Headline

COVID-19: FG Spends N104bn On Handwashing, Youth Programmes

Published

4 years ago

November 14, 2021

The Federal Government through the Ministry of Water Resources got N9.9bn from the N2.3tn COVID-19 intervention fund to implement the ‘wash programme’ which involves water sanitation and health projects.

This is just as N94bn was disbursed for youth empowerment and job creation.

These details were revealed by the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning in response to a Freedom of Information request sent to the ministry by human rights lawyer, Mr Femi Falana (SAN).

The document titled, ‘Re: Request for Information on Utilisation of the Sum of N1.5tn Spent by the Federal Government of Nigeria on Managing the Effect of COVID-19,’ was signed by the Director, National Monitoring and Evaluation at the ministry, Dr Zakari Lawal.

The document obtained by The PUNCH correspondent showed that in June 2020, the Federal Executive Council approved a N2.3tn stimulus plan proposed in the Nigeria Economic Sustainability Plan designed to support the nation’s economy to mitigate the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.

N500bn was to be disbursed to ministries, departments and agencies, while the balance was to be disbursed to the private sector by the Central Bank of Nigeria.

The document showed that out of the N2.3tn, about N1.9tn had been disbursed.

While N94bn was released for youth engagement and job creation, health equipment and related issues gulped N128.5bn.

The Ministry of Youth and Sport Development got N690m to train 150 youths to become agro-technicians and 150 youths to become solar technicians.

The ministry also got N2bn to train 1,600 youths to become digital professionals and N1.1bn to provide 2,700 youths with work experience.

The sum of N1.5bn was released to the ministry to build six ICT centres in Kano, Bauchi, Plateau, Anambra, Cross River, Osun and 24 vocational centres nationwide.

The international Centre for Women Development, under the Ministry Of Women Affairs, got N250m for a job creation scheme post-COVID-19. It also got N1bn for job creation scheme post-COVID-19: Equipment for vocational skills training in the six geopolitical zones.

The Ministry Of Communications and Digital Economy received N1bn for job creation scheme post-COVID-19: Entrepreneurship and vocational training in the six geopolitical zones to support digital skills gaps and provision of subsidised training for qualified candidates across the country.

The Federal Government also released N2bn to the communications ministry for the job creation scheme post-COVID-19: Establishment of centres of excellence and labs for robotic, 3-D printing, IoT, big data analytics and block chain.

The National Directorate of Employment got N52bn to engage youths and for business training.

The Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management, and Social Development was given N32.5bn to provide a social intervention programme.

The Ministry of Health got N1bn for surveillance and epidemiology; N10.2bn for laboratory; N310.4m for point of entry; N133.6m for infection prevention and control; N1.8bn for case management; N89m for health-related communication; and N75m for research and development.

It also got N6.5bn for NCDC, N10bn to support Lagos State, 1bn to support pharmaceutical industries for raw materials not used, N20bn for hazard allowance, N2.5bn for contingencies, N10bn for food and drug services and local production of vaccines.

As an extension of the support provided to health care in the country, the sum of N18.4bn was disbursed across 52 federal teaching hospitals and federal medical centres to equip 10-bedded intensive care units.

The 52 health centres received N5.2bn to equip isolation treatment centres; N7.8bn to procure personal protective equipment for all federal tertiary health institutions; and N18bn to procure molecular laboratory equipment.

The sum of N2b each was released for reagents and equipment for COVID-19 related laboratory services to the national agency for food and drug administration, Nigerian institute of medical research, national institute for pharmaceutical research and development, and Nigeria centre for disease control.

The National Agency for Food and Drug Control also got another N2bn to upgrade laboratory testing of vaccines.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research got N1bn for an upgrade of laboratory equipment, the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development got another N2bn for research and development.

The Federal Fire Service received N1.5bn for provision of COVID-19 kits and other medical equipment, the national correctional service got N951.1m for rehabilitation, provision, and maintenance of health facilities and correctional services revamps in six geopolitical zones.

While the public sector received about 490bn, the private sector got about 1.4tn.

The Ministry Of Finance, Budget, And National Planning got N750m for monitoring and evaluating the Economic Sustainability Plan and N36bn as measures to support states.

While the National Commission For Refugee Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons for N2.5bn, the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation got N250m to support the activities of the economic sustainability committee.

The Nigeria Police Force and Nigerian Air Force received N10bn and N2.7bn, respectively, as support for their operations.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development got about N56.5bn. From the total, N17.2bn was for the payment of five per cent interest on CBN loan to farmers; N27bn was for farmer/farm registration and mapping 50 per cent sampling; about N2.5bn was for land preparation; and 34bn for rural roads in the six geopolitical zones.

The Rural Electricity Agency got N12.4bn, which was used for mass rural electrification and solar power strategy.

The Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade, And Investment got N75bn to support small businesses.

While the Federal Road Maintenance Agency got N60bn to repair roads, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence corps got N539.7m.

The Ministry Of Mines And Steel Development got N6bn for artisanal and small-scale miners.

The Ministry Of Aviation received N5bn as bailout support to the aviation sector.

In the private sector, some MDAs were in charge of coordinating the funding support to the private sector. For instance, the federal Ministry Of Agriculture And Rural Development for N471.7bn for interest-free loans to farmers under the agriculture jobs and food programmes.

N200bn was given to the family homes fund for jobs through homes programmes.

While the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria was given N40bn, the federal housing authority got N26bn to construct homes.

The Ministry Of Power through REA got N140bn for energy for all solar power strategies.

The Ministry Of Petroleum Resources got N90bn for the national gas expansion programme.

The Ministry Of Trade, through the Bank of Industry got N250bn to support MSMEs.

The Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management, and social development got N47bn for NP: skills and entrepreneurship, while the Finance Ministry got N72.9bn to support health systems.

Headline

Morocco Jails Student One Year Over Gen Z Protest

Published

17 hours ago

October 17, 2025

Editor

A student arrested during Morocco’s youth-led protests has been sentenced to one year in prison, his lawyer told AFP on Friday.

The case marks the first publicly known prison sentence linked to the kingdom’s Gen Z demonstrations, which have been held near-daily between late September and last week to demand social and political reforms.

The student was charged with “participating in an unauthorised and unarmed gathering” and “insulting the judicial police by providing false information”, lawyer Mohamed Nouini said.

“The ruling is unfair, and we will appeal,” he added, arguing that sit-ins did not require authorisation as per a Supreme Court precedent.

The lawyer said his client was arrested on September 30, three days after the protests erupted in the North African country.

According to a report by news website Hespress, citing another lawyer, the student’s arrest was “an unfortunate coincidence” as he was in Casablanca for a family visit.

The other lawyer, Mohamed Lakhdar, told the judge the student had “not insulted” police nor provided false information, telling them he “was just a student”, according to the report.

Hundreds were arrested during the early days of the largely peaceful demonstrations.

Some cities had seen spates of violence and acts of vandalism, while authorities have said three people were killed by police acting in “self-defence” during clashes in a village near Agadir.

The Moroccan Association for Human Rights (AMDH) has said roughly 550 people are facing prosecution on suspicion of joining the protests, with some still in detention.

The organisers of the online-based movement behind the nationwide protests, the GenZ 212 youth collective, remain unknown.

The collective has called for “peaceful sit-ins” on Saturday and demanded the release of those arrested during the demonstrations.

The protest came after the deaths of eight pregnant women during Caesarean sections at a hospital in Agadir.

But protesters have also demanded reforms to the education system and a change of government.
AFP

Headline

Trump Refiles $15bn Defamation Lawsuit Against New York Times

Published

18 hours ago

October 17, 2025

Editor

US President Donald Trump has refiled a $15 billion defamation lawsuit against The New York Times, court documents show, weeks after it was thrown out by a federal judge.

Trump has intensified his long-established hostility toward the media since his return to the White House, and the suit is one of numerous attacks against news organizations he accuses of bias against him.

The Times’ complaint was thrown out in September because District Judge Steven Merryday took exception to its florid writing, repetitive and laudatory praise of Trump, and its excessive 85-page length.

The suit filed Thursday in Florida and seen by AFP runs to less than half the length, at 40 pages.

It takes aim at “false, defamatory, and malicious publications”, highlighting a book and two Times articles.

The lawsuit named the newspaper, three Times reporters and the publisher Penguin Random House as defendants.

It accuses them of making defamatory statements against Trump “with actual malice.”

“The statements in question wrongly defame and disparage President Trump’s hard-earned professional reputation, which he painstakingly built for decades” before entering the White House, the lawsuit says.

The court was asked to grant compensatory damages of not less than $15 billion and additional punitive damages “in an amount to be determined upon trial.”

Trump’s attacks on media outlets have seen him restrict access, badmouth journalists critical of his administration, and bring lawsuits demanding huge amounts of compensation.

In July, Trump sued media magnate Rupert Murdoch and The Wall Street Journal for at least $10 billion after it reported on the existence of a book and a letter he allegedly sent to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Paramount settled Trump’s lawsuit over election coverage on CBS News’ flagship show “60 Minutes” for $16 million the same month. He had alleged that the program deceptively edited an interview with his 2024 election rival, Kamala Harris, in her favor.

AFP

Headline

Italian Journalist’s Car Bombed, No Casualties

Published

18 hours ago

October 17, 2025

Editor

A bomb destroyed the vehicle of a prominent Italian journalist overnight, without causing casualties, his investigative television news show announced Friday.

Sigfrido Ranucci’s car blew up in an explosion in Pomezia, near Rome, that also damaged the family’s other car and the house next door, according to Report, which broadcasts on RAI public television.

“The force of the explosion was so strong that it could have killed anyone passing by at the moment,” it said in a statement on X.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni strongly condemned what she called a “serious act of intimidation”.

Inside Kwara Community, Ijara-Isin, Where Residents Have Own ‘Currency’

“The freedom and independence of information are non-negotiable values of our democracies, which we will continue to defend,” she wrote on X.

Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said he had ordered an increase in the journalist’s security “to the maximum”.

He called the attack a “cowardly and extremely serious act that represents an attack not only on the person but on the freedom of the press and the fundamental values of our democracy”.

The Report show is known for its in-depth investigative reports.

According to the campaign group Reporters Without Borders (RSF), Italy ranks 49th in the world in terms of press freedom.

“Journalists who investigate organised crime and corruption are systematically threatened and sometimes subjected to physical violence for their investigative work,” it said in its latest update.

About 20 journalists currently live under permanent police protection after being the targets of intimidation and attacks, it added.

AFP