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FG Approves N110bn For Youth Development Fund, Agric Scheme
Published
1 year agoon
By
Editor
The Federal Government has approved a total of N110 billion to be released for the operation of the newly restructured Youth Development Fund and the investment in agricultural Small and Medium Enterprises.
While N25bn each was appropriated in the 2023 supplementary and 2024 budgets, another N60bn would come from the Central Bank of Nigeria, said the Minister of Youth Development, Jamila Ibrahim, after Monday’s Federal Executive Council meeting at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja.
Ibrahim explained that although the Nigerian Youth Investment Fund was established in 2020, the current administration commissioned a technical committee to review and restructure it with the aim of institutionalising it through a legal framework, which will lead to the establishment of the Nigerian Youth Fund.
“We have secured council’s approval for the immediate release of N25bn from the 2023 supplementary Appropriation Act and an additional 25bn from the 2024 Appropriation Act for the Youth Development Fund appropriation in the budget.
“We also received an additional approval from council for a N60bn release from the Central Bank of Nigeria through the agric investment of a small medium enterprises scheme.
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“This will go a long way to support young businesses and bring a lot of succour to young persons, to strengthen and scale young businesses,” said Ibrahim.
An offshoot of revamped Youth Investment Fund, the Minister said, is the establishment of clusters focused on commodities of comparative advantage across the six geopolitical zones.
She explains, “The spread would be across the Six geopolitical zones in the first phase, and we are already in talks with some state governments. We’re in touch with the Katsina state government, where the clusters will be around the cotton value chain. The cotton cluster has a potential to stimulate the textile garment and fashion industry and employ about 50,000 persons through direct and indirect engagements.
“We are also in talks with the government of Ebonyi State to strengthen the rice-producing communities by empowering the young people and bringing them in clusters to increase rice production and of course, managing the waste that comes from rice production,
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“In states like Niger, we’ve gotten a commitment of over 10,000 hectares of land to commence our cluster formation and then the benefits of clusters actually would go a long way to ensure that we leverage on economics of scale, where we have young people leveraging or sharing rather equipment and infrastructure.”
Ibrahim also revealed that the council has granted approval for the institutionalisation of a 30 percent youth quota in all government appointments and an equitable young women representation inclusive of the 30 per cent.
She said this would address the “Long-standing marginalisation and exclusion of young people in decision making, and will also encourage young people to participate in decision-making processes and in civic engagements. This will in turn lead to young people contributing tremendously to national development agenda.”
Meanwhile, the council approved the report of a basic healthcare provision for a sector-wide approach.
This sector-wide approach will “eliminate the defragmentation” between basic health care centres provision fund and its development partners, said the Minister of State for Health, Mr. Tunji Alausa.
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The basic healthcare care provision fund has three gateways—the primary care gateway, the National Health Insurance gateway, and the emergency services gateway.
Alausa said the sector-wide approach is to “align what our development partners are spending which are basic healthcare provision fund so that we can begin to eliminate the defragmentation that we have in the system where there is no coordination with basic healthcare provision fund and our development partners.
“What we’ve done now is to align and coordinate so that more resources will be directed to our primary health care centres where we’ll have more money to increase the immunisation to children.”
He said the new approach would help direct more money to maternal and child health, sexual and reproductive health, and nutrition for children to be better equipped with better brain development.
More funds will also flow to efforts to fight tuberculosis, HIV & AIDS and improve the welfare of frontline workers, he explained.
“So that memo was brought in for final approval by the Federal Executive Council today, which was approved. But we’re moving through speed to implementing our sector-wide approach,” he affirmed.
Alausa also announced the purchase of state-of-the-art CT Scanners for the Federal Teaching Hospital Gombe, saying, “More of these will be coming to FEC.”
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Headline
Again, Russia Claims Another Village In Ukraine’s Region
Published
2 days agoon
August 25, 2025By
Editor
The Russian army Monday claimed to have captured another village in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region, moving deeper into Ukrainian territory as peace efforts stall.
Russian forces are slowly but steadily gaining ground in costly battles for largely devastated areas in eastern and central Ukraine, normally with few inhabitants or intact buildings left.
Russia’s defence ministry said its forces had seized the settlement of Zaporizke in the region, which Russian troops recently advanced into for the first time in the three-and-a-half-year offensive.
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Kyiv denies that Russian troops have gained a foothold in the Dnipropetrovsk region, an important industrial hub.
After another push by US President Donald Trump to broker a Ukraine-Russia summit, hopes for peace dimmed when Russia last week ruled out any immediate meeting between presidents Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky.
The central region of Dnipropetrovsk has previously been largely spared from fighting that has ravaged swathes of eastern and southern Ukraine, until Russia said its forces broke through in July.
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Dnipropetrovsk is not one of the five Ukrainian regions — Donetsk, Kherson, Lugansk, Zaporizhzhia and Crimea — that Moscow has publicly claimed as Russian territory.
Ukraine said Russia had launched over 100 drones Monday, killing a 37-year old civilian driver and wounding two people in the northeastern Sumy region.
Moscow said Kyiv had launched about two dozen drones targeting western Russia
Headline
US Comedian Reggie Carroll Shot Dead In Mississippi
Published
2 days agoon
August 25, 2025By
Editor
A United States comedian, Reginald “Reggie” Carroll, has been shot dead in Southaven, Mississippi.
The 52-year-old Carroll, widely known as the Knockout King of Comedy, was reportedly killed on Wednesday, August 20, 2025, after sustaining multiple gunshot wounds.
The Southaven Police Department confirmed the incident in a Facebook statement on Saturday.
“Southaven officers located one male victim suffering from gunshot wounds.
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“The officers and medical personnel provided life saving techniques but the individual succumbed to his injuries,” the statement partly read.
The victim was later identified as Carroll, a Baltimore native.
Police said one suspect was arrested and charged with his murder.
“One male is in custody and has been charged with the murder of Reginald Carroll.
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“Our thoughts are with the family of Mr. Carroll.
“Thank you to the community for their patience and understanding,” the department added.
The police further assured that there was no ongoing threat to residents, describing the case as “an isolated shooting.”
Carroll, who built his career in stand-up comedy, gained national recognition touring with Katt Williams and headlining his own showcase, Knockout Kings of Comedy.
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He also featured in the 2000 edition of Showtime at the Apollo, appeared on the UPN sitcom The Parkers alongside Mo’Nique and Countess Vaughn, and starred in the 2022 television film Rent & Go.
In 2023, he produced the stand-up special Knockout Kings of Comedy.
The Southaven Police Department disclosed that an investigation into his death is ongoing.
Headline
US Defends New Social Media Vetting For Nigerian Visa Applicants
Published
2 days agoon
August 25, 2025By
Editor
The U.S. Mission in Nigeria on Monday reaffirmed that the safety and security of the United States remain the cornerstone of its visa application and decision-making process.
The US said this following its directive last week that mandates Nigerians to disclose all social media usernames and handles used over the past five years as part of the visa application process.
US Mission said Nigerian visa applicants must provide a comprehensive list of their social media profiles on the DS-160 visa application form, and warned that omitting the information could lead to visa denials.
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Reacting to the development, the Federal Government said US citizens intending to visit Nigeria will be subjected to the same measures.
“The best we can do is to carry out reciprocal action. Some people from the US might want to apply for a visa, and we will adopt the same measures,” spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kimiebi Ebienfa, said last Monday.
However, in a statement released Monday on X, the US Mission said prospective visa applicants undergo careful vetting to maintain a safe and welcoming environment in the US.
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It said, “The safety and security of the United States is at the heart of every #USVisa application and decision process.
“That’s why prospective applicants undergo careful screening to ensure a safe and welcoming environment for all.”
The Mission added, “These measures help protect American citizens and communities while supporting secure and responsible travel.”
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