By John Michael Ojo

The Federal Government has declared Monday public for the celebration of Eid-ul-Mawlid, the birth of Prophet Muhammad.

This was made known by the Minister of Interior, Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo in a statement signed by the ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Dr Magdalene Ajani, on Friday.

Ojo, while making the announcement, prayed the Muslim faithful to use the period to intercede on behalf of the nation even as he implored them to remain patient with the current administration.

A cleric , the Ven. Olusegun Faleye, has urged political leaders to use their offices to make policies with a human face.

The cleric who is the Vicar and Archdeacon of Molete Archdeaconry made the call on Thursday in Ibadan , Oyo State, during the wedding of Olatilewa Abiodun Akinpelu and Ademola Kolawole, son of the Chairman of the Federal Civil Service Commission, Prof. Tunji Olaopa.

President Olusegun Obasanjo (right) and the Head of Service of the  Federation, Mrs Didi Walson-Jack (left ) during the wedding in Ibadan, Oyo State on Thursday.

During the event at St. Anne’s Anglican Church, Molete Ibadan, Oyo State, which drew the presence of former President Olusegun Obasanjo and the Head of Service of the Federation, Mrs Didi Walson-Jack , the cleric warned political leaders of the ephemerality of life. He noted that past political leaders never lived forever and that their current successors would also not live forever.

He therefore urged them to use their offices to make policies that would reduce the hardship of the citizens amid the necessity of making sacrifice for a better future.

Dr Festus Oyebade (left), Barrister Henry Idahagbon, Barrister Rufus Godwins and Barrister Ededet Eyoma at the wedding.

The Special Assistant on Administration to Prof. Tunji Olaopa, Mr  Samuel Abalaka (right), the Acting Permanent Secretary of the Federal Civil Service Commission  Mr Ede Ogaba and other  members of staff of the commission at the wedding.

Stressing the importance of marriage, the cleric referred to the biblical story of creation of man and woman in Genesis 2 . He urged the new couple to see themselves as entering into a relationship to make themselves complete.

But he urged them to note that they are two imperfect people entering into a relationship as there are no perfect people.

He urged them to draw strength from the fact that every marriage is peculiar. According to him, even the most identical twins are different, and thus the groom and the bride should consider themselves as different people coming together to form a relationship. But for him, such difference does not stop them from being one in God’s scheme of things.

He urged the couple to be an unbeatable team by being devoted to each other as this is what would make it difficult for outsiders to create any barrier that would separate them.

Giving advice on how to make the marriage of the new couple to work, Walson-jack urged Ademola Olaopa to bring Christian values to his home. Also , Archbishop Emeritus of the Methodist Church in Nigeria and Chairman of the Yoruba Elders Council Ayo Ladigbolu prayed for the new couple.

Also present at the event were federal commissioners in the FCSC . They included Engineer Bukar Wakil, Dr Daudu Jalo, Ambassador Aminu Nabegu, Barrister Rufus Williams, Barrister Henry Idahagbon, Barrister Ededet Eyoma, Mrs Rukiyat Odekunle, Mrs Hindatu Abdullahi, Dr Hussain Adamu, Dr Festus Oyebade and Mr Shehu Aliyu . The Acting Permanent Secretary of the FCSC Ede Ogaba, and retired Federal Permanent Secretary Dr Godknows Igali were also present.

By John Michael Ojo

In an attempt to check the excesses of Point of Service (POS) operators and as well as to enable it to track daily transactions carried out by its agents across the nation, the Central Bank of Nigeria has now directed all Payment Service Providers to henceforth, route all transactions through an approved CBN Payment Terminal Service Aggregator.

The apex bank which gave the directive in a circular signed by Oladimeji Yisa Taiwo on behalf of the bank’s Payments System Management Department on Thursday, also issued a 30-day ultimatum for service providers to comply with the guidelines.

The circular read: “In order to achieve the objective of tracking electronic transactions in Nigeria, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in August 2011, granted a Payment Terminal Service Aggregator (PTSA) licence to Nigeria Interbank Settlement System Plc (NIBSS).

“As part of efforts to mitigate the concerns regarding channelling Point of Sale (PoS) transactions through a single aggregator, the CBN on April 19, 2024, granted a second PTSA licence to Unified Payment Services Limited (UPSL).

“In furtherance of the above, the CBN hereby directs as follows: acquirers are henceforth required to route all transactions from PoS terminals at merchant and agent locations, whether on physical or electronic PoS terminals, through any CBN-licensed Payment Terminal Service Aggregator (PTSA).”

“PTSAs are required to send PoS transactions to only Processors certified by the relevant Payment Scheme, nominated by the Acquirer and licensed by CBN.

“All licensed Processors must be integrated with both PTSAS, thereby allowing Acquirers the flexibility to choose which Processor(s) and PTSA to utilize

“All Payment Terminal Service Providers (PTSPs) must ensure that their PoS devices applications are configured to route transactions through any PTSA, as directed by the Acquirer.

“All PTSPs shall submit monthly returns to the CBN, detailing the number of merchants and agents they manage, along with the PTSA services used to route the corresponding transactions.

“Each PTSA is required to submit monthly returns to the CBN, detailing all transactions processed through their platforms,” it added.