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COM. ISAAC BALAMI HAILS FG’S MOVE TO BUILD A SAFER AND STRONGER AVIATION SECTOR IN NIGERIA

Com. Isaac Balami  Source: TUC

I am pleased to announce that the Federal Government through the Ministries of Aviation and Interior,  Nigeria Immigration Service, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and the National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE) now have some policy direction for the betterment of all Pilots and Aircraft Engineers in Nigeria.  I, and the National Administrative Council (NAC) of NAAPE last year met with the Minister of Aviation, Minister of Interior, DG of NCAA and other key players in the Aviation sector. This led to the Federal Government constituting a committee whose decisions will soon be implemented. 

We have had young, brilliant and superbly-certified Nigerian Pilots and Engineers complain about unjustifiable termination of jobs and unfair treatment meted to those in service in favour of foreigners. I am greatly disturbed and deeply concerned about this and NAAPE had to inform the appropriate authority that if some drastic measures are not earnestly taken, we might all go extinct, on our own soil. The above-mentioned ministries representing the government sat with my Humble self and Roland Ahamed Maikudi who is one of My Vice President from  NAAPE amidst weeks of deliberation and these unanimous decisions were taken:

1) Henceforth, no aircraft shall have two foreigners in one cockpit. It poses a huge security threat to the nation. This I believe will help our young pilots to get jobs and take over with time. 

2) Few months from now, no co-pilot will be employed outside Nigeria. With the expansion of the entire aviation sector, our pilots will be able to build more hours to meet up with the requirements if need be.  Nigeria currently has over 400 Pilots and 200 Engineers that are internationally-certified and technically-gifted. They will be gainfully employed under this new policy. 

3) Foreign Captains will only be allowed to operate if no certified Nigerian is available, and should they be employed due to the lack of qualified Nigerians, their visa will be for a particular period of time just like it is being done in Kenya, South Africa and other Aviation-savvy countries where they are expected to transfer technological knowledge and go back their countries. 

4) All foreign aircraft engineers must be thoroughly licensed, and they will have at least 2 Nigerian understudies for at least 6-12 months and their visas will not be renewed after its expiration provided that Nigerians are fully capable. If not, there could be an extension to ensure proper technology transfer. 

5) There must be a deliberate plan for Nigerian Pilots and Engineers to fully take over the aviation sector within the next 24 months and this includes senior managerial positions in the registered nation's airlines. 

This is no hostile attempt to witch-hunt our non-Nigerian friends that are active players in the sector. All I am ever dreaming is an aviation of Nigerians, for Nigerians that will be manned by Nigerians themselves and I believe this feat is possible. 

I thank the Aviation Minister, Minister of Interior, Director General of NCAA, Comptroller General of the Nigerian Immigration Service and Members of the National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers for their support thus far. 
Together, we can build a Safer and Stronger Aviation Sector.

God bless Nigeria!

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EDUCATE GIRLS, STOP BUILDING MOSQUES, EMIR SANUSI TELLS NORTHERNERS.

Emir of Kano, Mallam Muhammad Sanusi II

The Emir of Kano, Mallam Muhammad Sanusi II, on Thursday called on wealthy individuals in the North to use the wealth Allah blessed them with, not only in building mosques but to also educate girls and discourage their early marriage.

The Emir made the call on Thursday, 19^th January, 2017, in his keynote address at the 3rd international conference on Islamic Banking and Finance, organised by the International Institute of Islamic Banking and Finance, Bayero University, Kano.

He said, “I’m just tired of people coming to me to say I want to build a new mosque. You know, we keep building mosques and our daughters are illiterates.

“So, my appeal is that if you really want to help Kano, don’t come to me with a request to build a N300m mosque because I have enough mosques everywhere. And if I don’t have a mosque, I’ll build it myself. If you really want to help, go and educate a girl child in the village.”

According to him, over 50 per cent of girls between the age bracket of 18 and 20 were given out in marriage in this part of the country.

He added that the worrisome dimension of it was that 75 per cent of them could neither read nor write.

Calling for a review of laws to prevent early marriage and encourage girl-child education, he said, “It is not a mere coincidence that this is where you have the highest levels of illiteracy, early marriage, divorce and the highest levels of domestic violence…

“People need to understand that the law has to change. If you look at the medical data on maternal health, girls who get pregnant below the age of 15 are five times as likely to die as girls who get pregnant at the age of 20. Those who get pregnant under 18 are twice as likely to die as those who get pregnant at the age of 20. So, it is important that we look at this issue of early marriage.”

SOURCE: http://punchng.com/educate-girls-stop-building-mosques-sanusi-tells-northerners/

JIGAWA STATE GOVERNMENT IS GOING TO PAY GIRLS N19, 000 TO GO TO SCHOOL

The Jigawa State Universal Basic Education has said plans are in place to begin paying girls in primary and secondary school as much as N19,000 to go to school.

Jigawa State governor, Alhaji Mohammad Badaru Abubakar

 (sundiatapost.com)

This allowance will sum up to N57,000 per session (N19,000 per term).

The Executive Chairman of the board, Salisu Zakar, said this during a chit-chat with journalists in Dutse, saying the project will be funded by their development partner, Global Partnership for Education (GPE). The chairman assured that information on the number of girls to benefit from this scheme will be revealed in the future. 

That’s not all. Parents won’t be left out. The parent will get N40,000 as their daughters get their money. This, according to Salisu, “it is to encourage girl-child education in the state to a large extent”. He said the project will last for four years, and that three years have been expended in planning and reviewing, making sure the process is seamless. He said it will be reviewed to last for a longer time when this four-year cycle is over. We are very excited about this and hope it pulls through.

SOURCE: Pulse.ng

  NECO Introduces Customized Answer Scripts to Curb 

                      Examination Malpractices

The chances of committing examination malpractices will further be reduced as the registrar of the National Examinations Council (NECO), Prof Promise Okpala, has made it known the Council has introduced the use of customized answer scripts for its examinations.

The NECO boss told reporters on Tuesday, in Abuja that the customized answer scripts would tackle the challenge of hoarding of remnants of answer scripts by invigilators. He said such “left over scripts’’ are then sold by the supervisors to fraudsters who engaged in various forms of examination malpractice.

According to him, “The Nigeria of those days is not possible in 2012. They (Examination fraudsters) have so many ways of cheating and we, on our part are always coming out with ways to counter them… These customised scripts appear alike, but every paper has a unique secret code. So if you use the answer script for English Language, for instance, to answer Biology, we will fish you out,” he said.

 

Prof. Promise Okpala

Okpala also explained that the secret code was only known to three people and would only be revealed to the invigilator an hour before the examination. “So we want to let the public know, especially those that are engaged in examination malpractice, do not bother to write outside the hall because your script will be fished out.”

SOURCE:

http://www.informationng.com/2012/12/neco-introduces-customized-answer-scripts-to-curb-examination-malpractices.html 


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BARRACK OBAMA TO SPEND 48 YEARS AS US PRESIDENT:  

The Power of Written Words

Written By CHIMA I. AZU M.PD

"Whether or not you write well, write bravely."

---Bill Stout

The Power of Written Words is to speak on paper to build your mind. The written word is perceived to have more authority, persistence, and powerfully produces change. Above all, you MUST write for yourself. That is YOUR only hope of creating something attractive.

In an essay titled "My dream: What I want to be in the future." Obama wrote "I WANT TO BE A PRESIDENT"

You must decide what your future will be; the kind of school you attended or are still attending is not a determinant of what you will ultimately become in life. President Barack Obama went to a Public School during his beginning school years, and yet, he still went on to achieve his academic and political ambition. In fact, he conceived the idea of becoming the president of the United States of America in 1969 while he was a Grade Three pupil in a public school in Hawaii; he even wrote it down. He was known as Barry Obama.

Thefirst little boy in the third row, left is "Barry Obama." Obama’s sister Maya Soetoro-Ng confirms that the boy is Obama.

Obama began his education in Hawaii's public schools. He was enrolled in Ms. Sakai’s kindergarten class at Noelani Elementary School in 1967. Iis Darmawan, 63, Obama's teacher, remembers him as an exceptionally tall and curly haired child who quickly picked up the local language and had sharp math skills.  "He wrote an essay titled, 'I Want To Become President" the teacher said. His third grade teacher, Fermina Katarina Sinaga, now 67, asked her class to write an essay titled "My dream: What I want to be in the future."  Obama wrote "I WANT TO BE A PRESIDENT," she said. 

It will be 48 years from when Obama wrote that essay in 1969 to when he'll finish his last tenure in office as the number one citizen of the United States of America in January, 2017. I am so sure that from the day Barry wrote down his dream to be president and held that opinion strongly, irrespective of public views, he actually started leading US in his mind. 

"Write what should not be forgotten…"

---Isabel Allende 

US PRESIDENT OBAMA IS ALSO A KING?

While a student in the late 1970s, Barack Obama carved his name in the pavement outside the cafeteria of Punahou School.



BLIND STUDENTS PERFORM BETTER THAN STUDENTS WITH SIGHT IN WAEC EXAM.

The West African Examinations Council, on the 22nd of December in Yaba, Lagos, Nigeria said that blind students performed better than those without sight problems as 46.93 percent of 49 students who wrote the November/December 2012 West Africa Seniour School Certificate Examination obtained five credits including English Language. Blind students do not sit for Mathematics and Science practicals in WASSCE examinations.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2012/12/waec-records-62-03-failure-as-blind-students-top-performance-list/

“One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar.”

- Helen Keller