Reps query poor work in Jos Airport after gulping N406 million (Read full details)

The Minister of State for Aviation, Mr. Hadi Sirika

Committee pledges to fast track second phase of Amnesty Programme

The House of Representatives has queried the ministry of aviation over alleged poor rehabilitation work done at the Jos Airport terminal building after gulping N406 million.

The Nkiruka Onyejiocha-led Committee on Aviation said it was taken aback when it discovered that in spite the release of the money, the details of the level of execution of the project were no where to be seen in the document at the disposal of the lawmakers.

The Director of Finance and Administration (DFA), Mr. Akin Ijiwole, who accompanied the Minister of State for Aviation, Mr. Hadi Sirika during the 2017 budget defence session with the lawmakers explained that he thought such details were unnecessary since there was no monetary release for the project worth N700 million in the 2016 budget.

Onyejiocha remarked that such excuses could not stand since there was the need to ascertain basic details relating to performance of projects and money so far released to enable the committee how much to appropriate for projects in the 2017 budget.

Onyejiocha, who suspended deliberations on the budgetary defence, thereby directed the DFA to make the details of performance of projects available to the committee within 48 hours.

Sirika, who assured that the national carrier would take off this year, remarked that there was no going back on the plan to temporarily close the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport from March 8 to April 19 to enable rehabilitation work be done on the runway.

He said intending travelers should exercise no fear of insecurity for their lives and properties as an assistant inspector general of police, in conjunction with other security personnel would mount a 24-hour surveillance on the Abuja -Kaduna Expressway to keep commuters’ safe.

Meanwhile, the House Committee on Niger Delta has promised to fast track the implementation of the second phase of the Federal Government Amnesty Programme in the Niger Delta region.

This assurance was given yesterday at Okochiri Town in Okirika Council Area of Rivers State, when the House Committee visited an ex-agitator, Mr. Ateke Tom, on a fact finding mission to the region over controversies in the payment of beneficiaries’ stipends.

Leader of the team, member representing Nassarawa Federal Constituency, Mr. Nassir Ali Ahmed, said the committee would prevail on the Federal Government to ensure that it commenced the second phase of the programme, which includes the rehabilitation and integration of the ex-agitators.

Ahmed noted that the programme was successful considering the relative peace in the region, hence the need to continue it.He noted that the essence of the mission was to acquaint themselves with developments in the programme and to resolve issues regarding payment of stipends in Ateke’s camp.

The Special Assistant to the President on Amnesty Programme, General Paul Boroh (retd) said that the second phase of the programme would include engaging the beneficiaries in agricultural activities.

Boroh said the idea was in line with the ongoing diversification of the economy by the Buhari administration.He disclosed that the ex-militants would be trained in agro allied, fishery, poultry and other areas that would benefit the society and would be empowered to be self-reliant.Ateke’s promised that he would continue to support the government to ensure that peace is sustained in the Niger Delta.

FG commits N30 billion to housing programme (Read full details)

Head of Service of the Federation, Winifred Oyo-Ita

Registers 23,000 civil servants, lists challenges

The Federal Government yesterday said it had committed over N30 billion to provide affordable houses for civil servants under the Federal Integrated Staff Housing (FISH) programme.

It said it had equally registered no fewer than 23,000 civil servants nationwide for the programme.The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (HCSoF), Mrs. Winifred Oyo-Ita, who gave the details at a one-day housing workshop yesterday in Abuja, said that the programme was a strategic initiative designed purposely as an intervention project for massive housing delivery to federal civil servants predicted on soliciting for group land allocation with title deeds and relevant documents from the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) administration and the states.

She said: ‘’The financial commitments in this arrangements, which is currently in the region of N30 billion, brought us to the realisation that we require innovative strategies in financing the FISH project beyond the traditional sources like the Federal Government Staff Housing Loans Board (FGSHLB), which grants housing loans to public servants at three per cent interest rate and the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN), which grants mortgage at six per cent interest rate through primary mortgage institutions to civil servants and other Nigerians who are contributors to the National
Housing Funds.”

She further said that the programme, launched by the government last year, was aimed at reducing the bottlenecks usually encountered in securing land for good cause projects and most importantly, to eliminate middlemen and land speculations from the housing value-chain.

Oyo-Ita noted that the progress made so far has witnessed several challenges, including the ‘’land construction finance, mortgage loans, rising cost of building materials, high interest rate on borrowed funds, especially those from off-shore investors compared to income of potential housing benefits.’’

She, therefore, called on stakeholders in the affordable housing delivery sub-sector to assist in finding ways and means of solving the housing challenges in the country.

Earlier in his remarks, the Permanent Secretary, Common Services Office of the Head of Service and Chairman of the FISH committee, Yemi Adelakun, said: ‘’Our committee has looked in the direction of Pensions Commission of Nigeria, Nigeria Mortgage Refinancing Company, Central Bank of Nigeria, Sovereign Wealth Authority and Family Homes Fund in search of revolving or special intervention funds at single-digit interest rate. The minister of finance recently announced the approval of N13 billion mortgage refinancing fund through NMRC and FGSHLB for the programme.’’

The workshop is expected to come up with better ways to finance the project for the benefit of Nigerians.

Jonathan says national confab report, solution to religious crisis (Read full details)

Goodluck Jonathan. PHOTO: bloomberg.com

• CAN, JNI urge El-Rufai to prosecute culprits
• Police parade 17 armed bandits over killings

Amid growing religious intolerance, former President Goodluck Jonathan has explained that only the recommendations by the 2014 National Conference could solve the country’s crises.

He made the disclosure on Tuesday in Washington when he met the United States’ Congress House Sub Committee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organisations.

According to him, adopting the confab’s resolutions could have prevented the ethnic and religious tension that led to the killings in Southern Kaduna.He said he had visited some former leaders in Nigeria to canvass unity to prevent some of these challenges.

Jonathan urged the “body and the new American administration of President Donald Trump to work with the government and people of Nigeria on capacity building and intelligence gathering to bring an end to religious extremism in Nigeria.”

The ex-president also said the confab’s recommendations on true fiscal federalism was a solution to the recurring crisis in the Niger Delta. He said what was needed in the country was resource control and not interventionist policies.

He stressed an agency like the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) had not been effective because of over politicisation of its activities.A statement by his spokesman, Ikechukwu Eze, said the ex-leader spoke in his capacity as the Chairman of the Goodluck Jonathan Foundation.

He said the body was set up to promote peace and prosperity in Nigeria and Africa, adding that the culture of impunity in the country often contributed to the reoccurrence of violence.

Meanwhile, the Kaduna State chapters of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and Jama’atu Nasrul Islam (JNI) yesterday urged Governor Nasir El’Rufai to ensure that those behind the Kaduna crises were punished.

The two groups made the call when state government officials visited their offices in Kaduna. The CAN’s state Secretary Rev. Sunday Ibrahim urged Nigerians to make efforts to restore peace in the area.

On his part, the state JNI Secretary, Ibrahim Kufaina, appealed to clerics to be responsible in their preaching.Also, the police have paraded 17 arm bandits suspected to be involved in the Southern Kaduna killings. One Nelson Paul confessed that he was the supplier of the arms which he sold to them for N30, 000 to N40, 000 each.

Parading the suspects yesterday at the Force Headquarters in Abuja, the Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), Jimoh Moshood, said the suspects were arrested following discreet investigation by a joint team of personnel of the police mobile force and counter terrorism unit.

Shiites urge Osinbajo to release El-Zakzaky, wife (Read full details)

The leader of Islamic Movement of nigeria otherwise known as Shi''te, Ibrahim El-Zakzaky

The Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), otherwise known as Shiites, has urged Acting President Yemi Osinbajo to release its leader, Ibraheem El-Zakzaky and wife from detention.

The group’s spokesman, Ibrahim Musa, made the renewed call yesterday in a statement.He said they were encouraged by Osinbajo’s recent statement at Eko Stakeholders Summit, which condemned police and judges for illegally detaining suspects without trial.

The Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, represented the acting president at the summit. Musa urged Osinbajo, in his capacity as the acting president to release their detained leaders in line with his declaration at the summit.

He said this was necessary since a Federal High Court had ordered their release over a year ago.He accused the Federal Government of not respecting the rule of law, stating that despite the fact that El-Zakzaky met his bail conditions within the stipulated time, he is yet to regain his freedom.

He said it is conflicting for government to condemn illegal detention of suspects when El-Zakzaky and others had been detained for more than one year without charging them to court.

Musa said: “It is unfortunate that Osinbajo, who is a professor of law and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), could serve in a regime that flouts court orders.He, therefore, urged Malami to demonstrate the country’s respect for the rule of law by commencing the process of their release.

Woods excited to tee off with Day, DJ at Torrey Pines (Read full details)

Tiger Woods

Tiger Woods is excited to play his first US golf tournament in 17 months at familiar Torrey Pines and teeing off yesterday alongside Jason Day and Dustin Johnson adds to the thrill.

The 14-time major winner, an eight-time winner at the famed Southern California course, plays his first full-field event since August of 2015 at the US PGA Farmers Insurance Open after playing in the Bahamas last month.

“It’s hard to remember when last I was this excited because I hadn’t played in a few years. It has been a few seasons since I was in this position,” Woods said. “I’m really looking forward to it.”

Woods, who turned 41 last month, won the 2008 US Open – the most recent of his major titles – at Torrey Pines. He noted several changes in the layout in a practice round on the eve of the opening round.

“Just overall it felt very good to get out there and play,” Woods said. “They’ve added a little bit of length to it. The greens are absolutely perfect.”
Woods, who will play four of the next five weeks, says his main goal is to peak for the year’s first major tournament, the Masters in April at Augusta National, where he has won four times, most recently in 2005.

“I’m looking forward to getting off to and playing and trying to keep improving and getting my game better, more consistent, rounding into form and making my way to that first full week in April and getting everything ready for that,” Woods said.

• Culled from AFP.

Woods excited to tee off with Day, DJ at Torrey Pines

Emirates introduces blankets made from recycled plastic bottles (Read full details)

Emirates Airline. PHOTO: TWITTER

Emirates has introduced new sustainable blankets made from 100 per cent recycled plastic bottles. The soft and warm blankets are made using ecoTHREAD™ patented technology and is now available in Economy Class on all long-haul Emirates flights.

Each Emirates’ ecoTHREAD™ blanket is made from 28 recycled plastic bottles. With the latest innovation, the bottles are recycled into plastic chips before being turned into yarn, creating a polar fleece material. The fine thread is then woven into soft blankets.

The environmentally-friendly blankets were designed in partnership with Buzz, the world’s leading inflight product specialists, and are part of Emirates’ continued commitment to product innovation and sustainability. Emirates already runs a green programme on board recycling aluminum cans, plastic and glass bottles, and clean paper products such as newspapers, magazines and cardboard cartons where possible.

By the end of 2019, Emirates ecoTHREAD™ blankets would have rescued 88 million plastic bottles from landfills– equivalent to the weight of 44 A380 aircraft.

Emirates introduces blankets made from recycled plastic bottles

Service recovery skill: Get off to a good start (Read full details)

In the next Winning at Work issue we’ll be talking about the importance of service recovery skills.  Dealing with escalations, difficult situations and demanding customers will increasingly be a requisite tool for those working in customer service.  Recent research also suggests that turning negative situations into positive outcomes is one of the two factors in creating “WOW” customer experiences. This is the first of three installments with samples of the types of service recovery skills we’ll need.

Service Recovery Skill #1:  Setting the Tone
When customers reach out to you with a problem, it’s likely they have already made attempts to resolve it.  They have explored self-service options or communicated with someone else in your organization without satisfaction. They are frustrated and feel that they have already invested too much effort.

So, before you do anything else, you need to communicate two things:
That you genuinely care about them
That their problem is now your problem

Here are three things you absolutely have to do to send these messages:
1.  “Let’s see how we can fix this.” This simple sentence (or something similar) needs to be the first words out of your mouth after the customer tells you they have a problem.  It needs to come before asking what their account number is, or asking for more details.  Customers need immediate reassurance that you are taking ownership of the issue.

2.  Validate their frustration – Once you have the details you need to let customers know that, as a fellow human being, you share their frustration.  You can do this informally, with simple comments such as “Oh wow…” or “That’s terrible!” or more formally with statements like, “From what you’ve told me, I sure can understand why you’re frustrated.”  They need to know that you understand what they’ve been going through.

3.  Tell them the plan – If it is an issue that you can correct right away, tell customers what you’re going to do.  If you have to do a bit of research or explore some options, tell them that too.  The last thing you want is for them to wonder what you are doing.

Saying something like, “I think there might be a couple of options here, and I want to make sure I get the right one so that this is fixed quickly and doesn’t happen again,” goes a long way to letting them know you are competent and intent on a successful outcome. Failure to set the right tone at the beginning of a negative interaction can make things go sideways very quickly.

Service recovery skill: Get off to a good start

Odoh up 27 places on Sunshine Tour, gets two direct tickets (Read full details)

Nigeria’s top star, Andrew Oche Odoh

Oche Andrew Odoh, who is Nigeria’s only representative at the Sunshine Tour, has moved up 27 places and also earned automatic tickets to two events following a minor change in the order last week.

This means that Odoh has the opportunity to feature in the “Eye of Africa PGA Championship” and “Dimension Data Pro-Am.” The current Nigerian number two player is excited at the prospects at the Sunshine Tour, which he believes “is a great way to start the year, adding that it would give him a lot of advantages as the year goes-on.

“I am the only West African player here for now and sponsorship has been tough, which is a reaction to the economic situation back home. But I will not look back. I intend taking all the chances here and I am very positive,” he added.

Odoh knows that a good outing at the two events would open doors for him to participate in the two co-sanctioned (Sunshine Tour and European Tour) events that follows, which are the Jo’burg Open and the Tshwane Open.

A place in the big-ticket event could be his break into elite rank in the world ranking where he is presently ranked 1866 due to the lull on his world ranking events since November 2016.

He knows the enormity of the challenges and believes that focused hard work would handy. “My work ethic whenever I am here (in South Africa) goes up and that is why I spend more time here. This season with what has come up so far, I only need to raise my work rate, and I am determined to do that. The implication is that I will feature less on the Nigerian Tour. I just hope I can motivate more home players with my performances here this year,” he adds.

Odoh up 27 places on Sunshine Tour, gets two direct tickets

Ethiopian Airlines ShebaMiles launch platinum tier level (Read full details)

Ethiopian airlines

Ethiopian Airlines is set to introduce a platinum tier level in its frequent flyer loyalty programme, ShebaMiles.

The Platinum tier level offers extra benefits to frequent flyers that accrue 75, 000 status miles or 60 qualifying segments within one calendar year, January 1 to December 31, within the validity period of two years, in addition to the remaining months in the qualification year.

Group Chief Executive Officer, Tewolde GebreMariam, said the initiative was to offer ShebaMiles members enormous privileges, from dedicated hotline service at Global Call Centre to personalised assistance up on departure at Addis Ababa Bole International Airport.

“Other benefits are three complimentary upgrade within the platinum tier validity, guaranteed seat upto 24 hours before departure in the highest booking class-both in our cloud nine and economy classes, 100 per cent tier bonus miles and extra baggage allowance on ET operated flights and so much more”.

These are in addition to the benefits enjoyed by its Gold members.

Ethiopian Airlines ShebaMiles launch platinum tier level