The Bauchi State Government has warned any individual or group planning to organise any protest, saying there would be no protest taking place in the state.
The Secretary to the State Government, Ibrahim Kashim, while speaking against the backdrop of the planned nationwide protest, dismissed any speculation of protests occurring within the state’s borders.
“On the part of the government, we completely dissociate ourselves from any protest. We are not aware, we are not welcoming any protest, and it’s not going to happen in Bauchi State,” Kashim said.
While highlighting the state’s reputation for peace and tranquility, Kashim emphasized that the government is resolute in maintaining the atmosphere, cautioning the organizers to stage the protest elsewhere and not in Bauchi State.
Hardship: ‘It will never happen’ – Bauchi govt vows to stop planned protest
Hardship: ‘It will never happen’ – Bauchi govt vows to stop planned protest
Trump attacks VP Kamala Harris, labels her a ‘left-wing extremist’
Former US President Donald Trump, on Wednesday, launched a fierce attack on Democratic presidential nominee and vice president, Kamala Harris, branding her a “left-wing extremist” and the “ultraliberal driving force” behind Joe Biden’s policies.
At a campaign rally in Charlotte, North Carolina, Trump claimed Harris would be the most left-wing president “times 10” if elected.
Trump criticized Harris’s record on abortion and immigration, accusing her of supporting the “execution” of babies and overseeing the “deadly destruction” of the US border.
He also mispronounced her first name repeatedly and claimed she was ranked the most liberal member of the US Senate, making Senator Bernie Sanders appear moderate by comparison.
Read Also: Governors meet on local council autonomy, minimum wage
Harris had previously accused Trump of supporting a nationwide abortion ban and wanting to roll back freedoms and rights. Trump responded by calling her a “radical-left lunatic” who would destroy the country if elected, vowing to prevent that from happening.
“She is a radical-left lunatic who will destroy our country if she ever gets the chance to get into office. We are not going to let that happen.
“If you want socialist healthcare, nation-wrecking inflation, the death of American energy, and a lying, radical left-liberal, San Francisco extremist as your commander-in-chief, then Kamala Harris is your candidate,” Trump said.
This marked Trump’s first public campaign event since Biden exited the presidential race and endorsed Harris.
The Republican nominee’s aggressive rhetoric sets the tone for a contentious election season.
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APC NWC calls emergency meetings with state chairmen to address planned protests
The National Working Committee (NWC) of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has convened emergency meetings with its state chairmen to strategize against the upcoming nationwide protests.
Ajibola Basiru, National Secretary of the party, announced the decision following the 153rd NWC meeting held in Abuja on Wednesday where efforts to avert the protests were discussed.
Basiru conveyed the committee’s appeal, stating, “The NWC joined the president to passionately appeal to those who are planning protests to shelve their plans and have confidence and belief in the government to address most of the economic challenges facing the nation.”
He highlighted ongoing efforts by the government to tackle economic issues, noting, “Mr President is gradually implementing programmes and policies that would, in the nearest future, bring succor and relief to the citizens.”
READ ALSO:APC urges Nigerians to shun planned #EndBadGovernance protest
Acknowledging the global nature of many economic challenges, Basiru emphasized the constitutional and political dimensions of the grievances raised, suggesting they require constitutional amendments and policy adjustments.
In urging protesters to trust the government’s commitment to economic revitalization, Basiru also emphasized vigilance among parents and citizens to prevent any potential unrest.
“The NWC further called for an emergency meeting of Chairmen of the APC in all the 36 states of the federation for further discussions,” Basiru concluded.
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Nigerians hungry, you can’t stop August 1 protest – Primate Ayodele to Tinubu
The Leader of INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church, Primate Elijah Ayodele, on Thursday, cautioned President Bola Tinubu not to stop the upcoming August 1 protest against hardship in the country.
Primate Ayodele said Nigerians are very bitter and have formed hatred toward the present government due to the hardship in the country.
In a statement by his Media Aide, Oluwatosin Osho, Ayodele said the protest will hold but the government should work on mitigating the effects by reducing the prices of essential commodities like food, fuel, electricity, etc.
The clergy explained that the current hardship is affecting the poor and rich because many didn’t expect it to get to this level even though he warned them before voting in another APC government.
He urged the president to discard those deceiving him that the economic situation of the country is getting better.
According to Ayodele, ‘’People are very bitter and they have hatred towards this government. Some states will participate and some will not but definitely there will be protests. The government needs all it needs to do; crash the price of food, electricity, petroleum, find solutions to insecurity, regulate prices and others to mitigate the effect of the protest.
‘’People are in serious hardship but the government doesn’t understand, they need to do something fast because it will be more than an ordinary protest. Nigeria doesn’t need this protest now because there is ‘protest inside protest’ due to pains, hardship, and hunger.
‘’This government is just assumption-based; it is not a realistic one so it’s difficult to connect with people or understand their pains. The government must adjust, it’s very simple to stop this protest by doing all that is needed. It will be a protest of hunger, pains and reward.
‘’The government is affecting the rich and poor, there is hardship everywhere but people didn’t expect this. People who surround the government are deceiving him. They want the government to collapse. The government has not done anything so they should expect the protest, it will stand. ‘’
‘’Nigeria deserves better welfare despite the increment in minimum wage, it’s not an achievement but let this government go after a better achievement that the people will be grateful for.’’
Nigerians hungry, you can’t stop August 1 protest – Primate Ayodele to Tinubu
FG unveils first AI project with 500 fellows
The Nigerian government’s efforts to boost the country’s tech industry have received a significant boost with the engagement of 500 fellows from the 3 Million Technical Talent programme by Awarri, the startup selected to build Nigeria’s first Artificial Intelligence.
Awarri, which was launched in November 2023, has grown to a team of 120 staff and has now added 500 data collectors from the government’s programme to support the development of Nigeria’s first Large Language Multilingual Model.
Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, Dr Bosun Tijani, said in a statement posted on his X account on Wednesday, “I’m glad to see the growth of the Awarri team and the engagement of over 500 fellows from our 3MTTNigeria program as data collectors. This is a significant step towards achieving our goal of creating a robust tech ecosystem in Nigeria.”
In April, the minister announced the launch of Nigeria’s first LLM after a four-day AI workshop in Abuja.
The Minister said the project is a collaboration between Awarri, DataDotOrg, the National Information Technology Development Agency and the National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, supported by over 7,000 fellows from the 3MTT programme and $3.5m in funding from various partners.
“The LLM will be trained in five low-resource languages and accented English to ensure stronger language representation in existing datasets for the development of AI solutions,” the minister stated. “The project will also be supported by over 7,000 fellows from the 3MTT programme.”
“The initiative launched under the Renewed Hope agenda, targets training 30,000 individuals in its first phase, focusing on twelve technical skills, including software development and cybersecurity.
“President Bola Tinubu has emphasised the significance of the programme as a cornerstone of his administration’s strategy to create 2 million digital jobs by 2025,” Tijani said.
He viewed the initiative as vital for building Nigeria’s technical talent pool and positioning the country as a net exporter of tech talent.
Reps minority caucus urges dialogue, cautions against protests amid hardship
The Minority Caucus of the House of Representatives has urged the Federal Government to engage in dialogue with planned protesters to address their grievances, emphasizing the need for amicable resolution.
Chairman of the caucus, Kingsley Chinda, speaking to reporters after a meeting in Abuja on Wednesday, expressed concerns about the planned protests amidst prevailing insecurity in parts of the country.
“We also appeal to the government to dialogue with the planned protesters and look at some of the messages they are raising, the critical areas that need government’s intervention,” Chinda stated.
While discouraging protests due to past incidents where peaceful demonstrations were hijacked by criminals, Chinda highlighted the potential risks in the current security climate.
“Some unscrupulous people may use the opportunity to create chaos. Therefore, we are discouraging any protest but we appeal to government to dialogue and also look at critical areas that are necessary and address them amicably,” he emphasized.
Chinda also called for a balanced approach in tackling insecurity, advocating for a “carrot-and-stick” method to effectively protect Nigerians.
Read also: Nigerian govt speaks on how it’ll handle planned protests amid hardship concerns
“We acknowledge the insecurity situation in the country and call on the government to use carrot-and-stick by ensuring that the result is seen and felt by the people. Let all the security chiefs do what is right to ensure Nigerians are protected,” he urged.
Furthermore, the caucus underscored the importance of empowering citizens economically to mitigate the effects of the ongoing economic downturn.
“We also acknowledged in our discussion that there is hunger in the land and we appeal to the government not only to be giving palliatives but to also create ways and means whereby people can be self-reliant,” Chinda added.
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NEPC rallies support for increased non-oil export
The Nigerian Export Promotion Council has solicited stakeholders’ support in the non-oil export market to drive Nigeria’s non-oil export sector.
The NEPC Director, Trade Information Department, Dr Joe Itah, speaking on the sidelines of a two-day Export Mentorship Programme in Lagos on Wednesday, said the move is apt considering the 0.05 per cent decline in non-oil exports the nation recorded in 2023.
Itah said, “Nigeria’s non-oil export is doing well, for instance, we had returned from the Pre-Shipment Inspection Agency and these are reliable figures.
“In 2022, we had a return of N4.8 billion and N4.5 billion in 2023 representing a 0.05 per cent drop due to election and climate change. We can fare better in terms of Nigeria’s non-oil export, but all hands must be on deck.”
He also said it was a result of the decline that the organisation was organising the EMP to raise a new set of exporters to boost Nigeria’s non-oil sector, particularly from the small and medium-scale enterprises who he said the council hopes to grow into formidable exporters of products and services.
According to him, the move would also help these new exporters prepare for the risk involved in the export market terrain in its bid to simplify their routes to export business.
He said, “So we were able to select this number we are training in what we call the zero to export which is a programme that is designed with seven modules starting from the introduction of exports to beginners, documentation through packaging and labelling, through certification and also financing and use of international commercial terminologies for exports and logistics.”
“So at the end of this training of the 70 participants, we hope to bring out what we call semi-champions. We floated this programme with 20 SMEs with 15 graduating that we sent to the fields to work with established exporters,” he said.
Also speaking, a participant at the event, Tai Oyekan, said the programme would help exporters to re-strategize while also keying into the federal government’s policies.
He said, “In fact, we need this kind of programme often. I want to use this medium to appeal to NEPC to train more capacity builders because we have more exporters than capacity builders. Nigeria is a vast nation and would require trainers all over the country to reach out to exporters in different parts of the country. Nigeria is blessed and there is no local government area where you cannot get something to export out of this great country.”
Nigerian govt speaks on how it’ll handle planned protests amid hardship concerns
The Federal Government responded to mounting concerns over national hardship and calls for nationwide protests against President Bola Tinubu’s administration, pledging to handle the situation as a “family matter.”
Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, conveyed the government’s stance following a meeting of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) chaired by Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) George Akume. He emphasized the government’s commitment to resolving issues in a manner that ensures national peace and stability.
“We came together to discuss. You can see that this is not happening at the council chambers, it is happening in the office of the SGF and many of the ministers are here,” Idris stated.
“No one is going to sleep. Those who are agitating and asking for protests are Nigerians, they are our brothers, they are our sisters, they are all Nigerians and those in positions of authority – the ministers, the President, everybody, we are all Nigerians too.”
When asked about engagement with protest organizers, Idris affirmed ongoing dialogue with stakeholders, underscoring the government’s commitment to engaging in the interest of Nigeria’s welfare.
Regarding assertions by notable figures like Senior Advocate of Nigeria Femi Falana that protests should proceed, Idris noted, “He (Falana) is an individual. This is a democracy, everyone is entitled to his opinion.”
Read also: Falana urges govt to dialogue instead of threats against protest organisers
Idris reiterated President Tinubu’s call for calm and patience, urging Nigerians to allow more time for the government to address their concerns. He concluded by emphasizing the government’s dedication to constructive dialogue and peaceful resolution of grievances.
Key ministers present at the meeting included Nyesom Wike (FCT), Yusuf Tuggar (Foreign Affairs), and Bello Matawalle (Defence), among others.
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ICAN president urges new accounting technicians to embrace integrity, accuracy
The President, Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, Davidson Alaribe, has advised new Associate Accounting Technicians of the institute to keep integrity and accuracy as their watchwords.
Alaribe said this on Wednesday at the induction of the 828 Associate Accounting Technicians which was held at the ICAN centre in the Amuwo-Odofun area of Lagos State.
He said, “It is pivotal for you to continuously make accuracy and integrity your watchwords. Ensure you uphold the highest standard of professionalism, ethics and integrity in all your endeavours.
“As you progress in your career, remember to constantly uphold the five fundamental principles of the accounting profession – integrity, objectivity, confidentiality, professional behaviour, and professional competence and due care.
“The institute does not hesitate to mete out appropriate professional discipline to any erring accounting technician through our disciplinary mechanism. As you are being inducted today, let the association’s Code of Ethics, constitution, and by-laws be your professional holy book. Let the code guide you in the provision of your professional services.”
Alaribe led the 828 inductees to take their oaths of allegiance.
Already there are over 32,000 Associate Accounting Technicians of the institute under the umbrella of the Association of Accountancy Bodies in West Africa.
Also, speaking at the event, the ICAN’s Vice President and Chairman, AAT Executive Committee, Haruna Yahaya urged the inductees to “embrace the opportunities for professional development and to contribute positively to the various sectors you will serve.”
Yahaya noted that the skills and knowledge acquired by the inductees would enable them to “make significant impacts, not only in your workplaces but also in the broader economic landscapes of our nation and beyond.”
Miss Ayomide Faleye was named the beneficiary of the star prize, ICAN Silver Scholarship, for her outstanding performance in the preceding examinations diet.
Falana urges govt to dialogue instead of threats against protest organisers
Human rights activist Femi Falana has advised the Federal Government against using threats to deter organizers of the planned nationwide protest concerning the challenging economic conditions in Nigeria.
Speaking in an interview on Channels Television on Wednesday, Falana emphasized, “But threats do not work. In fact, on some occasions, the desperation of the government also has a way of popularizing such protests.”
He urged the government to identify the leaders of the protest movement and engage them in dialogue rather than resorting to intimidation.
Read also: August 1st: There’s no reason for national protest —Gov Uzodimma
“So, this time around, the government should try to identify the leaders of the movement and then engage them, and then the questions be raised. Some demands are being made, and the government should address these demands,” Falana asserted.
Regarding the government’s upcoming address to the nation, Falana highlighted the importance of transparency from governors about their efforts to alleviate hardship nationwide.
“It is also important for governors to really come out and let the people know what they are doing to address hardship in the country which nobody is denying,” he concluded.
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