The Nation Newspaper

Tag: denied

  • ALSCON:  Development denied  

    ALSCON:  Development denied  

    SIR: It is only in Hollywood movie scripts that you can find such bizarre twists to a story that looked so perfect and out of this world. The Aluminium Smelter Company of Nigeria (ALSCON) is a perfect winner for such a script. Beginning in 1997 when the Military Government spent about US$6.3 billion to build the company on 23,800 acres of land donated by the Ikot Abasi Community of Akwa Ibom State, it was a fait accompli that development has come to stay in Nigeria via the ALSCON which has the longest conveyor belt in the world.

    ALSCON is a world class facility designed to produce 127,000 tonnes of aluminium per year. In its hey days between 1997-1999, it was producing at 25% of its installed capacity about, 40,000 tonnes, with a staff strength of 1,800, and making about US$120 million per annum.

    Today it is a shadow of itself, depreciating so fast and losing billions of naira daily to vandals. In a conundrum that lasted for more than 10 years and defied solution, the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) saddled with the responsibility of carrying out successful privatization exercise for the benefit of the country has been adamant in this case.

    The BPE refused to comply with a July 6, 2012 Supreme Court of Nigeria Judgement asking it (BPE), and the preferred bidder (BFI Group), for ALSCON to sign the Mutual Share Purchase Agreement SPA between them and for BFI Group to pay 10% of the bid price in order to revitalize the company.

    What puzzles us here is the defiance by the BPE to comply with the judgement of the Supreme Court and under our eyes while adhering to an arbitration of a Court in England to allow the present occupants of ALSCON remain in the premises disregarding the Judgement of the Supreme Court and another Judgement of the Federal High Court in 2014 ordering the enforcement of the July 6, 2012 Supreme Court Ruling and ordering the IGP and all Security Agencies to enforce that Ruling.

    The asset stripping on the facility is mind boggling, as spare parts worth US$40 million in the warehouse were carted away. Billets, Anodes, Ingots and Busbars are taken away daily as scrap. The most surprising thing about the matter is that nothing on the facility is scrap because everything there can be recycled. A well equipped Hospital  using cutting edge technology served the facility and the host community. Today the Hospital is unable to function and abandoned.

    How can government apparatus be an instrument for manipulating the people? How can an appendage of government be used in destroying, the moral, economic and political landscape of Nigeria by stepping on Judgements of the highest court in the nation?

    I sympathize and empathize with the people of Ikot-Abasi, who are dying from pollution and workers laid off without benefits.

    I believe President Myhammadu Buhari and the Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo who is the chairman of the National Council on Privatization, will not allow the Rule of Law to be undermined in any guise. Those who are behind this rip-off of public enterprises must realize that their time has come to an end, and an era of change and hope for the common man is at hand.

    This is the last chance for Nigerians to reclaim their glory by coming together and making things right.

     

    • Ahmed Yerima,

    knayina@gmail.com.

  • CBN vows to increase items denied foreign exchange

    CBN vows to increase items denied foreign exchange

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has threatened to list more items to be denied access to foreign exchange to check goods and services import.

    Besides, all banks and Bureaux dex Changes (BDCs) will no longer provide foreign exchange for the importation of the listed items.

    Addressing reporters in Abuja yesterday on what informed the CBN’s decision to deny importers of certain items access to the foreign exchange markets, CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele said: “The huge amounts of money the country spends on importing things we can produce locally have become a significant drag on our Foreign Exchange Reserves.”

    He demanded to know why we should keep importing rice when rice paddy of comparable quality produced by poor hardworking local farmers across the rice belts of Nigeria are being wasted and ignored?

    The CBN governor asked what it will “take for these importers to stop the importation and go into processing these locally produced rice. “Why are these importers not utilising the vast expanses of arable land for rice cultivation instead of taking the easy route of importing rice? Do we, as a people, realise how many jobs we are creating for other countries by ignoring local production and simply concentrating on imports? How can we keep complaining about the depreciation of the naira when all we do as a people is to import everything from ordinary Geisha and toothpicks, to even eggs?”

    These, he said, are some of the fundamental reasons behind the CBN’s recent announcement. Emefiele emphasised that the CBN does not have the power to out rightly ban the importation of the items it listed in its circular but added that what CBN has done “is to simply say that the CBN cannot continue to support the imports of these items using Nigeria’s hard-earned foreign exchange. Importers who may want to continue bringing in these goods or services into the country will have to source their foreign exchange from private sources.”

    Emefiele said the apex bank would continue to be vigilant on this policy and will keep reviewing the list “as we become comfortable that items can be produced locally if we apply ourselves sufficiently enough.”

    Nigeria’s situation, Emefiele said, “affords us a unique opportunity to embrace self-sufficiency, reduce our appetite for everything and anything foreign, conserve the country’s scarce Foreign Exchange, and create jobs here at home for our people.”

    Emefiele assured Nigerians that the CBN “will continue to look out for areas in which the Bank can play a catalytic financial role to helping us achieve these goals in the near future.”

  • Oshodi’s transformation denied us robbery opportunities’

    A five-man robbery gang, which specialises in house-to-house raid of victims, has been smashed by operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the Lagos State Police Command. The gang was said to have dispossessed their numerous victims of their hard-earned money, mobile phones, jewellery and other personal effects.

    Suspected members of the gang include Ibrahim Tunde (25), Friday John (19) and Afolabi Olakunle (19) while Spider and Joy were still at large.

    Tunde said: “We did house to house raid. We could rob up to four houses in one operation, depending on the area.

    “I am from Modiunso in Ogun State but live at Agric, 32, Taiwo Omolaja Street. I trained as an iron bender. We attacked houses with wooden doors and used our legs to blow doors open. We didn’t touch iron doors.

    “I have been arrested by the police four times but had been in prison only once. My job before I joined this gang was burglary and stealing generators. We didn’t operate at places where there are vigilance groups like the Oodua People’s Congress (OPC).

    “We usually started operation at 2 am and ended it at 3 am. I used to sell our loot to one Aboki in Ojuelegba area (Lagos).’’

    Asked how he became a robber, he said: “After learning welding, I had no money to open a workshop. I went to the rail line area of Oshodi to smoke Indian hemp and met Friday and Afolabi. They told me that they were armed robbers and I told them that I was into burglary and pick pocket. They promised that they would not expose me to gun.

    “I worked successfully with them first at Igbolomo where we robbed three houses; Agric area where we robbed two houses and got N35,000 from each but my share was N50,000. At Agric area, we did not get much money. Even one of the tenants begged us to dash him money, saying that he had no money to feed his children. We gave him N5,000 and he prayed that God would protect us.”

    The second suspect, Friday, said: “I am from Ini Local Government area in Akwa Ibom State. I grew up in Port Harcourt. It was my sister who brought me to Lagos in 2014 and I secured a job as a bus conductor in Oshodi. I am an orphan and reside in Mile 12 with my sister whom her husband drove away over a little misunderstanding. When I went to smoke Indian hemp at rail line area in Oshodi, Afolabi welcomed me with a long wrap of Indian hemp.

    “We found it difficult to rob in Oshodi because the place has been transformed by the Lagos State Government. If we want to rob, we go near Fatai Atere Junction. But the place used to be lonely. We can be there for 30 minutes without getting a victim.

    “Before now, Oshodi used to be lucrative because many travellers to Lagos used to pass through Oshodi and we robbed without any disturbance from the police.”

    The third suspect, Afolabi, said: “I am from Igbo-Ora village in Ibarapa Local Government Area of Oyo State. I was a student of Gbagada Comprehensive High School. I dropped out at Senior Secondary Two.

  • Referee denied us penalties-Obaseki

    El Kanemi media officer,  Anthony Obaseki  has rued  referee questionable decisions in his side’ 1-0 loss to Dolphins FC of Port-Harcourt in a Federation Cup round of 16 clash on Thursday.

    Obaseki who admitted that the goal scored by Dolphins’ Emem Eduok was a deserving one but still believe his side could have gotten something in the match had referee awarded the penalties for his team.

    The club’s spokesman said his side will focus on the league after their Federation Cup exit.

    “It was a good game and the goal was a good one. The center referee denied us two clear penalties. Our fans were not happy that referee overlooked those two penalties. We are going to the drawing board to focus on the league. We thanked our fans for the support,” Obaseki said.

  • Pressure denied Okagbare 100m title — Abari

    Pressure denied Okagbare 100m title — Abari

    Excessive pressure has been identified as the major factor that stopped Nigerian’s track rave of the moment Blessing Okagbare from clinching a medal in the 100m event of the ongoing World Athletics Championship in Moscow, Russia

    Head of Coaching and training National Institute for Sports (NIS) Solomon Abari who made the submission in chat with Sportinglife Tuesday, said an elite athlete is often faced by pressures both from within and outside, noting that it is not easy for most athletes to manage such pressures especially at critical moments when decisions and efforts need to be made in split seconds

    Abari however thumbed up the 24 year old Delta born athletes for claiming gold in the long jump event, maintained that the future is still very bright as opportunity abound to tinker her into a world beater.

    “The pressure is too much and is it not an easy thing to manage for most athletes. There are pressures from the coaches, from friends and relatives, from well wishers among others. There is even pressure from the athlete herself and all these sometimes lead to momentary loss of concentration with affects split second performance. The good thing however is that she is still young and can be helped to manage such pressures to perform better,” he said

    The veteran athletics coach however frowned at the tendency to put athletes solely in the hands of foreign coaches, noting that it selfdom produce 100% result.

    “The local coaches need to be involved in the training of our athletes that is the best way to produce maximum result.

    Okagbare finished sixth in the 100m battle posting a time of 11.04seconds

  • How Martins denied 7th goal

    How Martins denied 7th goal

    Super Eagles, Obafemi Martins was denied his 7th goal of the season as Levante moved back up into fifth in the Primera Division with a hard-fought 1-0 win at Real Zaragoza courtesy of Ruben Garcia’s first-half strike.

    The visitors had fired an early warning shot when Jose Barkero smashed a shot off the post, but they eventually went in front on 19 minutes when Garcia pounced on a loose ball bouncing around the Zaragoza area to slot home only his second senior goal.

    Martins, who is Levante’s top scorer with six goal was then denied his 7th goal of the campaign by an excellent stop from the Zaragoza keeper, but it was a different story after the break as Manolo Jimenez’s side imposed themselves with far greater purpose.

    Montanes’ cross-shot whistled just past Helder Postiga and the far post 12 minutes after the restart, while at the other end substitute Nabil El-Zhar should have wrapped up the points as he chose to go alone rather than squaring for the Nigerian and pulled his shot just wide.

    Zaragoza pushed hard for an equaliser after the break but they could not find a way through Levante’s resilient defence as efforts from Paco Montanes and Edu Oriol flew just off target, whilst a late penalty claim for a handball by Juanfran was waived away by Ignacio Iglesias Villanueva.

    Levante have made a habit of winning in the early Sunday game over the past few weeks, and they again adjusted quicker to the early start as Barkero very nearly put them ahead after just 12 minutes with a trademark long-range effort that came crashing back off the post.

    The hosts then had a good appeal for a penalty turned away as David Navarro appeared to catch Cristian Sapanaru with his elbow.

    And to add insult to the Romanian’s injury they were soon behind as the ball ricocheted off multiple Zaragoza players inside their own area and broke perfectly for Ruben to drill it low past Roberto.