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Tag: Kachikwu

  • It’ll take 20 years to clear effects of pipeline vandalism, says Kachikwu

    It’ll take 20 years to clear effects of pipeline vandalism, says Kachikwu

    MINISTER of State for Petroleum Resources Ibe Kachikwu yesterday painted a gloomy picture of the consequences of the vandalism of oil and gas pipelines in the Niger Delta. He said the effects would linger for 15 to 20 years.

    Dr Kachikwu, who doubles as the Group Managing Director, Nigerians National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) dropped the hint at a Town Hall Meeting organised by the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital.

    He admitted the futility of the country attempting to end pipeline vandalism without creating opportunities for militants within the oil sector, promising to ensure the establishment of an oil depot in Akwa Ibom.

    The minister said: “More than just the depot, I think Akwa-Ibom deserves more. I’m talking with those who are producing oil here to begin to look at the possibility of modular refineries. Modular refineries are going to be the answer to our problems in the future.

    “We talk about the militants and their agitations, the reality is that until we begin to put things in place that would have these so called ‘militants’ find opportunities in the sector; the destruction is going to continue.”

    He added that any solution to these problems must find long- lasting ways of putting opportunities on the tables of any citizen of a state that produces oil.

    Kachikwu said: “Floating filling stations, modular refineries, gas bleeding systems; all of these are what we are targeting for.”

    “We are developing a document basically dealing with our relationship for oil producing states, so we can find a direct link between what we do and the oil that we produce. Then the restiveness will go.

    “I have appealed to those who are breaking oil pipelines for now, the Niger Delta Avengers and everybody else, and as you know we are engaging in negotiations for us to find peace this week and be able to enter truce relationship that stops all the destruction.

    “When we destroy pipelines, we destroy our environment. Even when we make up the pipeline, it takes an average of 15 to 20 years to get those infrastructures and those climatic effects on the environment to go away.”

    Before its members agreed to a ceasefire to dialogue with the Federal Government yesterday, the Niger Delta Avengers claimed responsibility for the series of oil installation bombings in the oil-rich region.

     

  • Kachikwu and burden of deregulation

    Kachikwu and burden of deregulation

    Every administration of the federal government since 1999 has made a hazard at reforming the country’s petroleum sector with the same objective of making it meet the dual target of satisfying internal fuel demand and fetch optimum foreign exchange (forex) income for the country.

    However, whereas the role of upstream petroleum sector in earning the bulk of the nation’s forex might carry the greater scope of Nigeria’s economic burden, the downstream petroleum industry hosts the prime templates for government’s performance appraisal given the role of fuel in powering social and economic activities in-country.

    Thus, providing adequate and affordable fuel supply for the country’s citizens has remained the most prized social benefit with which the petroleum sector is associated. And sustaining this benefit has been the toughest challenge recent administrations of the federal government have inherited.

    Decades of experience have shown that the good intention of running costly domestic fuel subsidy programme has created unmanageable market distortions that incubated corrupt and sharp market practices, encouraged cross-border smuggling of subsidized products, created supply gaps, and ultimately sparked riots and loss of lives.

    Each regime of the government had inevitably tried to adjust the internal fuel price against prevailing economic realities but none has been bold to bite the bullet like the current administration of President Muhammadu Buhari which is faced with the task of articulating decisive reform measures that must end the cycle of waste in the petroleum sector.

    The bold step of the current government is supported by solid empirical premises. The Buhari-led government came into office at a period of acute fuel scarcity arising from falling capacity of the state to meet the cash call from fuel importers in the country. For months, the new government was saddled with the crisis of restoring normalcy in the economy which suffered the deep shock from acute fuel supply gaps that grounded every sector of the economy: aviation, road transportation, commerce, freight forwarding and haulage, small and medium enterprises, banking operations et cetera.

    The fuel subsidy debt overhang of nearly N500 billion inherited by the new government obviously formed a big sink hole in the treasury at a time flow of income from upstream end of the petroleum industry was thinning down on accounts of declining production and falling oil prices. Thus, while the nation’s estimated daily average fuel demand was rising proportionately with the speed of economic growth, and the subsidy bill associated with high volume importation continued to escalate, federal forex income took a dive as crude oil prices plunged from over $100 per barrel to less than $40 per barrel.

    Faced with acute forex crunch, meeting the high forex demand from fuel importers became increasingly unsustainable, forcing the government to quickly seek ways of cutting the nation’s volume of imports.

    Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, had explained that the nation’s three refineries were quickly revived to drastically displace large volume of imported petroleum products to meet multiple economic objectives creating full commercial values from the plants, weeding out importation costs from petroleum products and cutting demand pressure on the country’s lean forex reserves.

    However, the cost savings and other benefits associated with import replacement from the local refineries are as much as the capacity of the plants. At full production capacity, the refineries with total nameplate for 445,000 barrels per day can only pump out some 18 million litres of white petroleum products. Average national peak demand is estimated at 32 million litres per day.

    Full resolution of the entire crises, according to eminent economist, Dr. Kalu Idika Kalu, is to lay basis for sustainable local production of the country’s total daily fuel demand to weed out all the costs associated with importation. These costs, according to him, constitute great part of the disputed subsidy bills.

    But investors point at any level of subsidy as major threat to cost recovery. Major multinational oil firms in the country had argued strongly against President Olusegun Obasanjo’s mandate on them to refine 50 percent of their production in-country on the basis that the domestic market was not liberalized for fair competition.

    Previous governments, beginning with former President Obasanjo had driven limited or partial deregulation to the extent that all petroleum products in the market except petrol were deregulated prior to 2015. It was on the basis of the substantial progress at liberalising the fuel market that investors like Dangote group, Orient Petroleum and Refining Company Limited, Amakpe Refinery, Integrated Oil and Gas Limited and Niger Delta Petroleum Resources all initiated local refineries.

    To encourage more investors and guarantee commerciality of the investments, Kachikwu had taken the bold step to finish the last lap of the market liberalization process by removing the only remaining price cap on petrol. Before him, previous ministers had removed price caps on aviation turbine kerosene (ATK) also called Jet A-1, household kerosene (HHK), dual purpose kerosene (DPK), automotive gas oil (AGO) also called diesel, low pour fuel oil (LPFO) also called fuel oil, base oil and other refinery products.

    Thus the role of Kachikwu in the entire deregulation process can only be interpreted as conclusion of a process he inherited in his function as a key driver of a government economic reform process.  And by completing the deregulation process, the minister has enhanced the capacity of the government to meet its social service obligations to the teeming population.

    Decades of subsidy regime had suppressed government’s capacity to meet other social service and infrastructure development obligations to the people. Until now, fuel subsidy had retained the highest single fund allocation in the nation’s annual budgets, weakening government’s capacity to attain appreciable level of performance even in the under-funded sectors.

    Despite the huge funds pumped into subsidy in the past, the objectives were hardly met as the prescribed prices were only limited to most urban centres in Lagos and Abuja areas only.

    Executive Chairman of Integrated Oil and Gas Limited, Captain Emmanuel Iheanacho had argued that fuel subsidy actually widened the gap between the rich and the poor, pointing out that the subsidy regime provided cheap fuel for rich men with large fleet of cars while the poor that use public transportation systems hardly benefited from it.

    Former Secretary of the Commonwealth of States, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, had during an investment forum in Lagos declared that the Nigeria’s continued reliance on foreign refineries for our domestic fuel needs defies logic.

    According to him, it is an unacceptable paradox for major crude oil exporting country to also be a major refined products importing country. He noted that the best step for the country is to lay the basis for investment in local refining.

    Also, former chairman of Neimeth International, Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa, stated at a business mentoring programme in Lagos that the acute refinery capacity gaps in the country presents commercial opportunities to investors. He called on government to level the playing ground to enable businessmen unleash their creative geniuses in competitions that would ultimately drive down pump prices of petrol.

    It is therefore expected that the deregulation of the downstream petroleum market would bolster investors’ confidence in the domestic refining while the resulting boost in capacity will ultimately eliminate importation and all the associated costs that currently keep pump price at N145 per litre.

    It is envisaged that when import associated costs comprising freight, insurance, demurrage, port charges, jetty charges and sundry fees are wiped from the pricing templates, rising internal competition in the domestic market will naturally find a level for petrol below N100 per litre.

     

  • Our plans for the refineries, by Kachikwu

    Our plans for the refineries, by Kachikwu

    Minister of State for Petroleum Dr Ibe Kachikwu has explained the Federal Government’s plans for the four refineries. Kachikwu said the refineries would not be privatised but investors would be encouraged to partner with the government to improve their lot.

    The minister, who doubles as the Group Managing Director (GMD) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), spoke yesterday at the Port Harcourt Refining Company Limited (PHRC) during the official presentation of ISO 9001:2008 certificate to the PHRC by the Bureau Veritas of France, one of the best in the world.

    The minister, who was represented by the Group Executive Director/Chief Operating Officer (GED/COO), Refineries, Mr. Anibor Kragha, declared that crude oil would continually be delivered to the nation’s refineries, to ensure improved local refining.

    Kachikwu said: “We have no mandate to privatise (the refineries). We are not privatising. We do not have a mandate from President Muhammadu Buhari to privatise. What we do have is approval to seek funding to take you to the levels that you need to get to. Get investors who can invest here (refineries), that will raise us up to higher levels. If you are able to accomplish all of this, with the little funds you have, think of what you will accomplish, if you are able to do it, without funding constraints.”

    The Managing Director of PHRC, Dr. Bafred Enjugu, stated that the Buhari’s administration favoured domestic refining of crude oil and that the events of the last two months had shown that local refining was the way to go.

  • Nigerians in Diaspora lauds Buhari, Kachikwu on Petrol Pricing

    The Nigerians in Diaspora Monitoring Group, has lauded President Muhammadu Buhari, for liberalizing petrol sales.The group described the action as the beginning of economic rebirth for
    the country. The group also said President Buhari and the Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, have carved niches for themselves in Nigeria’s history and deserving laurels for daring to do the right
    thing.

    A statement by the United Kingdom Coordinator of the group in Abuja, Adeka Onyilo, said: “The inherited rot that left Nigerians suffering on fuel queues was becoming an international embarrassment until President Buhari took the bull by the horn. “The cartel that acquire FOREX from government under the guise of importing petrol only embark on round tripping has been severed from the supply chain and should leave the government with some money to invest in other sectors that will touch the lives of citizens across board.

    “We however urged that the judicious and prudent management of the resources of Nigeria vested in the custody of the present government because this is important to the nation’s prosperity.” It further urged President Buhari and Kachikwu, to ensure that Nigerians who now have to pay realistic prices for petrol are not short-changed by fraudulent marketer who tamper with their meter to under dispense the
    product.

    “We further urge the Minister to enforce the price cap as reports indicate that some outlets still sell above the computed N145 per litre. Such development can only create the cover for those opposed to change to creep on the government and populace with another price hike or petrol scarcity citing the willingness of the people to pay more as excuse,” the group said in the statement.

  • Kachikwu: militants lack knowledge of Buhari’s change agenda

    Kachikwu: militants lack knowledge of Buhari’s change agenda

    Minister of State for Petroleum  Ibe Kachukwu has said  the Niger Delta Avengers responsible for attacking oil facilities lacked sufficient knowledge of President Mohammadu Buhari Change agenda.

    Kachukwu noted that the anti-corruption posture of the Federal government was responsible for the return of hostility and vandalism of crude oil pipelines and other national assets in the Niger Delta.

    The Minister who defended the removal of subsidy on petrol spoke in Beni City at the child dedication of the General Overseer, Rock of Ages Christian Assembly, Apostle Charles Osazuwa.

    Kachikwu assured Nigerians that the country would be great again and retain his past glory in the comity of nations.

    He said the All Progressives Congress (APC) government was to determine to build infrastructure and intervene in other critical sectors of the economy especially in agriculture, education and roads.

    His words: “I have the hope that those who are offended by virtually the policies that we have pursued and to see it free to break the pipelines and express their anger, will sooner or later, see the hope that we are trying very hard to produce and work with us in brotherhood to fix this country.

    “We have hope that agriculture will take hold and we shall feed the children and our communities and make this country an economic hub that would make Nigeria, that giant again.”

    “I urge all of you to begin to look at the Country where you do not spend all your time criticising people, criticising your leaders, criticising concepts and ideas, but empower yourself because you were here for a purpose and add value to Nigeria. It is not about me or the national Chairman of (APC), but, it is actually about you and the Country- Nigeria and believe in your sense of service”.

  • Kachikwu: Of style and crisis management

    “You can’t control the fact that people will annoy you, what you can control is your reaction” – Buddha

    These are trying times for Nigeria and Nigerians. The times are even more trying for the government of President Muhammadu Buhari. Juxtaposed against the swagger that characterized the boisterous presidential campaign of the President’s All Progressive Congress party (APC), many will be wondering at the turn of events. The swagger is gone. All is now sober. For once, the arrogant posturing of some of his close allies has started to give way to sombre reality. If the contrary had been the case, one would have lost hope in the Nigeria project. As of today, his government is missing out miserably on some of the most fundamental metrics of his campaign notably, the price of fuel and the value of the naira.

    There is a consolation though. The fact is that these performance deficits do not necessarily stem from palpable inaction by the government.  Falling oil prices, poor revenues, sabotage of oil installations and renewed insurgency in various parts of the country have contrived to pressure the government far beyond what had been anticipated.

    Expectedly, Nigerians are angry, very angry indeed. That anger rose to flammable levels last Monday when Minister of State, Dr. Ibe Emmanuel kachikwu heeded the summons by the House of Representatives. His mission was to answer questions on the recent deregulation of fuel prices, an action that ought to have been taken a long time ago, if successive administrations had mustered the political will to do the needful.

    Like labour that had flown into a rage over the deregulation, some members of the House of Representatives came dangerously close to throwing decorum to the winds when they insisted that the minister, who was there specifically to answer their summons, literally stood him up, insisting that he should not be allowed in. The National Assembly does not have a reputation for showing such disrespect to ministers though one cannot forget in a hurry how the same House of Representatives had once shown utter disrespect to former minister of finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.

    As we ponder the events of the past few weeks, it makes sense not to lose sight of some, or at least one, of the positive revelations of the fuel conundrum. It has to with the crisis management dexterity of Ibe Kachikwu. Not everyone, no matter how endowed, can absorb the barrage of criticisms from and, at times, outright sabotage by the various interest groups that sought to score political points by the crisis. But Kachikwu who until his appointment, first as Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) before being elevated to Minister of State, Petroleum, had not been known to operate within the public sector, rose to the challenge with resolute calmness and remarkable wisdom. That is why the astute handling of the fuel saga by the minister and his team will stand out as a case study in crisis management and social responsibility.

    It will be recalled that in the wake of the crisis, the minister had cleverly deflected the barrage of criticisms, some from unexpected quarters, most especially, his All Progressive Congress (APC) party. In time past, we have seen ministers in similar situations fly into a rage, some fingering all manner of detractors and adversaries. Kachikwu would have none of those. In the face of these provocations, he maintained a dignified silence; where he thought there was need to talk, he politely offered very candid replies steeped in knowledge and disarming elocution. Thus, he was able to take the wind from the sails of his critics.

    We can only speculate on the likely turn of events if, had he, on that fateful Monday, descended to the level of the lawmakers who disrespectfully stonewalled him as he arrived the National Assembly to defend the actions of the government. So many scenarios could have played out. In anger, he could have walked away. He could also have refused to co-operate with the lawmakers by hedging and ducking. He did none of these. Rather, he demonstrated extreme self control and methodically disarmed the Reps.

    Watching Kachikwu’s demeanour throughout the fuel saga, one will not be wrong to conclude that he is an exponent of Buddha’s maxim that, “You can’t control the fact that people will annoy you, what you can control is your reaction”. In the face of provocation, Kachikwu refused to be angry; he remained calm, respectful, methodical and focused. Reeling out empirical information to support the government’s decision, he struck at the patriotic instinct of the lawmakers. To him, the issues at stake were too fundamental to warrant any distractions. In the end, the government’s case was made.

    So persuasive and compelling was the government’s position, as presented by the minister, that the House promptly directed labour to sheath its sword and suspend its strike. Here, again, he proved the masters right. It was James Allen who asserted that: “Self control is strength. Right thought is mastery. Calmness is power”. Throughout this crisis, the minister of state, petroleum has exhibited a large dose of each of these virtues and for the first time, majority of Nigerians are beginning to jump into the deregulation bandwagon.

     

    • Bature, a policy analyst and business strategist wrote in from Abuja

  • Lawmaker backs Kachikwu to succeed

    A MEMBER of the Imo State House of Assembly representing Oguta constituency   Hon Henry Ezediaro has urged Nigerians to support the ongoing reform in the petroleum industry to end the perennial fuel scarcity in the country.

    Ezediaro who also chairs the House Committee on Petroleum and the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), made the call during an interactive session with journalists in Owerri, the Imo State capital, expressing  optimism that the current policies introduced by the Petroleum Minister, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, will rid the industry of the powerful cartel that has held it to ransom for years.

    He noted that though Nigerians are currently bearing the burden of the high price of petroleum products, especially Premium Motor Spirit, the development in the industry will guarantee permanent solution to the problem of fuel scarcity.

    He said, “The cartel are fighting very hard to sabotage the efforts of the Petroleum Minister and the APC government but all well-meaning Nigerians are aware of their antics. It is therefore my passionate appeal to Nigerians to show understanding and patience because I have implicit trust in the ability of Kachikwu to turn the industry around.”

    Speaking further, he said, “Those calling for the minister to resign maybe probably sponsored by the same cartel eating fat from the age-long fraud in the petroleum industry but I am optimistic that the industry will bounce back and our refineries will begin to work again. Some of those criticising the Minister of Petroleum today are the same people that are sabotaging the refineries so that they continue to import petroleum products from where they are milking the country dry. So we should be patient with the minister and support the ongoing reforms in the industry.

    “Another thing that Nigerians should also know is that President Muhammadu Buhari is committed to seeing the problem of fuel scarcity resolved as quickly as possible to save Nigerians from the prevailing hardship but things must be done differently to get the desired result. All we need is to support and be patient with the APC government. Now the refineries have suddenly started working and it is a thing to rejoice over because very soon the issue of fuel scarcity will be a thing of the past.”

     

  • Price‘ll go down, says Kachikwu

    Price‘ll go down, says Kachikwu

    Minister of State for Petroleum Resources Dr. Ibe Kachikwu has assured Nigerians that the price of petrol will come down in a few months.

    Speaking on a Channels Television programme yesterday morning, he said: “As it gets better and it gets to a point where we find that the market has stabilised in terms of supply, we will begin to pull back a bit in terms of determinants for pricing.

     ”We want Nigerians to understand that we feel the pain, and we have tried to avoid it since I came in October. We have done everything we could.

    “I am appealing to Nigerians to please realise that we are doing our very best. I have together with everybody who is in this government worked night and day looking for solutions.

    “We mean well and Nigerians should please trust us. Give us a chance; you will be surprised what will become of your PMS price in the next six to eight months.”

  • History beckons on Kachikwu

    History beckons on Kachikwu

    Minister of State (Petroleum) Ibe Kachikwu is not one of the most popular men in town at the moment.

    Just about every petrol user in one form or another has been sulking and griping.

    Many petrol stations say they have no product to sell. This drives motorists far afield searching. And when they find it, the queue is too long, service too chaotic, cost too prohibitive and, sometimes dispensing stops just before it is your turn. Non-vehicle users such as barbers, millers, vulcanisers and sundry artisans and traders also join the search armed with their plastic containers. But their fate is none better.

    This is hardly the picture envisaged when the votes were cast last year. And when Dr Kachikwu responded to media queries, he seemed to worsen the public agony. When journalists in March demanded his explanation on a crisis that seemed to have no end, he blurted out his own apparent frustrations, saying he had no magic wand to wave the conundrum away.

    That cut deeply. It took the influential voice of National Leader of the All Progressives Congress Bola Tinubu to soothe the collective nerve, although it came in a way that probably jolted Dr Kachikwu and possibly sent some opposition elements into momentary cloud nine.

    Asiwaju Tinubu told the minister he needed respect and hard work more than a magic wand. Dr Kachikwu promptly apologised, something that was rare in our recent experience with people in high office.

    There were more demons ahead, though. Following up with his apologies, Dr Kachikwu promised that the fuel crisis would abate in a week especially in Lagos and Abuja. It was not to be. Less than two weeks after this, further promises came but as the month closed out, the problem was not getting worse, but neither was there any apparent remarkable progress.

    All this certainly dampened the enthusiasm that trailed Dr Kachikwu’s appointment or, before that, his great showing on the floor of the senate, where he wowed his interrogators with not just his sparkling academic profile but his industry depth. Sector watchers called him a great fit in the change regime.

    Is he still one? Yes, a thousand times. And, more than that, history beckons on him. We must ignore his PR gaffes. No public officer is immune to them anyway. Besides, his apologies speak to his enlightenment and noble breeding, both in minimal supply among leaders in the era just gone by. I imagine also that Dr Kachikwu believes he puts in sufficient effort to crack the fuel puzzle, but is only sabotaged by people who seem too practiced in the act. Seeking to soothe sore nerves, he would rush off to address the public confident that his consignment would get to destination.

    Naivety? Perhaps, but not cluelessness or laziness.

    Everyone knows the nation’s oil sector is probably the most corrupt, a development that has for decades made the simple business of putting petrol in vehicle tanks a most difficult affair in the world. Even pricing the product has left everyone in a huff. Thus, every regime from Gowon saw the wisdom to top up the price to the pain of Nigerians. Even such short-lived administrations as those of Ernest Shonekan and Abdusalam Abubakar jacked up the fuel price. Chief Shonekan who held the reins of some kind of power for all of three months shot it up by an unparalleled 614%, from 70 Kobo to N5 a litre in 1993. Sani Abacha would reduce it to N3.25K but only to raise it to as high as N15. Of the lot, Olusegun Obasanjo increased the petrol price most frequently, going down, yes, down in history as the only elected president who would do so a record eight times.

    All of that came amid great grief and anger on the part of Nigerians. Nor did the scarcity go away with the increases.

    President Muhammadu Buhari and Dr Kachikwu have done no such thing. Yet, many have hurled the worst kind of insults at the present administration because of the challenges.

    But history beckons, still. President Buhari has found in Dr Kachikwu an ally who can help blow the stench in the oil sector away. We have heard that the national oil firm NNPC had been cornering what was supposed to be handed over to the federal government. Now, under Dr Kachikwu it will toss over what it has been keeping illegally. Also, phoney marketers with imaginary vessels on phantom high seas with cooked-up fuel imports just to get millions of subsidy money are getting to realise that they are in the wrong place at the wrong time.

    Dr Kachikwu has not tidied up the sector. He has to find a way to deal with fuel diverters so that he does not end up whining about it. He must also find a way around the vandals by reaching out to their communities. As for illegal refiners, he must decriminalise them, refine them and refine their technology since the official refineries cannot give us what we want. He must also look for that university professor who builds small refineries that work, and work with him.

    That Dr Kachikwu does not make the popularity cut is quite a shame. But I know that won’t be for too long.

  • Kachikwu: petrol diverted to Chad, Cameroon, others

    Kachikwu: petrol diverted to Chad, Cameroon, others

    Minister explains why shortage lingers

    Govt holds town hall meeting in Lagos

    Despite the deluge of petrol pumped into Lagos, the biting scarcity remains –  no thanks to unscrupulous dealers who truck supplies out of the country.

    Minister of State (Petroleum) Dr. Ibe Kachikwu told a town hall meeting in Lagos that 30 per cent of the fuel supplied is diverted to neighbouring countries.

    Listening were Nigerians from all walks of life and some ministers. Kachikwu said:  “I have had countless sleepless nights. I work round the clock to solve this problem because whatever touches you touches me. Over 30 per cent of fuel is diverted to Chad and Cameroon. But I continue to oversupply and you see some people making money out of the agony of Nigerians.”

    Apologising for the lingering fuel crisis, the minister said: “What we met on the ground when we came was complete lack of transparency but we have worked to put everything in order. The loss of N300 billion by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has been reduced to N3billion, subsidy payment  has been reduced to near zero. We are focusing on business, not bleeding the government.”

    He went on: “We are working on ideas to solve the problems. I worry about a lot of things, about the trucks. What we want to do now is to make sure that we select only truckers who can install trackers on their trucks; we are looking at intelligent solutions. Don’t judge us by the supply of fuel; we are working hard at all the issues and believe me I have energy to throw at everything.”

    The minister explained that the NNPC loads 1,400 tankers for Lagos alone.

    The Federal Government said it was working hard to address the problems facing the country. “We hear you, we care about you,” the officials said.

    Ministers at the Town Hall meeting organised by the Federal Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism, are: Alhaji Lai Mohammed (Information, Culture and Tourism), Babatunde Raji Fashola (Power, Works and Housing), Kachukwu (Petroleum), Geoffrey Onyema (Foreign Affairs), Okechukwu Enelamah (Industry, Trade and Investment) and Rotimi Amaechi (Transport).

    Host Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, represented by his deputy Mrs. Idiat Adebule, said the town hall meeting was a way to get a feedback from the people. He said the government has made great strides in the fight against corruption and in the economy. However, some of the changes have not been seen because President Muhamadu Buhari has been painstaking in addressing the many problems facing the country.

    “ This is not the time to despair, but to keep faith with this administration. We need to focus because the gains of the ongoing efforts will start to materialise,” Ambode said.

    Mohammed highlighted the achievements of the administration on the three broad areas of  tackling corruption, Security of lives and property and the economy. The minister said in tackling the Boko Haram insurgency, the President sought the support of neighbouring countries.

    He said: “That explains why the President’s first trips outside the country, after he was sworn in, was to rally the support of our neighbours – Benin, Cameroon, Chad and Niger – for the efforts to tackle the insurgency.

    “The President also rallied the support of the international community, starting with the G7, and then the US, France and the UN. Today, the President’s efforts have paid off. Boko Haram has been defeated. This is a rare feat. The insurgents have lost their capacity to carry out the kind of spectacular attacks for which they became infamous.

    “ This did not happen by accident. It was the result of purposeful, credible and courageous leadership being provided by President Muhammadu Buhari, who started off by ordering the relocation of the command and control centre of the battle against insurgency from Abuja to Maiduguri, rallied regional and global support for Nigeria’s efforts and boosted the morale and fighting capability of armed troops.”

    On tackling corruption, the Minister said  the government was winning the war against treasury looters. “ I can tell you today that we have also squarely taken on corruption, and we are winning. The situation is serious and no government can fight the battle alone. That explains why we have launched a nationwide sensitisation campaign to make Nigerians to buy into the anti-graft war. In this campaign, our focus is not to vilify anyone, but to put a face to corruption instead of talking about it in the abstract.”

    He said between 2006 and 2013, 55 people allegedly stole N1.34 trillion, which is more than a quarter of the 2015 national budget and represents the total earnings of four African nations.

    On the economy, Mohammed said while Nigeria has lost a sizeable portion of her earnings due to the crash in oil revenue, the administration has decided to turn the disaster into a blessing by “working assiduously to diversify our economy away from oil. Agriculture, solid minerals, culture and tourism are some of the sectors we are currently working to rejuvenate so they can earn huge revenues for the country and create jobs.”

    He said the administration also plug all the financial loopholes through the Treasury Single Account (TSA) which now has over two trillion naira in savings. Also, about 36,000 ghost workers have been discovered and weeded out, saving the government millions of naira.

    On the 2016 budget, he said it was the  first budget with a capital expenditure being increased to 30 per cent. He said there are six social interventions that will touch the lives of the citizens, including: 500,000 graduates to be employed and trained as teachers; 370,000 non-graduates (artisans, technicians) to be trained and employed; 1 million people (farmers, market women, etc) to be granted loans to set up small businesses; Conditional Cash Transfer to the most vulnerable people; School Feeding targeting 4.5 million school children; Bursaries/scholarships for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) students.

    Defending the President’s numerous travels, Onyema, said the trips were carefully selected to align with the governments three cardinal priorities of economy, tackling corruption and security of lives and properties.

    “The trips of Mr. President are not selected on a random basis; they were carefully selected and designed to fit into the priorities of government. On security, the trips initially were to the neighbouring countries. At that time, Boko Haram was a threat to the existence of this country, Mr. President  targeted his initial trips to the neighbouring countries because the Boko Haram were using these countries as base to attack Nigeria.

    “The first foreign policy thrust was in that direction and the results are clear for all to see. The personae of our President also inspires confidence in some of the powerful countries in the world who have refused to help us or sell arms to us because they didn’t have any confidence in the government of the day.”

    Onyema called on Nigerians to exercise patience and show understanding with the government because the President is “laying the foundation for a lasting sustainable development for the country”. He said President Buhari put corruption on international agenda.

    He said the President’s many trips, especially the last to China, would begin to yield positive results for the economy and Nigerians. He said Nigeria is diversifying  from doing business with a single block of countries and looking towards the East and globally.

    “Most governments will take the easy way out, go to the ( International Monetary Fund, IMF) take some loans and  devalue your currency. These are quick fixes, which is like putting back the evil days. But if you are going to industrialise, we will have to put in place a sustainable development mechanism. We have to build solid blocks, lay the foundations for us to take off. It takes time and difficult because you might not be putting resources in the places people expect you to do.”

    Fashola said the fact that almost every good is made in China is a pointer that Nigeria should be doing business with the country and that informed the change in the direction the country is taking on trade.

    Fashola said the Federal Government was feeling the pains Nigerians are going through and the ministers are working as a team to solve the problems.

    “The reason why we are here is to tell you that we hear you loud and clear; we are connected and our feet are on the ground. We are working backstage,  we are here because we care and believe this job can be done, we are here because we know the right to know is very important in a democracy,” Fashola said.

    He assured Nigerians that results of planning will soon materialise. “I acknowledge we are in a result-driven business and today result can be measured by how many roads have done, how much power do you have, how much housing can you get; now those results have not yet been delivered but I assure you they will be delivered. But some results are becoming evident to us in government and they may seem intangible to those outside the government; it clearly understands why we are where we are.”

    He said the power problem is generation, describing it as “not just enough”.

    “I am looking at some of the things that have been done well and some of the things that could have been done better, but I will summarise the power issue in one word:  there is not enough power, 5,000 megawatts for 170 million people is not just enough,” he said.

    On roads, the minister said the Federal Government will require about N2trillion to complete no  fewer than 226  road projects inherited from the previous administration.

    He said the total amount allocated to all the sectors under his ministry in the 2016 budget is less than N500billion, adding  that the government did not have enough resources to complete all the projects at present.

    “The Ministry of Power, Works and Housing proposed N423billion at the Federal Executive Council and the information reaching us is that we are not going to get all that . Ongoing road projects alone awarded by the government before we came— about 266 roads awarded in the various states— the liability to complete them is about N2trillion.

    “So, when you look at N400billion,you know that it is not enough, but when you compare what this administration is going to do with the N400billion, with what the last administration did, you will know it is much progress.

    “What the last administration did was to budget N18billion for all the roads in the country, knowing the liability was in excess of N2trilion.  For the three sectors, that is Works, Housing and Power, the total budget by the last administration was N24.5billion.So ,this administration decided to move away from that and that is why we have a figure that may not be enough, but substantial for the sectors,” he said.

    The minister said the government would design a housing model for the country that would consider the cultural suitability of every Nigerian and acceptable to them.