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14—Vanguard, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER, 24, 2022
:Vanguard News :@vanguardnews NEWS HOTLINES: 08052867023, 08052867058
I'll tackle insecurity in Enugu through massive job
creation —Mbah, PDP gov candidate
Representatives,
NUGU—AHEAD of the 2023
Egeneral elections, the
governorship candidate of the
Peoples Democratic Party, PDP,
in Enugu State, Dr. Peter Mbah,
has assured the people of the
state that his administration
would tackle the security
challenges through massive job
creation if elected.
Mbah, who disclosed this at
town-hall meetings in Mbanabo
North and Mbanabo South
Development Centres both in
Awgu Local Area, vowed to
engage the youths in meaningful
ventures and turn them to
productive assets.
“We cannot achieve our goals
without ensuring adequate
security. We have aggressive
programmes to address
unemployment in our state.
Enugu State will not only
address the issue of
unemployment, but is going to
be job and wealth creator. By so
doing, we will be addressing the
menace of insecurity.
Noting that agriculture would
play a major role in providing jobs
creation, Mbah assured of his
administration’s resolve to
migrate agriculture from manual
and pipeline to mechanised and
platform agriculture if elected,
adding that Enugu State under
his leadership would create
special agro-allied processing
zones, including a value chain
that would generate more
revenues for the people.
Observing that his
comprehensive manifesto had
already captured the concerns
raised by the people of the area,
Mbah stressed that he had
programmes which covered
access roads, industrialisation,
operational healthcare system,
robust education, portable water,
irrigation, ICT, skills and
vocational training centres,
availability of revolving loans for
micro, small, and medium
enterprises.
“Because we are interested
in moving Enugu State from
public sector economy to private
sector-driven economy, we will
MUAHIA—ABIA Freedom
UAlliance, AFA, an
association of concerned
technocrats, professionals,
businessmen, religious leaders
and political stakeholders in
Abia State, has congratulated
the Labour Party, LP,
governorship candidate in Abia,
Dr. Alex Otti, on the launch of
Signature Bank.
AFA says the coming of
Signature Bank from all
indication will bring hope to
millions of unbanked and
underbanked Nigerians, as well
as set the pace for innovation
in the banking industry.
Otti, a former Group
Managing Director/Chief
Executive Officer of the
erstwhile Diamond Bank Plc, is
the founder and promoter of
Signature Bank, which formally
opened its doors to business on
Monday, November 21, 2022 in
Abuja, Nigeria’s Federal Capital
Territory.
In a letter dated November
23, 2022 and signed by its
Convener, Prince Uzor
Nwachukwu, AFA praised Otti
for his boldness to re-establish
and improve on the success
story he began with Diamond
Bank, while he was CEO
between 2011 and 2014.
Otti was reputed to have
partner with investors by creating
an enabling environment for
them. This will also include tapping
from our abundant energy and
mineral resources sector to upscale
our economy”, he added.
Earlier in his remark, the Deputy
Minority Leader, House of
Toby
Okechukwu, commended Dr.
Mbah for initiating the town hall
meetings across the 68 local
government development
centres in the state to personally
interact with the people to know
their peculiar needs, saying it was
novel in electioneering politics in
Enugu State.
Group congratulates Otti, says Signature Bank'll
set pace in innovative banking
taken Diamond Bank from a lossmaking
position to profitability and
one of Nigeria’s eight systemically
important banks, according to the
Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN,
within a space of three years.
He voluntarily resigned in 2014
to contest for the governorship seat
of Abia State in 2015. Even
though the overwhelming
population of Abia residents voted
for him, as further attested to by
the Court of Appeal, his victory
dance was cut short by the
judgment of the Supreme Court,
which remains controversial.
The letter reads in part: “Our
very dear Dr. Alex Otti, we are very
glad to felicitate with you on the
official unveiling and opening of
your Bank - Signature Bank
Limited.
“We celebrate your unique
personage and ideas which you
bring to bear on every Project you
are associated with.
“The robust history of your
studentship in the various
institutions you attended, and
your career in the Banking sector,
all tell tales of excellence and rare
giftedness.
“These, and more, are the
reasons why we, as distinguished
Abia Elites from diverse fields of
human endeavour, stand firmly
behind you as God sets out to
use you to redeem Abia State and
liberate her from decades of gross
misgovernance
visionlessness."
and
UBTH begins emergencies'
residency training, wants health
insurance for poor people
By Festus Ahon
Bmanagement ENIN CITY—THE
of the
University of Benin Teaching
Hospital, UBTH, yesterday
said it has begun residency
training for medical personnel
working in its Accident and
Emergency ward just as it called
on the operators of the
National Health Insurance
Scheme to make it accessible
to the poor.
Addressing a press
conference while announcing
activities to mark the hospital’s
50 years anniversary, the Chief
Medical Director, CMD, of the
hospital, Professor Darlington
Obaseki said the hospital in
2021 alone forfeited N84 million
bills for patients who could not
pay or deliberately refused to
while this year so far, the same
gesture has exceeded N100m
hence his call for the extension
of the insurance scheme to the
poor.
Obaseki said that in spite of
the mass exodus of medical
personnel, as one of the
challenges confronting health
PIND, MNDA, collaborate on peacebuilding strategy in Niger Delta
THE Partnership Initiatives
in the Niger Delta, PIND, is
providing technical support to
the Ministry of Niger Delta
Affairs, MNDA, in designing
and developing a regional
peacebuilding infrastructure to
address conflict and security
issues in the Niger Delta
through the Niger Delta
Regional Peacebuilding
Strategy, NDRPS.
NDRSP will drive conflict
prevention, mitigation, and
resolution efforts.
PIND's Peacebuilding
Manager, David Udofia,
stated that the NDPRS
document would provide a
framework for adopting
multi-stakeholder approaches
to peacebuilding and conflict
resolution.
He said a Technical
Working Group (TWG)
comprised of partners vested
in promoting peace in the
region and stakeholders
drawn from the nine Niger
Delta states will be
inaugurated on Wednesday,
November 30, 2022, in Port
Harcourt, Rivers State, to
drive the document's design.
There will also be a
technical session on
December 1, where the TWG
members will be briefed on
how they will support PIND
and MNDA on the NDRPS.
As a holistic approach,
PIND said the NDRPS will
care delivery in the nation, the
teaching hospital had been able
to deliver on the mandates of the
founding fathers of the hospital.
He said: “We have been given
approval to start training, we are
the second in the country to start
training resident doctors in
emergency medicine. We now
have a brand new department
called Emergency Medicine
Department. It is critical because
teaching hospitals are rested on
resident doctors who are in
training to become specialists but
all these, while no teaching
hospital was doing this specialised
training so it led to gaps in
emergency care most of the
doctors there are not specialist and
some other doctors from other
departments, rotate so this will
change that.”
He announced that part of
events slated to mark its 50th
anniversary among others is free
training for first responders on
basic life support, free Cancer
Screening, executive Screening
and subsidized surgeries
He said the free Cancer
Screening takes place in January,
2023, while the Executive
Screening which involves medical
Screening for top executives,
including members of the Edo
State Executive Council takes
place in February.
focus on the drivers of conflict
and identify proactive
measures geared at conflict
prevention, reduction, and
mitigation.
PIND said the designing and
subsequent implementation of
the NDRPS is a timely process
that will complement current
conflict mitigation approaches
by the government and other
stakeholders in the Niger
Delta.