The Nation Newspaper

Tag: GOVT

  • NNPC pays govt N2.6tr, says report

    NNPC pays govt N2.6tr, says report

    •Corporation gets N2.6b claims from Leadway, others

    THE Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) paid N2.6 trillion into the Federation Account in the first six months of this year, The Nation has learnt.

    Five insurance companies, including Leadway Insurance also paid the corporation N2, 680,535,195.2 billion in insurance claims for exported crude oil in May.

    These were contained in the report the corporation submitted to the July Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) meeting in Abuja last week.

    The report, which was prepared by Onome Jack, checked by Nura Umar and approved by Mrs E. N. Eni-Kalu, included the statement of account as at last June.

    The NNPC said it transferred $8,762,818,942.19 or N2, 649,721,229,327.49 into the Federation Account.

    The corporation told the FAAC that it transferred N286, 862,007,820.52 to the Federation Account using the exchange rate of N154.76 per dollar in June.

    Also included in the statement of account are the total proceeds of crude oil and gas for June, which stands at N289,198,407,820.52.

    The grand total of the NNPC/FGN equity and crude oil, and other receipts was N150,794,471,986.27, including N22,258,059,323.78 for the NNPC/FGN Equity gas receipts.

    The NNPC reported to the FAAC meeting that “there was increase in production from Forcados and Qua-Iboe terminals due to completion of pipeline repair works, however, lifting operations were adversely affected during the period due to the Force Majeure declared at Bonny terminal due to theft along Nembe Creek Trunk line, resulting in production shut down of about 150,000 bopd; drop in production at Brass terminal due to pipeline vandalism and theft activities as well as drop in production at Okono and Amenam terminals due to repair work on equipment.”

    The domestic crude cost for March, the report said, was N112,382,568,750, while the gas and other Naira receipts stood at N1,426,907,760.47 by June.

    The report stated that the May export sales volume of 9.18 million barrels was 4.2 million barrels higher than April export sales volume of 4.97 million barrels.

    “The total revenue from crude oil export sales during the period under review at an average unit price of $104.754 per barrel is $951.87 million,”the report said.

    This amount is $437.7 million higher than what was realised in the preceeding April.

    During the period under review NNPC said it lifted 5.68 million barrels of PPT oil valued at $598.30 million and 2.3 million BTU of Modified Carry Agreement (MCA) Gas valued at $5.4 million.

    These amounts were paid into the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) account, with JP Morgan Chase.

    Royalty Oil lifting of 1.01 million barrels and MCA Oil and Gas valued at $105 million were also paid into the DPR Account.

    The report noted that the “domestic crude oil sales of 11.59 million barrels for the month of May, was 1.4 million barrels higher than April domestic sales volume. The total value of Domestic Crude oil sales, at an average unit price of  $105.397 and exchange rate of $154.75/$ was N188.98 billion.

    ‘’This amount is higher than April Domestic Crude Oil sales value of N160.89 billion by N28.096 billion.”

    Actual receipts from Domestic Crude oil sales for March 2013, was put at N112.38 billion,while gas sales of 94,739MT at an average unit price of $690.2462 generated total sales revenue of $65.39million.

    NLNG Feedstock sale for the month was 47.871Millio BTU at an average unit price of $2.2787678. This generated total sales revenue of $109.087 million.

    The corporation also signed a “Modified Carry Agreement” of $1.69 billion with Shell Petroleum development Company (SPDC), TOTAL and Nigeria Agip Oil Company (NAOC) designed to finance their Joint Venture Upstream project in Gbaran-Ugbidie, in Bayelsa State.

    Modified Carry Agreement is a financing agreement whereby the International Oil Companies (IOC’s) will advance loan to NNPC for investing in upstream projects. The three oil giants are operating in Nigeria under a Joint Venture arrangement with NNPC, in the NNPC/SPDC/TOTAL/NAOC Joint Venture.

    The last financing agreement signed was a modification of the Carry Agreement. The new “Modified Carry Agreement” (MCA) introduces greater level of transparency and accountability with repayment and compensation being on “cash and carry basis”, not oil.

    In the deal, the NNPC would allow the three firms to take capital allowances as allowed by the Petroleum Profit Tax (PPT) to recover 85 per cent of the principal loan. By taking the allowance, the IOCs are reducing the taxable profit that they ought to have paid.

    The remaining 15 per cent plus eight per cent interest would be paid in cash from the increased production from, which the investment was made. If, for any reason, the oil field where the investment was made could not produce, then payment of the 15 per cent plus the eight per cent interest would be stopped.

    The signing of the agreement was as a result of a successful negotiation between the four oil giants involved, that is the NNPC, SPDC, TOTAL and NAOC.

    Meanwhile, Leadway Insurance was one of the insurance firms that made three insurance claims to NNPC while Sovereign Trust insurance settled two claims.

    Leadway Assurance paid $16,628,480.38 as claims, Sovereign Trust Insurance paid $12,974.91, Linkage Assurance paid $105,082.60; Fin Insurance paid $2,797.08, while Great Nigeria Insurance, $4,000.

     

  • Govt makes offers to varsity teachers

    Govt makes offers to varsity teachers

    There seems to be no end in sight to the ongoing university lecturers’ strike, with the Federal Government saying yesterday that the 2009 agreement it signed with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) cannot be implemented.

    The union went on strike early in the month over what it called the failure of the government to fully implement the agreement. It vowed not to go back to work, until the government implements the agreement.

    The government said the complexity of the agreement had been responsible for the continued breakdown of negotiations between the two parties.

    Labour Minister Emeka Wogu stated this while briefing the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on the activities of his ministry. It was at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja.

    Wogu, however, said the government had entered into another round of talks with the varsity teachers, making some undisclosed offers to the teachers.

    “We have made offer to ASUU. It is as complex as presented. Negotiation is ongoing. The National Assembly is equally involved. We believe they will soon call off the strike. I personally and passionately appeal to them to call off the strike.

    “It will not affect the negotiation, if they call off the strike. It is better for them to be inside than outside. Students have equally appealed to them.”

    The minister added: “I inherited an agreement signed by the Federal Government with ASUU and that agreement is practically impossible for any administration to implement. We are still discussing with them. If I leave here, I am going to the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) where we are meeting with them. I hope that very soon, we will resolve it.”

    Wogu expressed the government’s reservations about the agreement it earlier signed with ASUU, which has necessitated the setting up of yet another negotiation team, headed by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator Anyim Pius Anyim.

    The nine-point agreement the government entered into with ASUU include: funding requirements for the revitalisation of Nigerian universities; Federal Government’s assistance to state universities; establishment of NUPEMCO; and progressive increase in annual budgetary allocation to the education sector to 26 per cent between 2009 and 2020.

    Other components of the agreement are: payment of earned allowances; amendment to the pension/retirement age of academics non professorial cadre from 65 to 70 years; and reinstatement of prematurely dissolved Governing Councils.

    Also included in the agreement are: transfer of Federal Government’s landed property to the universities and setting up of research development councils and provision of research equipment to laboratories and classrooms in the nation’s universities.

    On job creation efforts of the government, Wogu told the PDP leadership that the Community Service Scheme Women and Youth Empowerment Programme of the Subsidy Re-Investment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P) of the Federal Government had already engaged 120,000 persons out of the 185,000 targeted for employment this year.

    He said since social security is an evolving structure, Nigeria is still basically trying to grow the concept to an acceptable international standard.

    “We are at the stage of putting in place a social security policy that would reflect the nation’s needs and level of economic development, taking into consideration the traditional as well as the modern socio-cultural values and norms,” he said.

    With the passing of the Employee Compensation Act in 2010, he said the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund was resuscitated and currently functioning, adding that it has the new mandate to provide social security services to the disadvantaged and vulnerable members of the society.

    Wogu said the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) was in the fore-front of job creation, especially in skills acquisition and empowerment of unemployed people.

     

  • Leadership crisis: TWAN urges govt to intervene

    Leadership crisis: TWAN urges govt to intervene

    Tricycle Workers Association of Nigeria (TWAN) has called on Lagos State Commissioner for Transportation Mr Kayode Opeifa to intervene in the leadership crisis brewing within the different associations of tricycle operators in the state to prevent chaos.

    The association has, however, accused the Lagos State branch of National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) of attempting to impose an unelected leadership on them describing the attempt as an act of injustice.

    TWAN, in its petittion to the commissioner dated July 12, 2013 and signed by its Acting Secretary, Comrade Daodu Adesoji, said the union was working at cross purposes with their organisation.

    The body stated that they are ready to work with the NURTW for peace to reign in the state as earlier agreed as long as the union allows democracy to prevail.

    It, therefore, describes as illegal the caretaker committee constituted for the association by the union saying it is unjust and illegal.

    TWAN, which is the product of a merger of two rival tricycles bodies (Three-Wheelers and KORAN) further, alleged that the NURTW is trying to thwart the efforts of the Reconciliation Committee set up by the Transport Ministry to see to the complete reconciliation and merger of the two rival tricycle associations in the state.

    According to TWAN, after the first General Assembly meeting of the two rival tricycle associations (Three-Wheelers and KORAN) on July 4, another meeting was slated for July 16 to finalise the selection of the caretaker committee.

     

    They said they were surprised to receive a letter of inauguration of a caretaker committee members from NURTW on July 9 while the meeting of the two rival tricycle association set up to appoint caretaker committee is yet to be concluded.

    “On Tuesday 9th of July, 2013, we are shocked to receive a letter from the state office of the NURTW inviting all our branches exco to their state office for Wednesday 10th of July, 2013 for inaugural meeting of the association new caretaker committee and its state executives without the knowledge of the members and leaders of both association (Three-Wheelers and KORAN).

    “To our surprise, some of the members of the newly constituted caretaker committee are not known to the association members.

    “Meanwhile, the formal committee is about to round-up and organise election for the state exco of the association but this sudden change of the former committee have given us another set back”, it stated.

    In the caretaker committee set up by the NURTW, TWAN alleged that Three-Wheelers has only three representatives while KORAN has 17 representatives which it described as imbalance.

    TWAN therefore urged Opeifa to call the state Chairman of NURTW, Alhaji Tajudeen Agbede and Chairman of the so-called newly constituted Caretaker Committee Mr. Odusanya to order.

    TWAN therefore called for equal representation of the two associations’ members in the new caretaker committee.

    It also demanded for one month for the committee to organise a free and fair elections for the state executives for peace to reign.

    “Mr. Odusanya should be call to order not to use force or any act of provocation with the support of NURTW to intimidate or harass any of our members in their branches and units across the state, because we are ready to resist him with another round of serious legal battle”, it stated.

     

  • Fed Govt to push equity capital institutions for MSMEs

    • Inaugurates NEDEP, MSME Council in Ogun

    The Federal Government has said it will fast-track the establishment of vibrant and efficient venture and equity capital organisations that will help provide cheap funds for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises.

    The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Olusegun Aganga, said this during the launch of the National Enterprise Development Programme (NEDEP) and inauguration of the Ogun State Council on MSMEs in Abeokuta.

    The programme, which was organised by the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria(SMEDAN), in partnership with the Ogun State Government, is in line with the provisions of the Nigerian Industrial Revolution Plan.

    “We want to build a new sector called Venture Capital and private equity sector to support small and growing businesses in Nigeria, Aganga said, adding that there will be “changes in our laws and regulations that will promote the development of venture capital organisations to provide equity, debt capital and business support services to those sectors.”

    He noted that the inauguration of SME Councils at the state levels would enable both the Federal and state governments to identify the peculiar challenges facing MSMEs in each state so as to fashion out workable strategies to holistically address them.

    He said:“We are currently changing the structure of MSMEs development in the country. One of our new initiatives is the development of the National Enterprise Development Programme. NEDEP is being spearheaded by the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment and its three parastatals – the Bank of Industry, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria and the Industrial Training Fund.

    “This is the first time ever that these three parastatals under my ministry are coming together to develop and implement a programme that will revolutionise the growth of the MSME sector in Nigeria.”

    He added, “In terms of the new structure of MSMEs in Nigeria, I want to see a situation where we can have SME Councils in every state of the federation. We launched the first one in Kano (in the North), two weeks ago, while Ogun State is the first one we are launching in the South West.

    “The State SME Councils will have representatives of the Federal and State Governments, trade associations and members of the Organised Private Sector as members. The reason for having State SME Councils is to enable us understand the peculiar challenges that MSMEs are facing at the grassroots level and see how we can work together to address them holistically.”

  • Fed Govt targets 350,000 jobs in 2 years

    • Unveils Enterprises Devt Scheme

    About 350,000 jobs are expected to be created between now and 2015 through the National Enterpriser Development Plan (NEDEP), Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr Olusegun Aganga, has said.

    Aganga, who stated this during the launch of NEDEP and Kano State Council on Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Sector, (MSMEs), said the main objective of NEDEP is to create 3.5 million direct jobs or five million indirect and direct jobs by 2015.

    ‘’The NEDEP programme is geared towards creating an additional 350,000 direct and indirect new jobs between now and 2015 in Kano State alone,” he said.

    Aganga commended the Kano State Government for taking the bold initiative in composing the MSME council.

    ‘’This goes to show the commitment and determination of the Kano state Government to empower its people,’’ he said.

    He lauded Governor Kwankwaso for creating 250,000 entrepreneurs, out of which 80 per cent are women.

    The minister said the programme is in line with the ministry’s commitment to create jobs, generating wealth and enhance economic growth that the MSME council came on board and became the top target of the ministry to achieving such.

    Nigeria currently has 17.3 million MSMEs, which represent 96 per cent of the businesses in the country. The sector has also contributed 75 per cent and 47 per cent to Nigeria’s labour and GDP respectively, he added.

    Aganga said: “The major critical inhibiting factors for MSMEs were access to finance, markets, lack of adequate infrastructure, lack of skills and business development and entrepreneurship training, as a result my ministry has developed NEDEP as new, strategic and revolutionary way of delivering enterprise development in Nigeria aimed at revitalising MSME sectors.”

    The Kano MSME council, which is the first to be inaugurated in the country, is to be used as the driving mechanism for all enterprise development programmes across the country.

    The council will report to the National Council on MSME, which will soon be inaugurated by President Goodluck Jonathan.

    The Council on MSMEs has its membership drawn from Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency (SMEDAN), Industrial Training Fund (ITF), Bank of Industry (BoI), National Association of Small Scale Industries (NASSI), NASME, KACCIMA, various private organisations and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs).

    It (Council) will also ensure the creation of an enabling environment to facilitate the development of MSME clusters, infrastructure upgrade, access to finance, and MSME capacity building.

    In his address, the Director General, SMEDAN, Alhaji Bature Umar Masari, explained that NEDEP is being implemented under three pillars namely technical, vocational skills acquisition and entrepreneurship training and access to finance, adding that the entrepreneurship training component of NEDEP is being anchored under the programme ‘One Local Government, One Product (OLOP).

    Masari recalled that the pilot project of OLOP programme was conducted in Kano and Niger States from September 2010 to July 2011 and in the course of its implementation, baseline survey and value chain analysis was carried out and business development services were delivered to approximately 50 selected enterprises that manufacture six products in both states.

    He said: “The agency has conducted sensitisation programmes, needs assessment and selected products based on competitive advantages in all the 44 government areas of the Kano state, and the products identified and soya beans and tomato which will be developed and processed in the various local governments areas for sales to the end users.”

     

  • Boko Haram disowns ceasefire pact with govt

    Boko Haram disowns ceasefire pact with govt

    *Shekau: We’ll burn more schools, kill teachers
    *Backs massacre of Yobe students

     

    The ceasefire agreement purportedly signed recently by the Federal Government and the Islamist sect, Boko Haram, is already in jeopardy.

    The leader of the group, Abubakar Shekau, yesterday disclaimed the ceasefire and threatened more attacks on schools within its sphere of influence.

    The Minister of Special Duties, Alhaji Tanimu Turaki, had on Tuesday announced the signing of an agreement between government and Boko Haram as a prelude to ending years of killings and destruction of property by the group.

    An influential member of the Shekau-led sect, Imam Muhammadu Marwana, corroborated the minister’s statement and also apologised for the various activities of the sect which have claimed thousands of lives especially in the northern part of the country.

    However, Shekau, in his latest video message supported the July 6 attack on Government Secondary School, Mamudo near Potiskum, Yobe State in which officials said 20 students and one teacher were shot dead. Although unofficial sources claimed THAT well over 40 lives were lost.

    The early morning gun and bomb attack at the boarding school saw assailants round up students and staff in a dormitory before throwing explosives inside and opening fire on fleeing students and teachers.

    He did not claim responsibility for the massacre but said:”We fully support the attack on this Western education school in Mamudo.”

    In the video, Shekau described all “Western education schools” as a “plot against Islam.”

    He stopped short of claiming to have ordered the attack.

    He threatened to burn down more schools and kill teachers. But he denied his fighters are killing children because, according to him, the Quran teaches one must not kill children, women and elderly people.

    His words:”School teachers who are teaching Western education? We will kill them! We will kill them. We don’t attack students.”

    Boko Haram means “Western education is sin.”

    Announcing the ceasefire agreement earlier on Tuesday on the Hausa Service of Radio France International, Tanimu who doubles as Chairman of the Peace and Dialogue Committee in the North said: “We have sat down and agreed that Jama’atu Ahlul Sunnah Lidda’awati wal Jihad, known as Boko Haram will lay down their arms as part of the agreement so as to end the insurgency. Government agreed with ceasefire and will look into ways to ensure that the troops relax their activities till the final take off of the ceasefire.”

    He gave no details of the agreement.

    Marwana, on the said programme, confirmed the agreement and sought the forgiveness of Nigerians over the number of people killed in the country by the sect.

    “This ceasefire, in sha’Allahu, from the time I am talking to you, we have ceased fire because of the discussion held,” he said and appealed to those who have lost their loved ones to “forgive us and on our side we have forgiven all those who committed atrocities against us.”

    But he denied the involvement of the sect in the Mamudo school massacre.

     

  • Akwa Ibom property owners appeal to govt

    The Forum of Property Owners in Akwa Ibom State has appealed to the state government to re-route the high voltage electric bare conductors connected over their residential and business premises.

    The Niger Delta Power Holding Company of Nigeria while executing the National Integrated Power Project (NIPP) along Eket-Itu 132 (264) Transmission line, in Akwa Ibom State, had diverted the High Voltage electric bare conductors over some residential buildings in seven local governments in the state. The National Integrated Power Project (NIPP) along Eket-Itu 132 (264) Transmission line was executed by Houquado Nigeria Limited. The affected LGAs are Eket, Nsit Ubium, Nsit Ibom Itu, Etinan, Ibesikpo Asutan and Uyo.

    Speaking during the presentation of letter of appeal to Governor Godswill Akpabio, President, Forum of Property Owners, Ime Ekanem, said the recent development in some communities in Akwa Iboms State where high tension wires fell off and electrocuted people to death is worthy of mention, so as to guide those responsible for utmost care and caution.

    His words: “We are all aware of the potent danger of having one’s house under High Tension Wires, especially during rainfall which is usually accompanied by thunder and lightening. This should be a cause for concern because our life-span is being tacitly shortened as a result of the psychological trauma, persistent fear and radiation from the wires.

    “Research has shown that the probability ratio of direct lightening strokes on transmission line (like 132kv transmission line Eket-Itu) would be hit by about 8 to 10 per cent of the lightening or thunder stroke. This is capable of causing surge voltages and current and also that Akwa Ibom with a high frequency rate of lightening and thunder stroke will release a high level of electrical charges which is dangerous to us (victims) living under the high tension wire.”

    The Senior Special Assistant on Power to the governor, Dr. Victor Udo, received the letter on behalf of the state government. Udo commended the forum of property owners for allowing the project to be completed without any clash between the communities and the contractor.

    He said: “I don’t want to make a promise but I am telling you that we are aware of this situation. I also want to minimise some of your fears that they didn’t increase the voltage on the line. They only increased the size of the wire so that it will be able to carry more power.”

     

  • Strike: ASUU walks out on Fed Govt, National Assembly team

    Strike: ASUU walks out on Fed Govt, National Assembly team

    The leadership of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) yesterday walked out on the National Assembly’s Joint Committee on Education and a Federal Government’s negotiating team.

    The Chairman of Senate Committee on Education, Uche Chukwumerijie, and his House of Representatives counterpart, Aminu Suleiman, had invited representatives of the Federal Government and ASUU to the National Assembly to end ng the ongoing strike by the university teachers.

    The Minister of the Education, Prof. Ruqquayatu Rufa’i; her Labour and Productivity counterpart, Emeka Wogu; the Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Prof. Julius Okojie, among others, represented the Federal Government at the meeting.

    However, when the ASUU delegation got to the proposed venue of the meeting, they met the Chukwumerijie-led joint committee meeting with representatives of the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) and the Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU).

    While the meeting with ASUP was meant to resolve the over-two-month strike by polytechnic teachers, that of COEASU was meant to avert a similar action in Colleges of Education.

    Chukwumerijie, who chaired the meeting, had sent a message to the ASUU delegation to give him 10 minutes to round off the session. But the university teachers walked out of the National Assembly for allegedly being kept waiting by the committee and the Federal Government’s delegation.

    The committee was shocked on rounding off its meeting that the ASUU delegation did not heed the plea of its chairman to give it time to conclude its meeting.

    Former Chairman, House Committee on Education, Hon. Farouk Lawan urged the Committee to discountenance the ASUU’s action in the interest of students thrown out of school by the strike and the country’s education sector.

    However, a member of the Committee, Hon Jerry Alagboso described the action of ASUU as “intellectual arrogance”.

    He called on the leadership of the Committee to formally write to warn ASUU against such tendencies in future.

    The Minister of Education, Ruqquayatu Rufa’i and the Minister of Education, Emeka Wogu did not comment.

    Chairman House Committee on Education, Aminu Suleiman noted that as a former, such actions were not new in labour relations.

    He called on the lawmakers to take the treatment with maturity and in the interest of the nation’s education sector and the students now made to stay at home because of the strike.

    Chukwumerijie said the Committee will reach out to ASUU with the aim of reconvening the meeting next week.

    Meanwhile, the National Assembly Joint Committee on Education, Rufa’i and Wogu yesterday appealed to ASUP to call off their over two months strike.

    Chukwumerijie promised that the Committee would work to ensure that the issues that led o the strike were resolved within the next two weeks.

    National President of ASUP, Comrade Chibuzo Asomugha, said any decision to suspend the strike can only be taken at the National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the union.

    He was however not specific on when the union would convene its NEC meeting.

    The committee also pleaded with the Asagha Emmanuel Nkoro-led COEASU to give it time to intervene in their industrial dispute with the Federal Government to avert the proposed strike.

     

     

  • Fed Govt awards N167b Lagos- Ibadan Expressway contract

    WORKS Minister Mike Onolememen yesterday said the Federal Government has awarded the N167 billion Lagos-Ibadan Expressway contracts to Messrs Julius Berger Nigeria Plc. and Reynolds Construction Company (RCC) Limited.

    The firms, who emerged the preferred bidders for Section 1 (Lagos- Shagamu Interchange) and Section 11 (Shagamu Interchange – Ibadan) are to deliver the road in 48 months.

    In a statement, Onolememen said the ministry has sought and obtain certificate of ‘No Objection’ from the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) for the award.

    He said: “The government had earlier entered into concession agreement with Messrs Bi-Courtney in 2009 to develop the section between Ojota old plaza in Lagos and old toll plaza in Ibadan, a distance of approximately 105 kilometres under a Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement for enhanced quality of service to all users of the highway in tandem with international standards.

    “Four years later, no real progress was recorded while the road users wallowed in hardship and constantly at risk of accident on the road.

    “The frequent carnage on the road by September 2012 and the frequent loss of lives and man-hours was detrimental to the economy.

    “An urgent action needed to be taken to remedy the situation which led the Federal Government to consequently terminate the concession agreement between her and the concessionaire for failing to comply with the provisions of the concession agreement

    “The 127.6-kilometre expressway traverses three South-Western states of Lagos, Ogun and Oyo. It commences at Ojota interchange through Shagamu junction, Ogere and terminates at Ojoo in Ibadan.”

     

     

    “It is also a major artery that connects Lagos, major Nigerian sea ports, to other states of the federation and forms not only a part of the Trans-Saharan Highway that links Lagos on the Atlantic Ocean to Algiers on the Mediterranean Sea but also part of the Trans-African Highway, linking the Atlantic City of Lagos to the Indian Ocean city of Mombassa in East Africa through Cameroon and Central Africa, the bifurcation point, where the ceremony took place is the Shagamu Interchange, which separates the two continental highways.

    “The Federal Government has made tremendous progress in the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the Benin-Ore-Shagamu Expressway, which on full completion, will further reinforce the socio-economic benefits to be harnessed from the Lagos-Ibadan road reconstruction.

    “This is the reason government deployed two reputable road construction companies to carry out emergency repair works on the road, to ease public outcry.

    “The result of the emergency intervention was commendable as reflected in the improved condition of the road at the time. In order to provide a lasting solution to the condition of the road, the ministry commenced the process of procurement contracts for Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) for the full reconstruction and expansion of the Expressway.

    “On completion, the project will reduce economic losses associated with accidents and congestion, reduce travel times and strengthen the Southwest regional economy and indeed the nation’s economy, as it boosts regional industry competitiveness and national productivity.”

    The minister reassured Nigerians on government’s commitment to the project, not because of importance to the South-West zone alone, but for the entire country and sub-region at large.

    “As such, he stated that the government will collaborate with Private sector to ensure that this project is adequately funded in order to bring it to quick completion, far ahead of the scheduled completion period of 48 months.”

    Speaking, President Goodluck Jonathan stated that the hardship being experienced by users of the road, especially, those from the Southwest, was not deliberate on the part of his administration,.

    He explained that the government has to terminate the concession agreement after four years for non-performance.

    Jonathan said: “Let me appreciate Nigerians, especially more than the 50 per cent users of the key economic players in the south-West form Lagos to Ondo State that use this road for the pains witnessed over this period.

    “It was not the intention of the Federal Government but because of the contractual arrangement that the government entered into with Bi-Courtney.

    “The reconstruction was expected to accelerate the economic development of Nigeria and that the government would mobilise the necessary funds to ensure the completion of the project in 30 months, although the contractors have been given a 48-month timeline to complete it.”

     

  • Fed Govt not fair to Yoruba, says Osuntokun

    Former Nigerian Ambassador to Germany, Prof. Akinjide Osuntokun, yesterday said the Federal Government has not been fair to the Yoruba.

    He said they had been neglected by the government.

    The Professor of History spoke at the 74th birthday lecture of the Chairman of Splash, Chief Adebayo Akande, at the Trenchard Hall, University of Ibadan.

    He urged the Federal Government to address the imbalance.

    Speaking on the topic: ‘The place of the Yoruba in the ethno-political configuration of Nigeria’, Osuntokun said: “It is in the interest of the country that the Federal Government must be fair to every zone irrespective of its political leaning.

    “Government must not wait until there is rebellion or militancy of the youth in the Southwest before embarking on fire-brigade or palliative measures.”

    Osuntokun, who called for the classification of the Yoruba political structures, said: “The people, who believe and advocate belonging to the mainstream and joining those in government have had their positions weakened by the fact that there is nothing to show for the time when one of their sons was at the helm at the Presidency between 1999 and 2007.

    “The Yoruba watched helplessly as their roads became bad and other features of modern life collapsed. They were not singled out for favour.

    “If the truth must be told, the Obasanjo government bent over backward to accommodate other ethnic groups at the expense of the Yoruba. Since 2003 and until recently, no Yoruba woman has been found suitable for ministerial appointment in a country where Yoruba women led in the acquisition of Western education since the imposition of colonial rule.

    “Even in the distribution of ministerial positions, the Yoruba have fared worse than other ethnic groups. It is open to debate if the Yoruba would have fared worse if they had not belonged to the mainstream.”

    Considering the fact that the Southwest was regarded as a land of opposition, he said: “It is true that if Yorubaland is perceived as the land of opposition, its people would be subjected to political victimisation.

    “There will be avenues of redress in the courts and in forming political autonomy. Things are in a state of political flux and it seems most Nigerians would rather have a weak centre and a physically- strengthened state or regional governments.

    “The Yoruba ought to be able to manoeuvre their way through this labyrinth of political and economic negotiation necessary to see the Nigeria of our dream.”

    Osuntokun said it was in the interest of the country that the Federal Government should be fair to every zone, irrespective of its political leaning.