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Tag: minister

  • FG’s visa-on-arrival policy is boost for tourism, says minister

    The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has said the Federal Government’s Visa-on-Arrival policy has started yielding fruits, especially in the tourism sector which has been boosted by the policy.

    The minister made the assertion in Abuja on Monday, when he received members of the Latin America Motorcyclists Association (LAMA), who were in Nigeria for a tour of heritage sites and other tourist attractions in the country.

    ”All our visitors here today got visa on arrival. That shows that the Federal Government’s visa-on-arrival policy is working,” he said.

    Alhaji Mohammed said the presence of the international bikers in Nigeria is a testimony to the fact that the asdministration’s quest to promote the country’s cultural heritage and tourism sites is yielding fruits.

    ”As you tour Nigeria, under the ‘Rediscover Heritage Bikers Tour of Nigeria’, and visit historical heritage sites, you beam the searchlight on those sites for the world to see.

    “You will see these heritage sites for yourselves as you travel through our culturally-rich and diverse nation. These sites include museums, monuments, homes of national heroes and other tourist sites,” he said.

    The minister therefore enlisted the support of the bikers to become Nigeria’s heritage ambassadors by spreading the news of the country’s hidden treasures and their experiences while in the country.

    In his remarks, the President of LAMA, Mr. Mario Nieves, said the group, which consists of members from 24 countries, was in Nigeria to rediscover the country’s culture and heritage as well as promote unity among the human race.

    “We are just a group of humble motorcyclists that decided to arrange and create some type of impact in our society. We believe that it is more important to be human than  to be black or white or oriental or Indian, because we belong to the human race and we believe that we are all one people,” he said.

  • Minister, ambassador decry state of Lagos-Badagry road

    The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Geoffrey Onyema, and Nigerian Ambassador to Benin Republic, Mr Kayode Oguntuase, have decried the deplorable state of the Lagos-Badagry Expressway.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that they addressed reporters yesterday on the side-lines of the opening of the Joint Border Post by Nigeria and Benin Republic at Seme-Krake, Badagry, Lagos State.

    Onyema, who noted that the facility would have positive economic impact on both countries, said the envisaged free movement of persons, goods and services would be hindered by the condition of the road.

    He said: “It is totally unacceptable; the condition of the road from Lagos to this place. Something has to be done to address it.

    “You cannot be talking about the free movement of people and goods without the prerequisite infrastructure to facilitate that free movement.

    “So, we on the Nigeria side have to do something about it.”

    Oguntuase said the current state of the road, which was one of the busiest highways in the West African sub-region, was an embarrassment to Nigeria.

    He said: “We know that government will soon do the needful to fix it. Initially, we heard that it was World Bank, but I understand that it has been transferred to Nigeria because we wanted to expand the lanes.

    “Now that we have taken it over, we should begin action because this is the major linkage to Nigeria and to our commercial city, Lagos.”

    The envoy congratulated President Muhammadu Buhari and his Beninese counterpart, Mr Patrice Talon, for the opening of the JBP.

    He noted that it would deepen bilateral relationship between both countries.

    Oguntuase said: “The border post is strategic and the busiest entry point into the country. It is going to ease the movement of persons, services and goods, according to the Economic Community of West African States liberalisation policy.

    “Apart from that, this border is also important for combating, for preventing, for neutralising anything that could be a security threat to Nigeria. That is why we are very happy that the border is being opened today.

    “It will lead to increase in revenue generation because before now, people were using the porous borders to escape from paying some tariffs and custom duties.”

     

  • Fake news greatest threat to 2019 polls, says minister

    MINISTER of Information and Culture Lai Mohammed said yesterday that fake news is a threat to the 2019 general elections.

    Mohammed, who made the submissions in a presentation at The Chatham House in London, said 2019 elections would indicate whether Nigerians have learnt any lessons from the ethno-religious tension, which characterised the last general elections.

    He said: “As the 2019 general elections approach, Nigeria faces a new challenge, a threat not just to the country peace and security, but indeed its very existence. It is the dual challenge of fake news and hate speech.

    “Yes, the fake news problem is not unique to Nigeria, but it poses a more potent threat to the country because of its multi-ethnic, multi-religious and multi-cultural status. It is also a clear and present danger to the nation’s unity. Naysayers have latched onto the fake news phenomenon to exploit the country’s fault lines and inflame passion.

    “For example, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) recently did a report on how fake news is aggravating the persistent farmers-herders clashes. Pictures of gun-toting herdsmen from other lands are routinely used to depict the herdsmen in Nigeria. Age-long clashes between farmers and herders have suddenly been dressed in the garb of religion and ethnicity.

    “Ignored is the fact that the clashes have become more persistent because of a mixture of many factors, including population explosion, effects of climate change, keener contest for dwindling natural resources and sheer criminality. Religion and ethnicity are not the reasons for these clashes.”

    Mohammed explained that the Federal Government spent N2.7trillion on infrastructure in the last three and a half years.

    He also said the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari has dislodged Boko Haram insurgents who no longer have capacity to attack.

    The minister said before Buhari came on board, Boko Haram was controlling territories, which were almost the size of Lebanon.

    He also said the government places premium on Nigeria’s unity by spreading projects across the nation’s six geopolitical zones.

    He said:  “Since coming into office, the President Muhammadu Buhari Administration has embarked on an unprecedented renewal of the nation’s infrastructure, investing an unprecedented N2.7 trillion on roads, rails, power and other similar projects.

    “But it is not enough to embark on these projects, it is important to let the public know the extent and spread of such projects to foster a sense of national unity. This explains why we kick-started a nationwide tour of Federal Government projects nationwide, with not less than 25 journalists accompanying me on each trip.

    “Till date, we have inspected many of such projects, including the new Lagos to Kano standard gauge rail line, the Lagos-Ibadan expressway in the Southwest that connects the port city of Lagos to other parts of the country, the new intra-city rail line connecting the Abuja city centre to the International Airport, the Enugu-Port Harcourt freeway in the Southeast and the Ilorin-Jebba-Mokwa road in central Nigeria.”

    The minister said the Buhari administration remains committed to the nation’s unity.

    He added: “Nigeria continues to struggle to forge a national consensus, to accept its diverse ethnic groups as the source of its national power and cohesion, irrespective of religion, status, culture and geographical location. The challenge is made more daunting by the fact that the large country is occupied by diverse people, with diverse languages and culture. In other words, it is a multi-national state, a conglomeration of ethnic nations, each with its distinctive character and ethos.

    “Why is the question of national unity so important? This is simply because without a united country, all its component parts will be working at cross purposes with conflicting signals that will constantly threaten the foundation and the very existence of the country. This is more so in a country as diverse as Nigeria, which has had sufficient doses of ethnic and religious strives at various times in its nationhood journey, including a bitter, 30-month civil war and the Boko Haram insurgency.”

  • Minister: Fed Govt targets $22b foreign investments in two years

    •‘Nigeria ranks 152 in human capital index’

    The Federal Government will attract $22 billion private sector investments through the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) “Focused Laboratories” in two years, Budget and National Planning Minister Senator Udoma Udo Udoma said yesterday.

    Nigerians, he said, may have to wait for that period before reaping the fruit of foreign investments.

    The government, through the ERGP, the minister said, planned to create about 15 million jobs by 2020.

    “We intend to achieve this principally through stimulating the private sector.

    “Our aim is to make Nigeria a more investment-friendly place, a more attractive place for people to do business.

    “We have conducted sector specific labs, which we referred to as the ERGP Focus Labs, to bring potential investors and government officials together to seek to remove the bottlenecks and impediments impeding investment projects.

    “We identified over $22 billion of potential investments which could be unlocked, if we can remove some of these impediments,” he said.

    Udoma said in Nigeria, the government was forced to cut down its growth projections for this year from three per cent to 2.1 per cent due to oil production challenges in the second quarter of the year.

    The minister spoke in Bali, Indonesia, at the launch of the Sub Sahara Africa Regional Economic Outlook.

    He said it would take at least two years for the full manifestation of the investment potential of the EPRG of the Federal Government.

    “I think it will take one or two years before they actually come to fruition.

    Read also: IMF to Nigeria: increase non-oil revenue

    “However, government has set up a crack team of four experts who were recruited to work with stakeholders in the private sector on ways to actually have the expected investors come in under the economic plan”, the minister said.

    He said the flooding in some states affected the agriculture sector as did the herdsmen clashes in certain areas.

    On foreign investments, Udoma agreed with the advice of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that Nigeria must put in place sound macro-economic policy to mitigate risks associated with volatile capital flows.

    Director of the IMF’s African Department Mr Abebe Selassie, while presenting the regional outlook, said Sub-Saharan Africa’s economic recovery was expected to continue growing.

    He said growth was projected to increase from 2.7 per cent in 2017 to 3.1 per cent in 2018 and 3.8 percent in 2019.

    “Growth is set to improve most notably for oil exporters, while non-resource intensive countries continue to grow strongly, with quite a few growing at six per cent or more.”

    “While there has been progress in narrowing fiscal deficits, more focus is needed to raise revenues to support continued development spending and to service debt,” he said.

    According to the 2018 Sub-Sahara Africa Regional Economic Outlook, to grow, the region must create at least 20 million jobs per year to absorb new entrants into the labor market.

    The IMF in the report advised the region to take policy actions to encourage deepening of trade and financial integration, in the context of the African Continental Free Trade.

    It also advised the region to remove market distortions, improve the efficiency of public spending, promoting digital connectivity and a flexible education system and fostering an environment that is conducive to private investment and risk taking.

    The World Bank Group (WBG) also yesterday urged Nigeria to invest massively in human capital development as a matter of priority or risk having a jobless work force in about 20 years.

    Its President, Dr. Jim Yong Kim, who gave the advice at a briefing at the ongoing 2018 Annual Meetings of the IMF/WBG in Bali described Nigeria is one of the most important countries in Africa and in the world, “so we feel that it will be extremely important for Nigeria to really go on a different level all together in terms of their commitment to investing in human capital.

    He said it was important that development actions were guided by data, saying that “Nigeria unfortunately ranks 152 out of 157 countries. He said the World Bank has been quite supportive in providing aid to the country in the health sector, “but we feel that the overall spending in health (about .076 of GDP) is just far too low. The educational outcomes in Nigeria are very, very low,” he added.

    The World Bank chief who was responding to a question on what programme the bank has for Nigeria on human capital development, admitted nonetheless that the bank has its own share of the blames for the woes, not only in Nigeria, but the African sub-continent.

    He said: Many African countries are in the red zone. I think the World Bank has to take some responsibility for having emphasised hard infrastructure – roads, rails, energy, for a very long time,” stating that the bank has begun to reverse that scenario in the last 20 years. But he said for most African countries, the thinking remains that “we’ll invest in hard infrastructure and then when we grow rich, we’ll have enough money to invest in health and education.”

    But that’s the wrong approach, Kim said.

    “We’re now saying that’s the wrong approach, you’ve got to start investing in your people right now.” Pointing out that if this option was ignored, it will spell doom for the affected countries because of the        ” rapid change in technology and the fact that many low-income jobs will be eliminated.”

    He said the bank cannot put a finger on exactly when this prediction will evolve, but said 20years from now look somewhat the time frame.

    ”Nobody is quite sure how long that will take, but a child born today, in 20years almost certainly, many of the low-skill jobs today will be gone. Ant the requirement for this child to be able to learn throughout his, or her entire life is simply going to get higher. The requirement, the needs are going to get higher and higher,” he stated.

    Kim said the World Bank is ready to lend its support to African countries that are ready to take on the gauntlet, saying funding for growing the skills and human capital development, are not only ready, but enlarged.

    As he put it: “This is a very loud and strong message to Africa. Africa needs to invest more in health and education,” saying, “our Fund for the poorest countries is 50 per cent larger than it was three years ago because we have financing, we can provide more support for African countries.”

    For the bank’s input to achieve the intended results, Kim urged the respective governments to take responsibility for the success of the programme.

    He said: “But the message here is that Heads of State and Ministers of finance have to take responsibility,” saying that the  long age practice of waiting for grants before action was taken in developing human capital should be done away with and called on Nigeria to answer this call.

    “So we hope that this is a loud wake-up-call for leaders throughout the Africa continent, and especially in Nigeria,” he stressed.

     

  • Minister, others pay tribute as Baba Sala dies

    Nigerians all over the world have been celebrating the life and times of legendary entertainer, Moses Olaiya Adejumo, popularly called ‘Baba Sala’, who died on Sunday, October 7, 2018.

    For the 82-year-old consummate actor, comedian and singer whose life had been greetedby rumours of death several times, his children are glad that, although Baba was old and sick, he passed peacefully in his sleep.

    His son, Emmanuel Adejumo who broke the news on Facebook noted: “…he did not die of any sickness. It was just the time for him to go and be with the Lord,” he said, adding that “he (Baba Sala) ate around 6pm and rested for a while before he entered into his room to lie down on the bed.”

    A feeling of nostalgic celebrations rent the air as fans poured encomiums on the actor, on the social media, early Monday, reliving fond memories of the heydays of the thespian.

    It was like a competition on who could best recall lines from the comic dramas of the veteran actor, whose slapstick trademark included a humungous lens-free  eye-glass frame, outsized metal neck tie, clock-size wrist watch and tobacco smoking pipe.

    From the Awada soap on the then Western Nigerian Television (WNTV) every Wednesday by 7pm, fans recalled signature tunes like: ‘Baba Sala, gbendu gbendu ikun bi oya’, a soundtrack that usually got many to rush back for the must-watch comic drama.

    In a condolence message, Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed described late Adejumo as an ‘Incomparable Thespian’.

    According to him, “the death of the thespian has robbed the nation of an incomparable thespian and a colossus of his time.”

    He said Baba Sala was a trail blazer who,  along with his contemporaries, laid the foundation for the theatre and comedy that have now taken Nigeria’s creative industry by storm.

    President of the National Association of Nigerian Theatre Arts Practitioners (NANTAP), Isreal Eboh, described the passing of Baba Sala as the “end of an era” since, according to him, “he was the last of his generation of pioneers of Nigerian theatre.

    He said baba Sala “brought joy to millions and exemplified the spirit of adventure synonymous with most Nigerians. He created many classics that will ensure his memory lives with us forever.”

    Born on May 18, 1936, Moses Adejuma is regarded as the father of modern Nigerian comedy.

    A man of many parts, Baba Sala’s passion for entertainment is said to have begun in his secondary school days where he performed magic and toured other schools with his art.

    He, alongside other dramatists like Hubert Ogunde, Kola Ogunmola, Oyin Adejobi and Duro Ladipo popularised theater and television acting in Nigeria. He started his career in show business as a Highlife musician, fronting in 1964 a group known as the Federal Rhythm Dandies where he tutored and guided the Juju music maestro King Sunny Ade (KSA) who was his lead guitar player before the group embraced theatre.

    During KSA’s 70th birthday, the Juju music maestro poured encomiums on the late Adejumo whose tutelage and advice he said were responsible for his career path and success.

    As a filmmaker, his credits include, Orun Mooru (1982); Aare Agbaye (1983); Mosebolatan (1985); Obee Gbona (1989); Diamond (1990 Home video ); Agba Man (1992, Home Video); Return Match (1993, Home Video); Ana Gomina (1996, home video, ) and Tokunbo (1985, TV).

    In 1974, he was honoured by the military government of Olusegun Obasanjo with the national title of MON.

    A major setback that hit the late filmmaker was when his 1982 classic, Orun Mooru, was pirated. The debt incurred as a result of that incident had a toll on his other investments.

    Among his investments are the Awada Spot in Ibadan; Alawada Standard Hotel, Ilesha; Alawada Records, Ibadan; and Ibukun Alawada Photo magazine.

    He was also said to owned a three-storey building in Mushin, Lagos, which he sold to offset debt incurred when Orun Mooru was pirated.

    One of the last moments of the thespian was his role in the Church, as Minister in charge at Cherubim and Seraphim Church, Idasa.

  • Minister orders security agencies to end Jos crisis

    Minister of Interior Lt.-Gen. Abdulrahman Dambazau has condemned the Jos crisis, and directed the police and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) to map out strategies to curtail the situation.

    A statement by his Press Secretary, Ehisienmen Osaigbovo, hailed efforts of the Plateau State government and security agencies to find a lasting solution to the crisis.

    He, however, said security agencies should redouble their intelligence gathering by working with host communities to ensure steady flow of actionable intelligence to nip such crisis in the bud.

    He commiserated with the government and people for the incident, and assured them of the Federal Government’s determination to end crisis in the country.

    Dambazau, therefore, urged the people to refrain from reprisals, promising that perpetrators of the dastardly act will not go unpunished.

  • Dokpesi suit against minister, AGF adjourned till Oct 23

    A HIGH Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), sitting at Apo, Abuja, yesterday adjourned the suit filed by a People’s Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain, High Chief Raymond Dokpesi, against Minister of Information Lai Mohammed and Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice Abubakar Malami (SAN) till October 23.

    The plaintiff had told the court that the Information Minister had on March 30, 2018, during a press conference, portrayed him as “a corrupt and crooked person, a dishonest man and a thief”.

    Dokpesi, who is also the owner of DAAR Communications Plc on April 30 approached the court seeking N5 billion from the defendants as damages for the defamation of his character by the inclusion of his name on the treasury looters’ list.

    In the suit, filed through his lawyer, Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN), Dokpesi insisted that his reputation was seriously injured.

    He added that he has suffered considerable distress, odium, obloquy and ridicule, as well as political analyses in the media castigating him on the basis of the inclusion of his name as number four on the looters’ list.

    He, therefore, demanded N5 billion as damages for libel and also urged the court to order the defendants to publish a full retraction and apology to him in all the major electronic and print media outlets in the country.

    Dokpesi urged the court to grant “a perpetual injunction restraining the defendants, whether by themselves, their servants, agents, partners, representatives, privies and/or otherwise howsoever, from further writing, publishing, speaking or cause to be written, published or spoken, the said words complained of or any word to the like effect, which are similarly defamatory to the plaintiff”.

    At resumed hearing yesterday, the plaintiff counsel, Ennaemeka Adasu, holding brief for Ozekhome, informed Justice O. A. Adeniyi that the matter was slated for hearing and the plaintiff had five witnesses in court.

    He, however, told the court that counsel for the defendants only served on the plaintiff in court yesterday a notice of preliminary objection on the jurisdiction of the court to entertain the suit.

    This, Adasu declared, was done in bad faith, adding that in the circumstance of the development, he would ask for a date to enable the plaintiff to respond to the objection.

    But the defendant counsel, Mrs. Ekwere-Bello Ikeme, said the notice of preliminary objection was not filed in bad faith.

    According to her, the court had to determine the issue of jurisdiction first before proceeding with the case.

    She added that the defendants were willing to go on and as such made efforts to get their witnesses and bring same to court.

    Before the matter was adjourned, Justice Adeniyi held that it was in bad faith for the defendants to have waited till yesterday to file the preliminary objection.

    According to him, the matter was filled on April 30 and the defendants made appearance in the case in May only for them to now raise a preliminary objection.

    The judge, therefore, adjourned the case till October 23 for hearing of the preliminary objection.

  • Building collapse: Minister inaugurates inquiry panel 

    Worried by the incessant cases of building collapse in the Federal Capital Territory, the minister Malam Muhammad Bello has inaugurated a panel of inquiry to unravel the cause of the building collapse at Plot 711, Cadastral Zone B04, Jabi District, Abuja.

    The FCT Minister, who was represented at the occasion by the Permanent Secretary, Sir Chinyeaka Ohaa, said the FCT Administration, as a responsible and responsive administration, was committed to unraveling the causes of the unfortunate incident with a view to stemming future occurrence.

    He said some officers directly in charge of monitoring the project site have been suspended pending the completion of investigations.

    The Minister disclosed that the committee, which has three weeks to complete its assignment, has been charged with the responsibility of assessing the quality of the subsoil, foundations and designs that were available for the structure, establish the quality of supervision and nature of construction materials used as well as the experience of the technical personnel at the site.

    The Committee is also expected to assess the level of regulation at the site and recommend appropriate sanction against any person found wanting.

    The Panel which is Chaired by the Director General and Chief Executive officer of the Nigeria Building and Road Research Institute, Prof. Danladi S. Matawal, has retired Director of Engineering Services, FCDA, Engr. S. O Ugonabo; the MD, Fola Consult – a Planning Firm; Tpl S.A. Olajide, MD, 2-Habit Concept – Architectural Firm and Arch Philip Z. Iortyer as members.

    Also included in the panel are representatives of Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria, (COREN), Architects Registration Council of Nigeria (ARCON), Town Planners Registration Council of Nigeria (TOPREC) and Council of Registered Builders of Nigeria (CORBON), as well as the FCTA General Counsel, Barr. Mohammed Babangida Umar, among others.

    According to a statement issued by the minister’s Chief Press Secretary, Cosmas Uzodinma, Speaking after the inauguration ceremony, Chairman of the Panel, Prof. Matawal, stressed that the frequency of building collapse in Nigeria was unacceptable given the level of professionalism in the industry in the country.

    He commended the present FCT Administration for the reduction of the incidence of building collapse in the Territory, noting that the last time this happened was in August 2016.

    He recalled that in 2012 alone, there were over 20 recorded cases, adding that the fact that this has reduced was as a result of the efforts of the present Administration to tame the tide.

    Prof. Matawal appreciated the confidence reposed in the Committee members and assured that the Panel will give the assignment the seriousness it deserves and perform its work with decorum, sincerity and attention to details.

    He said the committee will also work with a vision for the future to ensure that occurrences of this nature which were very much avoidable would be addressed by its report.

    It would be recalled that a three floor structure under construction in Jabi District collapsed on Friday, August 17, 2018 leaving three persons dead while six others sustained various degrees of injuries.

  • Minister seeks OPS collaboration with govt

    The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Okechukwu Enelamah has called for active collaboration between the Organised Private Sector (OPS) and the government.

    He said the long-term objective of nation building can only take place when there is synergy between the government and the OPS.

    The Minister stated this during a visit by the members of the OPS, who were on a visit to present a report on Ports’ Reform led by the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) in Abuja, pointing out that nation building is collective and a long-term process that needs to be approached with humility by all involved.

    “For that to happen, there needs to be active collaboration between businesses and the government,” he said, adding that government is committed to ports reforms and that trading across borders is a key plan of PEBEC’s reform efforts.

    “The ministry is indeed a ministry of enabling environment. We want this engagement between the government and the private sector to continue. There needs to be an active collaboration and we are here to help.”

    LCCI President, Babatunde Paul Ruwase, praised Enelamah for his sustained intervention across the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), making industries and the economy to operate more efficiently.

     

    As the Vice Chairman of the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC), your efforts over the last few years on ease of doing business is noteworthy and this is beginning to yield positive results, Ruwase told the minister.

  • Minister: foreign investors want banks to invest in mining

    Minister of State, Ministry of Mines and Steel Development Mr. Abubakar Bwari has  joined foreign investors to appeal to  banks to invest in mining.

    He made this known while declaring open the first Nigeria Metallurgical Industry Stakeholders’ Forum (MISF) held in Abuja.

    The theme of the forum was: “Nigeria’s economic and industrial development through value addition in the metal sector”.

    Bwari said the foreign investors made the appeal in Australia at a mining forum where they complained about Nigerianw banks’ non-commitment to the sector.

    He added that of the African countries at the forum, Nigeria was most focused on investment interests.

    “At the Nigeria’s roundtable forum, most of the investors from Australia had one complaint that had to do with our investors and not the foreign investors.

    “They said the Nigerian banks were not ready to fund mining and know little or nothing about mining.

    “So, the ball is in our court, as stakeholders, to bring mining before the banks so that the Nigerian banks can be educated on what it is about,” he said.

    The Minister said effort would also highlight some of the challenges that had to do with mining and the way out.

    He said in as much as the government was paying attention to mining as a means of diversifying the economy, there was need for Nigerian banks to play their own role.

    Bwari said modern mining would soon commence in Nigeria, with Bauchi State being the first beneficiary because of its large deposit of zinc.

    He said the metal industry had a great impact on other sectors of the economy, adding that the prospects of a vibrant metal industry in Nigeria include foreign exchange earnings and sustenance.

    The Minister also said it would contribute to increase in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and create job opportunities as well as acquisition of technical skills leading to technology transfer to Nigerians.

    According to him, the stakeholders’ forum would be organised periodically to proffer solutions to the challenges of the metal sector and educate the metallurgical operators on the government’s policy direction.

    Giving the history of the metallurgical and allied plants in the country, Bwari said many were established by investors from far and near, but expressed concern that some had either closed down or were about to do so.

    He identified lack of effective government policies to guide and regulate the activities of operators in the sector and lack of commitment by persons assigned to run public enterprises as some of the challenges.

    Others, he said, were corruption and economic sabotage by Nigerians, unfavourable and sometimes inconsistent fiscal policies and inadequate and expensive power supply with the attendant danger of power generating sets.

    Earlier, the ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Dr. Abdulkadir Mua’azu, said the administration was poised to creating an enabling environment for metallurgical operators to thrive.

    This, he said, was necessary to generate employment, create wealth and reduce poverty.

    Mua’azu also said to achieve its goals, the ministry had articulated some strategies and activities for the development of the metallurgical sector to take it to the next level.

    “They include: ensuring presidential assent to the Nigerian Metallurgical Industrial Bill, which has passed the second reading at the floor of the Senate and collaboration with all relevant government agencies,” he said.

    He also said the ministry was liaising with the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) to curb dumping of substandard steel and other metal products in Nigeria and export of banned scrap metals.

    House Committee on Steel and Metallurgy Chairman, Lawal Idrisu, said as a nation, there was the need to encourage players in the industry by way of incentives through creation of special funding.

    “Availability of funds cannot be overemphasised and this is because accessing these funds for investments is very important.

    “For example, the lowest cost of interest rate of less than five per cent will invariably boost investment in this sector.

    “I therefore implore our policy makers to look into this as we in the parliament will be able to support this kind of gesture with legislation,” he said.

    The House Committee chair said Nigeria should focus on the multiplier effects of the policy on the economy.

    He listed the multiplier effects to include creation of wealth and increase in the revenue that would accrue to government through taxes and other remunerations.

    The two-day forum was attended by government officials and captains of the steel and metallurgical industry.