unclear?

“Without clear answers to these questions, the service will grope in the dark and take the government and people along with it on a blind-leading-the-blind voyage. So, what sort of country do we envision?

“We want to build a nation with the citizen as its reason for being and thus its sole focus and responsibility. The citizen regardless of station in life must be respected by the governing authorities and treated with dignity. Flowing from these is the imperative that our society must be governed by the rule of law administered by a trustworthy, fearless, impartial and efficient judiciary, " he said.

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Power Sector Probe Begins Tuesday

The probe by the Senate into allegations of sharp practices in the power sector will begin on Tuesday.

The Clerk of Senate Ad hoc committee on Power, Cletus A Ojabo said the probe will take the form of investigative hearing cum interactive session.

According to Ojabo, the probe will focus on funds appropriated for the power sector and the unbundling of the PHCN.

The committee which is headed by Senator Abubakar Kyari is mandated to look into allegations of malpractices in the power sector beginning from 1999.

At the inauguration of the committee three weeks ago, Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki had charged it to conduct a comprehensive investigation into the goings on in the entire power value chain.

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Power Sector Probe Begins Tuesday

The probe by the Senate into allegations of sharp practices in the power sector will begin on Tuesday.

The Clerk of Senate Ad hoc committee on Power, Cletus A Ojabo said the probe will take the form of investigative hearing cum interactive session.

According to Ojabo, the probe will focus on funds appropriated for the power sector and the unbundling of the PHCN.

The committee which is headed by Senator Abubakar Kyari is mandated to look into allegations of malpractices in the power sector beginning from 1999.

At the inauguration of the committee three weeks ago, Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki had charged it to conduct a comprehensive investigation into the goings on in the entire power value chain.

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I'm Satisfied With One Point - Oliseh

Super Eagles coach, Sunday Oliseh has expressed his satisfaction with the goalless draw against Tafia Stars of Tanzania in last Saturday's African nations cup qualifier played in Dar es Salaam.

Oliseh told reporters that he was happy to get a draw since his team had a very short time to prepare for the match.

He admitted that certain departments of the team did not do well, but singled out goalkeeper Carl Ikeme for special praise. It was the Wolverhampton Wanderers Keeper's debut game for the national team.

“I can describe the match as a game of two halves because we struggled in the first half but came back strongly in the second half containing the Tanzanians, who also played very well.

“We only had two days to train together just as Ahmed (Musa) said and I am impressed with the way we played even though the striking was blunt but I am optimistic we will work on those mistakes step by step.

“This is far better than game that what we had in Abuja on Wednesday as our first friendly match. With what I have seen of this outing and the period leading to this match, I can confidently say that the third game will be better. And that’s what we’ll keep doing with subsequent matches.

“Our midfield was not covered properly that is why I decided to do some early changes but I don’t want to point at any player.

“Things did not work as planned that’s why I decided to make the change but I don’t want to be negative because I will have time to talk to the player and see how we can correct the mistakes we saw but if we hadn’t made that early change, we would have lost."

“In the second half, we organised ourselves better but lacked that quality supply from the midfield to the attack. But we will get better as we progress.

“We have to continue to build the team. We barely had two good days of training before this match so I am happy with the one point.

“I don’t like to single out players from the team but I have to admit that Carl Ikeme had a great game for us today. It can’t be described decent as you just said; that will be unfair. I think Carl had a very fantastic debut today.”

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Community Leaders On Peace Mission Murdered

The head of Namnai village, Mallam Musa Kachalla and his Ward head, Mallam Manu Jahun were on Sunday murdered by unknown persons on the outskirts of their community in Gassol local government area of Taraba State.

The Chairman of the local government, Mr Tukura Bashir told News Agency of Nigeria, NAN that the community leaders were on their way to settle a dispute between farmers and herdsmen when they were attacked by unknown assailants.

He said that a search party organized by the community when they could not hear from the leaders discovered their blood - soaked bodies.

Confirming the incident, Taraba State Police Public Relations Officer, Mr Joseph Kwaji said that the bodies have been recovered while investigations are ongoing.

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