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Tag: improve

  • I want to improve the people’s lot, says Aregbesola

    Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola has said he sought office to make life better for the people.

    He spoke at the weekend at the Third Babatunde Jose Lecture on Media and the Society, where he received the National Infinity magazine’s Nigerian of the Year 2013 Award.

    The event was held at the Centre for Black Culture and International Understanding in Osogbo, the state capital.

    Delivering his address, titled: “The difference leadership can make”, Aregbesola said leadership is a golden opportunity to serve the people and improve their lives.

    He described leadership as a core pillar upon which a good human society could be built.

    The governor said when he sought the people’s mandate, he was aware of the implications and prepared for the responsibilities.

    He said: “The improvement of the people’s lot was a strong motivation for my seeking office and a paramount object of the deployment of my talents. Thus, as a leader, I constantly seek ways of bringing about progress in every area of my people’s lives.

    “In education, everything done under my leadership is meant to improve the standard for the benefit of our children. The building of new schools, recruitment of more teachers, provision of uniforms, distribution of Opon-Imo and provision of free meals, among others, are all aimed at raising the standard of public education in Osun.

    “This is grounded in my belief that education is one of the greatest legacies we can give to humans. Similarly, the intention behind my administration’s agricultural policy is to transform farming in Osun into a big business.”

    Aregbesola said his administration’s road projects would enhance trade and commerce.

    He thanked National Infinity for the award.

    The Editor-in-Chief of Premium Times, Mr. Dapo Olorunyomi, in a lecture titled: “Governance, Deficit and Accountability in the Era of Twitter”, identified four challenges confronting Journalism in Nigeria.

    They are conflict of interest, invasion of privacy, confidentiality of sources and fabrication of stories.

    Olorunyomi also identified the problem confronting investigative journalism, saying it is expensive, dangerous and time-consuming.

    He said: “For our profession to serve as a real public watchdog and make government accountable and serve the society, there must be an independence of the pocket, which will guarantee independence of the practice.”

    President of the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) Femi Adesina listed truthfulness, accountability, objectivity, impartiality and fairness as vital to ethical journalism.

    Adesina said financial independence in the journalism business will guarantee independent practice of journalism, adding: “Governance, accountability and integrity go together in ethical journalism. Despite the availability of the online media, journalists must be wary of throwing away their integrity in investigative journalism.”

    Editor-in-Chief, National Infinity, Jide Ige said Aregbesola was honoured for his “noticeable transformation” of Osun, noting that the state’s spate of development is startling.

  • ‘How Lagos can improve power supply’

    ‘How Lagos can improve power supply’

    Experts and stakeholders in power, gas and related sectors have canvassed for significant improvement in the gas supply across the country.

    They spoke at the ongoing Seventh Lagos Economic Summit, at Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos.

    The stakeholders also tasked government at all levels to increase efforts at eliminating vandals who burst gas pipelines and other power transmission equipment, saying the unchecked menace of those behind the act was a major stumbling block to the availability of power in the country.

    The experts spoke on the topic, ‘‘How can electricity delivery to Lagos be accelerated?’’, in one of the plenary sessions

    The speakers included a former Minister of Power, Prof. Barth Nnaji; Commissioner, Rates and Market Competition, Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Mr. Eyo Ekpo; and Group Executive Director, Gas and Power, Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr. David Ige.

    Others were Chairman, Falcon Petroleum Ltd., Mr. Chima Ibeneche; Managing Director, Sahara Power, Mr. Kola Adesina; Chairman, West Power and Gas, Mr. Charles Momoh; and General Manager, Lagos State Electricity Board (LSEB), Mrs. Damilola Ogunbiyi.

    Nnaji, who was the lead speaker at the session, said to achieve efficient electricity supply in Nigeria, there was a need to audit its power demand, just as Lagos had done.

    “We cannot know the amount of power we need unless we do an audit. So, Lagos was right when it said it requires 10,000MW. If Lagos with a population of 20 million needs 10,000MW, you can imagine what Nigeria with about 170 million people needs. So, that means something has to be done,’’ he said.

    The former minister noted that the country would not be able to accelerate its socio-economic growth unless the power challenge was overcome, stressing that the top 20 countries, such as China, which is the world’s largest producer of power, South Africa and Mexico, among others, generate power in excess of their demand.

    Nnaji suggested further that proper alignment of the value chain of power generation, transmission and distribution, the development of emergency power system, increased partnership with Independent Power Plant (IPP) producers, the creation of institutional frameworks and facilitation of an enabling environment would help to accelerate power delivery to the state.

  • ‘Remo Stars will improve’

    ‘Remo Stars will improve’

    The Coordinator, Remo Stars FC of Ogun, Aminu Yusuf, yesterday expressed confidence that the team would improve on its present position in the 2013/2014 Nigeria National League.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the club is in the ninth position of the Division B table after playing six games with eight points. Aminu said that the club would improve on its performance in subsequent matches.

    “We are satisfied so far with our standing in the league. The top team is four points ahead of us, this shows that it is a tight league. We will do our best to achieve our goal of getting promoted to the professional league; the players are ready to do it,” he said.

    NAN reports that the league is in the Week Seven. Remo Stars will play against Unicem Rovers FC of Cross River on Sunday.

  • Jonathan vows to improve education standard

    President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday promised to increase the standard of education in Nigeria.

    He made the promise at the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria’s (CBCN’s) First Plenary Meeting in Abuja.

    The Conference is themed ‘Church and State Partnership in Providing Quality Education for Nigerian People’.

    He urged state governments to partner with religious bodies to improve education.

    The President said: “We will always welcome opportunities for robust dialogue with the church and other non-governmental stakeholders to strengthen the education sector.

    “This administration is committed to the promotion of such dialogue, we believe that education is not just about literacy, it is a basic vehicle through which every society develops its scales and resources.

    “Education is directly linked to national capacity, power, development and progress. It is for this reason that our administration has devoted more resources to the education sector. Our commitment is to continue to raise standards to ensure quality. We will continue to encourage private sector investment in the education sector to broaden access.”

    He added: “We want to assure you again that our administration will do whatever is required to make our educational system a renewed source of pride for this country.

    “We must restore and sustain high standards, support schools and teachers, revive schools in order to give young Nigerians the best opportunities for advancement in life.

    “I urge you to continue to pray for our dear nation. I am convinced and I have said so in several places that our country remains united today, despite the challenges that we face because God loves this great nation.

    “Your prayers have continued to inspire our progress despite those challenges. I am convinced that God will continue to make a way for us even where there seems to be no way.”

    Senate President David Mark pushed for the return of schools taken over by the government to churches.

    “What is the way forward? We must go back to the way our schools were run. Education must not be politicised,” he said.

    The Senate President praised the President for not allowing pressures to prevent him from signing the anti-same sex bill into law.

    In his welcome address, the President of CBCN, Archbishop Ignatius Ayau Kaigama, urged the government to return seized missions school and provide reasonable funding to enable them educate the children as a matter of justice rather than favour.

    Stressing that schools’ administration should be a shared responsibility, he said it should be accompanied by enough financial support from budgetary allocations.

    He hailed individuals and groups who genuinely provide education and not for profit.

    The bishop praised states, such as Benue, Anambra, Delta, Lagos, Ekiti, Pleteau, Ondo and Ebonyi that have demonstrated commitments by continuing to pay salaries of teachers in mission schools, give grants to private schools for infrastructural development and rebuild mission schools.

    On the proposed national conference, he said: “It should not be mainly concerned about debating or agitating for sectional or regional interests, exclusive rights to resources or the division of the country.

    “The conference should truly be concerned about fundamental issues, such as how to make our public and civil service officials more accountable, more selfless and more devoted to duties.”

    On the anti-same sex act, he said: “Those fighting for gays should first help us fight terrorists who claim it is their rights to kill others.

    “Same-sex unions or so-called marriages are alien to us and we resist the idea but we will always extend the compassion of Christ to men and women with a biological orientation that is gay or lesbian and defend their rights just as we have defended the rights of persons discriminated against.

    “It is a mischievous and faulty generalisation to reason that because we resist same-sex marriage we differ from our pope who has said, ‘if a person is gay and seeks God and has goodwill, who am I to judge?’ Our compassion for the weak, the marginalised and those who suffer discrimination is unwavering and uncompromising. We minister to all.

    “Those individuals, pressure groups and governments from abroad who are anxious to fight for the rights of gays in Nigeria should first help us deal with the menacing activities of terrorists.

    “We stand for the promotion and protection of human rights, which are consistent with our religious and cultural values. Legalising same sex-marriage will only open the flood gates to so many moral issues that can seriously compromise our African culture and becloud our evangelisation efforts in Nigeria,” he said

    Delivering his homily in a message titled: ‘The Devil is a Liar,’ for the opening mass of the meeting, the Archbishop of Abuja, Cardinal John Onaiyekan listed the evils in Nigeria to include socio-political confusion, corruption, widening economic inequality, insecurity misuse and perversion of religion.

    “More can be listed. But the nation is still in the hands of God. The devil and his agents can and will be vanquished, if we join hands in doing good. Let us not be afraid to tackle the evil that overwhelms us,” he said.

  • Power generation to improve by 1,505MW, says NNPC

    Power generation to improve by 1,505MW, says NNPC

    Electricity generation will improve significantly by 1,505 megawatts (MW) with the completion of the repair work on the sections of the sabotaged Escravos-Lagos Gas Pipeline network (ELPS), the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) said yesterday.

    The Acting Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division of the Corporation, Dr. Omar Farouk Ibrahim, said in a statement that the completion of the repair work has ended the almost seven months of gas supply outage caused by wilful hacking of the pipeline in Delta State. The repair, he noted, would enable the re-injection of about 200 million cubic feet per day (mmcf/d) of gas into the grid, which is capable of generating about 700MW of electricity.

    The Escravos-Lagos Gas Pipeline supplies gas to Egbin, the largest power station in the country with installed capacity of 1320MW and other stations. The Egbin power station currently has one of its six turbines out of use and has capacity to generate 1080MW but owing to lack of gas, it generates less than 500MW.

    The NNPC spokesman said last week, the Corporation completed repair work on the pulverized Trans-Forcados Pipeline, which supplies 230 mmcf/d of gas, the equivalent of 805MW of electricity. “With the latest successful repair of the ELPS, the NNPC within the last one week is injecting a total of 430 mmcf/d of gas into the grid which translates to 1,505MW of electricity every day,” he added.

    Ibrahim also stated that an additional 60mmcf/d is expected within the next three weeks when the ongoing repair work at the Utorogu gas plant is projected for completion. He said Nigerians should expect steady improvement in power availability through the course of the year.

    He noted that despite short term challenges being experienced as a result of deliberate pipeline sabotage , the gas sector reform is ongoing and on course.

    He said: “The Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke, directed an accelerated implementation of the Nigerian Gas Master Plan and this has resulted in an aggressive infrastructure development drive and major reforms of the commercial framework for gas in Nigeria. In the last three years alone, over 400kilometres of new gas pipelines have been completed and we are expanding pipeline capacity and enhancing connectivity between various gas supply sources.”

    He said all PHCN and NIPP power plants are now connected to gas pipeline infrastructure while an additional 450kilometres are under construction currently, of which 340kilometres is due to for completion by the end of 2014 and the balance by 2016.

    “The ongoing gas infrastructure work is the most extensive the nation has ever seen, with many new kilometres of pipeline being added every day. Gas production and supply have also grown to an all-time high of 1500mmcf/d from less than 500mmcf/d four years ago. Unfortunately, challenges of pipeline attack continue to undermine the impact of these great efforts,” he said.

    Ibrahim noted that supply growth remains the priority of the NNPC and its Joint Venture partners.

    “Many projects are being progressed to assure realisation of this objective. Before the end of the year, about 200mmcf/d new gas will be added to the grid as some projects are billed for completion in June and September. The trend is expected to continue through 2015 when many more projects are completed,” he said.

  • ‘How to improve corporate governance’

    ‘How to improve corporate governance’

    Nigeria can enthrone a better culture of corporate governance through probity, transparency and accountability, experts have said.

    They spoke at a programme jointly organised by the Society for Corporate Governance Nigeria (SCGN) and the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).

    At the programme were directors of the Exchange’s dealing member firms and participants from 117 stockbroking and investments companies in attendance.

    The society’s President, Chief Olusegun Osunkeye, said Nigeria, being a player in the global economy, must apply best practices in its corporate endeavour, while activities of companies must always be open for scrutiny, he said.

    A Director and Fellow of the Society, Dr. Chris Ogbechie said evaluation of boards was necessary to ensure effectiveness of directors, increase the level of board teamwork, improve the working relationship between the board and management and provide credibility with stakeholders.

    According to him, board reviews are an expensive waste of time unless used to improve the board.

    The Legal Director/Company Secretary, GlaxoSmithKline Nigeria Consumer Plc, Mr. Uchenna Uwechia, said complying with the legal and regulatory framework by corporate players was crucial in improving corporate governance.

    He said the consequences of non-compliance included disgorgement, refunds, reprimands, fines/penalties, suspension, revocation of licence, criminal prosecution, as well as loss of reputation.

    Another Director/Fellow of the Society, Dr. Fabian Ajogwu (SAN), said institutional and majority shareholders are most capable of curbing board and management excesses, as recent experiences have shown.

    He, however, decried situations where subsidiary heads and boards report directly to the Chief Executive Officers of parent companies, saying it does not encourage good corporate governance.

    The effect is that accountability is reduced and the checks and balances which an effective board would have brought to bear on the company are eroded, he said.

    Ajogwu pointed out that the ‘control’ factor, the ability to appoint the board, determined what happened in such a system, as the CEO of the parent company controls the actions of the subsidiary’s head and board.

    The powers of the subsidiary’s board are, therefore, undermined, and sometimes the head finds himself reporting to the CEO of the parent company rather than his board of directors, which hampers probity.

  • Agency to improve drainage system

    The Abia Road Maintenance Agency (ABROMA) said that it had begun the first phase of de-silting of drainage systems in Aba, the state’s commercial hub.

    The General Manager, Mr Ndukwe Agu, gave this indication in an interview with journalists in Aba .

    Agu, after inspecting the ongoing de-silting work on Azikiwe Road,said that the government decided to embark on the project to ensure the durability of the roads currently undergoing rehabilitation.

    ‘’We discovered that primarily the blockage of the drains was responsible for the flooding and subsequent collapse of several sections on our roads.

    “This has made life unbearable and posed serious threats to motorists and road users.

    “So, in our attempt to find a solution, we decided to get to the root of the problem, and the problem that we discovered was primarily hinged on the blocked drainage system.

    ‘’That was the reason we decided to open up the drainage systems, de-silt them, cart away the debris and ensure that the waste water is drained up.’’

    Agu noted that the de-silting became imperative to ensure the durability of the roads and reduce cost of frequent rehabilitation.

    He said that ridding the roads of water and channelling same to the appropriate places was the easiest way of achieving durable roads.

    ‘’Before we can get durable repairs, you need to rid the road of water and the easiest way to do that is to direct the water to its channel.

    ‘’As an agency with the primary mandate to fix failed sections of road in Abia State, this work is an all-encompassing thing but we have arranged them in phases.

    ‘’What you are seeing now is the first phase.

    ‘’From the way we are going, one will be convinced that we will do a good job.’’

    The ABROMA boss said his agency had an agreement with the refuse collection arm of the government to ensure timely removal of the silt from the roads.

    ‘’As the de-silting is going on now, I assure you that by this time tomorrow (Thursday)evening, the debris will not be here.

    ‘’We have trucks, pay loaders and personnel that are greatly mobilised and motivated to do the job.’’

    Agu assured Aba residents that the agency had been well equipped by the governor to do a good job.

    He promised that the agency’s work would make Aba roads more accessible to the citizenry.

  • Games masters’ coaching clinic to improve basketball at grass roots – NBBF

    Games masters’ coaching clinic to improve basketball at grass roots – NBBF

    The Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) on Thursday in Abuja said its coaching clinic for secondary schools’ Games Masters and Mistresses would help in developing the game at the grassroots.

    The federation’s president, Tijani Umar, said this at the one-day coaching clinic organised for 12 selected secondary schools’ games officials at the Indoor Sports Hall of the Abuja National Stadium.

    He told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) the decision to organise the clinic was meant to address the scourge of age cheats “as the grassroots start from the secondary school level”.

    Umar noted that Nigerian sports had over the years been having the problem of age cheats and the coaching clinic would help in addressing the problem.

    “This is because we will identify with the schools and take the bull by the horns to establish a sustainable programme. So, we decided to do this with the Games Masters and Mistresses because the secondary school is where the game starts from.

    “We have all been talking about the grass roots and, as for me, the grass roots starts from secondary schools because the foundation is laid there. That is where the players decide when they want to play basketball. So, we want to start teaching them the basic fundamentals.”

    The NBBF president said the problem with African basketball was “lack of fundamentals” which the clinic would address.

    “Most of the problems with African and Nigerian basketball is that we don’t understand the fundamentals. And the players will not understand it until their teachers and games masters or coaches understand it.

    “Since we don’t have trained basketball coaches in secondary schools, we felt this kind of direct intervention will help so that the students will start to play basketball with the right skills.”

    Umar, however, said the federation decided to start with a small number of schools and hoped to increase the number in due course.

    “It is just a limited experiment for now and we tried to look at the schools that have basic basketball facilities with both boys and girls teams.

    “If we want to include everyone at the same time, we will have the numbers without the qualities which will be a compromise. So we are starting from the small number and then, as more schools get interested, we will open the windows and, with time, we will begin to graduate schools and bring in more schools to participate.”

    The NBBF president promised that the programme would be on a long term basis as it helped to correct many wrongs.

    “As the coaching clinic holds today, I promise that it will be a long term programme because it improves the quality of the teachers and students.

    “When we start here with students in secondary schools, where we know their right ages as they are in their classes, their principals and games masters will have their birth certificates and some other things to prove their true ages. So, once we do this, we will mainstream the teachers and work with them to handle these players,” he added.

  • NEMA seeks effective collaboration to improve search and rescue

    The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has said that to enhance the nation’s search and rescue (SAR) operations, as well as safe lives within hours of an accident, agencies using satellite aided SAR devices must ensure effective communication.

    The Director-General, NEMA, Alhaji Mohammed Sidi, said this at a consultative meeting on satellite aided SAR services in Lagos.

    He said about 90 per cent of accident alert received by a technology, COSPAS-SARSAT, at the Mission Control Centre (MCC) were false.

    Represented by the agency’s director of SAR, Air Commodore Charles Otegbade, the DG said the detection and location of an aircraft crash or maritime distress is of paramount importance to the SAR teams, as well as the potential survivors, adding that accurate location of the distress will reduce SAR cost and the exposure of rescue forces to hazardous conditions.

    He said although NEMA had the satellite technology to detect distress areas, even in the most remote parts of the country, it could not function in isolation if agencies, such as Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) did not provide it with the accurate data base.

    Sidi said NIMASA and NCAA, which are responsible for registering beacons on the country’s 406MHz radio for ships and aircraft, have not complied with the directive that a summary of all beacon transmitters be compiled on a six months basis.

  • Lagos to improve transportation infrastructure

    The Lagos State has said it is committed to providing processing and transportation infrastructure, to enable farmers reach domestic and international markets.

    Addressing the stakeholders meeting on agricultural estates in Lagos yesterday, the Commissioner for Agriculture and Cooperatives, Gbolohan Lawal, said the state government remains fully committed to ensuring that Lagosians have unhindered access to affordable quality food and agricultural produce.

    He said it is based on that conviction that agriculture featured prominently at the just concluded Ehingbeti 2012 Lagos Economic Summit which focused on PATH, an acronym for Power, Agriculture, Transportation and Housing. To this end, he said the state government is ready to assist farmers growing crops and raising livestock to add value to agricultural commodities through processing all around the state.

    According to him, food processing will not only add to farm products, but provide tens of thousands of jobs.

    He said the establishment of the 20,000 metric tonnes Imota Rice Processing factory, was one of the efforts of the state government to build capacities across the farm estates.

    He said a robust, well-maintained transportation system is important to economic vitality because it links producers with consumers.

    He said the 4.65km network of roads in the Ikorodu fish farm estate is meant to enable smooth movement of produce.

    He stated that at the Erikorodo Poultry farm estate, government has allocated land to 136 poultry farmers with the opening of a broiler house where there are 10,000 day-old chicks.

    Lawal said the place is an integrated poultry estate that boasts of a feed mill that serves farmers’ needs.

    He said the agric industry has a great potential to provide employment and to improve the livelihood of farmers through income-generation.

    Gbolahan said government is ready to support innovative and exciting projects and activities for the benefit of the sector.