Connect with us

Headline

Buhari Directs SGF, CoS, To Appoint Qualified Youths In MDAs

Published

on

President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday in Abuja said he will support the aspirations of credible and committed young people who are vying for positions in the February 26 national convention of the All Progressives Congress.

This is as he mandated his Chief of Staff, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, to ensure that all Ministers and Heads of agencies include young people with the requisite skills and experience in all Boards and Committees of the Federal Government.

Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, disclosed this in a statement he signed on Friday, titled ‘Ensure young people with requisite skills get board appointment, President Buhari directs SGF, chief of staff, ministers’.

Advertisement

Buhari gave the assurance while receiving members of the All Progressives Congress National Youth Lobby Group at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

He said, ”I will also support the aspirations of credible and committed young people who are vying for positions in the upcoming convention.

”It is also in our interest to ensure the longevity of our party by standardizing and institutionalizing the leadership recruitment system. Hard working and exemplary individuals should be identified and encouraged and mentored.

Advertisement

”It should be a deliberate policy of the progressives in ensuring that we have a robust succession plan in place.”

The President also directed the SGF, Mustapha, to submit a report on the inclusion of young people on boards and committees that are yet to be constituted, next month.

He further asked his Chief of Staff and the SGF to ensure monthly engagements with the APC Youth Lobby group for better synergy and cross pollination of ideas and opportunities.

Advertisement

While urging senior government officials to explore the establishment of a Committee of young people to form the monitoring and evaluation team of ongoing Federal Government projects across the country, Buhari said the committee would provide feedback to enable his government to hold public officers to account.

Buhari welcomed the idea of the establishment of a Presidential Committee on Youth in liaison with the youth leader, requesting the SGF and the Chief of Staff to work out the modalities for its operationalisation.

He told the Ismaeel Ahmed-led APC Youth Lobby Group that the leadership of the party would ensure full participation of young people at all levels.

Advertisement

Commending members of the APC National Youth Lobby group for their work, he said: ”You are not begging, but negotiating, staking a claim and seeking to add value, which is admirable.”

He urged them to help the party achieve a successful Convention on February 26, 2022, and in subsequent elections in Ekiti and Osun States.

Buhari also declared that APC must be made attractive for younger people to continuously take ownership of it because that is the future, and ”that is what progress means.”

Advertisement

Expressing support for the establishment of the Progressive Institute for the party, the President said: ”The party must have an Institute where its ethos, character and mantra are inculcated in our members. I will rely on you to share the concept note for further action.”

He endorsed the 2021 APC Youth Conference Report presented to him, assuring the Group that the recommendations in the report that are within his own remit would be given favourable consideration.

He also promised to encourage the leadership of the States and the party to implement the recommendations of the report for the benefit of young progressives.

Advertisement

On his part, the APC youth leader who described the President as the leader of the party and moral compass of the nation, thanked him for sending a powerful delegation to the Progressive Youth Conference in June 2021, “demonstrating that the present government believes in young people.”

”Mr President, young people in Nigeria believe in your capacity and the history of your public service. You joined the Army at the age of 20, you joined the war to save the country at the age of 25, became a governor at the age of 33, minister at 36 and Head of State at 41.

“You joined politics at the age of 60 and was elected President at the age of 72. You have demonstrated through your personal example, the integrity that very few people have had the opportunity to demonstrate in the country,” he said.

Advertisement

On the forthcoming APC convention, Ahmed appealed to the President to speak for the ”young people whenever we are not there to speak for ourselves, as you have always done.”

Advertisement
Comments

Headline

Welcome Home, Israel Confirms Return Of 20 Hostages From Gaza

Published

on

Israel said that the last 20 living hostages released by Hamas on Monday had arrived in the country.

“Welcome home,” the foreign ministry wrote in a series of posts on X, hailing the return of Matan Angrest, Gali Berman, Ziv Berman, Elkana Bohbot, Rom Braslavski, Nimrod Cohen, David Cunio, Ariel Cunio, Evyatar David, Guy Gilboa Dalal, Maxim Herkin, Eitan Horn, Segev Kalfon, Bar Kuperstein, Omri Miran, Eitan Mor, Yosef Haim Ohana, Alon Ohel, Avinatan Or and Matan Zangauker.

READ ALSO:Trump Gives Update On Israel, Hamas Peace Deal

Advertisement

AFP

 

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Headline

20 Members Of Gang Blacklisted By US Escape Guatemala Prison

Published

on

Twenty members of a gang designated a “foreign terrorist organisation” by the United States have escaped from detention in Guatemala, a prison chief said Sunday.

The members of the Barrio 18 gang “evaded security controls” at the Fraijanes II facility, prison director Ludin Godinez said at a news conference.

He received “an intelligence report” on Friday warning about the “possible escape” from the prison, which is southeast of the capital, Guatemala City.

Advertisement

Godinez said they were investigating possible acts of corruption.

READ ALSO:China’s Trade Surges Despite US Tariff Threats

Washington last month blacklisted Barrio 18, an El Salvador-based gang which has a reputation for violence and extortion, as part of its crackdown on drug trafficking.

Advertisement

The US embassy in Guatemala condemned the prison escape as “utterly unacceptable.”

“The United States designated members of this heinous group as the terrorists they are and will hold accountable anyone who has provided, provides, or decides to provide material support to these fugitives or other gang members,” the embassy said on X.

It called on the Guatemalan government to “act immediately and vigorously to recapture these terrorists.”

Advertisement

READ ALSO:US Threatens To Sanction Countries That Vote For Shipping Carbon Tax

According to Interior Minister Francisco Jimenez, there are about 12,000 gang members and collaborators in Guatemala, while another 3,000 are in prison.

The country’s homicide rate has increased from 16.1 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2024 to 17.65 this year, more than double the world average, according to the Centre for National Economic Research.

Advertisement

According to the Salvadoran government, the gangs Barrio 18 and Mara Salvatrucha, better known as MS-13, are responsible for the deaths of about 200,000 people over three decades.

The two gangs once controlled an estimated 80 percent of El Salvador, which had one of the highest homicide rates in the world.

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Headline

South Africa Bus Crash Kills 40 Including Malawi, Zimbabwe Nationals

Published

on

At least 40 people, including nationals of Malawi and Zimbabwe, were killed when a passenger bus rolled down an embankment in South Africa, a provincial transport minister said Monday.

The bus travelling to Zimbabwe crashed around 90 kilometres (55 miles) from the border on Sunday after the driver apparently lost control, Limpopo province transport minister Violet Mathye said.

“They are still working on the scene, but 40 bodies have already been confirmed to date,” Mathye told the Newzroom Afrika channel. The dead included a 10-month-old girl, she said.

Advertisement

READ ALSO:South African Court Finds Radical Politician Malema Guilty On Gun Charges

Thirty-eight people were in hospital and rescuers were searching for other victims, she told eNCA media.

The bus was travelling from the southern city of Gqeberha, around 1,500 kilometres away, and its passengers included Malawians and Zimbabweans who were working in South Africa. The crash may have been caused by driver fatigue or a mechanical fault, the minister said.

Advertisement

South Africa has a sophisticated and busy road network with a high rate of road deaths, blamed mostly on speeding, reckless driving and unroadworthy vehicles.

AFP

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Trending