The Nation Newspaper

Tag: grant

  • US offers $.997m training grant to Dangote refinery

    The  United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) has signed an agreement with Dangote Group for a grant of $997,443 for the training of  Dangote Oil Refining Company’s per sonnel, a subsidiary of the Group.

    The USTDA grant will fund a multi-year programme to train over 100 Dangote Company staff on refinery fundamentals. Through the training, the Dangote staff will be able to operate and maintain the Greenfield Refinery in Lekki, Lagos.

    The President of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, said during the ceremony that the refinery has installed refining capacity of 650,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd) and will be built at a cost of $9 billion.

    Dangote said: “Just over a year ago, with our decision to to invest in a $9.0 billion 650,000 bpd refinery project, we decided to address the paradox of Nigeria being one of the world’s largest producer and exporter of crude oil but yet one of the largest importers of refined products. Today the project has commenced and we expect to be in production by first quarter of 2018.

    “For such a high tech project investment in getting the right quality of human capital to run the plant is considered to be possibly the most critical success factor for the multi-billion dollar project. We are therefore, most grateful for the generous grant of USD 997,447 from the USTDA towards the training of some of the operators needed to successfully operate and maintain our Greenfield 650,000 bpd capacity refinery at Lekki. This grant from USTDA is consistent with her history of support for infrastructure development in Nigeria.”

    USTDA Deputy Director Enoh T. Ebong signed the grant agreement  with President of the Dangote Group,  Dangote. Ebong said: “USTDA is pleased to support the Dangote Oil Refining Company’s efforts to increase Nigeria’s domestic refining capacity. This programme builds upon USTDA’s long history of support for vital infrastructure development in Nigeria.”

    Acting United States’ Consul-General Dehab Ghebreab said the USTDA’s support for the project is an example of the strength and depth of the U.S.-Nigeria bilateral relationship, adding that it will go a long way in laying a ground work for monumental growth in the country.

    “I believe that when government and private sector get together, great things can happen. The U.S. government’s goal is to facilitate transactions that are beneficial to both countries and there is no better example than this project. I am pleased that USTDA could assist here,” she said.

  • World Bank to grant $6m to Oyo

    THE World Bank is set to grant about $6 million to Oyo State Government to complement the state’s socio economic development drive.

    Leader of the bank’s Implementation Mission on Youth Employment and Social Support Programme, Prof. Foluso Okumadewa, said this when he visited Governor Abiola Ajimobi at the Governor’s Office at Agodi, Ibadan.

    He said: “We want to commend you for your commitment, enthusiasm and strong determination for the development of Oyo State as demonstrated through wiliness in all interventions with which the World Bank had supported the state.

    “We will to continue work with you so that the Oyo State will benefit more.”

    Okumadewa said the state government would continue to enjoy further support from the bank because of its commitment to create employment opportunities for the youth and improve the social welfare of the people.

    He said in the last six years, the bank had supported the state with over N1 billion and about 500,000 people had benefitted from the bank’s projects for the state’s 33 councils.

    Ajimobi craved for the bank’s partnership in mechanised farming and noted that Oyo State has better agricultural advantages than other Southwest states.

    The governor also initiated a negotiation for increase in counterpart funding in an attempt to reconcile the state “YES O Project” with the bank’s youth  employment and social support project.

     

  • ‘Nigeria got $30m grant from Korea in two decades’

    The Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Nigeria, Mr. Noh Kyu-duk, has said his country provided around $30 million in grant and technical cooperation programmes to Nigeria in the last two decades.

    The envoy, who disclosed this in his remark on the occasion of the handing over ceremony of the Nigeria-Korea Friendship Institute of Vocational and Advanced Technology, in Lokoja, Kogi State, said the extended grant focused on education, governance, agricultural production and other areas.

    Harping on the importance of technical and vocational education in nation building, he said when the youths are equipped with updated skills and technologies, jobs would be secured, income generated and poverty reduced to a great extent.

    Commending the Nigerian government on its pledge to build one vocational training centre in each state, he said Kogi State is at the forefront in that direction and remains Korea’s strongest development partner in that regard.

    He enjoined the Nigerian government to pursue an aggressive Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) policy framework, saying without a strong policy drive to beef up the TVET in the 1960’s and 70’s Korea’s economic growth would have been seriously hampered.

    He admonished the Kogi State Government on the proper management of the facility for the desired to manifest. His words: “Without making the best use of these facilities and proper operation and management of this centre, our real mission of producing excellent human resources for the socio-economic development of Kogi and Nigeria may prove difficult”.

    He stressed on the need to strengthen the existing good relationship between the two countries, saying he envisaged the centre developing into a regional centre where it will be providing quality vocational training not only for Nigerians, but also neighbouring countries.

    Kogi State Governor Idris Wada described the Nigeria-Korea Friendship Institute of Vocational and Advanced Technology as a model for technical and technological training that is equipped to produce the best technical manpower to support industrial revolution in Kogi State, Nigeria and indeed the whole of Africa.

    “This institute is a world class institute and every effort will be made to ensure that graduates from the institute are of world standard and will be able to compete favourably with their peers in any part of the world”, Capt. Wada said.

  • Japan’s N1.6b grant for Oyo primary schools

    THE Japanese government has approved  an $8.5 million (N1,674,500,000) grant for additional classrooms for primary schools in Oyo State.

    Project Manager, Japan International Cooperation System, Mr. Kazunori Ogaguchi, told reporters in Abuja yesterday that the project was under Japan’s grant-in-aid 2014.

    He said the project involved building 225 classrooms in 30 primary schools in Oyo under the community empowerment programme of Japan International Corporation Agency (JICA).

    Ogaguchi said the initiative would complement the Nigerian government’s effort at providing access to primary education.

    The project manager said the real cost would be determined after tenders had been evaluated and a tenderer selected.

    He said JICA had undertaken similar projects in Kano State.

    “The construction contract is for a 12-month period. We want to enhance access to school for children through increasing the number of classrooms.”

    The Project Coordinator, International Development Partner Projects in Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), Mr. Iro Umar, explained that the commission approached the Japanese government on behalf of the Federal Government, to seek assistance for additional classrooms to increase access to primary education.

    He said: “You are also aware of the statistics that about 10 million Nigeria children are out of school. Part of this problem is access. Like the project they did in Kano, which provided 490 classrooms and if you multiply 40 times 490, you will surely agree that a lot of Nigerian children were comfortably seated into the classrooms ready for learning”.

  • Lecturer wins grant

    A lecturer in the Department of Computer Engineering, Dr. Samuel Obaje has won a grant to conduct a research on the “Viability of Soleprints and Toe Prints of Lepers for voting purposes” from the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund).

    Obaje said the research will shed light on how lepers would be more relevant since they have no fingerprints to perform their civic rights.

    Obaje said since lepers do not have fingers due to leprosy, he decided to research into how possible it is to make use of their soleprints and toe prints.

    To do this, he intends to collect massive data of lepers’ soleprints and toe prints and get them analysed to see if these prints can be used as their own personal identification and possibly for voting.

    He added that accident victims who have lost their thumbs can also benefit from this research as well as people whose job involve chemical production and have lost the prints on their fingers.

  • IFC offers N3.8b grant to AIICO Insurance

    IFC, International Finance Corporation (IFC) , a member of the World Bank Group, has announced a  grant of N3.8 billion ( $20 million) convertible loan to AIICO Insurance Plc.

    The loan, according to the Managing Director of AIICO Insurance Edwin Igbiti, is the global finance institution’s support to the insurance underwriting firm for its expansion activities across Nigeria.

    He said the plan by the company to expand its insurance services in the country will help to increase economic security, as well as create the development of new asset pools that can be invested in order to support economic development, including job creation.

    Igbiti also said  the company  will use the loan facility to increase its agency network and retail centers and increase its reach and footprint across the country.

    He further said the facility will also enable AIICO to further strengthen its information technology platform to achieve greater efficiency in claims processing and customer services.

    According to him, “AIICO Insurance Plc offers life and non-life insurance products to individuals, households, and businesses with a focus on value creation.

    “Partnering with IFC will help AIICO expand its activities further to meet the needs of the consumers who require more options. It will improve AIICO’s operational efficiency and strengthen the economic security and prosperity in Nigeria, Igbiti stated.”

    IFC’s global insurance strategy aims to increase the penetration of insurance in underserved markets, promoting diverse products and developing long-term partnerships with institutions that can help expand its developmental goals.

  • Nigeria gets Norwegian $15m grant for mother, child healthcare

    Nigeria gets Norwegian $15m grant for mother, child healthcare

    Efforts to improve the country’s healthcare delivery service, especially for mother and child care received a boost  yesterday as Norwegian government offer Nigeria a grant of $15million.

    The money is to assist Nigeria to  upscale it’s  maternal and child health programme.

    A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to that effect was signed yesterday in Abuja.

    The project is to be implemented by Clinton Health Foundation.

    Speaking at the occasion, Minister of Health Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu said the country remain committed to meeting the Health-Specific Millennium Development Goals (MDGS) by 2015.

    He explained that the “Norwegian government is supporting Nigeria with equivalent of 90million Norwegian crones. When you change it to US dollars, it translates to $15million. Now, they have given Nigeria that money as a grant or donation to support the work we are doing in terms of maternal and child health to ensure we meet the MDG target by next year; as far as goal number four and five are concerned.

    “This commitment by Norway of giving us $15million to support our maternal and child health is in furtherance of friendship between the two countries. We called it tripartite agreement because to execute it, both countries agreed that we will use the Clinton Health Action Initiative, what we call CHAI. They’ve been working for us in Nigeria and they have demonstrated capability and capacity to work in the health sector particularly in this area of maternal and child health. They also have to commit that they will do exactly what the two countries want the money to be used for. That is the essence of today’s ceremony.”

    He further explained that “although Nigeria has mainstreamed MDGs target into various national initiatives and strategies in order to fast track the attainment of the MDGs, more efforts continue to be required to ensure we achieve the goals, or come as close to achieving them as possible by the end of next year.

    “The development of Harmonized Country Plan of Priority Interventions for 2014-2015, HCPPI, is one of such initiatives to step up our efforts in this regard.

    “This plan represents a call to action to all states and supporting partners to improve programming and focus more resources on the identified, evidence-based, cost-effective and scalable interventions that are already producing results in order to achieve better health outcomes.

    “Through this plan, we aim to save an additional 420,000 maternal and children’s lives by 2015 at a total cost of $650 million as identified in the Harmonized Country Plan, and we have an estimated funding gap of $420 million. We have available commitments totaling $121 million currently being mobilized through projects from the Private Health Sector Alliance, UNICEF, GFATM, the Federal Ministry of Health, USAID and GE Healthy Imagination among other, leaving $299 outstanding.

    “The Tripartite Agreement we have signed today represents one of the many efforts to meet the resource gap. The expected impact on the target group is the reduction of maternal and neonatal deaths in the three selected states by 40% by 2015. This translates to approximately 2,961 maternal and 19,825 neonatal additional lives saved.”

    In his short remark, Norwegian Ambassador to Nigeria, Rolf Ree said the  collaboration could not  be successful without the strong leadership of Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu.

     

  • UNILORIN benefits from Carnegie grant

    UNILORIN benefits from Carnegie grant

    Two departments at the University of Ilorin (UNILORIN) will be providing training for students to effectively fill roles in Nigeria’s movie industry. The initiative would be sponsored by Carnegie African Diaspora Fellowship programme,

    Prof Anthonia Kalu, a Carnegie fellow from Ohio State University, Colombus, USA, said under the programme, students of the Departments of English and Performing Arts would be trained as writers and artistes.

    Speaking  at the UNILORIN’s Vice Chancellor, Prof. AbdulGaniyu Ambali’s office, Prof Kalu said her job would entail initiating and leading activities in several formats, such as the formation of reading groups that would examine and discuss works on prevailing theories and applications in African literature and the performing arts.

    “Nigeria’s growing dominance in the performance arts through Nollywood suggests that the University of Ilorin should begin to participate more fully and consistently in the training of writers and artists, who will participate in strengthening cross-cultural discussions that will enable and support national development,” she said.

    Prof. Kalu added that she would also be leading workshops on critical writing, faculty and student mentoring, and on how to establish and maintain viable research programmes. She explained that all activities would focus on Nigerian literature, performing arts, and its practice in the region.

    The Carnegie African Diaspora Fellowship programme, she said, is aimed, among other things, at reversing brain drain. “It is a chance to bring Africa back to its feet,”she said.

    Prof. Ambali in his remarks expressed joy to see the fruit of his internationalisation drive.  He congratulated the two departments for winning the grant and assured Prof Kalu that the University would provide all necessary support to ensure the success of the programme.

    While introducing the Carnegie Fellow, the Director, Centre for International Education (CIE), Prof. Olugbenga Mokuolu, informed the Vice-Chancellor that she had visited the University to facilitate curriculum development and the establishment of the Department of Anthropology and Cultural Study.

    Meanwhile, students of the university that underwent an internship programme at the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) came out tops and have been offered permanent employment at the firm.

  • N96m agric grant for Rivers women

    Women in Rivers State are to benefit from the N96 million ($600,000) agricultural extension and curriculum development grant from the United States.

    The grant was awarded by the National Institute for Food and Agriculture (NIFA) to the Rivers State Government and Rivers State University of Science and Technology (RSUST).

    NIFA, an agency of the U.S Department of Agriculture, is sponsoring the grant through the Office of International Programmes and Studies (OIPS), School of Agriculture Fisheries and Human Sciences, University of Arkansas, USA.

    Speaking during the foreign partners’ visit to her ministry recently, the Commissioner for Women Affairs, Mrs Joeba West, said the project would be of immense benefit to the women of the state.

    She said: “Before now the women are being marginalised, so the basic thing in the ministry of women affair to be included in the collaboration of this task is to promote the welfare of women in the state, in other to give women the chance to do what they know best.

    “More than 150 women have registered with the ministry to learn some trade that will better their life. This ministry is out to free women from discrimination. The women are the cover group that needs this project so that they can fend for themselves.”

    The Commissioner for Youth Development, Sir Owunwene Wonodi, said the grant would be used by the beneficiaries, including Rivers State Sustainable Development (RSSDA), his ministry and that Women Affairs.

    Sir Wonodi said the programme is to develop human capacity in agric sector, explaining that the first phase is fact-finding while the second will be the release of the fund.

    “Before the release of the fund, we shall equally pay the foreign counterpart a visit to see those things they told us.”

    The visiting group spokesperson, Dr. Pamela D. Moore, who is the principal Investigator/Project Director OIPS/NIFA capacity grant, lauded the ministry for the numerous project embarked upon to economically empower the women, adding that her group was happy to work with the local partners.

  • Grant for six Ekiti local govts

    Six local government areas in Ekiti State are to benefit from this year’s Conditional Grant Scheme (CGS).

    They are Ise/Orun, Emure, Gbonyin, Moba, Ido/Osi and Irepodun/Ifelodun.

    The scheme is an initiative of the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

    At a meeting with the chairmen of the selected councils, Special Adviser to the governor on MDGs Mrs. Bunmi Dipo-Salami said N200 million would be contributed by the federal, state and local governments on ratio 5:3:2 for the programme.

    She said the benefiting councils were selected based on the poverty index, adding that each of them would be allowed to initiate and decide the location of projects.

    Mrs. Dipo-Salami urged the CGS to pay its counterpart contribution promptly.

    She said the beneficiaries of the recently launched N375 million Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) scheme have started receiving their monthly stipend.

    Speaking on behalf of his colleagues, Ise-Orun Council Chairman Dare Fashoyin said the local governments would support the implementation of the scheme.