BEVERLY HILLS, November 20, (THEWILL) – Yobe State Government is to hold a special prayer session on Friday for victims of the recent Potiskum school bombing.
The state governor, Alhaji Ibrahim Gaidam, has therefore declared Friday as a public holiday to enable residents of the state , irrespective of their religion, to offer special prayers for the repose of the souls of the students killed in the school attack.
Gaidam explained that the holiday should also be used to pray for the quick recovery of those injured in the attack as well as for the restoration of peace in the state and the country as a whole.
The governor disclosed this while receiving the Merit and Productivity Award and the Title of ‘Garkuwan Matasa’ (Shield of Yobe Youth) conferred on him Thursday in Damaturu, the state capital.
Gaidam got the award along with 26 civil servants and organisations who were also honoured for distinguishing themselves with their contributions to the development of the state.
Meanwhile, a whopping N2.4 billion has been spent on the payment of allowances to 6,572 diploma holders who were engaged in the state’s Special Youth Empowerment Programme in the last two years.
The Chairman of the State Committee on Special Empowerment Programme (YSCSEP), Engineer Kati Machina, disclosed this at the award ceremony.
Machina, who noted that the honour done to the governor by the youths in the state did not come to him as a surprise considering the the effort of the Gaidam Administration present administration, said the state government, through his committee, has spent a whopping N2.4 billion in creating jobs for the 6,572 beneficiaries between November 2012 and October 2014.
Giving a breakdown of the beneficiaries, Machina said out of 6,572 beneficiaries, 3,424 were given short term induction courses by the National Teachers Institute (NTI), after which they were engaged to teach in Primary and Junior Secondary Schools across the state.
He also disclosed that approval has been given for the upward review of allowances of the Special Empowerment Programme (SEP) beneficiaries presently serving in offices of the National Population Commission (NPC) in the state to N18,000.
In his remark at the occasion, the State Head of Service (HOS), Alhaji Dauda Yahaya, disclosed that apart from the regular payment of salaries and allowances to the 26, 265 civil servants in the state, the governor has introduced a number of staff welfare packages which include the Home Owner-Occupier Scheme at 65percent discount, payment of furniture loan, settlement of medical bills and medical assistance to both civil servants and members of general public.
He added that the sum of N55,701,000.00 had been spent on offsetting the medical bills of 146 persons both at home and abroad this year alone just as he disclosed that the settlement of pension and gratuity of retiring workers has gulped about N2.3 billion from January 2012 to date.
Congratulating the beneficiaries under the Yobe State Committee on Special Empowerment Programme (YSCSEP) and other awardees at the event , Gaidam promised to fulfill all his election promises of transforming the education, health, agricultural sectors just as he promised to ensure the general welfare of all residents of the state.
