The Nation Newspaper

Tag: 20

  • TCN targets 20,000 megawatts in 2021, says MD

    The Managing Director of Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), Mallam Usman Gur-Mohammed, yesterday in Kano said the company was on track to meet the 20,000 megawatts target in 2021.

    He said that President Muhammadu Buhari had done a lot  of work to support the company, in the areas of transmission and expansion programme, which brought about the transmission network from 5,000 mw in 2017 to 8,100 MW currently.

    According to him, “we have achieved frequency that have never been achieved in the history of power sector. As l speak to you now, our frequency control is the best in West Africa. This has never been happening; we focus mostly on expansion, not looking at the quality of the power. But now we are not focusing on expansion, but the quality of the power.

    Mr Usman Gur-Mohammed disclosed this, while fielding questions from newsmen shortly after, Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje inaugurated the 1×60 MVA 132/33KV transformer at Dan’agundi transmission substation Kano as well as 1×30/40MVA 132/33KV substation at Wudil transmission substation.

    He assured consumers that the current poor power supply being experienced in Kano, Katsina and Jigawa states as a result of faulty transformers at Kumbotoso Transmission station in Kano, would soon come to pass.

    He said the newly acquired transformer which had arrived the country would soon be transported to Kano to enable the TCN in-house engineers install the equipment.

  • Girl, 20, donates N500,000 textbooks to Oyo students

    A third-year student of University of Southampton in the United Kingdom (UK), Miss Tolulope Ogunremi, yesterday donated 350 Mathematics textbooks valued at about N500,000 to pupils of Community High School, Ajara, Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.

    The figure is made up of about 124 pupils of the junior secondary (JS) and about 200 from the senior secondary (SS) classes.

    The presentation was witnessed by the father of the donor, officials of the state Ministry of Education, officials of the school and pupils.

    Miss Ogunremi, who is studying Mathematics and Computer Science, said she would also be getting in touch regularly with the pupils to check the results of their assessments in Mathematics each term.

    She said: “I am pleased to announce that after a review of the assessments at the end of 2018/19 session, top five pupils in JS 2 and top five in JS 3 will have their tuition fees paid by my humble self until the end of SS 3.

    “I am here today because I felt the need to empower pupils by providing relevant resources. A better knowledge of Mathematics will never be a waste. I hope the donation of these textbooks will inspire you all to forge ahead.”

    Miss Ogunremi said she was passionate about empowering young people of African descent to pursue careers in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics).

    The UK-based student said she would also launch Project Hezi soon, saying the project was about improving the state of education in Nigeria.

    “The word ‘Hezi’ Basque means to educate and I am setting out to improve the state of education in Nigeria,” she said.

    Mr Taiwo Ogunremi, the father of the donor, said the inspiration of his daughter began after she visited Nigeria and saw the need to help children hawking during school hours.

    He said his daughter later informed the family of her decision to raise funds to assist the less privileged kids to return to school with whatever she can do.

    According to him, his 20-year-old girl raised the funds for the donations on her own.

    The Permanent Secretary in Oyo State Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Mrs Ibironke Fatoki, hailed the donor for the gesture.

    She urged other well-meaning Nigerians to emulate such.

    The head teacher of the school, Mrs Adebola Adeleye, and a pupil, Samuel Augustine, lauded Miss Ogunremi’s philanthropic gesture.

    They said the effort would encourage the pupils to do better in their study of Mathematics.

    Adeleye noted that the importance of excellence in Mathematics could not be over emphasised, saying it was a prerequisite for all science and social science in our universities.

    “I commend Miss Tolulope Ogunremi for the help she has extended to the students in this sub-rural area who have hitherto not been able to purchase mathematics textbooks.

    “I promise that the books will be put to judicious use and we pray that Miss Ogunremi and her family shall be amply rewarded by God,” she said.

  • Lagos govt targets 20,000 houses by 2020

    The Lagos State government has said it targets 20,000 housing units by 2020 as part of its multifaceted approach to confront the 3 million housing deficit in the state.

    The Commissioner for Housing, Mr Gbolahan Lawal, spoke yesterday during an inspection tour of Odo-Onosa/Odo Ayandelu Housing project at Agbowa, near Ikorodu.

    The commissioner said a recent survey indicated that the state’s youth population was about 65 per cent, hence the need for government to expedite action on its affordable mass home ownership drive.

    He said: “Our target is to bridge the housing deficit by working with the private sector.

    “We have a focus and an initiative that we call the Lagos Affordable Public Housing to achieve 20,000 housing units by the Year 2020. We are working with the private sector to achieve this.”

    Lawal said under the scheme, the state government had created the enabling environment and provided land, as part of its equity contributions.

    He added: “We are presently working with 10 private developers. They have started 4,404 housing units, and more developers are still coming.

    “We want to see how we can close the existing 3 million gap. As we are taking care of the supply side, we are also focusing on the demand side, looking at the housing finance system.

    “There are so many models that we are working with that can make many Lagosians have shelter they can call their own.”

    According to him, the Odo-Onosa/Odo Ayandelu Housing Scheme, under the state’s Rent-to-Own Scheme, has 660 housing units in one, two and three bedroom apartments and was 65 per cent completed.

    Lawal said over 70 per cent of the materials used for the construction were locally sourced with 34 local contractors engaged in the project.

    He said: “Our concern for the contractors is for them to move to sites quickly. We still have to pay some of them. We will find a way of expediting their payment.

    “The percentage completion is between 60 and 65. All other things being equal, we should target completion before the beginning of the fourth quarter, which is between October and December 2018.”

    The commissioner instructed the ministry officials to pay off the debts owed to contractors who showed commitment and dedication to complete the project.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the Lagos State government, through the Ministry of Housing, launched the Rent-To-Own and Rental Housing Policy on December 8, 2016.

    The scheme targets the low and medium income earners in the formal and informal sectors.

    Under the arrangement, payment for the housing units are staggered and tenants are allowed to occupy the property while paying towards ownership at a fixed rent within 10 years.

     

  • Energy Centre deploys over 20,000 solar systems

    Renewable Energy Centre, Asteven Group, has deployed over 20,000 solar home systems to some communities, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Sunny Akpoyibo, has said.

    He made this known during the launch of the Asteven Renewable Energy Academy and Centre of Excellence at Mowe, Ogun State.

    Akpoyibo said the group and its subsidiaries were established to, among other things, support the Federal Government in addressing the challenges of the negative perception surrounding off-grid solutions and the limited awareness of the benefits of renewable energy.

    Akpoyibo said his firm is in the market to encourage massive adoption of renewable energy technologies and help the government develop policies that would encourage the sub-sector rather than comparing it to other well-established traditional fossil fuel based sub-sectors.

    He also noted that the company wants to address lack of technical competence and capacity which delayed the development of the sector and opportunities for job creation taken elsewhere.

    He observed that the initial high cost of installing and deploying solar solutions whether for home systems, off-grid or mini-grids had proved challenging the traditional sources of funds, such as the banks and financial houses needed to understand the peculiarities of financing solar energy technologies, adding  the government cannot do it alone

    The academy, he said, was committed to developing local capacity, change the course of power access in Nigeria and increase job creation.

     

  • Boy, 20, commits suicide after being accused of stealing

    The people of Isu community in Etche Local Government Area of Rivers State   are in shock over a 20-year-old, Chidi Nwauwa, who committed suicide.

    His remains dangled on the tree at the back of the compound.

    A resident, Mr. Chikanwa Nweke, said the late Nwauwa committed the suicide after his elder brother accused him of stealing N4, 000.

    He noted that community members were not happy on how he ended his life and had resolved that his body should be thrown inside the forest.

    He said: “The community said it is a taboo and abomination for a young man like the late Nwauwa to take his life when he still have parents and brothers who are older than him. They protested that he should not be buried but to be thrown inside the forest.

    “But we thank the community that they later allowed us to bury him. It was just a minor argument after he was accused of stealing money which was just N4,000 but we were surprised when we saw his lifeless body on the tree.”

     

  • Sokoto shuts 20 illegal schools

    No fewer than 20 primary and secondary schools in Sokoto State were last week sealed by the state government.

    The affected schools, the government said, violated regulations guiding their establishment.

    This was contained in a statement signed by the chairman of the committee on the closure of unregistered schools in the state, Alhaji Shehu Lema.

    The statement said the decision was sequel to the recommendations of the committee to the ministry of basic and secondary education.

    It said: “The axed schools were closed as they were operating illegally and in non- conducive environment.

    “They were also operating in rented apartments in contravention of the laid down rules and regulations of establishing such schools.

    “These affected schools had also recruited unqualified teachers, another flagrant violation of the regulations.’’

    The statement further urged parents not to patronise the affected schools. It also called on them to liaise with the ministry in seeking new schools for their children and wards.

     

  • Nigeria needs $40b to generate 20,000Mw

    Nigeria needs $40b to generate 20,000Mw

    Nigeria requires $40billion to move her electricity generation from current 4,500 megawatts (Mw) of electricity to 20,000Mw by year 2020, the Managing Director/ Chief Executive officer, Enugu Electricity Distribution Company, Mr Roberts Dickerman, has said.

    Speaking on       how to grow the energy sector at the 2015 edition of the West African Industry Power Convention (WAPIC) Forum in Lagos, he said the country’s power sector  is yet to achieve appreciable growth, because majority of the citizens are still living in darkness.

    According to him, the country generates 156 units of electricity per person, while India generates 774 units of electricity per person, stressing that the country records the lowest electricity generation per person in the world.

    Dickerman said the issue is affecting the capacity of the power distribution companies (DisCos) to distribute power to consumers and further generate revenue.

    According to him, between 40 per cent and 60 per cent of energy is not being paid for by consumers in the country, adding that the issue has made it difficult for power firms to operate  optimally.

    He said: ‘’The Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) has been in a state of almost constant change and financial crisis since privatisation. One cause of this challenge is a timing mismatch between privatisation expectations and realities. “The rules of Transition Electricity Market(TEM) as declared by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) require DisCos to remit 100 per cent of their energy and capacity payment upstream, but the industry has not yet solved the puzzle of how to collect anywhere close to 100 per cent of the energy billed to consumers.’’

    Also, the Chief Executive Officer, Seplat Petroleum Development Company, Mr Austin Avuru, said the country needs $10billion per annum to fix gas and other infrastructural problems besetting the power industry.

    He added that the country would spend $10billion each  in the next 10 years to achieve meaningful results in the area of providing gas to power firms.

    He said the development would help in achieving the goals of encouraging energy efficiency and providing stable electricity, set by the government, in order to achieve the desired economic growth.

    Aturu, who spoke on: ‘’Improved Power Generation Company in Nigeria,  said gas production per cubit feet needs to improve drastically for the growth of the electricity sector.

    He said: “We  need to move gas level from two cubit feet per day to 12 cubic feet  per day to speed up electricity generation process in the next 10 years, and to achieve this, there is the need to invest $10 billion in the energy value chain every year, which translates to $100 billion in 10 years period.”

  • Stockbrokers, others can’t hold more than 20%

    Stockbrokers, others can’t hold more than 20%

    Stockbrokers, who constitute the largest members of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), may have to sell down their shareholdings within five years under the demutualisation of the Exchange, according to the final rules on  the matter by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

    As against earlier ceiling of 40 per cent in the draft rules and regulations, the final rules approved by SEC, obtained by The Nation, indicated that the aggregate equity interests of members of any specific stakeholder group, such as stockbrokers and broker-dealer in the demutualised securities exchange, should not exceed 20 per cent.

    The rules also retained the provision that no individual or entity must directly or in- directly own more than five per cent of the issued shares or voting rights in a demutualised securities exchange.

    The rules, according to Section 313 of the Investments and Securities Act (ISA) 2007, describe “related entities and persons” as a person or entity that is related to the entity or person that owns the equity or the voting rights.

    They stipulate that the securities exchange should initiate a process for determining the accurate list of members of the Exchange prior to the commencement of demutualisation.

    “The stakeholder groups who are shareholders of the Securities Exchange shall with effect from the date of demutualisation shall reduce their cumulative shareholding in the demutualised Securities Exchange to no more  than 20 percent within five years,” according to the rules. The 20 per cent ceiling is however an improvement on the draft rules, which stipulated a ceiling of 10 per cent within five years.

    The demutualisation of the Securities Exchange should include an exchange of membership rights in the Securities Exchange for ownership of shares in the demutualised Securities Exchange.

    The rules allow the Exchange to give equity interest to a strategic investor subject to establishment of the facts that the strategic investor has technical expertise through previous experience in managing other Exchanges and the aggregate number of shares to be offered to the strategic investors shall not be more than 30 per cent of issued and fully paid up capital of the securities exchange.

    However, if the Exchange is in need of funds, it could issue a higher number of shares subject to approval of the Commission.

    As part of preconditions for demutualisation, a securities exchange shall prior to demutualisation submit the names and profiles of members of its committee on demutualisation, a valuation report, the draft Memorandum and Articles of Association of the Securities Exchange, the proposed rules of the demutualised Securities Exchange, the proposed allotment and the basis of the proposed allotment of shares to the initial shareholders of the  Securities Exchange, a list of the directors proposed as the Board of the Securities Exchange, an implementation plan stating the process to be adopted for effecting the demutualisation of the Exchange, including but not limited to the treatment of the rights and liabilities of the existing members of the Exchange and the proposed plan for the independent management of the commercial and regulatory functions of the demutualised Securities Exchange and timelines for implementation of necessary structures to ensure the functional treatment of commercial and regulatory functions for a “No Objection” clearance by SEC.

    Any changes to the information provided under the preconditions must also be filed with the Commission for a “No Objection” clearance.

    The demutualised Exchange is expected to implement its plan for the independent management of its commercial and regulatory functions within one year of approval by SEC.

    On corporate governance, demutualised Exchange shall have a board of sufficient size relative to the scale and complexity of its operations and the board must be composed in such a way as to ensure diversity of experience without compromising independence, compatibility, integrity and availability of members to attend meetings.

    At least one third of the board shall be independent directors as provided for under the SEC Corporate Governance Code or any other applicable Corporate Governance Code while all appointments of directors and executive management shall require the prior written approval of the SEC.

    Besides, the demutualised Exchange shall be required to comply with the SEC Code of Corporate Governance for public companies and any other applicable corporate governance code.

    Demutualisation is the changing of a member-owned stock exchange, otherwise known as mutual exchange, to a corporate entity owned by shareholders. In a mutual exchange, the three functions of ownership, management and trading are concentrated into a single group, hence the broker members of the exchange are both the owners and the traders on the exchange and they further manage the exchange as well.

    In a demutualised exchange, the three functions of ownership, management and trading are clearly separated. The new rules by SEC simply defined demutualisation as “the process through which a member owned organisation becomes a shareholder owned company”.

    The NSE has been locked in intense grip of demutualisation with divergent views on the necessity, procedures and timing and other details of the exercise. The release of the draft culminated a four-year exercise to provide amenable template for the demutualisation.

    Established as Lagos Stock Exchange (LSE) in 1960, the stock exchange was conceptualized as a limited by guarantee not-for-profit organisation thriving on the goodwill, reputation and integrity of its members. While Nigeria’s doyen of accounting, Mr. Akintola William, is the only surviving initial signatory to the founding memorandum of the NSE, the membership list of the NSE has always included “the movers and shakers” of the Nigerian economy. Beside stockbroking firms and other capital market operators that are dealing members, members of the NSE currently included Alhaji Aliko Dangote, Chief Ernest Shonekan, Mr. Gamaliel Onosode, Mr. Oba Otudeko, Otunba Adekunle Ojora, Mr. Pascal Dozie, Chief Phillip Asiodu, Rear Admiral Allison Madueke (rtd.) and Senator Udo Udoma among others. Altogether, the NSE has some 360 individual and institutional members including some 255 active dealing members.

    Several State Investment Companies are also institutional members of the NSE, giving the States inputs into the operations of the NSE. These included Adamawa Securities Limited, Kaduna Investment Company, Kano State Investment and Properties Limited, Katsina State Investment and Property Development Company Limited, Kwara State Investment Corporation, New Nigerian Development Company Limited, Niger State Development Company Limited, Sokoto Investment Company Limited and Yobe Investment Company Limited among others.

    It is believed that the new rules have been previewed by the Federal Government. The Federal Government recently said it has opened discussions with key stakeholders in the capital market on the demutualisation of the NSE.

    The Federal Government, which played a major role in the founding of the private members-owned NSE in 1960, said it had held talks with the NSE and SEC on the possible guidelines, options and approaches for the demutualisation of the Exchange.

    Minister of State for Finance, Ambassador Bashir Yuguda, confirmed the discussion between the government and other stakeholders on the demutualisation.

    According to him, government is engaging stakeholders such as SEC and the NSE because of the importance it attaches to the capital market and the import of such demutualisation on the market.

    He noted that the engagements and discussions with the stakeholders were geared towards ensuring that government comes up with the right policy for the demutualisation.

    President, Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Mr. Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, also said the discussions on the demutualisation of the Exchange are ongoing noting that the exercise is of critical importance to the NSE and the entire capital market.

    According to him, giving the position of the NSE, the demutualisation of the Exchange will require input from both the government side and the private sector.

    Nigerian shareholders had expressed supports for the demutualisation of the NSE, describing the release of the draft rules for the demutualisation by the SEC as a step in the right direction.

    Shareholders’ leaders who spoke to The Nation said the demutualisation of the Exchange would open up the marketplace for popular ownership and enable minority shareholders who have been part of the growth of the market to benefit from ownership of the market.

     

  • 20,000 policemen deployed in North-East

    Twenty Thousand police personnel have been deployed in North-Eastern Nigeria for the general elections which begin today, Inspector General of Police, Suleiman Abba said in Bauchi yesterday.

    The IGP, who spoke through Deputy Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Hilary Okpara at the Bauchi Police Command Headquarters, assured voters that adequate security arrangments had been put in place for their safety.

    The North-East is made up of Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba and Yobe states.

    However, of the six states, Adamawa, Borno and Yobe are currently under state of emergency, though the other states within the región are not left out of attacks by the Boko Haram Islámic fundamentalists.

    Okpara, who is supervising the security situation in región, also informed that  “for the security of the electoral materials, foreign election monitors and even the safety of the voters, people have been asked to keep 200 metres away after casting their votes.”

    He also said that the IGP has decreed that only statutory security organistions are providing security coverage, with the police leading.

    On the internally displaced persons, the IG said: ”All necessary arrangments have been made to take care of them.

    “The police have been well motivated and no politician will use them to breach the electoral act.”

    At the time of filing this report, the police, Customs, Immigration, Prison and Civil Defence Corps personnel were seen leaving for their duty posts across the 20 local government áreas in the state.

    Meanwhile the streets of Bauchi, the state capital,  had been deserted on Friday. Shops and other business centres were closed by their owners in readiness for today’s presidential and National Assembly elections.

    Bauchi State Governor Isa Yuguda, who is also vying for the Bauchi South Senatorial seat on the Peoples Democratic Party’s ticket, yesterday warned trouble makers to steer clear of polling units as “security operatives have been directed to take appropriate actions against anyone violating the law.”

     

  • Delta Steel has capacity to employ 20,000 youths, says APC candidate

    Delta Steel has capacity to employ 20,000 youths, says APC candidate

    The candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for Delta Central Senatorial District in the forth coming general election, Hon. Halims Agoda, has vowed to probe the sale of Delta Steel Company in Ovwian-Aladja, Delta State– if elected.

    Agoda, a former member representing Ethiope Constituency in the House of Representatives,  lamented the fate of the now comatose pioneer integrated steel plant.

    Addressing his supporters in Effurun,  Uvwie Local Government Area, he noted that the steel company was capable of employing thousands of teeming youths in the state, particularly in the central district where it is located.

    He said, “DSC, if well run and adequately financed, has the capacity to employ over 20,000 staff and this ought to be a blessing to Urhobo nation and not this present state were the multibillion dollar plant is allowed to rot away because some persons have personal interest to take over.

    “All those who contributed in one way or the other to bring DSC to this sorry state will have stories to tell Nigerians when I get to the Senate chambers,” he vowed.

    He also promised to facilitate mass employment in a bid to ensure crime reduction and taming of youth restiveness in the state and beyond.

    He said, “I am highly experience and intellectualized in the business of law making, having done it in both the State House of Assembly and the House of Representatives between 1999 to 2011. Since I am a senior Legislator, I will seat on the front row of the red chambers of the National Assembly, from where I shall be at advantage to move my motions. As a senior legislator, I must also be appointed as Chairman of various committees where I can relate with government agencies, parastatals, organisations and companies where I can facilitate employment for our teaming youths.

    “That is an opportunity my two opponents do not have because none of them has been to any law making House in this country. If you elect them, they will sit at the back row where they will be overwhelmed and can hardly be heard, because that is part of the rules of the House, new comers are usually relegated to the back without the privilege of bein appointed as committee chairmen. I urged you to vote for me since I am the best, and I can assure you that my first motion will request for the probe of the sale of DSC, which you and I know was corruptly done. Today DSC is moribund.”

    He also touted his achievements in past assignments, saying: “When I was in the House of Representatives, I moved the motion which led to the establishment of the Federal University of Petroleum Resources now in Ugbomro, near Effurun here in Delta State, and I also moved the motion which made it impossible for the federal government to relocate the prestigious Petrpluem Training Institute Effurun to the    North. This time, when I get to the Senate I will facilitate work in it with adequate infrastructure.”