The Asset Management Company of Nigeria, AMCON, has been asked to come up with more decisive measures in managing bad loans in the country.
Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, gave the advice when he received the management of AMCON who were in his office on a courtesy visit.
Wike lamented the practice where people collect loans without using them for the purpose they were collected, with the expectation that with time, the loans would be written off.
“In governance, you must step on toes. It is not about friendship. When things are not right, things are not right.
“So, you require tough management; you require tough leadership to say no; enough is enough. You may not be right all the time; you must take a decision and be firm. That is the only way this country can survive,” the minister said.
He urged the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of AMCON, Gbenga Alade, to see his appointment as an opportunity to demonstrate capacity and make a difference, stressing that he was appointed to solve challenges affecting the company.
The minister lamented that people view actions taken by leaders through the lens of ethnicity and religion, instead of the purpose and the merit of such actions.
Citing land administration in FCT as an example, Wike said that any action he takes was viewed in relation to religion and ethnicity.
“People think that when you are appointed as a minister, you are coming to share land and no other job – no education, no infrastructure, no health.
“You come to office, and everybody lands, land, land, land, land and nothing more, and when you want to make changes, it becomes a problem and tag it to religion and ethnicity.
“But somebody has to take the bull by the horns. That is what leadership is about,” he said.
He promised AMCON of FCTA’s support to succeed, stressing the need for government agencies to work together to achieve common goals.
On his part, the AMCON boss said the company was created in 2010 to stabilise the banking sector, suffocating with a large stock of bad loans.
He explained that although the company had existed for 14 years, “it is still battling with a lot of powerful and influential debtors who have refused to pay.”
He sought the support of the minister and other stakeholders, to help the company to retrieve all the monies owed to Nigerians by all the bad debtors.
FEMD sensitize students on disaster risk reduction
Management of secondary schools in the Federal Capital Territory have been encouraged to establish Disaster Management clubs so as to equip the students with the basic disaster management skills.
The acting Director General of FCT Emergency Management Department, FEMD, Engr. Abdulrahman Mohammed, made the appeal at an event to mark the 2024 International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction, IDDRR.
The DG, represented by the Head of Forecasting, Response, and Mitigation of FEMD, Mark Nyam, said this would equip the students with the basic skills needed to mitigate the impact of disasters in their schools and communities.
He attributed flooding, drought, and epidemics ravaging parts of the country to the impact of climate change.
Nyam appealed to the students not to dump waste indiscriminately, particularly on water channels, to switch off electrical appliances when not in use, not to farm along the river banks and to cascade the message to their communities.
In a remark, the Principal of Model Secondary School, Maitama, Olure Judith, said the school would establish a disaster management club as soon as it gets approval from the Secondary Education Board.
Also speaking, a student of the school, Agbo Ene, said she would shun the indiscriminate dumping of refuse and sensitize her community against the practice.
The theme of the 2024 International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction campaign is, “Empowering the next generation for a resilient future”. The target is; Disaster in the classroom.
