The Nation Newspaper

Category: Business

  • Protect waterways against illegal fishing, govt urged

    The Federal Government has been advised to protect the nation’s territorial waters from illegal fishing and develop naval capability to deal with hazardous waste dumping and piracy.

    Some members of the Fishery Society of Nigeria (FISON), gave the advice while speaking with The Nation in Apapa, Lagos.

    A member of the group, Mr Tolani Adegboyega, said the country needs to work with foreign partners to develop the capacity that could help it in tackling the crisis caused by piracy and illegal fishing.

    He said the dumping of toxic waste in the maritime domain and the increasing crimes in the coastline require commitment on the side of the Federal Government to provide capability and cooperation with foreign partners to build its maritime capability.

    Adegboyega pointed out that security experts around the Horn of Africa have developed theories over the increasing piracy cases.

    He noted that Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand had set the stage for cooperation between states, both in information exchange and mobilisation of resources.

  • Aviation roadmap, one year on

    Since assuming office, Princess Stella Oduah has left no one in doubt that she is on a serious mission. She inherited an industry, as Minister of Aviation, on the verge of collapse. The absence of a well articulated aviation policy, excessive bureaucracy and bad management is its albatross. Attempts to formulate a national policy dates back to 1986. African ministers responsible for civil aviation met in Yamoussoukro, Ivory Coast in October 1988 to fine-tune common positions. This heralded the historic Yamoussoukro Declaration (YD) of 1988. It became imperative to harmonise the National Aviation Policy of 1989 with the Regional Aviation Policy contained in the Yamoussoukro Declaration of 1988 which was reaffirmed in 1994. Princess Oduah waded through these policies and came up with the Aviation Road map. The Road-map provided the institutional framework for the provision of infrastructure, monitoring and control of the industry. One year down the road, critics are no longer in doubt about government’s determination to implement the road-map.

    Princess Oduah showed she meant business when shortly on assuming office, she stopped the exploitative collection of N2, 500 passenger service charge (PSC) introduced unilaterally by the operators. Her mission to restore aviation to its rightful place as a vehicle for economic progress was not open to negotiation. In the words of Henry Longfellow, “In this world a man must either be an anvil or hammer”. Those who dared to stand on her way have confessed that beneath her soft spoken mien is an iron lady.

    When she engaged the British authorities on the airfare disparity saga, she stood eyeball to eyeball with our erstwhile colonial masters, to the admiration of her compatriots. Known for walking where angels fear to tread, Princess Oduah inherited a sector that had virtually negotiated away its soul to powerful forces in the guise of public private partnerships (PPP), concessionaires and other drain pipes. At least, four ministers had fought the ‘aviation cabal’ to no success. For a woman who has conquered the private sector and successfully established a business conglomerate with interest spanning oil and gas, agriculture, engineering, logistics, trading and philanthropy, fate had prepared her for a time like this.

    Worried by the decay at airports and terminals built over 30 years ago, the minister embarked on massive reconstruction and remodelling. The Kaduna and Kano Hajj terminals were remodelled and commissioned in record time. Work is on-going at the Sokoto terminal. Within three months of mounting the saddle, she began work on 11 airports in the first instance, out of the 22 earmarked. From Lagos to Yola, Port Harcourt to Enugu, the quality and pace of work took the aviation sector by storm. She restored our national pride and implored Nigeria’s standing in the comity of nations. Some ‘aviation stakeholders’ are, however, seething that the minister deviated from the normal practice where money is shared among ‘stakeholders’. With a threat to teach her a lesson, they alleged that the minister was remodelling the airports without approval. They also claimed that contracts were awarded without due process and that the (BASA) funds were being spent without regard for laid down procedures. Unknown to them, due process was followed and approvals received from relevant authorities before embarking on the projects. Furthermore, the contractors were using their money to fund the projects without a kobo taken from the BASA funds!

    Unperturbed, the minister rolled up her sleeves for move work as she embarked on the Aerotropolis project. This concept which has been embraced internationally is about building cities with complete infrastructure around airports. Similar to Schipol in Germany, Amsterdam in Netherland and Heathrow in the United Kingdom, this new business module is yet another window to attract foreign investment and grow the economy.

    To harness the benefits of the critical infrastructure being put in place, Princess Oduah went on an international investment road show. The investment road show being a key element of the road map for transformation of the air transport industry is already yielding results.

    The Chinese have already signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Nigeria to finance the construction of 11 new state-of-the-art airports out of which six will be for perishables. The conferment of the award of the public officer of the year 2011 on Princess Oduah by Leadership did not come to many as a surprise. As a workaholic who is not given to vain glories, she is a great believer in nation building. In his treatise, James Thomas notes: “To be a great thinker and so always master of the situation, one must of necessity have been a great thinker in action. An eagle was never yet hatched from a goose’s egg.”

    On October 22, the first of the 11 remodelled terminals was commissioned by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) Senator Anyim Pius Anyim.

    Stakeholders, hitherto with doubts, had a change of mind when they saw the magnificence of the new terminal. With that, the wind was taken out of the sail of the minister’s critics.

    But the minister cannot be deterred by such distractions! She has placed her hands on the plough and there is no looking back. As the remaining 10 remodelled airports await commissioning in quick succession in the next two months, work will soon begin on the remaining 10 airports in the second phase of the remodelling project. The airport landscape has become one huge construction site and Nigerians owe it all to Princess Oduah.

     

    •Yakubu Dati is the General Manager (Corporate Communications of FAAN)

  • EPIC to begin construction of refinery

    An indigenous company, EPIC Refinery and Petrochemical Industries Limited and its partner, Sino Asia Energy Group Company Limited, are set to begin the construction of its 150,000 barrels per day refinery.

    The company’s Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Mr Barango Matthew Wenke (Jnr), disclosed this in Lagos.

    He said site clearing had begun but for the flooding, which overtook the area, substantial work could have been done by now but he noted that as soon as the flood dries up, they would resume work at the site.

    He said: “The flooding of the site of the refinery in Bayelsa State is a natural issue, but as soon as the water dries, the team will return to continue with site works while waiting for the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) to give them licence after full construction will commence.”

    He maintained that the 150,000 barrel a day capacity refinery will come on stream in two years time. He said that some prominent Nigerians want to come on the EPIC board but they (the management) are being careful on who comes on board. “For now, the only person who has been allowed to join the board is Mr. Timi Alaibe, the former Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), ” he said.

    He added that the refinery’s joint venture board meeting is slated for end of November.

    He noted that the company is making efforts to begin fuel importation. He said their partner has a refinery, which refines products and when they start importing, they would crash the price of petrol as they landing cost would be cheaper.

    He said: “We are set to crash the prices of refined petroleum products imported into the country and bring an end to the national embarrassment often associated with petroleum products scarcity and its attendant hardship on Nigerians. For a start, we will sell petrol at the rate of N75 per litre, which is sold at a subsidised price of N97. “

    Wenke (Jnr), who just returned to the country from a business trip to South Korea and some other Asian countries, said he went to inspect the refinery’s design and other technology to be employed in the building of EPIC refinery and Petroleum industries. He said it is imperative to crash fuel prices the government has a lot of things to do with money, which will be beneficial to Nigerians.

    On how EPIC would crash the prices, Wenke said while waiting for the release of their license from the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) before commencing construction, the company has gone ahead and written to the government for approval to bring in refined petroleum products at a rate far below what the current importers are quoting for which the government pays billions of naira as subsidy.

    He said: “The pump price of petrol will be N75 per litre instead of the current N97.After the tour of Asia, we have written to the Ministry of Petroleum Resources and copied the Ministry of Trade and Investment about our intention to help alleviate the sufferings of Nigerians as a result of the high cost of refined petroleum products. We have as partner, a 348,000 barrel daily capacity refinery out there in Asia. We have worked out all the modalities and discovered that the current importers lie to Nigerians about the landing cost of these products. We have put all our cost together and our price for petrol will not be more than N75 per litre.

    “When EPIC refinery comes on stream two years from now, the price of petrol will further be brought down to N65 per litre. We want to help with cheaper refined products before the coming on stream of EPIC refinery whose products will further bring down the price, we sent in out letters last week to the government and await their approval.”

    Wenke said they are not asking for subsidy, all the support they want from the government to get petrol to consumers at N75 is to use the NNPC distribution networks since it is being done with national interest instead of profit motivation.”

    Wenke said there is nothing like cabal. He said the EPIC team has decided to work in line with the requirements of the government and to serve Nigerians.

    “Any responsible citizen should be committed to the good policies that govern his country and this is what the EPIC team stands for and therefore fears nobody,” he said.

    He said the team is doing due diligence on banks to identify the bank that will warehouse the $30 billion which is ready for the entire project.

  • N54b EU grant for Niger Delta, others

    The European Union(EU) yesterday granted EU260 million (N54 billion) to Nigeria as part of its sustained efforts to improve governance and public service delivery in the country.

    Specifically, the grant is provided for two programmes, namely the EU Niger Delta Support Programme and the Support to State and Local Governance Reform Programme (SLOGOR).

    The Niger Delta Support programme will get EU200 million while the Local Governance Reform Programme ‘s share is EU60 million.

    The Niger Delta Support programme is designed to support nine states in the Niger Delta region namely, Bayelsa, Edo, Delta, Rivers, Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Abia,Imo and Ondo to address the main causes of the unrest through improvement in governance.

    The programme would support the affected states to strengthen their public expenditure management systems, enhance skills and opportunity for youth employment and provide access to socio-economic services, such as safe, adequate and sustainable water and sanitation, amongst others.

    The support to states and local governance reform programme would focus on improving transparency, accountability and quality of public finance and human resources management systems in six EU focal states of Anambra, Osun, Cross River, Yobe, Jigawa and Kano.

    It will build the capacities and processes of these states in public finance programming and management, and at local level, towards improvement in social services delivery.

    Speaking before the financing agreement was sealed between him and the EU Ambassador in Nigeria, Dr. David MacRae, the Minister/Deputy Chairman of National Planning Commission (NPC), Dr. Shamsuddeen Usman, explained that the grant was coming at a time when its usefulness in current national development agenda cannot be over-emphasised and assured the EU donors of judicious use of the funds through participatory involvement of all stakeholders, including beneficiary communities.

    Usman described the signing of the agreement, which had been delayed for some period, as a proof of Nigeria ’s preparedness for the implementation of the critical projects in the affected states nationwide and expressed the hope that they will impact positively on the lives of the people in the affected states.

    His words: “This official signing ceremony is one out of many EU-Nigeria interventions aimed at ameliorating social tension, and other crises in the Niger Delta states, and the other EU focal states, under the SLOGOR Project, with a view to ensuring rapid social and economic development of, and enhancing transparency and accountability in the country.

    “We are all aware of the enormity of the problems confronting our development efforts, particularly in the Niger Delta Region, in terms of poor financial management, youth unemployment, violence and poverty, amongst others. The Niger Delta Support Programme and the Support to States and Local Government Reform projects are poised to address many of these challenges.”

  • Need to speedy up passage of PIB

    Need to speedy up passage of PIB

    The Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) has become the subject matter of most of oil and gas industry’s fora. The Ministry of Petroleum Resources under Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke is gradually delivering on its promises but the PIB is where the attention ought to focus, writes EMEKA UGWUANYI.

    Hardly does any oil and gas forum hold without a mention of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) and the consequences of its non-passage into law by the National Assembly. As the bill, stands, it doesn’t need only quick passage, it also needs to be thoroughly deliberated upon so that on passage it should be a balanced Act that would benefit all stakeholders in order to attract the desired investments into the oil and gas industry.

    The non-passage of the PIB, according to experts, is responsible for lack of new investment in the upstream sector of the industry in the last couple of years. Industry operators had continued to stress the diversion of investment in the sector to Ghana, Angola, Equitorial Guinea, and Mozambique as well as other emerging countries where oil have been found.

    The Minister of Petroleum Resources made efforts in the past even to the point that she assured Nigerians that the bill would be passed into law by the sixth assembly. But the efforts and promises were fruitless as the National Assembly could not pass it. Nigerians are expectant that the seventh assembly would make history by deliberating on the document and passing it into law. The ministry, it was learnt, has begun to make fresh efforts to see the passage of the bill.

    Upstream

    The Director, Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Osten Olorunsola, at a forum said that in the past five years no new investment has been made in the upstream sector. He also noted that in recent times oil is being found in commercial quantities in many parts of Africa apart from countries in the Gulf of Guinea, an area believed to be still holding substantial reserves of hydrocarbon. He said that the earlier Nigeria maximizes the benefits of this natural resources, the better for all Nigerians because investors including those in Nigeria are increasingly considering all these emerging options.

    The implication of this development is that as there is no exploration, the country depends on existing reserves. When the reserves are depleted without replacement, we should be worried as a country, said the President of the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE), Dr. Afe Mayowa.

    Mayowa said that there was urgent need to replace consumption through aggressive exploration to ensure growth in reserves, energy security and sustained revenue inflow, especially as the country’s main source of revenue is oil and gas.

    According to these experts, the passage of PIB is the only reliable option to unlock the potentials of the petroleum sector as well as the attendant benefits for Nigerians. The PIB, which when passed into law, is believed would remove the bottlenecks, bureaucracies and inefficiencies associated with government controlled entities. It as it would also release many agencies and policies from the strangle-hold of the government.

    Alison-Madueke constituted committees made up of experts to work on the bill before it was submitted to the National Assembly for consideration. The essence of the committees’ inputs is to address some grey areas and contentious provisions.

    Downstream

    With what has been happening in the downstream sector of the industry since the beginning of the year especially the marketing arm, the probe and counter probe of transactions necessitated by the House of Representatives’ adhoc committee’s oil subsidy programme probe, which unveiled the rot in the sector, transparency is gradually being engendered into the downstream.

    The passage of PIB will bring about deregulation, which will open up the downstream and put an end to the undue fleecing of Nigerians by a few marketers and privileged Nigerians. In the past couple of weeks, fuel scarcity has been lingering in different parts of the country because it is the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) alone that has been importing petrol. The marketers have refused to import as a result of non-payment of their outstanding subsidy claims put at about N200 billion. Some retail outlets have in view of the fuel scarcity been selling the product above the regulated pump price of N97 per litre. Some stations sell at between N110 and N140 per litre in the hinterland.

    Besides, some unscrupulous people cash in on the situation to sell adulterated fuel to the unsuspecting motorists, while others hawk the products at exorbitant prices. According to industry operators, the passage of the PIB would address the problems.

    Gas development

    In the power sector, there has been a significant improvement in power supply following increased gas supply to thermal power plants. In the recent past, inadequate gas supply had almost crippled the power sector cutting generation to almost half to a little over 2000 megawatts (MW).

    The Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, in order to ensure increased gas supply to facilitate power generation in the country, had ordered an aggressive implementation of the ongoing 12-month gas emergency timeline for a speedy expansion of the gas-to-power programme, which the international oil companies (IOCs) bought into.

    The minister had pledged the Federal Government’s commitment to work with IOCs to meet the gas to power aspirations. She noted that a speedy gas to power can only be attained if the oil majors work in concert with local Nigerian service providers.

    She said: “We can only build a reliable oil and gas sector through the effective participation of competent Nigerian service providers and operators. Thank God the IOCs and the indigenous companies and some Nigerian professionals are already keying into this opportunity made possible by the Nigerian Content Act.”

    The Managing Director, Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) and chairman Shell Companies in Nigeria, Mutiu Sunmonu, said that Shell has taken adequate steps to improve gas supply to the power plants in the country.

    Sumonu said that the company was already keying into the Federal Government’s 12 months gas emergency plan meant to boost power generation. “We at Shell are committed to realizing government’s gas emergency plan so as to boost gas supply in the country,” he said.

     

  • FAAN eyes 8.5 million passengers

    As part of the new business plan by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), passenger movement at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, is projected to increase from 6.7 million in 2011 to about 8.5 million by 2016. This is the expected fallout of many factors, including the on-going airport remodelling, as well as the expected increase in the number of domestic airlines.

    According to the Regional Manager of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, Mr Edward Adedamola Olarerin, the airport authority will embark on a continuous programme of infrastructure upgrade, as well as innovation and customer focused service delivery, which is expected to drive the development and growth of the sector.

    Olarerin explained that with the anticipated increase in the number of domestic airlines, which will operate into the Murtala Muhammed AIrport, the 8.5 million passenger Mark will be realisable as government remains focussed in improving operational infrastructure at the airport.

    He explained that the airport authority is anticipating an increase in its revenue stream from aeronautical sources, including retail outlets and other sources, which is a fall out of the on going improvement in infrastructure and services.

  • Group alleges N6.6b contract fraud in Niger Delta Ministry

    Group alleges N6.6b contract fraud in Niger Delta Ministry

    A Non-Governmental Organisation(NGO), the Anti-Corruption Network, yesterday accused the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs of allegedly executing N6.6 billion phantom contracts.

    Its Executive Secretary, Otunba Dino Melaye, listed some of the projects to include the canalisation of Odoubou-Bololou creek project at the Ogbaba-Gbene Burutu Local Government Area of Delta State at N1,259billion; Land Reclamation/Shoreline Protection at Ogbobagbene for N2.431billion and the canalisation training of Foupolo-Bubu Ndoro Creek Project in Burutu fors N2.37Obillion.

    Melaye said the none-existing projects have been paid for, adding that the alleged fraud would not have been possible without the connivance of the Ministry of Finance.

    “The perpetrators of the deal could not have been successful without the satanic collaboration between the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs,” he claimed, describing the level of the alleged fraud in government agencies and ministries as mind boggling.

    He said he would petition the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to investigate the alleged fraud.

    The former House Representatives member said the NGO would soon file sue ministry.

    Melaye said: “We will soon write a petition to the EFCC and the ICPC to report the monumental fraud in the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs.

    “The level of fraud going on in the ministry is satanic and we will not fold our arms even as our commonwealth is being siphoned in our very eyes.

  • How to achieve growth in extractive industry

    Unless stakeholders including the private sector and the government engage each other in transparency and accountability, sustaining economic growth in the extractive industries may be a tall dream.

    The High Commissioner of Canada to Nigeria, Chris Cooter disclosed this at a seminar on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in the extractive industries in Lagos.

    At the seminar entitled: Sustainability in the extractive industries: Managing your value chain, Cooter noted that the bane of the extractive industries over the years has been the absence of early and open engagement among stakeholders including communities, which are affected by oil, gas and mine operations.

    He said the time had come for stakeholders to collaborate to ensure that most operations in the oil, gas and mining industries were carried out in line with international best practices and standards.

    Cooter said the era of shrouding the sectors’ activities in secrecy had to be dispensed with if the desired growth was to take place through investments.

    He assured of his country’s desire to support Nigeria in its quest to entrench accountability and transparency in the management and administration of its abundant natural resources by providing the template adopted by his country and other advanced countries for consideration for use.

    Besides, he said Canada is poised to bring more investments to shore up its $3billion worth of investments that had been made in the country. “So far, we have attained a major feat in our business relationship with Nigeria going by the kind of investments that we have brought here. The fact is that trade values have tripled during this period while investment is growing rapidly by the day. We are also expecting that significant new investments will come very soon to increase the $3 billion worth of investments that has been made already,” he said.

    He noted that the business relationship between the countries was expected to grow by the recent launch of the bi-national commission, which was signed sometimes in April.

    The high commissioner said the commission, which focuses on security, economic and critical components of the economy would provide the framework for adding momentum to the business relationship between the two countries to facilitate opportunities, particularly in the extractive industries.

    The General Manager, Policy, Government and Public Affairs (PGPA), Chevron Nigeria Limited, Deji Haastrup,said sustaining growth in the extractive industries should not be left to private sector as the government and other stakeholders, including Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) had roles to play in ensuring that the huge revenues realised from oil, gas and mining operations were monitored and channelled into other worthwhile projects.

    He also said the country’s future lies in the diversification of the economy and the encouragement of the spirit of entrepreneurship among the youth to reduce over dependence on oil.

    He enjoined stakeholders to work together so that the challenges militating against achieving transparency and accountability in the extractive industries, which include lack of respect for rule of law and sanctity of agreements, poverty, corruption and inadequate infrastructure, can be overcome.

  • More court cases awaits CRFFN

    Following the plans by the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) to arrest anybody engaged in the business of freight forwarding in Nigeria who fail to register with the body before the second week of April, a legal expert and legal adviser to a maritime stakeholders’ group, the ‘Save Nigeria group’, a coalition of importers, exporters, maritime lawyers and others (SNFFIEC), Barrister Osuala Nwagbara and the Secretary -General of the group, Mr Chukwumalu Emeka have said that the council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) does not have any right to arrest and or prosecute any practitioner as long as that person has been registered by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and his license has not expired nor cancelled. If they dare, then more court cases await them, they warn.

    Osuala said “CRFFN does not have the right to arrest anybody who is not a registered member of that body. According to Osuala, the status that set up CRFFN defined a freight forwarder as somebody who must necessarily handle goods for the importer across international boundaries”. By that definition, even transporters who put their trucks on the road from Cotonu to Lagos is a freight forwarder. Anybody who is licensed by Customs is free to practice as a licensed Customs Agent in any port within the country without necessarily registering with the CRFFN as a freight forwarder, therefore if CRFFN goes ahead to attempt to harass anybody for not registering with them, such a person have the legal right to take them to court and seek redress. Osuala said that.

    The Customs License supersedes registration with CRFFN because very one who must be registered with CRFFN must first be registered with Customs with Customs without which he cannot be registered with CRFFN. With Customs license, one who does not want to go into freight forwarding activities across internationally boundaries can confine himself to operations within the country as a Customs Agents. Such does not necessarily need to register with CRFFN and any attempt by CRFFN to molest anybody practicing as a Customs Agent will result to court cases.

    While the NCS licensed people as ‘Clearing Agents, to clear goods within the country, the CRFFN registration has to do with those who handles goods for importers across international boundaries either from the seaports, Airport or land border point of view, from across the globe, Osuala said. CRFFN does not have the power to arrest anybody for being in the port as a Clearing Agent simply because that person did not register with them.

  • West Africa needs $26b for regional electricity interconnectivity

    West Africa needs $26b for regional electricity interconnectivity

    The West African sub-region requires $26 billion to undertake its electricity inter-connectivity.

    The Secretary-General of the West African Power Pool, Amadou Diallo, made this disclosure yesterday in Abuja at the Seventh session of the general assembly of West African Power Pool (WAPP).

    The sub-regional electricity inter-connectivity programme is moving steadily with many countries in West Africa to have a common electricity platform and selling power to one another, he said.

    Diallo stated that many countries in the sub-region have embarked on power reform programmes cutting across the sub-region. He listed Ghana, Cote D’Ivoire, Mali and Mauritania as examples.

    The sub-regional power reform programmes, he noted, are now concentrated on regulatory, generation and transmission issues and are at different stages of completion among the countries.

    Diallo identified the challenges confronting the sub-regional electricity inter-connectivity initiate ive to be that of tariff, which he said, “is too high for the people but too low for the countries.”

    Earlier, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the Transmission Company of Nigeria and host of the session, Olushole Akinniranye, listed the construction of the Ikeja West 330KVA line that would supply power to Cotonou, and the on-going power stations for Togo, Benin and Ghana, as some of the achievements of the regional entity.

    He listed lack of funds to execute the projects as one of the challenges facing the WAPP, but noted that other challenges were being surmountable as the pool will continue to look for more funds to execute its projects.

    Both Diallo and Akinniranye said it was impossible for Nigeria to give out power much more than she needed, stressing that “we don’t supply more than we use to other West African countries,” they added.