The Nation Newspaper

Author: The Nation

  • I will be back soon, Shehu declares

    BURSASPOR of Turkey defender, Shehu Abdullahi expects to make a swift return to the Super Eagles’ squad after banishing any concerns over his ankle worry.

    Abdullahi was injured during Nigeria’s’1-0 win over Burundi in the Group B Africa Cup of Nations clash on Saturday in Alexandria, Egypt.

    The defender came off the pitch in the first half and was replaced by Chidozie Awaziem, after 42 minutes of action.

    He suffered a hamstring and the setback made him a doubt for the rest of the competition, but there might be cheerful news as the player posted an injury update.

    Abdullahi believes he will soon be back in action.

    Read Also: SHEHU ABDULLAHI: My relationship with Ahmed Musa

    He wrote on Twitter: “Thanks for the love Nigerians; I appreciate your amazing messages. I will be back soon! The most important thing, keep supporting us, we shall make you proud at the end and conquer Africa. I love you all.”

    Abdullahi struggled with injury blight last season with Bursaspor and was restricted to 13 league matches for the club, and was a questionable inclusion in the final 23-man list for the competition.

    Unfortunately for the 26-year-old, he suffered a recurrence of a condition that plagued his game all-season when he pulled out just before half-time against Burundi.

    Although the injury looked serious and was initially feared it could keep him out for the rest of the competition, Abdullahi tweeted an update and it was positive.

  • Chinese firm to invest $30m in mineral processing

    A CHINESE company and a subsidiary of Globelink China Investment Group, Hudson Mining Limited, is set to invest $30 million in solid mineral processing in Nigeria.

    The company decided to invest an initial $3 million and subsequently increase it to $30 million during the first phase of the project.

    The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the company, Mr Solomon Cai, explained that the company intends to invest in tin and columbine in Jos, the Plateau State capital.

    Mr Cai said the company will buy the mineral products from local miners in the state and process them.

    The company chief spoke in Abuja, the nation’s capital, while meeting with workers of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC).

    Read Also: Chinese firm to bankroll Ghana’s $2b railway line

    He added that Hudson Mining Limited would also serve as a leasing company to local miners who do not have modern equipment to mine.

    Mr Cai said: “Hudson Mining is committed to serving Nigeria by a national strategy through developing mineral exploitation, processing, mining machinery and equipment manufacturing into Nigeria’s core economic pillar, relying on the advantages of its parent company, Globelink China Investment Group. Hudson Mining will bring into the Nigerian market technology, equipment and capital. It will gradually go into Nigeria’s mineral exploration, mining and refining areas.

    “To achieve these series of grand blueprints, Globelink China Investment Group has decided to invest an initial US$3 million in Hudson Mining Limited and subsequently increase it to US$30 million at the first phase of the project.”

    A representative the NIPC, Ahmad Gwandu, said the commission intended to work closely with the company.

    “Our own is to find a way to increase the activities at the local level, so that people will get something doing,” he said.

  • AIB to retrieve flight recorders of Air Peace aircraft

    LESS than 24 hours after a Boeing 737-500 aircraft belonging to Air Peace skidded off the runway at Port Harcourt International Airport, the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) has said its investigators will retrieve the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) and Flight Data Recorder (FDR) to ascertain the circumstances leading to the accident.

    This followed the visit of the investigators to the site of the accident.

    AIB spokesman Tunji Oketunmbi stated this yesterday in a telephone interview with The Nation.

    Oketunmbi said the AIB team of investigators will also interview Air Peace crew and other personnel to enable the agency get first-hand information about the circumstances that led to the accident.

    The spokesman said the AIB had also carried out site assessment on the aircraft to obtain relevant details critical to the probe of the accident.

    Read Also: AIB launches probe as Air Peace plane skids off PH runway

    He said its personnel would also interface with officials of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to obtain relevant documents about the aircraft and the crew that operated the flight.

    According to him, the AIB has only done a preliminary investigation, as the major investigation into the cause of the accident had not begun.

    Also, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has removed the aircraft from the bush, some metres from the runway, for normal flight operations to continue at the airport.

    FAAN’s spokesperson, Mrs Henrietta Yakubu, stated this in a statement.

    She said: “The Air Peace aircraft that overshot the runway in Port Harcourt International Airport has been removed.

    “The removal was facilitated by personnel of the Nigerian Aviation Handling Company (NAHCO) Plc and Chinese Civil Engineering Construction Company.”

    “The Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), which issued a Notice To Airmen (NOTAM), declaring the airport closed, has confirmed its re-opening for normal flights.”

     

  • ‘Treat server controversy right’

    GROUP protecting the interest of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the last general election, Deservation and Pukka Initiative, has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to treat with honesty the controversy surrounding its server, if it wishes to retain the trust Nigerians have in it.

    The Convener of the pro-Atiku group, Dr. Sani Adamu, who addressed reporters in Yola, the Adamawa State capital, said INEC Chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, lied when he said INEC did not have a server.

    “As a public institution, the commission was well prepared, procured and installed a server in all the 36 states of the country and Abuja,” Sani said.

    According to him, the PDP and Atiku Abubakar are smart enough to have received the required information about INEC and its affairs to take care of “effort by the cabal, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and President Muhammadu Buhari, and now INEC, to deny the real winner of the 2019 presidential election”.

    Read Also: Atiku and the tale of the INEC server

    He said it was a national disaster waiting to happen for the leadership of INEC to deny having a server and IC upgrade.

    Sani said the INEC chairman, in one of his briefings in preparation for this year’s elections, publicly declared that “we are pioneering and deploying in the 2019 general election a new platform for electronic collation and transmission of results of the election”.

    The spokesman said activities on the deployment of servers by INEC received the required approval and were implemented between the first quarter of 2017 and fourth quarter of 2018 towards the elections in the first quarter this year.

    Sani added: “This denial by INEC will spell an end to the otherwise brilliant service records and accomplishment of the chairman’s personality and a disgrace to an important public and trusted institution.”

     

  • ICSAN endorses Fed Govt’s corporate governance code

    THE Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators of Nigeria (ICSAN) has thrown its weight behind the National Code of Corporate Governance recently unveiled by the Federal Government.

    The institute said the government’s initiative aligned with its vision as a front-line advocate of good corporate governance.

    The professional body urged fairness as a central principle to drive other corporate governance principles towards success.

    ICSAN President Samuel Kolawole addressed reporters at the weekend at the institute’s secretariat in Lagos.

    He said: “ICSAN has always been at the forefront of good corporate governance principles. Therefore, we are in full support of the National Code on Corporate Governance, which the Federal Government recently introduced,” Kolawole said.

    “For the economy to grow, organisations and industries have to thrive, and this cannot be achieved in the absence of good corporate governance principles.

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    “However, we also have this strong view that  it’s by being fair to all stakeholders that success could be achieved.

    “Even in public governance, it should not be the interest of the shareholders that should only be considered, but also workers generally, including your customers and suppliers.

    “If you are taking a decision by being conscious of the interest of others, then you are taking the right decision.

    “One of the major issues militating the progress of organisations and nations is selflessness. Where there is no fairness, there can’t be sustained progress.

    “We’ve seen that apply to companies around the world; companies that were once seen to be very  prosperous but eventually fail, and such failure affects many people.

    “But since we are trained in corporate governance, we enjoin our

    members to always apply these principles in their work places so their organisations will not only be successful but enjoy longevity.”

    Kolawole who is the 25 outgoing President of ICSAN, said the professional body is optimistic Nigeria can wriggle out of her economic challenges, particularly with respect to her planned diversification from crude oil and attracting foreign direct investment into the country. He nonetheless, urged the Federal Government to ease means of doing business to encouraged the planned diversification sail through on one hand, while also demonstrating more seriousness to potential internal and external investors on the other.

    “The idea of diversification or improving the economy will simply be a mirage if government does not ease means of doing business in the country,” said Kolawole who is also the  MD/CEO of University Press Limited.

    He continued: “Everyone knows that at present, it is not easy to register, or run businesses in the country.

    “As ICSAN, looked at the ranking of Nigeria in terms of ease of doing business, and we felt its something we need to draw governments attention to because the scenario is not palatable.

    “Some of us who have been running business of course understand how difficult it is in Nigeria. How to set up a tax regime and all that especially in attracting the direct foreign investment to Nigeria.

    “People will prefer to go to other countries where it is easier for them to invest and get their returns.

    “If you apply good corporate governance principles, a lot of these bottlenecks won’t be there. In Nigeria, you will always have one individual or group of individuals who is frustrating a brilliant move or initiative from seeing the light of day. It is that bad.”

  • PPP key part of economic plan, says Osinbajo

    ENCOURAGING Public Private Partnership (PPP) and private capital investment, especially in commercially viable public infrastructure, remains a major policy thrust of the Muhammadu Buhari administration, Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo has said.

    Prof. Osinbajo, who stated this yesterday while inaugurating the Port Harcourt dockyard liquid waste treatment plant in Rivers State, noted that a “a successful PPP, private leadership in major aspects of the economy and encouraging private capital investment is more strategic and important”.

    He added that “government cannot fund all public infrastructure”.

    The Vice-President noted that the Ease of Doing Business initiative of the Buhari administration was meant to encourage public-private investment and make the country more attractive to investors.

    “You are all aware of our Ease of Doing Business agenda with the goal of making Nigeria one of the easiest and most attractive places to trade and invest in the shortest possible time. We are well on our way there,” he said.

    Vice-President Osinbajo hailed African Circle Pollution Management Limited, the company that built the liquid waste treatment plant, for being wholly indigenous, in reference to its growth over the years.

    Read Also: $8m ACPML’s liquid waste treatment plant begins operation

    He said: “I am told that the company has invested more than $8 million in this fully automated liquid waste treatment plant. In fact, all its investment so far here in Nigeria is somewhere in the area of $37 million. The construction of this modern waste treatment plant is in fulfilment of the provisions of the agreement the company signed with the Federal Government through the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA).

    “In line with that Built, Operate and Transfer (BOT) agreement, the African Circle Limited agreed to build this facility, in accordance also with the IMO MARPOL 73/78 convention: to provide facilities for liquid and solid waste created on both vessels for the navigation districts of Lagos, Port Harcourt, Warri, Calabar and Onne.

    “The agreement, I’m told, is for a period of 20 years, and with the expiration of that period, the facilities would be handed over to the NPA.”

    Osinbajo noted that the plant would complement the Federal Government’s remediation efforts in the Niger Delta region.

    He said: “While this is a facility to treat waste generated on vessels, it is also a wonderful complement to the more general work on the environment, which we are currently doing expressly regarding the clean-up of Ogoni land and the innovative connective solutions to ending gas flaring, as developed by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

    “We would no longer be a country defined by the size of pollution challenges but by the wholeness of our remediation response and, even more importantly, our preventive action.”

    Reiterating the Federal Government’s commitment to a sustainable development agenda, the Vice-President added: “Barely two years ago, we demonstrated our commitment to supporting environmentally-friendly projects by the launching of a first sovereign green bond in Africa and the fourth in the world.

    “The proceeds of the bond are to finance environmentally-friendly projects in afforestation, renewable energy and the formation of green energy that will enable Nigeria to reduce its CO3 emission by 40 per cent by the year 2030.”

    A statement by the Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to the President on Media and Publicity, Laolu Akande, said the Vice-President was hosted by Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike and accompanied by former Head of State, Gen. Abdusalami Abubakar, the Chairman of African Circle Pollution Management Limited.

     

  • $8m ACPML’s liquid waste treatment plant begins operation

    THE multi-million naira state-of-the art liquid waste treatment plant built by African Circle Pollution Management Limited (ACPML) has begun operation in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.

    The facility was built through the Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) agreement ACPML signed with the Federal Government.

    It is situated in the Port Harcourt dockyard.

    The plant’s take-off is coming on the heels of its unveiling by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo at the weekend.

    Osinbajo reiterated the commitment of the Federal Government to the ideals of the environment, maritime and the oil and gas industries.

    The Vice-President said the unveiling was significant in many ways as it would help Nigeria to meet global standards and practices prescribed by the various conventions and guidelines of the United Nations (UN) specialised agency, the International Maritime Organisation (IMO).

    Read Also: Buhari commissions state-of-the-art Yemi Osinbajo Primary School

    “I am happy to note that as a wholly indigenous firm, African Circle Pollution Management Limited has kept to its own side of the provisions of the agreement and I want to assure you that the Federal Government, under the watch of President Muhammadu Buhari, will not relent in its efforts to ensure it lives up to expectations by doing its own part.

    “I want to encourage African Circle Pollution Management Limited to do more in the other navigational districts by ensuring that similar facilities are put in place. By so doing, the nation’s seaports will be in a vantage position to offer similar services to vessels calling in Nigeria’s territorial waters.

    “There is no doubt that this is the way to go, if Nigeria’s quest to be a maritime hub in the West and Central Africa sub-regions can be actualised,” Osinbajo said.

     

  • NIRSAL to raise over N140b for agric financing

    The Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk-Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) has begun an initiative to raise over N140 billion to finance agriculture in the next three years.

    It is expected to raise U.S$200 million (N75 billion) in partnership with the World Bank’s Agro-Processing, Productivity Enhancement and Livelihood Improvement Support (APPEALS) project for the development, financing and support of de-risked and optimised agribusiness projects.

    In a statement yesterday in Abuja, the nation’s capital, NIRSAL said the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN’s) agric financing company “will layer its Tools, Techniques, Methodologies and Strategic Partnerships (TTMPs) according to its Mapping to Markets (M2M) strategy on the project, with the shared aim of enhancing agricultural productivity of small and medium scale farmers and improvement of value addition along the cassava, cashew, rice, poultry, aquaculture, cocoa, wheat, tomato, maize, ginger and dairy value chains in a sustainable manner”.

    The project is to be deployed in Cross River, Enugu, Lagos, Kogi, Kaduna and Kano states.

    It will target 60,000 beneficiaries and 360,000 farm household members as indirect beneficiaries.

    Read Also: NIRSAL woos banks to finance agriculture

    “It is anticipated that 35 per cent of direct beneficiaries (or 21,000 individuals) will be women. Additionally, the project has a dedicated sub-component to benefit women and youths who will allow them to develop agri-businesses that are expected to create jobs and improve their livelihoods,” the statement said.

    At the signing ceremony, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of NIRSAL Plc, Mr. Aliyu Abdulhameed, assured APPEALS that NIRSAL will “deploy its technologies towards the formation of Agro-Geo-Cooperatives for selected commodity value chains through geospatial mapping, soil suitability tests, BVN enrolment for farmers, in addition to the creation of Virtual Asset Titles (VAsT), establishment of field governance structures and training of farmers on good agronomic practices, team dynamics and social engineering”.

    It added: “NIRSAL will also link producers to relevant consumer, industrial and export markets and work with the state teams to structure agribusiness projects patterned after agreed sustainable models for APPEALS’ financing while deploying NIRSAL’s partnerships and models for technology demonstration and adoption.”

    The second leg of over N70 billion will come from Ecobank Nigeria’s strategic partnership with NIRSAL, which will involve Ecobank Nigeria investing at least N70 billion in agriculture financing in the next three years.

    Ecobank Nigeria’s Managing Director Patrick Akinwuntan said N15 billion will be dedicated funding with NIRSAL guarantee for an initial take-off tranche in agricultural value chain financing and rollovers that will be done at the completion of each cycle.

    He said: “Ecobank has done it in other countries across the continent. So, we can do the same in Nigeria. This will give us the opportunity to create employment and enable farmers to finance their children’s education with ease. We prefer people to see us not just as a bank but as a partner who will help them to succeed. We are part of the community and we meet the people at the point of their needs.”

  • Ex-NAL workers in Diaspora to get paid in London

    THE Federal Government has taken the verification and payment of former workers of the defunct Nigeria Airways Limited (NAL) in the Diaspora to London, the United Kingdom (UK).

    The two-week verification, which will be conducted by an inter-ministerial team, begins today (June 24), at the Nigerian High Commission Complex in London, UK.

    Before ordering the payment of benefits to the affected ex-NAL workers, President Muhammadu Buhari apologised for the more than a decade neglect by previous administrations.

    He gave the directive that the verification and payment exerise for the ex-workers in Diaspora be done in London to save them the cost and stress of traveling down to Nigeria.

    The inter-ministerial team will be coordinated by the Presidential Initiative on Continuous Audit (PICA) under the Federal Ministry of Finance.

    It will comprise the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offenses Commission (ICPC), the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Auditor General’s Office, the Accountant General’s Office, the Federal Ministry of Finance, among others.

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    A statement yesterday in Abuja by PICA’s Acting Director, Mr John Waitono, who will lead the team and represent the Permanent Secretary for Special Duties in the Federal Ministry of Finance, Dr Mohammad Kyari Dikwa, said the Federal Government approved the verification for those in Diaspora in London, England, because of “the role the city of London played as the European Operational Office of the defunct NAL”.

    It added: “The essence of the exercise is to alleviate the hardship being experienced by ex-NAL workers for more than a decade while waiting for their benefits and to save them from the stress and financial burden of travelling to Nigeria for the exercise, including other logistics that may be required for them to get their entitlements.”

    A similar exercise had taken place in Kano, Lagos and Enugu centres to where over 6,000 ex-workers of NAL were attended to, following the approval of N22.6 billion by President Muhammadu Buhari to pay their entitlements.

    The Federal Government had paid the first 50 per cent of the entitlements to the ex-workers who completed their verification last October.

     

  • Academy elects Yemi Ogunbiyi, Segun Adeniyi, seven profs fellows

    THE Nigerian Academy of Letters (NAL) has elected nine new fellows into its fold.

    They include renowned journalists Dr Yemi Ogunbiyi and Olusegun Adeniyi as well as seven professors who were elected into regular fellowship.

    The NAL, Nigeria’s apex body of arts and literature, is an autonomous, scholarly and non-political state institution that exists for the advancement of scholarship and public interest in the humanities at the highest level in the country.

    A statement by the Secretary of the Academy, Ayobami Kehinde, said the fellows were elected by the College of Fellows (CoF) of the Academy in recognition of their contributions to knowledge in their various fields of specialisation.

    The new Regular Fellows include Prof. Ifeoma Mabel Onyemelukwe, Prof. AbdulRasheed Naallah, Prof. Sunday Enessi Ododo, Prof. Ademola O. Dasylva, Prof. Jim Unah, Prof. Albert ‘Lekan Oyeleye and Prof. Tanure Ojaide, who was admitted as an Overseas Fellow.

    Dr Ogunbiyi and Mr Adeniyi were admitted as Honorary Fellows.

    According to Kehinde, the investiture of the new fellows will take place on August 8 at the J. F. Ade Ajayi Auditorium of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) at 11 a.m.

    Established in 1974, the NAL is currently governed by an executive committee of distinguished professors.

    Every year, it admits a limited number of distinguished individuals as fellows in four categories: Foundation Fellows, Regular Fellows, Overseas Fellows and Honorary Fellows.

    Its current President is Francis Egbokhare, a professor of Linguistics and African Studies at the University of Ibadan (UI).