In violation of the order by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory and the Federal Ministry of Housing, officials of the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) have recommenced the allocation of car parks and open spaces earmarked for public conveniences in their estates. Most affected are the Cornershops within their estates where parking spaces, access roads and setbacks are being allocated for development by individuals.

Last Tuesday, some of the legal shop owners whose buildings and access roads are most impacted by the illegal developments, petitioned the Executive Director (Estate Services), Arch. Ezekiel Nya-Etok over the matter. They demanded a halt to such private developments, and the indiscriminate allocations of setbacks and open spaces meant for public convenience within the Sector ‘F’ Corner shops.

In 2023 when the controversial allocations first started at the Cornershops of the FHA Estate in Lugbe, a violent confrontation had ensued when owners of Corner shops at Sector ‘F’ resisted attempts to build new shops on the setbacks from the adjourning road which would block entrance to existing shops.

The indiscriminate building of new shops on setbacks between existing buildings and the roads were allegedly approved by officials of the Federal Housing Authority which owns the estate, in clear violation of their own masterplan.

One of the beneficiaries, Emmanuel Amos Adebayo, who said he was allocated one of the setbacks for his private office, was prevented from building the office. The adjourning shop owners had alerted the Lugbe police station when the matter nearly resulted into violent confrontation between Adebayo’s workers and staff of Fingerprint Communications Limited which operates the DSTV franchise in Lugbe. They insisted that the space was the only setback between their office, which was once occupied by Happy Note Microfinance Bank, and the access road.

The Police officer, Inspector Samuel Olusola, who arrived at the site to forestall any violence, eventually took Mr. Adebayo and his construction workers to the Lugbe police station. The DPO, Supt. Ugochukwu later ordered Mr. Adebayo to stay action while all the parties seek further clarification from the Federal Housing Authority.

A copy of the building approval in Mr. Adebayo’s possesion was signed by one Ms. Queen Phillips, a staff of the FHA field office in Lugbe. Our enquiries at the office however revealed that Ms. Phillips who purportedly signed the document has since been redeployed to the FHA office in Gwarinpa. It is not clear whether her deployment had to do with such controversial allocations.

Head of the Town Planning department at the Federal Housing Authority, Surveyor Eyong had denied knowledge of such allocation. He however met some of the allottees and shop-owners mostly impacted by the illegal allocations, and thereafter halted any further developments. 

Last week, following the retirement of Surveyor Eyong, Mr. Adebayo and other allotees returned to site, prompting another round of heated exchanges at the Cornershops.

Investigations reveal that the controversial allocations commenced shortly before the Housing and Urban Development Minister, Alhaji Musa Dangiwa, assumed duty. 

Many of the shop owners at the Lugbe Cornershops who spoke to reporters on the matter, lamented that many of the Cornershops in Lugbe have been turned into residential homes allegedly with the connivance of FHA field office in Lugbe. The FCT Minister who has frowned at such indiscriminate constructions, insists that such buildings which have turned Lugbe and other settlements into big slums and hide-outs for hoodlums, will be demolished.

The attention of Anambra State Government has been drawn to a malicious and deliberately fabricated online publication and social media comments making spurious claims that the Governor of Anambra State, Professor Chukwuma Charles Soludo, CFR, consulted a native doctor regarding his reelection prospects. The State Government hereby debunks the allegations as totally false. 

For the interest of the general public, the video clip being maliciously circulated and misrepresented, as evidence of native doctor consultation, was taken during a recent official government meeting with Anambra-based content creators. The session, facilitated by the Special Senior Assistant to the Governor on New Media, Mazi Ejimofor Opara, was organised to strengthen the partnership between the State Government and the creative industry as part of Governor Soludo’s commitment in encouraging and supporting Anambra’s creative economy.

During the interactive session, content creators were encouraged to showcase their talents, ask questions, and share their concerns about the creative industry in the state. As part of the presentations, one of the content creators performed a native doctor skit, a common comic genre in Nigerian entertainment, to demonstrate their creative abilities to the Governor and other officials present. This was purely an entertainment performance by a content creator, not a consultation session. 

The State Government thus found it deeply disappointing that critics and political opponents would stoop so low as to deliberately fabricate malicious narratives from an innocent entertainment performance and spread misinformation to mislead the public. 

Rather than engage in frivolous consultations, Governor Soludo has consistently demonstrated his commitment to developing Anambra’s creative economy through investment plans as part of the state’s economic diversification strategy. The recently commissioned SOLUTION FUN CITY project is part of such investment plans.  

The State Government also clarified that Governor Soludo does not need consultations with any native doctor to win reelection, as he relies solely on the support of Ndi Anambra based on his impressive performance and focus on delivering the SOLUTION AGENDA by transforming Anambra State into a livable and prosperous homeland.

Therefore, the Anambra State Government calls on Ndi Anambra, media channels and social media users to disregard the misinformation concerning the circulated video clip. The public is also urged to always verify information before sharing or amplifying content and reject malicious stories sponsored to mislead the public. 

As always, Governor Soludo remains committed to the development of Anambra State and will not be deterred by the antics of desperate political opponents who have chosen the path of falsehood over constructive engagement.

Signed:

Christian Aburime

Press Secretary to the Governor

The Federal Civil Service Commission (FCSC) has dismissed reports claiming it has 10,000 job openings, describing the information as false and misleading.

In a statement released on Tuesday and signed by the Commission’s Head of Press and Public Relations, Taiwo Hassan, the FCSC clarified that only 2,130 vacancies were available under its recently concluded online recruitment exercise, which ended on March 17.

“The attention of the Federal Civil Service Commission has been drawn to a publication circulating on conventional and online media, which stated that the Commission’s available vacancies were 10,000. This is not true,” the statement read.

It also announced that the shortlisting process had been completed, and candidates selected for the next stage—the Computer-Based Test (CBT)—would be notified through various media platforms and its official website: www.fedcivilservice.gov.ng.

[TheNation]

The focus of the Federal Civil Service Commission ( FCSC) on enthroning meritocracy in the nation's civil service is in sync with President Bola Tinubu's Renewed Hope Agenda, especially his expressed desire to run a government of national competence, according to Prof. Tunji Olaopa.

Prof. Olaopa who is the Chairman of the FCSC, spoke at the weekend at a meeting during the courtesy call by the leadership of the Alumni Association of Legislative Mentorship Initiative (LMI).

The executive of LMI was led by its President, Abubakar Tijjani-Garba, during a courtesy visit to Olaopa in his office in Abuja.

The LMI is a fellowship founded by Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, CFR, the 9th Speaker of the House of Representatives and the current Chief of Staff to the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR.

According to Olaopa, the FCSC is being repositioned to restore the prime place of merit in career management in the civil service, through a concerted strategy for a structured and more systematic execution of the merit principle, and therewith, reprofile its application in the implementation of the federal character policy within the framework of an overarching strategy to restore competency-based operations and human resource management in the civil service.

To him, the overall objective of the quest for meritocracy is the recreation of the glorious days of the civil service of the 1960s and the 1970s and thereby transform the service into a world-class institution.

The professor of public administration said that even before he was appointed as the chairman of the FCSC, he had been interested in the notion of a government of national competence as espoused by His Excellency the President. Thus, he is interested in creating an enabling climate within the space governed by the FCSC, that will encourage more talented youths and high-end professionals to want to make a career in the public service.

According to him, the FCSC is aware of the imperative to make the civil service attractive to the millennial generation and Gen Z.

He said this whole dynamic will lead to job re-evaluation, the rethinking of the intellectual bases of skills of the many cadres in the service and their re-skilling, and institution of a more competitive and affordable wage system operated within technical-rational parameters as a "basis for significant restoration of the Federal Government status as an employer of choice in the national economy".

While he noted the importance of youths showing interest in the civil service, he, however, acknowledged that the sector is not meant for all-comers.

According to him, some youths will go into the military, the private sector, self-employment and other endeavours outside the civil service. Meaning that there is a specific orientation that recommends a professional public servant and some distinct attributes that stand him or her out.

Acknowledging the vital place of the youths in national development, Olaopa said that they "constitute a template for rewriting the dynamism of the national project burdened by the tragic narratives of ethno-regional and religious issues ".

Consequently, he noted that whatever would strengthen what he identified as the youth agenda would require significant reforms in the public, civic society and in the education sector. Thus for him, what is needed in the educational sector is not just book learning but intentional drive to support mental remodeling to build national capacity for "learning to live together" as " a significant component of national values reorientation to harness and transform our diversity into a defining social capital".

In this regard, he commended the vision of Gbajabiamila to prepare the younger Nigerians through LMI for pubic sector leadership. He said Gbajabiamila continued to commit his resources to LMI even after transiting from the position of the Speaker of the House of Representatives to the office of the Chief of Staff to the President.

Earlier, Tijjani-Garba said that they were at the commission to express appreciation to Olaopa for his contribution to LMI and especially his role as a mentor to its members. He said his books had greatly impacted their lives.

Tijjani-Garba outlined some of the coming programmes of the LMI that he urged Olaopa to support. They include the birthday of LMI's founder Gbajabiamila that will be celebrated on Democracy Day.

Other programmes include the launch of an alumni book where they want Olaopa to be the reviewer , and a pre-United Nations Assembly event.

The members of the LMI also want to canvass a review of the nation's educational curriculum and embark on a give-back to the community programme that include tree planting and a novelty match.

LMI fellowship is designed to equip young Nigerians with the necessary knowledge, skills, competence and experience to take on public sector leadership effectively. Since its inception in 2022, it has recorded significant milestones and graduated exceptional young leaders that have gone on to assumed important leadership roles across the country.