The Nation Newspaper

Tag: GOVT

  • Govt to take over ‘illegal’ oil and gas free zones

    The Federal Government may next week take over Oil and Gas Free Zones that have failed to register with the regulatory Oil and Gas Free Zones Authority (OGFZA), The Nation has learnt.

    It was learnt that the government decided to take this step after its use of moral suasion to make the oil and gas free zones comply to its regulations failed.

    An official of Lagos Deep Offshore Limited (LADOL), who pleaded not to be named, said the decision of the government  to force operators to register with the regulator was borne out of the need to provide standards.

    OGFZA’s Head of Operation/Technical, Mr Adekunle Ajayi, said the government had written  and visited Snake Island Integrated Free Zone(SHIFZ), Lagos Deep Offshore Limited, Lagos, and other oil and gas free zones across the country on the matter.

    He said the letter for the take-off of the operation was dated November 17,  this year, adding that the deadline is 30 days from that date.

    Ajayi said: ”Operators of Oil and Gas Free Zones can be said to have been operating unilaterally, when they refused to register as members with the Oil and Gas Free Zones Authority. Such actions are contrary to the Article No 8 of the 1996 constitution that established the Oil and Gas Free Zones Authority (OGFZA).

    He added that the body, in line with section 5, sub-sections 2 of the 1996 Constitution and other extant laws operating in Nigeria, is empowered to regulate the oil and gas free zones.

    “The Oil and Gas Free Zones Authority will not hesitate to apply sanctions in order to instill discipline in the sector. Nigeria has over 100 oil and gas free zones. While many of the zones are doing well, others are not. The body wants to ensure that the zones generate huge revenues for the government and also help in promoting the economy”.

    Ajayi said oil and gas free zones, have generated N76billion yearly and created over 200,000 jobs, adding that the zones have a the multiplier effects of on the economy.

    Also, OGFZA’s Head of Trade and Investment Department, Mr Adamu Knotogora, said the agency was not duplicating the roles of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPZA), adding that the two organisations perform different roles.

    NEPZA regulates the non-oil sectors, while OGFZA supervises  the oil and gas free zones.

    LADOL Nigeria Limited, Chief Executive Officer,  Dr Amy Jayesinmi, said the oil and gas free zones can provide huge earnings for the country, urging the Federal Government to provide enabling environment for their operators.

    She advised stakeholders, including the government, to ensure that LADOL and other oil and gas free zones become industrial hubs in West Africa.

    The issue,  Jaiyesimi said, would make Nigeria play dominant roles in oil and gas servicing in the region.

  • Bank chief, govt seek solutions to violence against women, children

    How can violence against women and children be addressed?

    It is through public participation and sustainable approaches, says Access Bank Plc Managing Director  Herbert Wigwe.

    Wigwe spoke on the sideline of a public programme held by the Financial Control and Strategy Group of Access Bank in partnership with the Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Team (DSVRT).

    The event tagged “it’s on you and I’’ to end violence against women and children, was attended by many dignitaries.

    Wigwe said curbing domestic violence was long overdue, adding that there was need for public participation to end it.

    He said: “In the country, there should be need to mobilise the public in providing viable solutions to addressing and ultimately resolving the wicked act.

    “We are happy to partner with DSVRT; together, we are ready to make this a common problem to ourselves. There is never ever a good reason for violence against women and children.

    “All women have fundamental rights to live and we must ensure that this right is established.

    “Most of these victims do not come forward, thinking their lives are in danger and in the case of sexual abuse, it is a stigma.

    “A woman is a mother, a daughter, a sister and a wife. She is active, emotional and devoted. She will nurture, fight for and she deserves nothing less from each and every one of us.

    “As we keep saying, it is on you and I to end and stop violence against women and children.”

    Wife of Lagos State Governor Mrs Bolanle Ambode, said it was the responsibility of everyone to end the act “as it remains a horrible and devastating issue in the society’’.

    “It is our responsibility to ensure we sustain public discourse on this issue of gender-based violence.

    “I, therefore, join all stakeholders and relevant agencies to ensure public awareness and sensitisation on this.

    “The law enforcement agencies must hold any offender accountable and protect victims so as to encourage others to speak out and break the conspiracy of silence,’’ Mrs Ambode said.

    The DSVRT Coordinator, Mrs Titilola Vivour-Adeniyi, urged more stakeholders to join in the fight against the act to protect girls and women from sexual and domestic violence.

  • NECA hails govt decision on FRC’s policy

    The Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) has praised the Federal Government on its decision to suspend the Financial Reporting Council (FRCN)’s recently released Code of Corporate Governance.

    NECA considered the action appropriate in view of the failure of FRC to secure the buy-in of the Organised Private Sector (OPS) on such important guideline.

    Commenting on the development, the Director-General of NECA, Olusegun Oshinowo, said it was disheartening that the FRC went ahead to release the code without respect to the outcome of social dialogue and engagement with stakeholders.

    Oshinowo said:”The timely intervention by the Honourable Minister of Labour and Employment is a testimony of the avowed commitment of the Federal Government to work with the Private Sector in the resuscitation of the economy.

    “NECA is hopeful that other agencies of government will pick learning points from the development in seeing the private sector as critical stakeholders and partners in progress with major stakes in the progress of the economy and country as a whole.”

    Last week, NECA faulted the new Code of Corporate Governance of the Financial Reporting Council (FRCN) which prohibits the chief executive officer of an establishment from becoming the chairman until seven years on the position.

    The provision called “Cool off period” has generated mixed feeling among stakeholders.

    Oshinowo  said there is no justification for the restriction on MD/CEO becoming the chairman of the same company until after the cool off period of seven years as stated in Section 6 of the Code for Private Sector.”

    He said: “Some companies are formed by one or two shareholders with the vision of what they intend to achieve. What stops such investor that has served meritoriously as the MD/CEO from becoming the chairman upon retirement if so appointed by the board?”

  • How govt can tackle recession, by lecturers

    Lecturers of the University of Ibadan (UI) have advised the government on how the current recession could be surmounted. At a public lecture held by the institution’s chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) last Wednesday, speakers agreed the only way out of the recession is good governance.

    The lecture titled: Good governance: A surgical strike against economic recession, was held at the Trenchard Hall.

    In his remark, the ASUU chairman, Comrade Biodun Ogunyemi, bemoaned what he called poor culture of governance, noting that ruling class had turned the idea of public service upside down. If public officers don’t change their views about governance, Ogunyemi said the nation would not be developed.

    He said: “ASUU is committed to educate Nigerians on issues affecting the nation’s development. This would challenge the youth to stand up and take their future in their hands in a courageous and revolutionary manner. Nigeria is our pride. In the diversity lies our strength and in unity lies the basis of our struggle.”

    The ASUU boss said the union was not pleased with the situation in the country, saying the body would not be quiet and allow the ruling class to lead the country into crisis.

    He added: “The resources accrued to the country in the last 10 years should be enough to transform Nigeria into another emerging market, like Japan, Malaysia and Singapore. Unlike those countries, Nigeria has been misled by people who talk more without actions. If we don’t put our acts together, we will wake up one day and see the whole nation in ruins.

    “The change they are talking about must start from the campus. We must sow the seed of that change. We are talking about revolutionary change. Are we prepared for it? We need to guard our loins, ASUU as a union is committed to doing that.”

    The guest speaker, Dr Biodun Adedipe, said recession would not be solved if government did not address unemployment. He said only the good governance would activate economic recovery, adding that government activities must aim at common good.

    He said Nigeria needed structural overhaul of the economy and must be ready to do things differently. Noting that the recession was caused by the fall in price of crude oil, Adedipe said the problem was compounded by fiscal indiscipline, crony capitalism, lack of a development agenda, and selfish interests.

    He said: “There was no commitment to the roadmap for Nigeria to become industrialised. The National Industrial Revolution Plan of 2014 is a mere document. Serious countries have medium and long term development plan. All that we have done is ‘envelope system’ of resource allocation to programme and projects that lacked substance on national value, such as SURE-P.

    “Nigeria has been in recession since 2014 but the previous administration denied it. The 2015 budget presented by the previous administration was a bad document. Recession is not about negative growth, but it is about addressing a slow economy. We are supposed to be creating jobs, instead of creating millionaires and billionaires.”

    Good governance, he said, is the key to creating strong institutions that can check the faults in the system. He said poverty would reduce if government’s budget addresses youth employment to create opportunities for young people.

    The event ended with presentation of awards to the union members, who showed commitment to good governance and the cause of the union.

  • Govt takes delivery of 77 transmission equipment

    Govt takes delivery of 77 transmission equipment

    The Federal Government, yesterday, took delivery of  77 containers of electricity transmission  equipment that were brought into the country eight years ago.

    The government negotiated for the release of 218 containers with the management of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS).  Seventy-seven were however released to it.

    Power Minister, Babatunde Fashola, who took delivery of the containers at Tin Can Island Port, Lagos, said the government began negotiations for the release of the containers in March this year, adding that the government succeeded in taking delivery of 77 containers.

    He said failure of the past governments to release funds delayed the equipment at the ports nationwide.

    Represented by Dr Tambuwal AbubakarAtiku, the Chief Executive Officer, Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN),  Fashola said the equipment were delayed  at Roro Port, Rivers State, Wharf, Ikorodu Ports, Lagos, among others across the country.

    He said the issue has prevented Transmission Compnay of Nigeria (TCN) from wheeling power to the 11 power Distribution Companies (DisCos) for onward supply to consumers.

  • ‘Govt has broken social housing contract’

    ‘Govt has broken social housing contract’

    The Managing Director, KnightStone Properties Limited, Mr. Adeniyi Adams, has accused the government of breaking its contract on social housing provision with the citizenry.

    He spoke at the firm’s media launch and ambassador unveiling in Lagos, last week.

    One area that this contract has been grossly broken is land. According to Adams, houses have become too expensive to provide because the  government has placed a huge premium on land.

    “Land should not be made a premium because it makes cost of housing higher; it is not meant for government to place a high premium on since it was freely given by God. Housing scheme is meant to be a social contract between the government and the people,” he explained.

    Adams noted that the 17 million housing deficit would not have been a headache for developers if the government did the right things. One of these is the provision of infrastructure that will make housing delivery easier.

    “It is not the delivery of housing that is a problem, but the infrastructure. If the government can take away the aspect of infrastructure from developers, then housing will come in easier.  The social contract has been broken and unless something is done, we will continue to live in slums. The statistics is that about one-quarter of Nigerians are living in inappropriate houses,” he explained.

    The Knightstone chief said his firm was intervening in the situation by not only building for the top echelon of the society, but also giving preference to building for people at the bottom of the pyramid, who are  affected by the housing shortage.

    One way the firm has done this is to build housing carcasses are selling same to interested parties to complete on their own. By so doing, he explained, houses become affordable to an individual because he is able to finish the building based on his financial strength.

    “We deliver carcasses, which makes cost lower and the owner can finish it up with consideration for his own taste and financial muscle. For instance, carcasses could cost as much as N4 million, while the finishing could cost N10 million. So, an individual can decide how much he wants to spend on finishing,” Adams explained, adding that his firm also provides people the opportunity of flexible payment on properties purchased.

    The Group Managing Director, HFP Engineering Limited, Mr. Dele Martins, noted that though the issue of affordable housing had remained on the front burners in the country,  its implementation was shrouded in extreme hypocrisy by the main stakeholders.

    Martins, represented by HFP’s Executive Director, Human Resources, Mr. Layi Omojola, regretted that while the country needs to build about 700,000 housing units yearly if there is to be an impact on the deficit, only a paltry 100,000  units are being built.

    He listed the factors mitigating against housing delivery to include the lack of provision by the government of the primary infrastructure required to support the development of affordable estates, including roads, access to water and electricity, unfavourable government policies, unavailability and difficulty of accessing affordable mortgages for the purchase of houses by individuals, unstable investment environment, difficulties and lack of transparency in acquiring affordable land for the development of affordable housing, and bureaucracy in obtaining title documents to acquired or transferred land.

    Others are exorbitant cost of consent and other fees on the transfer of Land; bureaucracy and difficulties in obtaining building and other regulatory approvals for the construction of affordable housing, and the high cost of building materials and over dependence on imported building materials.

    Others are the non-alignment of the interests of the various stakeholders particularly the developers, commercial and mortgage banks on the one hand and the intended beneficiaries of affordable housing on the other; absence of fiscal incentives by government to make affordable housing development attractive, and indiscipline and corruption in the implementation of affordable housing schemes.

    “If we are to succeed in our claimed quest for the provision of affordable housing to the citizens of Nigeria and in particular low income earners there is an urgent need for governments at all levels to approach the subject holistically, sincerely and a great deal of commitment,” Martins noted.

    He explained that the success in the provision of affordable housing depends on the seriousness and commitment of all stakeholders, especially the government in particular.

    According to Martins, the issue is not a subject on which policy can be formulated or schemes introduced and left to run by themselves in the hope that the desired result will be achieved.

    Rather, he cautions, it requires a hands on monitoring and tweaking approach along every step of the way. To achieve this, any defaulter, he maintained, must be punished.

    “The corrupt process whereby what starts as an affordable housing scheme metamorphoses into a land grabbing exercise for friends and cronies of government must stop,” he warned, adding that government does not need to build or provide funds to build, but to create an enabling environment and ensure that everybody plays by fair and transparent rules.’’

  • Senior citizens seek govt recognition

    Senior citizens have called on the Federal Government to give them “proper recognition”.

    They made the call at this year’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Senior Citizens Association of Nigeria in Lagos.

    National President Elder Ebenezer Akinbadipe said senior citizens served the country in various capacities, noting that it’s unfair for the government to neglect them.

    “We want the government to recognise us, let them put us in their programme as it is done in the United States. Government should carry us along with what it is doing for the country… Senior citizens deserve respect and care.”

    The National Secretary, Mrs. Ade Fagbemi, called on the government to have a welfare package for the aged.

    She urged the government to provide senior citizens with free medical services and free transportation and give them opportunity for social work.

    She identified some of the objectives of the association to include promotion of interaction among the elderly, make them self reliant despite the challenges of ageing, create awareness for elder’s existence and care, and to promote love among the elderly.

    In his lecture titled: “Tips on longevity without ageing”, Dr Samuel Oyegbile urged the elders to adopt a healthy lifestyle by eating fresh fruits and vegetables, avoiding fried food, getting adequate sleep, avoiding harmful substances and avoiding emotional stress.

    He added that they must also avoid injury or overexertion.

    “They must avoid exposure to harmful sun rays, avoid obesity, engage in physical exercise and fitness, and they must ensure steaming, boiling, poaching and slow cooking of food with low heat,” he said.

    He said elders must know and watch their blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol level, body mass index and their age.

  • Privatisation: Govt reneged on power generation, funding agreements, operators allege

    The Federal Government may be the major cause of the problems being faced by the power sector after its privatisation. It has failed in most of the performance agreements signed with those who bought the power firms.

    According to the Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC) Board Chairman, Mr. Charles Momoh, and the Country Director, Energy Market and Rates Consultants, Mrs. Rahila Thomas, the government did not honour the agreements signed during the sector’s privatisation in 2013.

    Momoh said while handing over the assets, the government  promised that generation would be between 5,000 megawatts (Mw) and 7,500Mw by 2015.

    This, he said, has not happened  as agreements on improved supply of gas to thermal plants, establishment of cost-reflective tariff and payment of outstanding debts that accrued from unpaid electricity bills of customers, especially ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), have not been respected.

    Mrs. Thomas said the transmission segment of the supply value chain works sub-optimally  because of  underfunding. She said the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) was allocated N30.3 billion for capital expenditure in the budget contrary to the Multi-Year Tariff Order (MYTO) requirements.

    To buttress the huge shortfall in capital expediture allocation, she stated that MYTO requirement for 2016 is N205 billion. For 2017, it is N419 billion and N265 billion for 2018.

    She also noted that donors indicated their intention to provide $623 million for the transmission segment but nothing has been done three years after the pledge.

    Momoh and Mrs. Thomas spoke when the Senate Committee on Privatisation, led by its Chairman, Senator Ben Bruce, visited Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC), Lagos.

    Eko DisCo Chief Executive Officer Dr Oladele Amoda listed the challenges and achievements of the company, including the huge debt of about N10.7 billion owed by customers, power theft and meter bypassing by customers, among others.

    He appealed to the Senators to make a law that would prescribe stringent punishment for offenders involved in vandalisation of equipment, theft and tampering with meters. He urged the lawmakers to include in the 2017 budget appropriation the debts owed by MDAs.

    Bruce said the visit became imperative because people were questioning the privatisation process; “some said it was a mistake to have privatised the sector and why there has not been improvement in power. The generation level has not changed from what it used to be before privatisation. So the committee had to go round privatised entities to know the problems.”

    The committee chair said it was inexplicable that power output had not improved since the sector was privatised three years ago.

    The Federal Government owes the sector N900 billion. Bruce said it would be extremely difficult for the Senate to approve N1 triilion for the government to pay for debts when there was no output to justify such payment.

    The Committee promised to meet other DisCos, Appropriation and Budget Committees as well as stakeholders to find lasting solutions to the problems.

    The committee said the Senate would, before the end of the year,  draft a law against power theft, vandalism of equipment and meter bypassing. It also pledged to appropriate the fund to pay the debts owed the power firms in the 2017 budget, and also meet with the Central Bank, DisCos and the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) to solve the problem of accessing foreign exchange by power companies.

  • NIA charges govt on multi-level housing approach

    The  Nigerian Institute of Architects (NIA) has urged the Federal Government to look into several options to tackle 17million housing deficit of 17 million.

    During a visit to the Minister for Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, described social housing as a model waiting for implementation.

    Its President, Tonye Braide, said the institute had developed concepts on mass housing, which proposed an executing template based on the mass production of the components required to build the houses rather than looking at the completed house.

    One of these is the social housing model. Another model looks at the provision of a property exchange mechanism,where housing is treated as an exchangeable commodity with mobility through the housing types and based on income expansion, family size and zoning typologies.

    According to Braide, this would create an architectural value chain in the production process and open access to an array of Small and Medium scale Enterprises funding at single-digit interest rates for component fabrication, which will also culminate in housing development.

    “Low cost housing will be executed along the mass production templates used in the manufacturing industry. Standardisation of components will be key and an operating logistics platform can be developed to distribute the components around a localised area network. This will result in architectural component fabrication plants in every local government area, producing everything needed to complete a basic house,” he explained.

    This, he explained, would ensure that indigenous small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) get the basic raw materials from local components which are in abundance in local governments.

    “If each component fabrication cluster employs 100 persons, then about 75,000 new upstream jobs will be instantly created. The downstream sector will consist of the masons, carpenters and other artisans,” he said.

    The minister was quoted as saying “we must be at the forefront of resetting minds about the realities of home ownership. To achieve social housing, the money has to come from somewhere. Nigerians must accept that social housing has to be paid for,” adding that that no community had achieved 100 per cent home ownership, no matter how cheap or affordable.

  • Govt, NAPE push for exploration in frontier basins

    The Federal Government and the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE) are in discussion to woo investors into exploring for oil and gas in the frontier basins in Nigeria.

    NAPE President, Nosa Omorodion, said this in Lagos when the association outlined activities for its 34th yearly international conference and exhibition scheduled for November 13 to 17 in Lagos.

    The theme of the conference is “Stimulating upstream investments in Nigeria’s frontier basins.”

    Omorodion said it was imperative to look for oil and gas in other sedimentary basins outside the Niger Delta region to grow the nation’s reserves, which is fast being depleted. He said the association’s desire was to open up exploration, adding that it is economic realities that are preventing people from exploration, not fiscal terms as most people think.

    According to him, some years ago, when exploration was low, the government came up with some incentives, and signed memoranda of understanding  (MoUs), geared towards boosting oil and gas finds.

    ‘’It was at that time when we (Nigeria) attained astronomical growth in terms of reserves because people were incentivised to go and drill exploration wells.’’

    “The easy way out in a time like this is to open up our taps and produce but it is a big concern to us as explorationists because the replenishment rate doesn’t match our depletion rate which is a big concern. If we continue like this in the next 35 years we will completely run out of oil. The big chance discoveries especially the deep water, takes between eight and 10 years to bring them on stream. If you are depleting and not replacing, it is a big concern. If you make a discovery today, it will take an average of five or six years to produce it, so it is a huge gap,” he said, urging the government to give incentives that would attract investors into drilling new wells.

    On the need for the government to conduct a new licensing round, the NAPE chief said a new licensing round would be one of the topics to be discussed but that would be a subtle advocacy as a new licensing round is one way to stimulate the industry. However, he argued that even the oil wells we have as a country are not optimally explored. He said people are not drilling the wells they have because of low oil price.

    The President-elect and Chairman Conference Planning Committee, Abiodun Adesanya, noted that several issues confront the upstream section of the industry.

    He said: “We have issues such as Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) that has remained a lingering problem, shortfall in Joint Venture (JV) funding that has affected production, issues of job losses.

    ‘’Our members have lost jobs here and there, issues of vandalisation and security, which is currently waning following governments discussions with militants in the region. All these have affected us. There are times we were prevented from working, we have passion to do our jobs but with scenarios where workers are kidnapped, people are scared. As professionals we need to work, we don’t want job losses.”