The Nation Newspaper

Tag: 20

  • Buhari: we’ll deliver 20,000mw in four years

    Buhari: we’ll deliver 20,000mw in four years

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday unfolded its power agenda should it presidential candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, be elected.

    The party plans to generate at least 20,000 megawatts (mw) of electricity in four years to surpass Nigeria’s consumption level of around 15, 000mw.

    In a statement, the party’s Presidential Campaign Organisation (APCPCO) expressed dismay that the Federal Government under President Goodluck Jonathan had only added 1.400mw to the national grid in four years.

    The statement by Mallam Garba Shehu, the spokesman of the campaign, quoted Gen. Buhari as saying that while he will not run a witch hunt government, he will not hesitate to deal decisively with cases of impunity and corruption.  No probe of any government official, he added.

    The statement also quoted Gen. Buhari as saying he is passionately concerned about the sorry conditions of our armed forces today who, despite huge budgetary allocations, have failed to effectively deal with manifest security threats, including the Boko Haram terrorism.

    “What he said at every given opportunity is that he is keenly interested in knowing what has gone wrong, if any, with the army that he knew. When he has access to them as Commander-in-Chief, he will like to hear from his commanders what problems they are dealing with so that they can be solved,” Shehu said.

    “In a democracy such as ours, all institutions of government, including the armed forces, are accountable. No country can achieve results in its counter-terrorism efforts when there is no transparency in the management of huge resources for the purpose. He (Gen. Buhari) will reinvigorate the armed forces and restore their rapidly evaporating morale,” he said.

    The APC Campaign Organisation accused the PDP of wasting billions of naira on non existent power, managing to add a yearly average of 87 megawatts of electricity, showing a massive failure to substantially raise generation and distribution of electric power despite promises and cash infusion of between $16 billion and $20 billion.

    Shehu said “nearly 16 years of PDP administration gave this country a miserly addition of 1,400 Mega Watts against the expenditure of more than $16 billion. That translates to 18.5 MW per annum”.

    He noted that “this abysmal power production and distribution, with its attendant socio-economic implications, is the most irresponsible thing a government can do to its people.

    It explained that the PDP has shown an “appalling lack of capacity to deal with just any problem confronting this country and the lack of vision and commitment to dealing with electricity supply was just one of the myriads of the others begging for attention.”

    “The only conclusion to draw from this is that the PDP is more interested in feathering the nest of importers of generators than in the wellbeing of Nigerian citizens and their businesses.”

    The organisation accused President Jonathan of massive corruption in the country’s agricultural sector, saying “President Jonathan has failed woefully in the agricultural sector, and all the self-praise of the administration on agriculture is simply a ruse”.

    It maintained that whereas President Jonathan had promised in 2010 to make Nigeria self-sufficient in rice and wheat production by 2015, “the grim reality on the ground today is that Nigeria emerged as the world’s highest importer of rice in 2015, and a whopping $11 billion is spent annually by Nigeria to import rice, wheat, sugar and fish.”

    The statement added that according to the former Acting Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Dr. Sarah Alade, Nigeria as at 2014 spends $4 billion on rice importation – that is about N600 billion annually on the importation of 2.1 million metric tonnes of milled rice.

    “This is after the Federal Government had approached the China Exim Bank for a loan of $1.2 billion for the financing of 100 large-scale rice processing plants with a total capacity of 2.1 million metric tonnes.

    “The troubling truth today is that Nigeria is nothing close to self-sufficiency in rice production and what we have at hand is a close web of corruption where government cronies stumble over each other to get import licences for rice.”

    “According to the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina, Nigeria’s wheat consumption as at year 2000 was about two million metric tonnes. But, by 2010, wheat importation to the country had risen to four million metric tonnes and Nigeria spends N635 billion annually on wheat importation.

    “Five years into the Jonathan administration, Nigeria spends even more than we did in 2010 to import wheat; yet the government continues to brandish false achievements in the agricultural sector – a situation that is completely at variance with what President Jonathan promised Nigerians in 2010, saying that his government would make Nigeria save N635 billion annually on rice and wheat importation.”

    The statement also faulted the government’s claim that local farmers now have unhindered access to fertiliser through the Growth Enhancement Scheme and described as “excessively labourious and technically difficult for the farmers to work through” are two bags of fertilizer throughout the entire farming season, “and government has not come out in one instance to tell Nigerians how much it receives as grants on fertiliser distribution to farmers from donor agencies.

    “The government will want to give us the impression that fertiliser is being given to farmers free of charge. But we know that what subsists is a 50 per cent subsidy per bag of fertiliser. Our farmers are being shortchanged under this so-called e-wallet arrangement because of lack of transparency.

    “We may be looking at another subsidy scam over fertilizer unless the Jonathan administration comes out clean to tell us how much it has received as grants over fertiliser and how it comes about the 50 per cent subsidy per bag of fertilizer.”

    While dismissing President Jonathan’s claims of achievement in the agricultural sector, the organisation said that “throughout the periods preceding the Jonathan’s administration, the contribution of agriculture to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was at 7 per cent, while under the so-called transformation agenda of President Jonathan, agriculture’s contribution to the GDP has been consistent at 5 per cent – an all time low.

    “In any case, food commodities are items Nigerians buy on a daily basis. If the Jonathan administration was sincere with the statistics it reels out on agriculture, why would the government buy pages of newspaper advertorials and TV commercials to force bitter falsehood of its achievements down the throats of Nigerians? The Jonathan administration has failed woefully in its agricultural policies and the facts are self-evident out there at those food stalls in our markets.

    “In 2015, Nigerians know they spend far more to buy food than they did in 2010. That reality, in itself, is President Jonathan’s scorecard in agriculture.”

  • Ethiopian Air to acquire 20 Boeing 737s

    Ethiopian Airlines Enterprise, Africa’s largest carrier by revenue, has  agreed to buy 20 redesigned 737 models valued at $2.1 billion in the largest single order for Boeing (BA) Co. planes from the continent.

    The order for the single-aisle Max 8, the first of four redesigned 737 models, comes with an option for an additional 15 planes, the companies said in a statement.

    The Boeing model will be a key component of the Addis Ababa-based carrier’s 15-year plan to expand its business to carry 18 million passengers a year, Ethiopian Airlines Chief Executive Officer Tewolde GebreMariam said during a tourism forum in Chicago.

    “The African market has had a lot of great potential, but service has been a problem,” Richard Aboulafia, an aerospace consultant with Fairfax, Virginia-based Teal Group, said in a telephone interview from Washington.

    “There are strong signs of improvement, led by Ethiopian and other airlines. This order shows a commitment to operate the most modern jets on domestic and intra-African routes.”

    The order had been announced previously on Boeing’s orders and deliveries website, without identifying the airline.

    Boeing’s Max 8 is due to enter service in 2017 and is being outfitted with new engines from a General Electric Co. joint venture.

    Ryanair Holdings Plc (RYA) announced earlier this month that it would buy as many as 200 of the higher-capacity Max 200 model from the Chicago-based planemaker, with deliveries set to begin in 2019.

  • Man, 20, jailed over sex with goat

    An Upper Area Court in Kuje Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has sentenced a 20-year-old tailor, Sani Abdul, to one year imprisonment for having sex with a she-goat.

    The prosecutor, Ocheche Samuel, told the court that the case was reported at the Kuje Police Station by Doh Ibrahim of the same address with the suspect.

    Samuel said Abdul was caught in a bathroom at Sauka Extension having intercourse with the she-goat.

    He added that when the accused heard footsteps approaching where he was having carnal knowledge of the goat, he tried to escape, but was caught and handed over to the police.

    Samuel said the offence contravened Section 284 of the Criminal Code.

    The accused, who resides at Sauka Extension in Kuje, was later sentenced to one year imprisonment after he pleaded guilty to one count charge of unnatural and indecent offence.

    The presiding Judge, Mr. Adamu Wakili, however, gave him an option of a fine of N15, 000. He also ordered that the accused be remanded in Kuje Prison for one year if he could not meet the fine condition.

  • 20 companies to form new Stock Exchange’s premium board

    The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) may pick 20 companies out of the 30 stocks that made up its NSE 30 Index to form its new premium board. The NSE 30 Index tracks the 30 most capitalised stocks at the stock market.

    The Nation‘s investigation indicated that the NSE may soon launch the new premium board, which will effectively make the Exchange a three-tier trading platform. The new premium board is designed as a market for the most capitalised stocks with the best corporate governance and liquidity. It is meant to showcase Nigeria’s best stocks to the global market.

    The proposed premium board will be NSE’s exclusive board with its listing rules and criteria. The existing listing boards, the main board and the Alternative Securities Market (ASeM), will also continue to run concurrently with the new premium board. The existing listing rules will continue to apply to companies currently on the main board and ASeM.

    Investigation showed that some 20 companies may make the inaugural list for the new premium board, which will subsequently be used by the NSE to woo major companies in Nigeria’s premium sectors of oil and gas, telecommunications and manufacturing.

    Companies that will be regrouped into the new premium board, according to a preview of the criteria obtained by The Nation, will be taken from five sectors of the NSE. These included leading breweries, cement-manufacturers, leading fast moving and consumer goods companies (FCMGs), oil and gas companies and banks. However, the new board will still be dominated by banks which are expected to have the largest representation and as well as liquidity.

    None of the stocks in the populous insurance sector and other sectors such as agriculture, healthcare, construction and information and communication technology will make the maiden trading list for the board.

    The existing quoted companies that will make the new premium board, according to a preview, included the two leading cement companies- Dangote Cement and Lafarge Africa, the two leading breweries-Nigerian Breweries and Guinness Nigeria, at least seven banks including Guaranty Trust Bank, Zenith Bank, FBN Holdings, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI), Stanbic IBTC Holdings, United Bank for Africa (UBA) and Access Bank as well as at least three oil and gas stocks including Oando, Forte Oil and newly listed Seplat Petroleum Development Company.

    Other companies that will make the list included Nestle Nigeria, Unilever Nigeria, Transnational Corporation of Nigeria and Flour Mills of Nigeria.

    A source in the know of the undercurrents at the Exchange indicated that the transition of companies across the three boards will be a continuous exercise as companies that meet the criteria for the premium board will be upgraded to the board while any company on the premium board that falls below the minimum standards will be downgraded to the appropriate lower board.

    The NSE will also continue to undertake primary listing of new companies on the three boards, depending on the qualifying criteria and status of the company.

    A preview of the criteria for the new board obtained by The Nation had indicated that companies to be listed on the new board must have market capitalisation of not less than $1 billion or about N157 billion.

    The companies must also score at least 70 per cent on the Exchange and the Convention for Business Integrity’s Corporate Governance Rating System (CGRS).

    Besides, the companies must have a minimum free float of 20 per cent or value of shares floated must be equal to or above $1 billion and the number of shares representing its issued share capital must be equal to or above 10 billion units.

    The companies are expected to meet stringent corporate governance, capitalisation and liquidity conditions.

    According to the draft rules for the new board currently under consideration, to remain on the premium board, an issuer’s continued eligibility shall be evaluated by the Exchange annually in line with all the outlined criteria or on the basis of additional requirements which may from time to time be prescribed by the Exchange, provided that each company shall comply with all other continuing listing obligations as specified under the listings rules of the Exchange.

    The council of the NSE may also in its discretion grant an extension of time for a company to comply with the relevant free float requirements set out in these rules; provided that the company submits a formal and substantiated request in that regard setting out the reasons why it could not meet the said requirements and how it proposes to satisfy the requirements within the time granted.

    Also, in the event of non-compliance with any applicable codes or regulations affecting their governance, companies shall be expected without prompting, to disclose in the Directors’ report of their annual report why they are in breach.

    The Exchange had indicated that the new board is aimed at providing a platform for greater global visibility for eligible Nigerian entities, which will make it easier for them to attract global capital flows and reduce the cost of borrowing.

    Head, legal and regulation, Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Tinuade Awe, said the new board would subsist on a very strict regime with a great deal of emphasis placed on the need to comply with good corporate governance.

    According to her, the companies on the new board would be liable to sanctions in the event of breach of the premium board rules as well as the listings rules of the Exchange.

     

  • Canada pension assets jump 20%

    The country’s largest pension plan is scouring the world for “diamonds in the rough” as high valuations make acquisitions difficult, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Chief Executive Officer Mark Wiseman has said.

    According to Bloomberg, assets at the pension fund, which manages retirement money for 18 million Canadians, surged 20 percent to a record C$226.8 billion ($208 billion) in three months ended June 30, Canada Pension said in statement today.

    The report stated that Wiseman said access to cheap credit has created a situation where there is a lot of capital and liquidity in the market and that’s making it a “very difficult” time for a long-term investor like Canada Pension to find value.

    “What we’re doing is being very patient,” he said in an interview. “We’re looking for those diamonds in the rough, and tactically divesting certain non-core assets and that’s the right thing to do in a time like this.”

    Canada Pension’s announcement today had allocated an additional $500 million to its North American joint venture with Sydney-based Goodman Group (GMG) to acquire a portfolio of warehouse and logistics facilities in the U.S. fit that strategy, Wiseman said.

    “The diamonds in the rough for us tend to be those types of assets where it is a very large transaction, where there’s less competition, when there’s a degree of complexity associated with it,” he said.

     

    Remain Difficult

     

    Global mergers and acquisitions have accelerated in the first part of the year with almost $1.9 trillion worth of deals announced year to date, up 66 percent from a year ago, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That level of activity has created a challenge for value investors like Canada Pension, Wiseman said.

    Finding acquisitions is expected to remain difficult until there is a shift in the monetary policies of central banks, he said.

    Canada Pension had yet to make a decision on whether it would sell its holdings in the expected initial public offerings later this year of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (BABA) or Calgary-based Seven Generations Energy Ltd.

    “We are always evaluating all of our assets at any time,” he said. “There is a price at which we are sellers, there’s a price at which we are a buyer.”

    Canada Pension reported gross investment return of 1.6 per cent for the three months ended June 30, according to the statement. That trails the three per cent median return in the comparable period of the C$520 billion universe of Canadian pension funds tracked by RBC Investor and Treasury Services, which reported its survey results.

  • Nollywood: Exuberance @ 20

    Nollywood: Exuberance @ 20

    While it may seem exciting that we can reach the president without going through their appointees (regulatory agencies), it also negates the principles representation, due process and proper structure that the filmmakers have been crying about

     

    JUST 20 years more to confirm the folly of an industry called Nollywood. It is two decades since the acclaimed first video film, Living in Bondage was made, and indeed, the industry may have passed its formative stages but maturity is still far in sight. And unless another cliché is born to measure the 21st century man, one cannot but make do with the ‘Fool at Forty’ chestnut and see what the next 20 years holds for this notable industry of film quantum in the world.

    If the psychological progression of the human person is anything to go by, then age 20 finds succor in the traits of youthful exuberance. Nollywood can be said to be in that equation at the moment. Therefore, if celebrating Nollywood at 20 comes with so much drinking and getting drunk, some rapping and unwanted pregnancies, as well as some tall dreams with little vision, it is indeed understandable.

    However, telling a young chap about the dynamics of life and making him see the likely consequences of his actions is the justification left for an elder who must not fail in his responsibilities. Or didn’t they say that what an old man sees sitting, a young man does not see, even when he stands? Nollywood practitioners are too divided to be united. Everyone is pursuing a personal agenda and posterity is watching.

    Series of meetings had taken place between President Goodluck Jonathan and representatives of the film industry. By representatives, I mean, few, select members of Nollywood – theoretical and practicing filmmakers. In all of these get-togethers, including those convened by representatives of the president, hardly can one find heads of the regulatory agencies in attendance. Not even the Minister of Information and Communications under whose Ministry the film industry resides.

    While it may seem exciting that we can reach the president without going through their appointees (regulatory agencies), it also negates the principles representation, due process and proper structure that the filmmakers have been crying about. This alienation of key officers in an acclaimed business, that is meant to decide the destiny of an industry, is merely reduced to a tea party if you ask me. Otherwise, who took the notes at the last Presidential dinner with Nollywood in Lagos last Saturday? Who will pursue or remind Mr. President of the promises he made that night? Will the industry need another dinner with the president to reiterate what they asked last week? When will another opportunity come for such meeting with Mr. President? Has the president or the presidency done anything on the more articulate, consultative and widely representative parley held with various art and entertainment associations on Monday March 21, 2011 at Eko Hotel & Suites?

    At the risk of sounding judgmental, I think the industry people have continued to fuel that perception that has made people to look at them as mere entertainers rather than Showbiz minded men. Hypocrisy is one aspect of what makes politics a dirty game. Therefore, when filmmakers (in our case) ask for an audience with the government, it is for government to watch a shoddy remix of their political antics and get amused than entertained. Worst still, for an unwilling government, divide and rule is just made easy when the filmmakers continue in the disarray and animosity that they are presently in. The guilds are obviously divided. Personal interests are placed above collective goals. It is pitiable when individuals, rather than associations continue to drive the process of engagement between government and the industry. How official can that be? But why will such not happen when the association heads have assumed a political rather than technocratic position? When the leadership fights members over whose right it is to organize Nollywood @ 20, it only fuels the embers of division rather than building bridges.

    This Nollywood @ 20 is a series film, and this script will go on for as long as possible. With so many flashbacks in the offing, we shall look at the mud that this 20 year-old boy called Nollywood has brought to present times from his toddling stage. But just before we close this episode, last Saturday, President Goodluck Jonathan at a presidential dinner to celebrate the film industry at 20, promised a N3 billion package to help the movie industry. The event took place at State House, Marina, Lagos.

    The president said the package, to be launched as “Project Nollywood”, will include grants for the best film scripts, capacity building and infrastructural development. He said the scheme will be launched in the first week of April, and will be managed by the Ministry of Finance in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Jonathan noted that he had invited the private sector to the dinner because he believes that they can also support efforts to further develop the creative industry.

    On the previous revolving loan scheme of $200 million (N32 billion), announced by the president in 2010, Jonathan said only N766 million of the money has been accessed by practitioners. He said he has asked NEXIM Bank and the Bank of Industry to redouble their efforts in assisting the industry to access loans.