The Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, on Saturday advised Nigerians to be more vigilant in order not to fall prey to terror attacks.
Osinbajo gave the advice in an interview with newsmen shortly after attending the 90th Birthday and Thanksgiving service of Madam Dorcas Adedayo at the Cathedral of St. James the Great, Oke-Bola, Ibadan, Oyo State.
The vice president said the recent alert on plan by the terrorists to attack important personalities using garbage carriers was real.
He therefore said Nigerians, irrespective of status, must be security conscious at all times and report any suspicious movements to security agents.
On the bailout to states, Osinbajo explained that it was a creative way of addressing the financial crunch facing states.
He said the bailout approved for the states was in three categories, including monies released for payment of backlog of salaries from the $2.1 billion Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Company tax.
The vice president said the second package was a loan, which the states could access at very concessionary rate, and the third involved conversion of most loans states owed commercial banks into bonds.
Osinbajo added that details on the bond were being worked out but may have a tenor of between 15 years and 20 years.
He said: “Of course you know that the states are getting a 40 per cent reduction in what they were getting from the federal allocation on account of lower oil prices.
“For many of the states, 40 per cent reduction is almost half of what they were getting and that went on for so many months.
“It became necessary for the Federal Government to intervene in a creative way.
“What the President did was to intervene in a creative and compassionate way so that the relief could come not only to the states themselves but to workers and other citizens.”
On the celebrant, Osinbajo said attaining the age of 90 was a benevolence from God.
He said: “For one to be 90 and look healthy is an indication that we live by the grace of God and it is by His grace that we can achieve a lot.”
At the service, the Anglican Bishop of Ibadan Diocese, Most Reverend Joseph Akinfenwa, extolled the virtues of Mrs. Adedayo and urged the youth to serve God to have longer life.
The bishop noted that the righteous shall flourish like the palm tree and that the event was a testimony that it pays to serve God.
Akinfenwa said the testimony of Adedayo was that of a believer who was imbued with wisdom.
The bishop used the event to call on Nigerians to pray for those in authority so that they would not be distracted by the luxuries of life.
NAN.
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