The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Federal government

  • Rail contractor, union differ over plan to sack workers

    A construction firm handling the South-East, South-South railway project for the Federal Government and union leaders yesterday differed over plan to sack100 workers employed for the contract.

    Eser West Africa Ltd, the contractor, alleged that the workers handling the rail lines linking Port-Harcourt to Makurdi “absconded from their duty posts.”

    But, in a reaction, the workers complained of “victimisation, proscription of labour union and indiscriminate sack by the company”.

    The company’s legal adviser, Mr. Henry Okoro, who spoke in Enugu, claimed that the workers disappeared from the project sites more than a week ago.

    He added that the decision to sack the affected workers and employ new ones had become inevitable to beat the project’s deadline in line with the contract’s terms.

    Okoro said the workers’ action was strange since they did not give any notice of strike to ESER management, adding that efforts made to bring them to a roundtable had hit the rock.

    His words: “As I talk to you, we can’t say that the workers are on strike because there was no notice to that effect. The law provides for a mandatory 14 days notice. But in this case, there was no such thing.

    “The only thing we saw was that the leader of the workers’ union mobilised other persons and they made the workers to abscond from their duty posts.

    “Ever since this happened, several invitations have been sent to them so that we can have a dialogue, but they refused to show up. Even the DPO of Railway Police Division and the Area Commander have invited them for dialogue. But they have remained inaccessible.”

    Okoro, who praised the Federal Government for living up to its own terms of the contract, said the company would have to recruit new workers to meet the deadline.

    But Chairman of the Eser Workers Union, Sampson Nnamani, said the claimed that the workers absconded was aimed at denying them their severance benefit and other entitlements before the company winds up in February.

    The company will next month hand over the tested and rehabilitated rail line from Port Harcourt to Enugu after which transport will begin from the Southsouth through the Southeast to the Northeast.

    The company will after wind up from Nigeria.

    Chairman of the Eser Workers Union, Sampson Nnamani, claimed that the company allegedly violated some of the agreements it reached with workers on their welfare in 2011, by sacking the Human Resources Manager, Mr. Chioma Ejim, and frustrating the labour union.

    Nnamani said the workers embarked on a sit-down strike to press for their demands and the company as a result, decided to replace them with new workers, even when they have not been formally laid off.

    “That is why we are afraid that Eser wants to close the company without paying us our severance and other benefits because they have withdrawn the staff bus among other frustrating measures.

    “We, therefore, pray the Ministry of Labour and Productivity, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) to please come to our rescue,” said Nnamani.

  • ‘Lagos open to dialogue over Badagry Expressway’

    ‘Lagos open to dialogue over Badagry Expressway’

    The Lagos State government has said its doors remain open for dialogue with the Federal Government over ongoing Lagos/Badagry Expressway.

    Reacting to plans by the Federal Government to take over the project in the name of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) transnational highway, the Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Dr. Femi Hamzat,  noted with appreciation current interest of the Federal Government on the road.

    In a statement, he said he hopes the new interest will mark a new lease of life in the Federal Government’s commitment and interest in its various responsibilities towards the people of the state.

    The statement read: “For the avoidance of doubt, the Lagos State Government has solely conceived and financed the project from tax payers’ fund. If the Federal Government now wants to join us, we will be ready for appropriate dialogue. This is in the interest of developing our dear country. However, we think that it is through dialogue and a thorough analysis of the project rather than on the pages of newspapers that such a major issue will be broached and resolved.”

    The statement further said the state government would also like to state that challenges associated with huge projects such as the Lagos Badagry Expressway (LBE), whether engineering, technical or even funding is not unusual.

    “We are positive that the challenges will be surmounted, through innovative and well-thought out strategies by which our state government has always transacted its business. In that wise this project will surely be completed and delivered in the interest of Lagosians,” the statement added.

    It further advised, the Federal Government to do a similar review of their many projects facing serious challenges all over the nation which, if care is not taken, might end up becoming white elephant and abandoned projects.

    The State Government pledged its preparedness to encourage a sincere partnership and collaboration on any project within the State.

  • Amosun assures on oil-rich Tongeji Island

    GOVERNOR Ibikunle Amosun toured the Ipokia Local Government Area yesterday, assuring the people that their oil-rich Island of Tongeji would not experience the fate of Bakassi Peninsular, which was ceded to Cameroun by the Federal Government.

    For a long time, Ogun border communities in the area have expressed fear over losing the island to Republic Benin.

    But yesterday, Amosun hinted that the Federal Government is planning to establish a naval base to secure the island.

    The governor, who was in the area to know the assessment of his impacts on the people in the last three and half years, said his administration would harness the tourism potential in the island and make it a huge tourists’ hub.

    He said this would be achieved in partnership with world class foreign investors even as plans are underway to construct roads that would lead to the area.

    Amosun said: “On Tongeji Island, I have continued to appeal to the President not to allow Tongeji to go like Bakassi. Because if we don’t do anything in the area, our neighbours in Benin Republic might want to annex the place.

    “As we speak, we have skeletal Naval presence there and they are going to upgrade that to a full-fledged naval base and once that is done and with what we are doing in Akere here, the area will be developed.

    “White collar jobs are not the only thing we can do. When our place is developed, when we industrialised our place, establish more industries and agricultural-based factories, whatever we produce must be processed and a lot of people will be employed.

  • ‘Private sector investment in agric hits $5.6b’

    ‘Private sector investment in agric hits $5.6b’

    The Federal Government yesterday said it has attracted $5.6billion investment from the private sector to agriculture in four years.

    The government said it developed the agricultural value chains to promote the investments.

    It also said it would continue to develop innovative policies and institutions that would expand opportunities for the private sector.

    Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, who spoke yesterday at the launch of the Agricultural Transformation Agenda Policy Working Group in Abuja, said the group would document the agricultural policies of the government and institutionalise it.

    He said: “The private sector has woken up to see agriculture as the new wealth sector. Between 2011 and 2014, the agriculture sector attracted over $5.6 billion of private sector investments.

    “Private sector investments in fertiliser manufacturing have also expanded, with $5 billion of private sector investments in fertiliser manufacturing within the past three years.

    “To drive this new approach, we decided to focus on promoting investments and development of agricultural value chains. Not only would we produce more food, we would add value to all the commodities, all across the agricultural value chains.”

    According to the minister, government must boldly support their farmers through sustainable and subsidised subsidies.

    “Nigeria cannot become a museum of poverty. Poverty is not tradable and is not an industry, so we must not grow poverty.

    “What is important is to develop ways of effectively targeting support to reach farmers, while ensuring that the private sector, not the government, delivers farm inputs to farmers.”

    Dr. Akinwumi added that the Nigerian Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has reduced the risk in banks’ lending for farmers and increased the lending rate to farmers across the country.

  • Govt loses over $25b yearly to oil theft, sea piracy

    • West Africa’s 5.6 million illegal weapons in Nigeria

    The Federal Government loses about $25 billion yearly to oil theft, sea piracy and poaching, The Nation has learnt.

    A breakdown showed that $800 million is lost to poaching, $9 billion to piracy and $15.5 billion to oil theft.

    The rate of pollution of the waters from Lagos to the oil-producing Southsouth is also high.

    Speaking with The Nation after presenting a paper on the Legality of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and its Protocols on the partnership between Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and the Nigerian Air Force, Matthew Egbadon, a former staff of NIMASA said the amount the country is losing is huge. He called for the sharing of information by the security agencies to stem criminalities on the waters and make it safe.

    He  raised the alarm that over 70 per cent of about eight million illegal arms and ammunition in West Africa are in Nigeria. He urged the government to pay attention to policing of the waters because of the huge number of arms and ammunition in circulation.

    Egbadon urged security agencies to collaborate to stem the tide.

    Investigations, however, revealed that while NIMASA is collaborating with other government agencies to end criminalities on the waters, the agency is seriously handicapped when it comes to the issue of pollution.

    NIMASA, it was learnt, has the responsibility to stop dumping of wastes in the water and its pollution; illegal bunkering; human trafficking; illegal fishing; oil-theft; pipeline vandalism; smuggling of small arms and ammunition; piracy and armed robbery at the sea among others.

    NIMASA’s Director-General Patrick Akpobolokemi has vowed to fight piracy, prevent and mitigate the effects of pollution, develop human capacity and ensure safety of vessels. All these, he said, are geared toward the growth and development of the maritime sector.

    Akpobolokemi also said NIMASA as the maritime regulatory agency  owes the international community the obligation to ensure the safety of their vessels, crew and cargoes in order to foster trade between Nigeria and the rest of the world.

    The NIMASA boss noted that the importance of the security agencies to the development of the nation’s maritime sector and thanked them for their cooporation.

    He commended the officers and men of the Nigerian Navy and Air Force for their efforts in combating piracy and pledged the agency’s support and partnership to help them effectively carry out , its day-to-day operations.

    “Piracy is capable of crippling the nation’s economy. Since shipping largely contributes to the growth of any economy, the economy cannot thrive where piracy activities are carried out,” he said.

    He said he was happy that the management of the Nigerian Navy, has created the Central Naval Command. He noted that it would help to checkmate all forms of illegalities in the maritime domain.

  • N349bn East-West road project in danger

    N349bn East-West road project in danger

    The Federal Government yesterday said the completion of the controversial East- West road project is no longer feasible this year.

    Supervising Minister for the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, Arch. Darius Ishaku, stated this at a budget defence session in the Senate.

    The cost of the road project that traverses the Niger Delta region is put at N349 billion while over N238 billion had already been spent on the project.

    Contract for the project was awarded by the Obasanjo regime in 2006.

    The minister told astonished senators that the promise to deliver the East-West road project by December 2014 is no longer realizable due to acute budgetary shortfall.

    Ishaku said out of N30.91 billion released for the ministry in 2013 for capital projects, N8.73 billion was spent on the road project while unspecified loan from banks and funds from the Subsidy Re-Investment Programme (SURE-P) were equally pumped into the road project in 2013.

    He added that the ministry draft budget for 2014 laid emphasis on completion of the East-West road project by allocating N22 billion which is 46.93 per cent of N46.880 billion capital budget ceiling.

    The N22 billion ear-marked for the road project in the 2014 budget, he said, was meant to significantly offset liabilities and get the project moving.

    The senators were, however, surprised when the minister insisted that even if the entire N49.193 billion 2014 budget ceiling for the ministry and intervention by the SURE-P were pooled together it would still not be enough to complete the project.

  • Ebonyi to boost rice production

    Ebonyi to boost rice production

    Ebonyi State Governor Martin Elechi has expressed the state’s determination to boost food production in the country through increased rice production.

    Elechi made the pledge in Abakaliki during an interactive session with members of the “Course 22’’ of the National Defence College, Abuja, who were on a tour of the state.

    The governor, who was represented by Chief Fidelis Mbam, the Secretary to the State Government, noted that increased rice production in the state and in the country, in general, would end the importation of staple food into Nigeria.

    “Ebonyi is determined to contribute effectively to the country’s food security, while conserving our foreign exchange.

    “This informed the establishment of three rice mill clusters in the three senatorial zones of the state to boost its production.

    “What we are saying is that Ebonyi is about to carve a niche for itself in the area of food security,” he said.

    Elechi, however, said that the strength of each state of the federation should be encouraged by the Federal Government in efforts to actualise the goals of its transformation agenda.

    He also stressed that efforts should be made to ensure the infrastructural development of the nation, saying that this would consequently fast-track the country’s development.

    He, therefore, underscored the need to increase budgetary allocations to the states.

    Elechi praised the course team for choosing Ebonyi for their study tour, stressing that the state had performed creditably in efforts to develop the infrastructure.

    “The secret of our success is based on the prudent management of our meagre resources.

    “In Ebonyi, the stakeholders pool resources for the implementation of meaningful ventures,’’ he added.

    The team leader, Brig-Gen. Rogers Nicholas, said that Ebonyi was selected by the college for the study tour, in view of its remarkable achievements in infrastructural development.

  • National Chart Accounts for 2014 budget, others coming

    National Chart Accounts for 2014 budget, others coming

    Future budgets will now be based on the new National Chart of Accounts, the Federal Government has said.

    This is an account used by an entity to define each class of items for which money, or the equivalent is spent or received across the three tiers of government.

    In a statement the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF) said this new arrangement “is to ensure uniformity in the management of public financial management in Nigeria”.

    The new accounting system is designed to assist the government to achieve the implementation of International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) Cash by 2014 and International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) Accrual Basis by 2016.

    The Accountant–General of the Federation Mr Jonah Otunla while inaugurating the Implementation Committee on the application of IPSAS said: “With the adoption of IPSAS, the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF), state Accountant-Generals and Directors of Finance and Accounts/Treasury at Local Government Councils are to commence the implementation of the provisions of IPSAS and keep their books of account in accordance with the new COA (Chart of Accounts) and the GPFS (General Purpose Financial Principles) formats.”

  • Nigeria deports 22,000 foreigners

    Nigeria deports 22,000 foreigners

    No fewer than  22,000 illegal immigrants  have been deported by the Federal Government in the war against the Islamist sect, Boko Haram, Interior Minister Abba Moro announced yesterday.

    The Minister  accused “criminals among these illegal aliens” of abetting Islamic extremists who want to overturn democracy.

    He told  reporters in Abuja that all the 22,000 were sent to neighbouring Chad, Niger and Cameroon.

    He said security and immigration officials have identified 84 illegal border crossings where they intend to back up patrols with electronic surveillance.

    The deportations were effected  in the aftermath of the declaration of a state of emergency by President Goodluck Jonathan in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe in May.

  • ESUT dons committed to ASUU strike

    The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT) chapter has insisted on not compromising the ongoing strike by its members.

    It said the only way its members would backpedal is for the Federal Government to implement the 2009 FGN/ASUU agreement and the 2012 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).

    During an interview with reporters in Enugu, Acting Chairman of ASUU- ESUT, Festus Omeje, blamed the government for reneging on its promise.

    The lecturers called on men of goodwill, to prevail on the Federal Government to respect the two agreements signed.

    He said: “ASUU and Nigerians are worried by the institutionalised falsehood, and lack of integrity exhibited by the Federal Government and hence condemns this perfidy in its entirety.”

    “One of the hallmarks of good governance is integrity; and this is an all important virtue of those who claim to superintend such an important sector as education.

    “The excuse that the government cannot afford to adequately fund university education is dishonest in the face of a situation in which government officials and politicians continue to engage in unconscionable pillaging of state funds.”

    Omeje said the face-off was beyond salaries and allowances for lecturers, pointing out that since the 2009 agreement, the government has set up fact-finding missions to ascertain the state of universities.

    “Panels of inquiries for need assessment for universities have been set up and reports have been submitted, yet the authorities in the education sector seem to have shunned implementation of the recommendations.

    “The needs assessment committee went round the country and what it found was shocking. First, it found that the students-teacher ratio was 1-400 on the average instead of one-40. It found that the classrooms were inadequate and could accommodate only about 30 per cent of the number of students and that education standard was on the decline.”