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Olawande vacates Seat as Minister for the Winner of IDG Essay Competition

Published

2 days ago

October 14, 2024

Joel Ajayi

As part of activities to mark the International Day of the Girl Child, the Minister of State for Youth Development, Comrade Ayodele Olawande vacated his seat as Minister for the winner of this year’s International Day of the Girl Child, IDG Essay Competition to serve as Minister for a day.

This, according to the Honourable Minister is one of the steps being taken to break down the barriers faced by girl-child and create society that values, empowers and nurtures them.

At the “Girls Future Conference” with the theme: “Girls Vision for the Future”, organised by the Office of the Minister of state for Youth Development in collaboration with United Nations Fund for Population Activities, now renamed as United Nations Population Fund & Girl & Youth Re-integration Network, held at Afolabi hall of the Ministry in Abuja,Olawande stated that “the girl-child is not just part of Nigeria’s future. It is the future of Nigeria and by investing in their education, safety and empowerment, we are investing in prosperity, peace and progress of our nation”.

“As we can see today now that history has been made as we have a girl-child Minister of state for Youth Development for a day. What does this mean? It is to tell and encourage them that you can do whatever you want in order to become somebody that the whole nation will reckon with. This implies that she can sit down and be in the office as Minister to take decisions that will influence and improve the well being of girl-child’s life”,he further stated.

“We have a lot of MDAs that seek to the well being of girl-child like Ministry of Youth Development, Humanitarian & Disaster Management, Ministry of Labour and Employment, Ministry of Women affairs and so on but what we need among these MDAs is collaboration in order to make things happen for the upliftment of the girl-child, and when they make things happen, men follow”, the Minister opined.

In the same vein, the winner of the IDG Essay Competition, Esther Adesoye, a hundred level law student at University of Abuja,who is from Osun State, while delivering her speech after the handing over as a day Minister stated: “this is one of the best things that happened to me this year and so far in my life which I never expected. I have always aspire to be a change maker/change agent and a leader in this country, local government, and even in my small cycle but I never knew that one day, I will be presented with such opportunity as this. Indeed, it is a great honour and privilege to take this position for a day, and I really appreciate every single person”.

According to Adesoye, 7.6 Million girls are out of school in Nigeria, 3.9 Million at the primary and secondary school levels. In fact, more than 50 percent of girls are not attending school at the basic education level and each cohort, 1 Million girls drop out of school between the first and last year of primary school, and 0.6 Million between primary six and Junior Secondary School.

“This is a very disturbing figure indeed for the future of Nigeria as education is everyone’s right, and it is one of the crucial aspects of empowerment for women and every single citizen in this country.

Educated women contribute greatly to the society’s development and they can share the responsibilities with men in every walk of life”, she reiterated.

“Times have changed now, and girls who are and were entrusted by their parents and society are doing great and wonders in every field in the world today as we can see examples like late Dora Akunyili, Ngozi Okonjo Iweala, Ibukun Awosika and other women who indeed utilised the importance and power of girl-child education.Thus, it is important that girl-child education is promoted. In envision the future of Nigeria, I see a country where technological advancements are honoured to uplift humanity and preserve our girl-child and our intellect, a future where education becomes accessible to all genders of both male and female alike in the country”, she concluded.

In his remarks, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Youth Development, Mr Olubunmi Olusanya, who was represented by Director, Enterprise Development & Promotion, Prince Olugbenga Momoh, appreciated comrade Ayodele Olawande for the various initiatives that Nigerian youths have benefitted under his watch since he assumed office as Minister of state for Youth, adding that this is the first time the Ministry of Youth Development would organise conference on girls future. He described the initiative as a laudable one which will not allow them to be segregated from being part of the society.

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Minister of State Petroleum join forces with FRSC on Road Safety Campaign

Published

1 day ago

October 14, 2024

The Gleamer

Joel Ajayi

In what seems to be another milestone in inter-agency collaboration, the Federal Road Safety Corps and the Ministry of Petroleum Resources (Oil) have reached a compromise to begin a robust partnership, geared towards intensifying existing efforts embedded in the campaign for safer roads in Nigeria.

The partnership was birthed during the visit of the Corps Marshal FRSC, Shehu Mohammed, to the Honourable Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri in his office on Monday 14 October 2024.

In the course of the conversation that ensued, the Honourable Minister assured the Corps Marshal of his ministry’s readiness to partner with the Corps in the campaign for safer roads in Nigeria.

While congratulating the Corps Marshal on his well deserved appointment, the Minister expressed optimism that with the inauguration of the National Road Safety Advisory Council (NRSS), by the Vice President last week, stakeholders would work harmoniously to ensure safety on the nation’s highways. He commended the FRSC for its commitment to road safety as evidenced by the successes recorded in the areas of Road Transport Safety Standardization Scheme, Drivers certification and other public enlightenment programs that have led to drastic reduction in the rate of road traffic crashes.

The Minister however, expressed concerns with frequent cases of crashes involving petroleum tankers some of which resulted in fire incidents with great loses to lives and property. He further stressed that even as the Ministry would have preferred that the use of pipelines as veritable means of transporting the petroleum products, the current hazards as well as the cost implications involved in replacing the pipes have made that impracticable at the moment. He therefore solicited the support of the FRSC to properly streamline the activities of drivers at the depots with a view to ensuring that only tankers that meet the minimum safety standards load the petroleum products from such facilities.

The Minister expressed the willingness of the Ministry to support the FRSC with logistics and training to enhance the capacity and efficiency of its personnel in road traffic management.
Earlier in his remarks, the Corps Marshal commended the Minister for the positive reforms being embarked upon in petroleum industry in Nigeria by the current leadership. He noted the existing peace and harmony in the Niger Delta areas and requested for collaboration for sustained peace and development in the oil industry.

The Corps disclosed that as part of the FRSC’s commitment to safety in movement of petroleum products, personnel of the Corps are being deployed to major depots across the country to ensure compliance to safety rules and regulations with particular reference with the policy on safe to load. He requested the Minister to assist the Corps with some logistics including patrol vehicles and ambulance for enhanced road surveillance and prompt response to distress calls.

The meeting which had in attendance some Directors of the Ministry of petroleum also has some principal officers of the FRSC in attendance with both sides agreeing on the need to sustain the partnership for safety on the nation’s highways and stability in the transportation of the petroleum products.

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