The Nation Newspaper

Tag: GOVT

  • Govt to boost DisCos’ capacity by 2,000mw

    Govt to boost DisCos’ capacity by 2,000mw

    • NERC cuts new connection timeline to 40 days

    The Federal Government is putting in place measures to increase the capacity of electricity distribution companies (DisCos) by 2,000 megawatts (mw), to improve service to consumers.

    However, there are indications that the DisCos are not comfortable with the arrangement. The Federal Government intends to make direct investments in the distribution arm of the power supply value chain through independent investors. But DisCos are demanding that the government should channel such investments through them, fearing that the plan will impinge on their operations and negatively impact returns on their investments.

    These concerns, among others, are contained in a letter dated September 27, 2017 entitled: “Federal Government of Nigeria’s Initiatives in the Electricity Sector and the Impact on Electricity Distribution Company Activities.” It was jointly signed by the DisCos and addressed to the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), with a copy sent to the Minister.

    Power, Works and Housing Minister, Babatunde Fashola, who disclosed this at the 20th monthly power sector operators’ meeting in Owerri, Imo State, said the substance of government initiatives, which prompted the letter by the DisCos, could be summarised as: provision of meters to consumers through licensing of meter suppliers; provision of more power to consumers through licensing of eligible customers; and provision of independent dedicated power to universities.

    Others include promotion of the use of solar power through mini-grids; and expansion of the distribution network of DisCos so that they can take on additional 2,000mw of power now available for supply

    He said:“We are also making promising progress in recovering debts due from international customers and you will be notified of how much has been received when the appropriate accounts confirm that they have received value for the credits we have been notified of.

    “It is against this background that I now move to the challenges, which we still have to overcome; the more pressing of which is how the DisCos can quickly increase their capacity to take power and distribute to the consumers.”

    Fashola had, at a similar meeting in Lagos, last month, said: “Today, we have more power available to go on the grid over 6000Mw because generation and transmission have improved. The capacities are above what the Discos can carry. So, they have to play catch up.”

    He commended the DisCos for the decision to channel their complaints to NERC through a jointly- signed letter. “This is a welcome departure from the previous order and it is to be encouraged,” he said, adding that without doubt, the government’s initiatives are targeted at improving service to the people. “In your letter under reference copied to me, you expressed concerns about the impact of these initiatives on your businesses,”he said.

    He continued: “It is not my understanding that you oppose them, which is commendable. It is my understanding that you fear that you will lose some income or some customers if government proceeds; and on the question of meters, you seek to have technical compatibility with what the licencee will operate.  In respect of possible investment in distribution equipment you seek that government should route the investment through the DisCos.

    “Understandably you are concerned about investment recovery and in your views, the solution is a tariff review. While your concerns about business viability, financial stability and cost recovery are well understood and indeed, supported by the Electric Power Sector Perform Act of 2005 (EPSRA), which government will respect, I must point out that government’s focus is also strong on the issue of service to the people.There must be a balance somewhere in the middle.

    “As far as the promotion of solar and other sources of independent power are concerned, please note that not only are they supported by the ESPRA, they are consistent with our Paris Climate Change Agreement Obligations and with emerging global practice. DisCos have nothing to fear about solar. It is a space in which they are entitled to play, but in which they cannot exclude others from playing.

    “The ESPRA did not contemplate a monopoly for any licensee unless it is expressly stated in the license. As for channelling investment into distribution assets through the DisCos, government has not yet taken a position on what the best way forward will be.

    “However, the government is clear that a solution must be found quickly to the inability of DisCos to take about 2000Mw of power that will imminently increase as we get more incremental power.

    “But the point that must be made is for all of us to remember that, government is a 40 per cent shareholder of the DisCos (on behalf of the Federal, State, Local Governments and workers) and therefore, has a self-benefitting interest in the wellbeing and efficiency of the DisCos.”

  • Cleric urges Nigerians to help govt, serve others

    The Canon Residentiary of Arch Bishop Vinning Memorial Church Cathedral in the Diocese of Lagos West, Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), The Ven Festus Olowosile, yesterday urged Nigerians to help government by rendering voluntary services to their communities.

    The cleric also advised them to serve others.

    Olowosile spoke during the 45th annual choir festival on a topic, titled: Serving God Through Others.

    He said: “It is not everything you have to wait for government to do. Help government by contributing your own quota to the community. Those of you who inflate budgets and embezzle money allocated to carry out projects, God will deliver you.”

    According to him, humans are created to serve God and the best way to show service to God is to serve others by giving and making individuals available to serve others.

    Olowosile said: “One’s life is not contained in the abundance of the things he has. What you have cannot give you eternal life or good health; only God can. All the wealth you get cannot follow you to the grave.”

    The cleric urged the gathering not to be covetous.

    He noted that such a habit is a disease, a sickness that has killed many people because they wanted to continue getting and not giving to others.

    Olowosile said: “To serve God by serving others, you must serve your family. Be responsible to your wives, husband, children, parents, friends and colleagues at work.

    “Serve God by giving your tithes and offering. This is because it is the way to get more blessings. If you do not, you are an armed robber.

    “Visit the sick, pray with them and give them gifts. Share your talents and gifts with others.”

    According to him, from service, blessings are attached.

    He said: “When you serve, you will discover your spiritual gifts. You should use them to serve in the church and give glory to God. When you serve God, you will experience miracles, become more like Jesus and your faith will increase. You will be made an encouragement to other believers to also serve God.”

    Olowosile urged Nigerians to have a servant’s, a loving and a spirit-filled heart to serve God.

    He said: “You must love God and humanity to serve God. You need anointing and grace for service.  People will oppose, discourage you and there would be conspiracy when you are serving. But you must be ready to bear the risks.

    “If you do not serve, you will not grow spirituality and you will soon expire.

    “Heaven is home. Whatever you do on earth will be rewarded – be it good or bad. God is asking us to be faithful in service and by so doing we will get good rewards.”

  • Govt to close NERFUND over N17.5b loans

    Govt to close NERFUND over N17.5b loans

    The Federal Government plans to shut down the National Economic Reconstruction Fund (NERFUND) over non-performing loans of over N17.5 billion.

    Pursuant to this, a committee has been formed to ensure the smooth liquidation of the company by the end of this month.

    The agency said a source in the ministry of finance disclosed this.

    The committee is expected to come up with recommendations concerning the welfare of the NERFUND workers and also what to do with the office equipment.

    The committee is also expected to recommend an agency that would handle the numerous pending court cases initiated by NERFUND to recover billions of naira in bad loans.

    About 1,143 projects in the small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) sector were reportedly financed with the NERFUND loans between 2010 and 2013.

    A source said NERFUND currently has problems recovering the loans, adding that out of N17.5billion, the sum of N14.2billion representing 80 per cent was borrowed by a few people.

    He said the ratio of non-performing loans was high because many of the loans were not collateralised.

    NAN reports that workers of NERFUND have been officially informed about the development.

    “We have been given the choice to either resign or be sacked. The managing director told us the management is working with the permanent secretary of the federal ministry of finance.

    “They have promised that at the end of the day, we will not be jobless. They will place us somewhere else, so we are expectant,” a worker said.

    NERFUND was established by Decree  2 of 1989 to act as a catalyst towards the stimulation of the rapid rise of real production enterprises in the country, with a seed capital of N300 million.

    In 2002, the federal government merged Nigeria Industrial Development Bank (NIDB) and Nigeria Bank of Commerce and Industry (NBCI) to form Bank of Industry (BOI).

    The federal government excluded NERFUND from the fusion of all development finance institutions (DFIs).

    However, the agency’s capital had grown into billions of naira, but due to poor management the organisation had been in comatose since late 2013, losing its capacity to carry out its mandate.

    In June 2016 the staff of NERFUND took to the streets to protest the mismanagement of the agency funds.

    The Federal Government through Kemi Adeosun, the minister of finance, intervened by first shutting down the agency following failure to reconcile the differences between the executive management and the entire staff.

    Two weeks after the shuown, Adeosun instructed staff to return to work and later appointed Ezekiel Oseni as managing director.

     

     

  • Traders disagree with govt on recession

    Traders disagree with govt on recession

    The belief that Nigeria has come out of recession may not have gone well with the public, especially traders.

    According to the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Nigeria’s GDP grew by 0.55 per cent in the second quarter of this year, but not a few people were amused by the announcement.

    Some traders who spoke  to The Nation in Ikorodu disagreed with the fact that Nigeria has really petered out of recession  though there is a noticeable marginal difference in certain food items.

    Speaking with Mr. Eze Nnaya, a food item seller, he lamented that nothing has changed and there has not been any difference as far as his line of business is concerned.

    His words, “To be sincere, I have not seen any change, things are still the same, and prices tend to increase daily.  I can only attest to our being out of recession  for instance, when the price of  derica (a measure) of beans  comes down to about N180 from  its current price of N350.

    Similarly, Mr. Ogunlabi Aina, a meat seller, argued that recession is not over, but gradually approaching its end. He added that it is still telling on the economy that Nigeria is still in recession.

    However, Mrs. Chiwendu Okafor, a condiment seller acknowledged the fact that things are better and there has been a huge difference. She said compared to last year the price of condiments has reduced and are more affordable.

    According to findings as at last year 2016, the prices of some food items and live stocks were very high, but as at  September this year, the prices have reduced.

    It is, indeed, knowledgeable that President Muhammadu Buhari has realised that there is still a lot of work to do to make Nigerians  understand that recession is really over.

    According to most of the market sellers, it is insignificant to say that Nigeria has bottomed out of recession unless it brings about positive changes in the living standards of  the people.

    They called for all hands to be on deck in the effort to ensuring the reviving of Nigeria’s economy to its glory days and restore the  value of the naira.

    Above is a table showing the previous price of food items and the current price:

  • ‘Govt needs to eliminate barriers to accessing contraception by adolescents’

    Access and use of effective contraception provides both health and social benefits as it reduces unintended pregnancies and abortions.

    This is according to the New HIV Vaccine and Microbicide Advocacy Society (NHVMAS), as it joined the world in commemorating the World Contraceptive Day.

    The non-governmental organisation said contraceptive use is of importance to adolescents, especially female adolescents.

    It said female adolescents were at risk of having unintended pregnancies and unwanted births which could lead to non-psychotic major depression (postpartum depression), feelings of powerlessness, and a reduction in overall physical health. For adolescents who have unintended pregnancies, school drop-out and complications of illegally induced abortion are some of the complications reported with dare consequences. Pregnant adolescents also have greater risks than adults for sexually transmitted infections, especially HIV-1 infection.

    According to the co-ordinator Prof Morenike Ukpong access of sexually active adolescents to contraception can make a difference. Nigeria has the highest rates of adolescent fertility in sub-Saharan Africa. Over 900 000 births to adolescents occur annually and 150 out of every 1000 women who give birth in Nigeria are 19 years old or under.

    She explained: “Sadly in Nigeria, contraception access and its promotion is limited to married women. Its association with family planning makes the public, community and health care providers thing of contraception for use only among couples who are thinking of spacing children. While there are clear guidelines and programmes that promote access of women to contraception, there are conflicting guidelines on access and programmes for sexually active adolescents to contraception.

    “Family planning centres also have limited competency to education and support adolescents’ use of contraception. Finally, the concept of parental consent prior to sexually active adolescents’ access to contraception creates a barrier to access of adolescent to education and uptake of contraception services.”

    She said Nigeria is a signatory to the FP2020 targets, as it made a commitment at the 2012 London Summit on Family Planning to achieve a modern contraceptive rate of 27 percent among all women by 2020; and updated this commitment in 2017. “It however did not make clear statements on promoting access of adolescents to contraception within its framework for increasing contraceptive rates,” she noted.

    The way out, according to the NGO is for the government to develop policies and clear guidelines that promote access of adolescents to contraception in Nigeria. The government should support the conduct of more implementation research to identify how adolescents’ access to contraception can be improved in ways that are culturally sensitive.

  • Bird flu: poultry farmers urge govt to hasten compensation

    Bird flu: poultry farmers urge govt to hasten compensation

    Bird Flu Affected Farmers Association has called on the Federal Government to expedite action on the payment of compensation to members, who were affected by the disease outbreak in 2015, 2016 and this year.

    As part of measures to re-launch production, poultry farmers demanded compensation from the government for losses incurred during the avian flu scourge in the country.

    According to the association, some farmers are waiting to access the government’s compensation for their birds destroyed, after they were found to be infected by avian influenza, otherwise known as bird flu.

    In a statement by their representative, Oche David  Okpe, the association said, however,  that  some farmers in the 2015 batch have been compensated.

    The association added: ”Over 45 per cent of the 2015 affected farms and 2016 and 2017 are yet to be compensated,” stating that some of them have not been able to restock because their livelihood was completely shut down following  the disease.

    Early this year,  Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh assured poultry farmers of the Federal Government’s readiness to compensate those affected by the bird flu outbreak.

    He said although the computed amount was quite huge, the Federal Government was working out modalities on how to settle the farmers.

    “We have not compensated any farmer in the last one year because we have no money. The last compensation they were paid was a donation from the World Bank. I lost a lot of chickens, too.

    “We are trying to find money to pay them. So, it was a disaster. We can actually prevent Avian Flu in poultry through biosecurity measures in farms. Many farmers are very careless. Sometimes, the human being is a bigger transporter of diseases into the poultry farm than chicken.

    ”Make sure people don’t walk into your farm anyhow, a farmer from another farm don’t enter your farms, the feed sacks you use are not reused. There was an outbreak in Kano about two months ago, but it has been contained. So, somehow, we are limiting the outbreak of the disease. We have to find money to pay those who lost chickens but the sums are huge,”he said.

    He continued: “If we have to pay for all the chickens, we may be talking of something in the neighbourhood of six or seven billion (naira) in many states, especially around Kano and Kaduna. People were moving chickens all over the place without checking and some of the hatcheries are very dirty, so, other diseases have to come in.”

  • Govt to reposition Michael Imoudu Labour Institute

    Govt to reposition Michael Imoudu Labour Institute

    The Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment is to collaborate with the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) to reposition the Michael Imoudu Institute for Labour Studies, to train the manpower neded in all sectors of the economy.

    Minister of State for Labour and Employment Prof. Stephen Ocheni, who made this known to a group of select journalists in his office, said the Ministry would approach the NBTE and other accreditation agencies to come and inspect the institution and tell them what is required to bring it to standard.

    Ocheni said the ministry would also set a daily target for its workers, adding that there is going to be a reorientation in the ministry if it must attain the growth plan of the President.

    He said: “The Ministry has a Labour Institute which is a training arm. It is my desire to ensure that the institute is strengthened further to be able to offer programmes and award certificates that are not only needed in the Labour Ministry, but will be of immense benefit to other ministries and agencies in the entire public service.

    “For example, if you are running a certificate in Labour Inspection or in any other aspect of Labour and management, we can strengthen the institution in collaboration with other government agencies that are responsible for the accreditation of such programmes, such that qualifications obtained from there will be acceptable to other employers of labour in the country.

    “We are going to do this by collaborating with institutions like the National Board for Technical Education. We can appeal to them to come and inspect the facilities in our training institute and tell us what we need to do to meet their standard. If we are able to meet their standard, we may aspire to award diploma certificates that are comparable to diplomas awarded by Polytechnics and colleges  of technologies in the country.

    “By so doing, we are strengthening the institutional capacity of the training institute and at the same time, producing graduates that are acceptable to other sectors of the economy. We must not train ourselves and our staff for only the Labour Ministry. We will try as much as possible to diversity the knowledge that will be acquired from that institute so that they will be of benefit to other employers.

    “There are other short seminar and trainings that can improve in the employee productivity. We should, as much as possible be able to embrace the private sector orientation.”

    Ocheni said there should be daily target for civil servants, saying there is going to be a total reorientation in the ministry if we must attain the goal of economic recovering and growth plan of the President.

    “We must work hand-in-hand to ensure the success of this economic recovery and growth plan. It is not for the politicians alone, neither is it for public office holders alone.

    Civil servants have a role to play in the realisation of the objective of government’s plan for total economic recovery of this country.

  • Govt woos investors in South Korea

    The Federal Government yesterday in South Korea, urged investors to take advantage of Nigeria’s population, stable, independent and predictable regulatory environment and quick returns on investment (RoI) to invest in the telecom sector.

    The Executive Vice Chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) Prof Umar Danbatta who spoke at Nigeria’s Investment Forum in Busan, South Korea, venue of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) Telecoms World, assured potential investors in the telecoms sector of the country’s commitment to ensuring the safety and protection of their investments.

    Danbatta told the investors the story  of how the NCC in collaboration with Nigeria’s apex bank, the  Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN),  prevented a takeover bid for a telecommunication company by a consortium of banks in the country.

    He said: “The NCC is assuring the investors that our doors are open and that we will do whatever we can within the regulatory mandate assigned to us to ensure that their investment is safe and secure.”

    He said the NCC would continue to build a reputation “of a firm but flexible agency”, which provides incentives to operators and potential investors in order to ensure the gains recorded over the past couple of years are sustained.

    “We collaborated with a sister agency to successfully stave off the take over a telecommunication company by a consortium of banks. Banks are not competent to run telecom companies, they should concentrate their efforts in making the financial sector more robust, which I believe they are doing. I have no doubt about it.

    “This company is now rebranded as 9Mobile and is providing services to over 20 million Nigerians; Nigerians are on the pay roll of the company. The message we are sending out to investors is that in the NCC we are always committed to ensure stability in the telecom sector of Nigeria as well as making sure the safety of the investment is guaranteed,” he said.

    Danbatta told the dignitaries at the opening of Nigeria Pavilion including the ITU Secretary General, Mr Houlin Zhao, that Nigeria’s engagement with the global community include creating awareness of the investment opportunities in the country.

    “In this connection, we are here to tell the ICT community that Nigeria with a population of about 170 million is a preferred investment destination in Africa.

    “With over 150 million active subscribers, in the voice segment, over 102 per cent teledensity and a little over 92 million internet connections, Nigeria is indeed a place to invest,” he said.

  • Govt, BCPG seek collaboration on building collapse

    The Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Mr. Abiola Anifowoshe, has said rofessionals’ contributions and ideas from residents will be further explored to stem the rising incidence of building collapse in Lagos State.

    He spoke at this year’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Building Collapse Prevention Guild (BCPG), which held in Lagos.

    Anifowoshe explained that the state, under Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, placed high premium on regulatory authorities’ collaboration with other stakeholders. This, he said, is why the administration welcomes suggestions, brilliant ideas, technical and professional advice towards curbing the menace. With this, according to him, the hydra-headed problem of building collapse in the state will be checked.

    Anifowoshe further said the state was ready to provide necessary assistance  in tandem with constructive engagement and high point of planning inclusion as contained in the state’s urban governance.

    Also at the event, Director-General, Lagos State Safety Commission, Mr. Hakeem Dickson, contended that the spate of building collapse suggested that some professionals could have been cutting corners, by either using substandard materials, or not complying with set standards. He said the governor was worried about the spate of collapse, especially those involving buildings under construction.

    According to the host and BCPG President, Mr. Kunle Awobodu, one of the major problems of building collapse is the total disregard and wilful violation of the law. Awobodu, who is worried by the development, explained that in an organised society where the laws of the land are strictly adhered to, building collapse is an aberration.

    “A person, who cheats on the recommended setbacks is aware that he has created problems of insufficient ventilation, lighting, parking space, privacy and protection from fire incident in the adjoining or neighbouring buildings. The two-storey building that collapsed at No. 68, Herbert Macaulay Way, Ebute Meta in Lagos on August 31, 2017 affected the four-storey building on No. 66 simply because No. 66 reduced the setback specified by the building regulation,” he explained.

    The BCPG President regretted that while building law provides for minimal airspace of three metres between a building and its fence at the sides and the rear, including six metres in front, sadly, according to him, most developments are at conflict with this specification. “This type of situation,” he said, “is an indication that the developer of such buildings, including the supervisors, must have disobeyed many other specifications in the building construction process.”

    He continued:“Such a person, who could have taken the risk of leaving a permanent evidence of disregard for setback regulations, will not hesitate to disobey other specifications such as concrete mix ratio and steel reinforcement, bar spacing that will remain hidden after construction. Obvious compromise on setbacks in many locations in our society heightens our suspicion and our fears that quality of several buildings has all along been compromised.”

  • Govt: Attack on Ilori is assault on Osun

    Govt: Attack on Ilori is assault on Osun

    The Osun State government yesterday said the attack on its Commissioner for Regional Integration, Bola Ilori, in Akure, the Ondo State capital, at the All Progressives Congress (APC) restructuring summit is barbaric, reprehensible and an assault on the sovereignty of the state.

    Ilori was part of the delegation that presented Osun State’s position at the forum last Thursday.

    A statement by Governor Rauf Aregbesola’s Media Adviser, Sola Fasure, said hoodlums’ attack on Ilori was said to be political motivated and sponsored by a top-ranking Ondo State Executive Council (Exco) member.

    ?The statement noted that the attack was indirectly meted out to Osun State, which Ilori represented at the programme.

    It said: “The statement credited to Yemi Olowolabi that ‘what happened is sad but it is avoidable. It is apparent the Osun delegates came prepared with thugs, charms, ammunition and cudgels to an event, which was supposed to be an all-APC event’ was highly undiplomatic and not expected from a commissioner of that status.

    “This state of affairs was far from the truth as Olowolabi made people to believe. The Osun delegate simply went armed with their intellect to marshal the position of the state.

    “Why would a delegate ?go with dangerous objects to a conference on restructuring when Ondo and Osun are not at war or in confrontation over any issue?

    “Ilori represented the government and people of Osun State. Therefore, he deserved to be accorded the courtesy and respect due to the state. He deserved to be protected by the Government of Ondo as well as security agencies at the venue of the conference.

    “All these safety measures were not in place. Rather, Ilori was exposed? to attack by some top government official, who reportedly had an axe to grind with him over election matters in the state.

    “The attack on Ilori is barbaric and reprehensible, to say the least. It is no doubt an attack on the people and Government of Osun, which Ilori represented at the meeting. We condemn this affront on the people and Government of Osun, which the attack on our delegate signposted.”