News Rendezvous
The Adamawa state governor, Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri, has warned that though the earlier rules imposed by the state to contain the spread of Covid-19 remains in effect, several organisations, business, have continued to flaunt the protocols.
The governor of warns that gatherings of more than fifty people are still banned, individuals are expected to wear Facemask in public gatherings and washing of hands and hand sanitiser must be observed and that any group found not to be in compliance to these rules would be shutdown.
This is contained in a statement issued by the press secretary to the, Humwashi Wonosikou, ane made available to newsmen, Monday, in Yola, Adamawa state.
The statement reads, “The Adamawa State Government has appealed for cooperation and support from the general public in its efforts to contain the new spike in COVID-19 pandemic.
“Governor Fintiri is worried with the lack of compliance to COVID-19 restrictions as Coronavirus Pandemic has emerged as a truly global health crisis.
“I am disappointment that mandated measures to reduce transmission which include advocacy of behaviours like wearing of face masks, social distancing, washing of hands, and restrictions on public gatherings have not been adhered to by the people as guidelines on Restriction Of Movement and Matters Incidental Thereto issued in March, 2020 that is still in force and advise the public to adhere to the provisions.
“Social gatherings of more than 50 people at a time is also still in force.”
Outlining the protocols for the containment of coronavirus in the state the statement reads, “The general public is hereby called upon to adhere strictly to the provisions of the guidelines namely;
“1. Compulsory use of face masks in any public gathering or public transport.
“2. Social distancing in any gathering.
“3. Ensure washing of hands and use of sanitizers.
“4. Hospitality businesses such as Clubs, Cinema halls, Event centres, Conferences and Congresses and other similar gatherings with population beyond 100 remain banned.
“5. Movement between 10 pm and 5 am is also not allowed.
“6. Leaders at Worship centres are therein advised to ensure use of face mask by all, while ensuring social distancing.
“Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri has also pointed out that this is done following identification of a new variant of the COVID-19 virus and directives in line with safety measures by the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 and what Adamawa State Government can do to intensify things to help bring the rate of infections down.
“The Governor has therefore warned that Any Club, Event centre or business premises so directed found contravening this rule will be closed down.
“While security agencies have been directed to ensure strict adherence to these protocols and any other protocol imposed by the Federal Government.
“I am of the view that we should not wait, as happened earlier, for this virus to again spiral out of control before taking action.
“The world is facing a surge in Coronavirus cases and hospital admissions, We want people to follow the rules in order to avoid stricter measures which looks increasingly likely, meanwhile, Government will ensure that all health facilities are prepared and ready to handle any eventualities.”
I, therefore, welcome our Honourable colleagues who in the past few weeks have been saddled with the arduous task of ensuring that the hope of the Executive, particularly that of Mr President, who believes that the January-December target for our budget circle is best for our system, is achieved. I thank you for, once again,, rising to this clarion call to duty to carry out this important mandate and duty of the legislator. I urge you, Honourable colleagues, to give today’s task your best shot, knowing full well that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, alongside its Missions abroad, remains the window and mirror through which the global community sees our country, Nigeria,and that the Ministry as it is today needs more than just the efforts of those directly saddled with handling its affairs to make any desired impacts.
I welcome the Honourable Ministers of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Permanent Secretary, the entire management and staff of the Ministry and salute you all as the veritable gate- keepers and purveyors of our foreign policy goals and ideals. Much as you have on your own done your bit to offer your services where you have found yourselves these past years since overseeing the Ministry,the truth remains that there has not been any marked departure from the poor value that Nigerians have continued to receive across the world.
Nigeria, as a nation, remains the weeping child of the world; we are buffeted on all sides and our nationals still suffer the very poor fate of carrying the green passport that much part of the world hates to see. The problem may not be about you directly,but there is,in the face of yearly allocations and concomitant spendings,a lacklustre performance in all areas where different indices are seen as parameters for scoring. We feel concerned and worried as a nation that we cannot get our international image to fit into the acceptable model of the international community.
We feel concerned that we do not hear of any programmes from the Ministry targetted at changing these narratives. All we continue to witness daily from Ghana to Gabon, South Africa to Libya is that Nigerians remain at the receiving end of, most times, state-supported violence and all forms of ill-treatment in foreign jurisdictions, including Europe, the Americas and Asia.
Today, as we gather to deliberate upon the figures that will determine the outcome of your efforts for the fiscal year 2021, it is only appropriate for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs under your able leadership and our kind partnership to look back at the dying year to assess how we have fared, especially amidst the challenges we confronted with what was allocated to us for the year 2020.
An honest self-assessment, Hon. Ministers, very distinguished colleagues, will offer us the opportunity to see what we can do better in the year ahead. For me, there is no gainsaying the fact that the Foreign Affairs Ministry the way it appears and operates today is hardly the contemplation of its founding fathers.
And in the past few weeks since we have had the opportunity for interaction between the Ministry and us, parliamentarians, we have not hidden our disdain for the level of decay in the system and have also professed the hope that things can get better if we all choose to cooperate to re-enact and re-vitalise the ideals of the founding fathers of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.For instance,we are not happy at the things we saw when we undertook our oversight visit to the headquarters.
We must appreciate the concern of Mr. President for approving and making releases of over USD18 Million, over 1 Million Pounds and over N5 Billion to clear off all the existing liabilities in our Foreign Missions and give a new face to the headquarters in order to start ahead on a clean slate in the new year. This is all part of a wider reform approved by Mr. President.
Yet,all we hear and see is that some are said not to be comfortable with the reform and,in fact,are resistant to it. Let us , therefore,warn that we do not want to see business as usual in the coming year. As a Committee,we emphasise that the oversight function of the Ministry will be strengthened in the coming year in order to ensure that the purpose for which every penny is earmarked is achieved. Any group or individual, therefore,that thinks they should tinker with any parts of the reforms,to us,must be making a huge joke of what Mr. President has approved.
We must appreciate his good intentions. And as a Parliament,we will stand and ensure that the Missions are cleaned up to, at least, represent our country’ s image outside the shores of this nation. Our concern is that no single individual or group should be given the opportunity to feel that they are greater than this country.
In the last few years since we took over this Committee of the House, I have had the opportunity to undertake visits to some of our Missions abroad. In spite of what is ,usually, allocated to these Missions, it is worrying that what we have as Embassies and High Commissions are places whose activities are far from what the nation requires of such places. In principle, every Nigerian Embassy should be a mini-Nigeria; a place where information on our country, our economy and our nationals in such a country should be on the fingertips of those who manage such Embassies’ or High Commissions’ Economic, Information and Cultural Desks.
That is the standard practice everywhere you go in other countries, but again, sadly for us, our Foreign Missions have not seen this to be worth the attention.
In the neighbouring Ghana here,for instance, where there have been constant altercations with Nigerian traders, during the visit with the Rt. Hon. Speaker Gbajabiamila I was taken aback at the level of disconnect between Nigerians and the High Commission.
The High Commission neither has the record of the number of Nigerians in Ghana nor any such important data. This is not right and this Committee expects to see a change in the new year.
Distinguished Members, Honourable Ministers, ladies and gentlemen, it is my honest belief and conviction that this year’s budget should be a game-changer in the activities and programmes of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The reason for the above is not farfetched. At a time that this budget defence has been preceded by the many interactions that the Committee and the Ministry have had in recent weeks, and coupled with the approval of Mr President of reforms that are aimed at moving the Ministry and the Foreign Missions forward, one expects nothing less than a huge success in the activities and programmes of the Ministry in 2021.
Let me, therefore, on a special note convey the appreciation of this Committee to His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, for his uncommon magnanimity at approving that set of reforms in the Foreign Affairs Ministry and backing that action with the necessary finances. Our candid expectation from the Ministry is to ensure a wholesome actualisation of Mr President’s kind directive and action.
I cannot end this address without making some copious observations in your budget proposals. But, as our traditions as lawmakers demand, Honourable colleagues, I believe we will have the opportunity to do justice to your findings when the line-by-line consideration of what we have before us comes up.
While we may have pointed out some gross disparities between expenditures and work actually done in the 2020 budget during our oversight visit to the Ministry’s headquarters, our intentions are that,iin line with the vision of the Buhari Administration, assist ourselves and our nation to ensure that every kobo in the budget estimates is judiciously applied in order to achieve the highest intended benefits and utility for our people.
Once again, Honourable colleagues, Ministers, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, I thank you all for coming and invite you to make the best of this session.
Rt. Hon. Yusuf Buba Yakub , MHR
Committee Chairman.
Pictures of Looting Across the country
Pictures of Looting Across the countryDogo made this known in a statement made available to Daily Rendezvous, Tuesday.Dogo said, “Since the flagging off of this Fresh Air government, it has been unapologetically committed to addressing the needs of the people of this state especially the young and the poor.”So, for anyone one to suggests that a federal government Palliatives has been lying dormant in the stores while our people languish in hunger is absolutely absurd and irresponsible.”The Palliatives from the federal government has long been distributed across the twenty one local governments of the state, the ones looted by mob action were the ones sent in by donors and a larger part of them are yet to arrive, that was why it has not been distributed yet.”The entire essence of governor Fintiri’s conversation to the effect that the palliatives looted were not the ones received from the federal government is being twisted to suggests that the state government never received any palliatives from the federal.
Pictures of Looting Across the country“That answer was specific and a direct response to a question as to whether the state government has received any palliatives and failed to deliver it to the people.”He added that, “And I must say that as painful as situations are, the truth about some things that happened in this state yesterday was not the doing of governor Fintiri but the pains in the hearts of people was high and no matter how you explain they feel it is just right to give it out.”The truth is what I have not even said, the policy behind palliative is that it is to be given in batches within the period of events from the warehouses as soon as the items were delivered.”This means they are meant for control so that suddenly it never goes empty. But I thank God the main stock of rice from CaCovid partners have not arrived.”Also, note that what we feared at the beginning actually came to pass, some decent people wanted food but you must have seen that there are some evil people who have been lurking in the corner, seeking for opportunity to wreck havoc on the society and that was what actually happened.
Pictures of Looting Across the country“We all protested for SARS reform because of its several human rights violations records but I voiced out that it was wrong to demand for its scrapping without an alternative as it would create a security vacuum.”I maintained that we could maintain SWAT as an alternative, while the endSARS advocates discuss details of gradual reforms and changes in the force as Nigerians cries have reached a crescendo.”But this recklessness only lend sleeper criminal cells like the “Shila Boys” the opportunity to once again unleash terror on innocent citizens of Adamawa after their activities have been eliminated.”The truth is always seen as lies when it is laced with sentiments especially political ones.”Governor Fintiri has by far the best record as the most listening governor and a people friendly government.”When public outcries began to register across the Country, what we expect and hoped for was that it would be done with grace, respect for one another and with caution because when good causes are intercepted by criminal elements, disgruntled politicians and members of the public, the good message could be lost in the band wagon effect.
Pictures of Looting Across the country“What we witnessed in Adamawa in the past two days was a mob action that lend a helping hand to criminals and men of the underworld who went about wrecking havoc and threatening innocent citizens with violence and unfortunately led to some deaths, and governor Fintiri is saddened by that because he would that not mind, (though not endorsing it,) that every food item is carted away and no man was hurt in anyway.”That is not what we want, that was not what the protests wants to achieve and that is not what well meaning citizens look forward to.”
