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Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC) Set to Open Branch Office in Jalingo

Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC) Set to Open Branch Office in Jalingo

The Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC) is set to open a branch office in Jalingo.

This was disclosed by the Chairman, Mal. Tijjani Zubairu when he led other delegation of the council to the state Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry on a courtesy visit.

The meeting which was held at the office of the honourable commissioner, discussed and mapped out ways of establishing a state office and to fully operationalize her activities in Taraba state.

The body is set to be placed directly under the state ministry for commerce and industry and be headed by the Commissioner.

In his remark, the Commissioner Hon. Yusuf Tanimu Njeke assured the delegation of the Ministry’s total support in actualizing the set goal which is inline with the rescue mission mandate of the Executive Governor.

Highland Tea Brand: Gov. Ishaku Attends Grand Launch in Lagos

Highland Tea Brand: Gov. Ishaku Attends Grand Launch in Lagos

The grand launch of Highland Tea brands was performed today in Lagos by Gov. Darius Dickson Ishaku.

The launch is to seek greater market penetration for the tea products in Lagos and other parts of the country.

The Grand Launch was attended by the wife of the Governor, Her Excellency Barr. Anna Ishaku; Senator Daisy Danjuma, the Speaker, Taraba State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Peter Abel Diah; some members of the House of Reps. from Taraba State, some members of the state assembly and prominent sons and daughters of the state.

Gov. Ishaku Visits Ambassador of Belarus, Seeks Technical Assistance for Taraba

Gov. Ishaku Visits Ambassador of Belarus, Seeks Technical Assistance for Taraba

Gov. Ishaku during a courtesy call on the Ambassador of the Republic of Belarus, Mr. Vyacheslav Bril at the country’s Nigerian Embassy in Abuja on Wednesday.

Governor Darius Dickson Ishaku has expressed the determination of his administration to make Taraba State the number one producer of rice in Nigeria.

Gov. Ishaku disclosed this during a courtesy call on the Ambassador of the Republic of Belarus,Mr. Vyacheslav Bril at th country’s Nigerian Embassy in Abuja on Wednesday.

Gov. Ishaku who was at the Embassy to seek ways in which that country and Taraba State can collaborate for the development of the state briefed the Ambassador elaborately on the development strides already achieved by his administration during his first tenure and called for the assistance of the Belarusian government in areas of education, health, skills acquisition and transportation.

He told the Belarusian delegation at the meeting that his administration’s dry season farming has boosted rice production tremendously and created many wealthy farmers in the state.

Gov. Ishaku expressed the desire to do a lot more to get more youths in the state productively engaged and taken out of the unemployment queue.

He said a lot was achieved through the Hope Afresh Foundation of his wife, Anna Ishaku and the efforts of his own administration to help women and youths become financially independent through the acquisition of skills.

The governor called on the Belarusian government to assist his administration with technical expertise in critical areas of socio-economic development.

In his response, Ambassador Brill promised to facilitate the visit of Belarusian experts to Taraba State to further study the critical areas of technical assistance that the state would require.

After the visit, the country and Taraba State would work out a Memorandum of Understanding for a lasting and mutually beneficial relationship.

The Ambassador invited Gov. Ishaku to visit Belarus to familiarise himself with what the country has to offer Taraba State in terms of technical assistance.

A delegation of the Taraba State government is to meet with the embassy’s team of experts later in the year for further discussion on areas of collaboration.

Taraba Not a Beneficiary of FG Bailout Funds – CBN Report

Taraba Not a Beneficiary of FG Bailout Funds – CBN Report

 

Taraba State under the Governor Darius Ishaku’s administration has not been named among States that have received the Federal Government’s bailout funds from the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN.

CBN spokesperson, Ibrahim Mu’azu, said the bailout, which was in line with the recent resolution by the National Economic Council, NEC, was to enable the affected states to pay the backlog of workers’ salary arrears.

In a report, the Central Bank of Nigeria said on Friday that 19 of the 36 states of the federation (which does not include Taraba) have so far benefitted from the workers’ salary bailout package.

The Taraba State Governor who neither applied for nor collected the bailout package has since successfully paid months of workers outstanding salaries.

The Governor has also constructed a handful of roads in the state capital and in the Local Government Areas, renovated and upgraded more than three general hospitals and bought farm tools, machineries and fertilizers which have been distributed to and used by farmers.

He has also renovated all lower courts across the state, launched a powerful youth empowerment and skills acquiring program, renovate the State House of Assembly complex and given the State headquarters a permanent solution to water problem.

The Governor has upgraded the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) base of the State and employed more secondary school teachers.

As part of efforts to keep up the peace he has fought hard to gain in the State, Governor Ishaku has upgraded and appointed some key district heads and third class chiefs to manage peace in the heterogeneous state.

The people’s Governor has stood firm in the daily running of all sectors, agencies, parastatal and ministries to keep the apparatus of the government functional all year round.

Taraba Launches e-IGR

Taraba Launches e-IGR

The Taraba State Government has launched the automated system of revenue generation known as e-IGR, aimed at shifting from the old manual system to the electronic system of revenue collection.

During the occasion, the Governor, Darius Ishaku, stated that the ‘Rescue Mission’ cannot succeed unless the state had funds, hence the need to “device means and ways of taxing ourselves”.

He said the launching of the e-IGR was part of his promise for a public/private partnership in the State explaining why the state government had partnered with a private enterprise BizzDesk Group to bring the task to reality.

According to Ishaku, the e-payment system was deployed in salary payment of State and Local Government staff as well as Pensioners and therefore urged all MDAs to key into the exercise.

The Governor however, warned that “revenue accounts operated by MDAs, apart from the ones authorised by the Board of Internal illegal and must be discontinued”.

Meanwhile, Gov. Ishaku decried the situation where natural resources like oil and solid minerals were the exclusivity of the Federal Government under the Exclusive List and suggested that the List should be devised in a way that “the goose that lays the golden egg” partakes in the proceeds.

He further lamented that the State Government had charge over the land but only the Federal Government had access to the resources in the land.

The Governor who was recently at the Africa/Singapore Investment Summit, disclosed that so many investors were willing to come to Taraba but for the insecurity. He gave the assurance that they would soon begin to come in as he is doing all within his capacity to convince them.

He however stressed that unless the Government invests in essential infrastructure, investors may never come.

Earlier on in his opening remarks, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Saleh Kaka, stated that experiences from other states show that automated collection of revenue was better than the manual collection as transparency and efficiency would come to bear.

The BizzDesk Team, demonstrated the process of e-payment which include; enumeration, billing and collection of tax; generation of Tax Identification Number (TIN) and assessment of taxpayers.

37,000 Poor People Benefiting from Conditional Cash Transfers in Taraba

37,000 Poor People Benefiting from Conditional Cash Transfers in Taraba

The head of unit, Taraba State Conditional Cash Transfer,  (CCT), Mr. Skepra Useni has said 37,000 poor people across six local government areas in Taraba state are currently benefiting from the Federal Government’s Social Intervention for the aged and the poor in the country.

Useni who disclosed this in an interview with our correspondent in Jalingo on  Wednesday said 37,000 poor people from

8049 households in Ussa, Takum, Sardauna, Gassol, Ardo Kola and Karim Lamido local government areas were benefiting from the programme.

According to him, the programme which is on the pilot stage would soon be extended to other local government areas in the state.

He explained that beneficiaries of the programme were carefully selected by the State Planning Commission with the supervision of the World Bank, and local monitors at grassroots level, all in a bid to make sure transparency and effectiveness.

The head of unit of the programme also said the beneficiaries would spend two years before graduating from the programme, adding that they were being trained on how to invest the N5000 monthly stipend being paid them to making them self reliant upon graduation, thereby, reducing poverty in the society.

“Within the two years which beneficiaries of the programme are expected to graduate, they would be subjected to a lot of life transforming training to enable them stand on their feet after graduation.

“Currently, trainings are ongoing at various local government areas where the programme is currently running.

“Some are encouraged to join monthly contributions which will help them to get money to begin their businesses,” he said.

He lamented the challenge of difficult terrain in accessing the beneficiaries in Sardna and Karim Lamido local government areas and advocated for a little allowance to enable them come to local government headquarters to collect their stipends.