Metro
MAGGI Partners ACI to Clean Up Agege Market
Maggi, an iconic brand from the stable of Nestlé – the good food, good life company, cleaned up Agege Market recently with a team of volunteers from Nestlé Nigeria and African Cleanup Initiative (ACI) – an NGO. The clean-up activity took place on Thursday March 24, 2022.
Speaking on the initiative, the Category and Marketing Manager for Culinary, Nestlé Nigeria PLC, Nwando Ajene said, “Our company is leading efforts in tackling post consumption waste management through various initiatives including this clean-up exercise. In addition to removing waste from the environment, we are also raising awareness and promoting behavioral change, which are both very critical to achieving a cleaner environment through proper waste management. We are happy to partner with the African Cleanup Initiative (ACI), and all the Nestlé volunteers who have come out today to show their commitment to rejuvenating our planet.”
Also commenting during the clean-up activity, Alexander Akhigbe, the founder of African Cleanup Initiative (ACI) mentioned that ACI is proud to cleanup Oniwaya Market, Agege with Maggi. Volunteers from both teams demonstrated a high level of enthusiasm that aided the effective waste removal efforts. This partnership with MAGGI also serves as an added opportunity for ACI to “environgelize” for environmental sanity and sustainability. We are also happy with the opportunity to donate cleaning tools like packers and brooms to the market team which was supported by Maggi.Nestlé is committed to packaging and delivering her products in ways that are safe to continuously protect the environment for future generations. The company has also announced ambitious sustainability goals to advance the health of our planet, including cutting greenhouse gas emissions to achieve net zero by 2050.
The company recognizes that multi-stakeholder action is required to achieve this objective and is therefore working with partners including other stakeholders in the Food and Beverage Recycling Alliance (FBRA), Wecyclers and Chanja Datti and ACI on the management of post-consumer packaging plastic materials.
These collaborative efforts help to advance Nestlé’s vision that none of its packaging, including plastics, ends up in landfills or as litter, in oceans, lakes or rivers.
In 2021 alone, over 4,756.5TMT of plastic waste was removed from the environment through the collection initiatives and community projects of FBRA and Nestlé Nigeria partnerships with Wecyclers and Chanja Datti.
A total of 99.4 Kilograms of solid waste including 4.1 Kilograms of recyclable waste was removed from the environment during the recent market clean-up exercise. The collected waste was segregated and sent for further processing.
The Minister of Police Affairs, Senator Ibrahim Gaidam, has inspected seven Modified Light Tactical Vehicles procured for the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) to enhance and strengthen their operations in securing life and property in the country, according to a statement made available to the National Association of Online Security News Publishers (NAOSNP).
Gaidam performed the function in company of the Permanent Secretary, Dr. Anuma Ogbonaya Nlia, and top Management of the Ministry at the Federal Secretariat, Phase III, in Abuja.
The Minister stated that the seven Modified Light Tactical Armoured Vehicles were acquired from the budgetary allocation of the Ministry, and they would be handed over to the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) to enhance their security operations to enable them to perform better. “They are supposed to use it professionally to combat insecurity in the country,” he stressed.
A stray bullet has allegedly killed a student who was heading to the examination centre to sit for the ongoing West African Senior School Certificate Examination being organised by the West African Examination Council (WAEC) in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
The incident happened on Gbagi market road in the Egbeda Local Government Area of the state when a stray bullet allegedly fired by a police officer in pursuit of a suspect hit and allegedly killed the student on Tuesday.
Investigations revealed that the boy was on a motorcycle with his father and twin brother when the incident struck.
The student, according to multiple eyewitnesses, was on his way to the examination centre.
One of the sources, simply identified as Ajani, said, “A police officer opened fire while chasing a fleeing vehicle. One of the bullets reportedly hit the student. The student was riding on a motorcycle with his father and twin brother.
“The victim was immediately rushed to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
Another witness said, “The deceased was on his way to the examination centre alongside his twin brother when the tragedy happened.”
Meanwhile, irate youths took the student’s lifeless body to the state Secretariat, Agodi, Ibadan, to demand justice and called on Governor Seyi Makinde to intervene.
The deceased body has been deposited at Adeoyo Hospital morgue.
As of press time, authorities have not released an official statement on the incident.
The Punch
The Joint Action Committee of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU)and Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU) have condemned the recent distribution formula for the N50 billion earned allowance approved by the Federal government for university-based unions.
The unions expressed their displeasure in the sharing formula in a jointly signed statement by the President of SSANU, Mohammed Ibrahim, and the General Secretary of NASU, Peters Adeyemi on Sunday in Abuja.
The Federal government last month approved the release of N50billion to universities as earned allowances.
The N50billion is to be shared between the Academic Staff Union of Universities; NASU, SSANU and National Association of Academic Technologists.
The statement said: “We wish to make it clear that this is not a contest of supremacy among unions. Rather, it is about fairness, recognition, and the equitable treatment of all workers who form the backbone of the Nigerian University system.”
The unions further demanded a review and reversal of the allocation formula, which they describe as “grossly unfair” and “totally unacceptable.”
The unions argued that the distribution was capable of creating industrial disharmony and accentuating the teaching/non-teaching dichotomy in Nigerian universities.
They vowed to stand united in demanding justice, fairness, and recognition of their rightful place in the university community.
They warned that going ahead with the unfair distribution will breed resentment and trigger widespread industrial disharmony.
“Non-Teaching staff of Nigerian Universities are not second-class citizens but are critical stakeholders who contribute immensely to the day-to-day functionality, administrative efficiency, research excellence, technical operations, and overall development of the Nigerian Universities system.
“A harmonious and productive academic environment can only be achieved when all stakeholders are treated with respect, dignity, equity, and fairness,” the statement added.
