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Tag: minister

  • ‘We need proper streetlights’

    Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mallam Muhammad Bello has advised Julius Berger Nigeria Plc to properly install streetlights at strategic points in Abuja.

    Bello vowed that it is the priority of his Administration to ensure the completion of the B6 and B12 Roads otherwise known as Constitution and Independence Avenues respectively.

    He gave the advised when he paid an unscheduled visit to the project site of these central boulevards.

    The roads which traverse the World Trade Centre and the Diplomatic Zones, Bello has said, are major infrastructures that hold the key to the economic and social vibrancy of the City.

    He hoped that completion of the roads will enable allotees develop their plots and bring out the skyline of the city centre.

    The Minister expressed delight at the partial opening of some segments of the Constitutions road which, he observed, has already brought some relief on the traffic coming from Airport Road into the heart of the city.

    According to a statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Cosmas Uzodinma, the Minister indicated that he was happy that motorists coming from the Airport can now drive straight across the Churchgate building without the detour which made driving clumsy.

    He expressed satisfaction that the: “Julius Berger Nigeria Plc has justified all payments made to it but let me remind them of the need for proper installation of street lights at strategic points.”

    Works on the roads were very skeletal since 2011 because of paltry budgetary provisions, but recently the present Administration, the Acting Director of Engineering, Engr. Shehu Ahmed revealed, cleared all the backlog of payments owed the company.

    Ahmed said: “This has resulted in a massive push to complete the projects in keeping with the Administration’s commitment to completing major infrastructural projects which are key to bolstering the commercial and cultural lives of the city.”

    The completed segments include the bridges near the World Trade Centre, the National Stadium and Magic Land along with their complementary ramps, loops, arterials and tangent roads.

    Briefing the Minister, Ahmed said the scope was to complete the outer carriageways and their bridges as the inner ones have been completed earlier.  He declared that motorists can now travel in dual mode to Three Arm Zone on the Constitution Road.

    He disclosed that some major arterials were added to the scope of work by the present Administration, to make the road more functional, in view of the major train station by the World Trade Centre and the anticipated completion of the Rail Mass Transit project by the end of December this year.

    The Divisional Manager of Julius Berger Plc, the contracting firm, Dr. Lars Richter said that the funding which the Company got from the present administration has facilitated the mobilization of their personnel and machinery to work and that everything is going well.

    He declared, “As you can see, we are working in all a five nodal areas at the same time and we hope to continue to do so as long as fund is made available.”

    Richter gave assurances that some segments of the works would be completed before December this year, some in 12 months’ time, while the entire works, including the Independence Avenue would be fully delivered in two years’ time.

  • Fed govt committed to SMEs’ growth, says minister

    • BoI to expand lending windows

    The Minister of State, Industry, Trade and Investment, Mrs. Aisha Abubakar, has restated the Federal Government’s support for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) because of their impact on economic growth.

    Speaking at the African SMEs exhibition in Lagos, Abubakar said the focus of the exhibition, Promoting SMEs for sustainable development and economic growth, tallied with the plan to ensure that skilful entrepreneurs were actively engaged in one economic venture.

    The government, according to her, is harnessing efforts to design and sustain viable initiatives, which can solve the problem of unemployment, while shoring up the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

    “The future of SMEs in the continent is bright, but we must all do our part to make sure we achieve this. This expo will no doubt, stimulate and attract Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) into the African business ecosystem, which will in turn promote investment and trade,” Abubarkar said.

    The Bank of Industry (BoI) announced that it would have dedicated N1.2 trillion to SMEs’ development by 2019, noting that the bank would leverage on its partnership with commercial banks to bring its risk assets from the current N600 billion to N1.2 trillion.

    BoI Managing Director Mr. Olukayode Pitan, represented by the Executive Director, SME, Waheed Olagunju, said the bank  budgeted about N310 billion for SMEs’ development with an average of N60 billion yearly.

    He said SMEs’ major challenge  was not finance, but the dearth of feasible business models and bankable proposals. According to him, Nigeria does not lack the funds to support SMEs.

    Pitan listed other challenges holding SMEs down to include lack of skilled manpower, inability to meet the requirements of financial institutions, and SMEs’ vulnerability to shocks, among others.

    He, however, said despite the challenges, there were a number of successful SMEs that prove that it is possible to promote SMEs and run them viably and efficiently.

    “At BOI we lend to SMEs at single digit, because we are able to mobilise resources from national and sub national sources, and the tenures are quite generous. Because of our branch network, we are also able to work closely with the SMEs,” Pitan said.

    The BoI boss, however, explained that the projects the bank supports are those that have considerable developmental impacts by way of job creation; projects supported by women and projects that are environmentally sustainable as well as those that rely on local content by way of their raw materials.

    “We are making a lot of progress in terms of supporting SMEs. We have come up with lots of innovative schemes to reach the entire country,” Pitan said.

    He however, noted that the bank’s Non-Performing Loan (NPL) ratio has consistently been at four per cent, which is below the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN’s) threshold of five per cent.

     

  • Minister leads experts on VVF repair mission

    Minister leads experts on VVF repair mission

    Vesico-Vaginal Fistula (VVF) is prevalent in Nigeria. OYEYEMI GBENGA-MUSTAPHA reports on how the Minister of Health, Prof Isaac Adewole, for three days, led a team of experts that performed surgeries on some women, and gave them back their dignity at the Wesley Guild Hospital, Ilesa, Osun State.

    For three days, 26 women  living with Vesico-Vaginal Fistula (VVF)  received treatment from a team of professionals/surgeons in genitourinary and urogynaecology. The team was led by the Minister of Health, Prof Isaac Adewole.

    The venue was the Wesley Guild Hospital, Ilesa, Osun State.

    The free obstetric fistula surgical repair was organised by the Federal Ministry of Health, in collaboration with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Osun State Government and the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital, Ile-Ife.

    Decked in a surgical kit,  Adewole busied himself with surgeries.

    This is the second time the minister would lead a team of medics, including the International Society of Fistula Surgeon National President, Prof Oladosu Ojengbende, on such surgery. The first was at the Federal Medical Centre, Jabi, Abuja last October, where surgeries were carried out on over 50 VVF patients.

    Each had an unpleasant experience  to tell. They recounted stories of their rejection, depression, isolation and mental frustration.

    One of them is Mrs. Iyabo Olaseku (not real name), a 35-year-old resident of Erinmo, Ijesa, a suburb of Ilesa, whose  VVF ailment started three years ago.

    According to her, despite her undergoing the VVF surgery, she still finds it difficult to reintegrate into the society.

    Mrs. Olaseku said: “It was very devastating and dehumanising. I have lost everything called self-worth and esteem. It was frustrating, leaking and oozing out bad odour as an adult. I kept to myself. I hardly go out again. So blending into the society is going to take a while.”

    The story of Hajia Sadia Kolawole (not real name), a mother of two children, moved listeners to tears . She recalled being transferred from a Lagos hospital to Ilesa.

    “I have been abandoned by my family, relatives. Even my husband is nowhere to be found in the last two years. I used to be a trader but now, I have been economically devalued as I cannot stand in public places for too long because of the bad odour emanating from my body,” she said.

    Adewole said the over 300,000 women living with VVF in Nigeria is of serious concern to the ministry and to the USAID, hence the reasons he is advocating regular trainings for volunteers in the specialised medical field to join the Federal Government in tackling VVF.

    To cater for the axis, the hospital was declared a VVF repair centre.

    “I am announcing that the Ilesa Wesley Guild Hospital has become a centre for VVF operations in Nigeria. I am reiterating that the simple way to prevent obstetric fistula is to be delivered safely by skilled medical personnel. This is to reduce the cases of VVF because most of them are usually the case of obstetric fistula. These are helpless women caught in the web of VVF,” Adewole said.

    On why he participated, the minister explained. “This is our small way of showing leadership and concern to the plight of the suffering masses, and our display of affection must be a thorough practical approach of putting smiles on their faces, removing shame and reproach, restoring dignity to womanhood and more importantly lifting the undue financial burden the disease has placed on them.”

    Ojengbende and the Minister’s Special Adviser, Dr. Imran O. Morhason-Bello, described the minister’s participation as a rare display of patriotism, considering his tight schedule.

    “He sees this mission to the Wesley Guild Hospital is another life-saving intervention. And he is here with more capable hands to perform another round of VVF repairs on suffering women,’’ the aide said.

    “Prof. Isaac Folorunso Adewole is taking giant stride in evolving and revolutionising the entire medical sector in the last 24 months. He started the free cervical and breast screening for women last year. He initiated the Northeast Emergency Nutritional and Medical Response, and has  promised to ensure smooth implementation of more surgeries of the VVF in the 2018 budget,” Morhason-Bello, added.

    Declaring the event open, the Country Project Manager of USAID Fistula Care Plus, Chief Iyeme Ifem, decried the silence and long years of medical  denial — VVF treatment was restricted to the North.

    He said the massive turnout for the treatment in the Southwest had shown that many sufferers were hidden and untreated, adding that none of the 26 patients were Hausa-speaking people.

    He urged VVF paients to seek medical help by reporting to the nearest teaching hospital or VVF centre in their locality.

    He described VVF as an abnormal trait extending between the bladder and the vaginal, that allows the involuntary discharge of urine into the vagina vault.

    “In most cases, research has revealed, 90 percent are caused from prolonged obstructed labour during the first or second child bearing, often associated with marked pressure necrosis, edema, tissue sloughing and cicatrisation.

    ‘’Studies have shown that cultural beliefs of marriage and conception at a very young age, often before full pelvic growth has been achieved, is the most prevalent factor, coupled with unsupervised antenatal care by quack medical professionals during child birth and prolong labour,” Ifem said.

    He continued: “An obstetric fistula is a hole between the vagina and rectum or bladder that is caused by prolonged obstructed labour, leaving a woman incontinent of urine or faeces or both. More than 75 percent of women with obstetric fistula have endured labour that lasted three days or more. In the western part of Nigeria, cases of obstetric fistula are from havoc of traditional birth attendance and from mismanagement of CS in some conventional hospital.

    “Twenty-three of the patients have been rejected and abandoned in the society, as they are either divorced or separated as only two are still under a man’s roof. They have become financial burdens to the community, which they belong as they are not employable due to the stigmatisation and serial loss of dignity over time. It has also affected their emotional and psychological well-being.’’

  • N1.6b women fund is idle, says minister

    The Federal Government has urged states to access the N1.6 billion National Women Empowerment Fund (NAWEF) lying idle in the Bank of Industry (BoI).

    The Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Sen Jummai Alhassan, made the plea yesterday during a one day sensitisation programme for wives of governors, wives of Local government area chairmen, women on elective positions on the effective implementation the fund.

    The minister noted that despite the various intervention to make the funds accessible, states are finding it difficult to access the funds by meeting all the terms of conditions especially the repayment of the loans.

    She explained that the Federal Government had decided to implement the fund in eight pilot states, which she said include, Abia (Southeast), Awka Ibom (Southsouth), Osun (Southwest) and Nassarawa (Northcentral).

    Others are Jigawa (Northwest), Adamawa, Yobe and Borno (Northeast).

    “Unfortunately all together we have got only 25,740 application from all the eight pilot states, when actually we expect 80000 from all the states.

    ”The overall objective of the NAWEF programme is to provide access to financial services for women involved in micro and small scale enterprises to scale up their businesses.

    “The programme is also a revolving loan facility that is interest and collateral free requiring beneficiaries to repay within a specified period of six months or more depending on the kind of enterprise or business to enable other benefit from the scheme.”

    The minister said to sustain the fund, certain conditions have been put in place. These are women guaranteeing each other as members of same cooperative group; women ensuring commitment to repayment as scheduled while less stringent conditions to access the fund to make repayment easy for beneficiaries.

  • ASUU may end strike within one week – Minister

    ASUU may end strike within one week – Minister

    The Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu, on Thursday said ongoing strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) may be called off within one week.

    The minister stated this at a meeting with the Senate Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETFund in Abuja.

    He said that the ministry and other major stakeholders were already holding meetings with the union to resolve some of the issues that led to the strike.

    He assured that with the level of progress made in the negotiation, there was hope that students and lecturers would return to classes within one week.

    “The issue of renegotiation is already going on. I have already written a letter formalising the meeting I had with the union, because I went alone to face them and I wrote a letter which I gave them yesterday.

    “From the way they received it, I think it is possible that the strike will be called off within a week, maximum,’’ he said.

    Adamu said while explaining reasons for the strike, ASUU accused the Federal Government of failing to keep its side of the agreement.

    He assured that the Ministry of Finance had agreed to do the needful with regard to releasing funds as soon as possible.

    “The union had asked for N23 billion to be paid.

    `We said the condition for that N23 billion to be released was for them to account for the N30 billion they had taken which is a total of N53 billion and they were not able to account for it.

    “The Minister of Finance then undertook to do the audit from the ministry and we agreed that the result will be known within six months.

    “The Federal Government undertook to be paying them N1.5 billion each month during the time they are waiting for the outcome of the audit.

    “Their grouse now is that the forensic audit promised by the minister of finance has not been done and the money promised has not been paid.

    “So, at our meeting two days ago, we agreed that we will pay them and do forensic audit on the entire N53 billion.

    “I wrote to the minister and she has already approved it and this money will be paid; probably on Monday, they will be able to receive the cheque,’’ he said.

    Adamu, however, stated that his ministry did not agree on some issues during the meeting with the union.

    He said, “there are other issues which we did not agree on and that is their request to be taken out of Treasury Single Account(TSA).

    “I told them that it is not possible because this is a new policy and government is not going to change it for anyone.

    “Concerning their salary shortfall, we said a lot of the reasons spring from what they are doing wrong.

    “They do a lot of employment without proper authority.

    “For instance, a university can decide to recruit 50 people and IPPIS is not aware. So, we insisted that institutions must stop doing that and they accepted.

    “There is also the issue of the registration of their pension commission. I think they have one or two issues to iron out with PENCOM and I believe they will also be able to solve the problem within a week.’’

    The Chairman of the senate committee, Sen. Barau Jibrin, said the committee was impressed with the briefing by the minister on the matter.

    He explained that the seriousness of the issue made the committee members to cut short their recess, and said that from the assurance given by the minister, students and lecturers would return to school shortly.

    Jibrin said, “we hope the proposal sent to ASUU by the minister will be accepted.

    “On our part, with regard to getting some of the issues captured in the budget, we will do our best to actualize it.’’

  • FG working hard to meet electoral pledges —Minister

    FG working hard to meet electoral pledges —Minister

    Information and Culture Minister, Lai Mohammed, said yesterday that contrary to criticism, the Buhari  Administration is working assiduously to redeem its electoral pledges, especially in the areas of developing the economy, the war against corruption and insecurity.

    Alhaji Mohammed  spoke in Abuja while signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the visiting Chinese Vice Minister of The State Council Information Office, Guo Weimin, in the area of media and cultural relations.

     He said:”Contrary to the lies that are being purveyed daily in the Social Media, this government has been working assiduously to redeem its electoral pledges. Our fight against insecurity is yielding very positive results.

    “Our fight against corruption is focused and is ongoing and we are resolute. We have resolved that we are going to fight corruption until corruption goes under. We are happy that in this regards, we have a very good partner in China because we are aware and we know how China fought corruption and how China is fighting corruption.”

    Government, according to him, has “succeeded in nursing a very sick economy and very soon, Nigeria will get out of recession.”

    The minister  who said the signing of the MOU will further deepen the already excellent relationship between the two countries, expressed optimism that some provisions of the MOU that encourage the news agencies of Nigeria and China to reflect, in their reporting, the social, economic and cultural development in both countries, will eliminate the phenomenon of fake news.

    In his remarks, the Chinese Vice Minister said the signing of the MOU between the two countries marked a new beginning in the relationship between the two countries, particularly in the area of media and cultural relations.

    Mr. Weimin said his ministry will scale up the broadcast of news about Nigeria in China and appealed to the Minister to reciprocate the gesture.

  • ‘We’re committed to Idu industrial estate project’

    Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Malam Muhammad Bello has assured that the ongoing Idu Industrial Estate infrastructure project will be completed to boost economic activities in the FCT and create much-needed employment opportunities for the teeming residents.

    The Minister, who gave these assurances in Abuja when he paid a visit to the estate, said the administration is working out arrangements to see how the financial and other challenges faced by the contractors at the construction site can be surmounted to ensure its speedy completion.

    According to a statement issued by the Special Assistant (Media), Abubakar Sani, the minister while explaining that the Estate falls in line with the projects that the FCT Administration has resolved to give priority due the great bearing it has on the largest number of people in the FCT, said many Nigerian companies – over a hundred of them have been fully mobilized and are working daily at the estate providing jobs and generating economic activities.

    According to the Minister, “The purpose of this visit today is to see how we can quickly complete the remaining infrastructure work here in line with the administration’s desire to complete all on-going massive infrastructure projects that will have great bearing to the largest number of people and I’m very happy with what I’ve seen. The project had suffered funding setbacks over the last four years, which is understandable. But we are working out arrangements to see how these challenges can be surmounted.”

    He said: “The Idu Industrial Estate is the largest estate in Abuja, which has been under construction infrastructure wise for quite some time. But as you can see, substantial work has been done. I understand the infrastructure already done here is over 70 per cent completed”.

    The FCT Minister, however, advised residents who put up illegal settlements around the estate to start making arrangements to leave the area, in order to pave way for infrastructure development.

    Bello who noted that the illegal settlement sprang up late after the project had commenced, due to the demand for labour at the construction site, said they have been informed that they would need to leave for work to continue.

    He said, “Obviously the village and any other village within the Abuja area, once development reaches that village, it has to move. That is something that is well known, accepted by law, accepted by convention and accepted by all the citizens of the FCT because we all agree that this is going to be the centre of unity. We are developing this place for office, for residences, for markets, for industrial parks like this one.

    The FCT Minister also appealed to those who have allocations in the areas that have been fully serviced with infrastructure in the Estate to quickly commence development of these plots or risk losing them.

    “I want to use the medium of this visit to appeal to those who already have plots here that have been allocated for which infrastructure has already reached their plot, to quickly come and commence development or else, we will apply all the rules and regulations regarding the allocations given to them.

    “The beauty of allocations is that there are terms and conditions and so many companies, both local and foreign have contacted us seeking for land to develop and as an administration, each new factory that is opened here is a blessing to all of us because it brings in needed employment and economic activity,” Bello stated.

    The Idu Industrial Estate is designed to accommodate about 222 plots of industrial land. Available statistics show that out of this number, 84 plots have been fully developed, 34 on-going while owners of the remaining 104 plots are yet to commence development.

     

  • Take action, Minister charges anti-piracy committee

    Take action, Minister charges anti-piracy committee

    Following last week’s visit to the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, to solicit the support of the Police in the fight against piracy, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, on Monday in Abuja inaugurated the Anti-Piracy Committee.

    The committee, according to the minister, is charged with working out the modalities to tackle unauthorized copying and sale of creative works in the country.

    Members of the committee include the Director General, National Film and Video Censorship Board, Mr. Adedayo Thomas; The Chairman of Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON), Chief Tony Okoroji; Deputies Inspector General of Police in Charge of Criminal Investigation Department Hyacinth Maidugu and that of Operations Joshak Habila; President, Motion Picture Practitioners Association of Nigeria (MOPAN) Abdullahi Maikano Usman; Ms Tundun Aderibigbe of the House of Tara and Mr. Tonye Princewell, a movie producer.

    While inaugurating the Committee, the Minister said the time has come for a decisive action against piracy in the country.

    “This is the first meeting between the police and the major stakeholders in the Ministry of Information and Culture as well as the Creative Industry (on piracy). This meeting is evidence that this is not just about mere talk, but about action,” he said.

    Alhaji Mohammed tasked the committee to devise a pragmatic approach that will ensure a regular and sustained enforcement, with a view to putting an end to the menace of piracy.

    He said if piracy is not tamed now, it will become a monster that will destroy the nation’s Creative Industry.

    In his remarks, Chief Okoroji described the inauguration of the committee as a milestone in the Creative Industry.

    For his part, the Deputy Inspector General of Police in Charge of Criminal Investigation Department, Maidugu, assured that the police will carry out the necessary investigation and enforcement of the extant laws against piracy as well as prosecute offenders.

  • Minister to council chiefs: use N684m Paris Refund to pay salaries

    Worried by the workers’ poor welfare, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Minister Malam Muhammad Bello has urged chairmen of Area Councils to use the recently received N684 million Paris Refund cash to defray the arrears of staff salaries.

    Bello gave the advice while answering questions asked by the Senate Committee on FCT during the Committee’s hearing on the Bill for the Political and Administrative Structure of FCT Area Councils.

    Asked by the Committee Chairman, Senator Dino Melaye whether he intends to place a demand for the Paris Refund considering the N1.6 billion the Administration gave as bailout to Area Councils in the recent past, the Minister disclosed that the repayment of the bailout money given the councils was not a priority now but to see that the Area Council staff gets paid the arrears of salaries owed them.

    He also disclosed that the FCT Administration had not yet benefitted from the Paris Refund as what hit its account was meant for the Area Councils.

    In a statement issued by the Chief Press Secretary, Cosmas Uzodinma, the minister also suggested a special fund to ensure prompt payment of severance packages to Area Council political office holders.

    This he indicated could be by setting aside a percentage of the Internally Generated Revenues (IGR) of the Area Councils upon collection.

    He stressed that while he had read that FCT was to receive N1.2 Billion and N684 Million representing first and second tranches of Paris Refund, respectively, it was only on Friday last week that the second tranche hit the FCT Account, saying the Administration is yet to receive the first tranche.

    Bello invited the Committee to look into the subject of the collection of Tenement Rates in the Federal Capital City (FCC) against the background of the huge investment the FCT Administration makes in the development of infrastructure and provision of services in the Capital City.

    The Minister acknowledged the support and guidance of the Senate Committee on FCT in the efforts to provide infrastructure and services in the Territory, saying: “We look at the Area Councils as an extension of the FCT Administration, we don’t intend to ask them to refund the bailout but as the days go by we would find the ways and means around it.

    “It is however, very important that this distinguished Committee be able to really recognize the critical role of FCC, which is the 250sqkm where you find the Presidency, the Diplomatic Community and the Ministries. We have had instances where the consultants go to seal up diplomatic building, being unmindful of such international treaties like the Geneva Convention on the status of Diplomatic persons and institutions.

    “When you are looking at the political structure, we hope the Committee recognizes this unique position and even when the subject of taxes is being considered; it could be done in such a way that the FCT Internal Revenue Services is the one to handle them to avoid embarrassments.”

    The Committee Chairman, Senator Dino Melaye revealed that the Committee intends to pass the Bill on the Political and Administrative structure of FCT Area Councils into law before the end of the year, to give a permanent solution to the various areas of concern.

    He commended the parties in the suit challenging the FCT Administration and the House of Representatives on the legality or otherwise of stopping the Abuja Municipal Area Councils from collecting Tenement Rates, for withdrawing the suit. He said it was a welcome development to exhaust all avenues of dialogue.

    FCT Permanent Secretary, Dr. Babatope Ajakaiye informed the Committee of the drastic decline in the FCT Administration’s allocation from the Federation Account from N4.3 Billion  two years ago to between N1.9Billion and N2.1Billion currently.

    The Permanent Secretary lamented that with staff strength of over 28,000; FCTA’s wage bill is over N4 Billion monthly, coupled with the huge responsibilities for the provision of infrastructure and services in the Territory.

    This, he said has made it imperative for the FCT Administration to rely heavily on its Internal Revenue Generation capacity to fund these projects and services.

     

  • Minister: foreign investors jostling to buy over 9Mobile

    Minister: foreign investors jostling to buy over 9Mobile

    Many foreign investors are jostling to buy over telecomunication firm 9 Mobile (formerly Etisalat) from which Mubadallah recently pulled out, Minister of Comunications Adebayo Shittu said at the weekend.

    Shittu, speaking on ‘Political Circuit’, a political programme on Ibadan-based Fresh FM, said there is no cause for worry for the sunscribers and workers of the company. But he did not disclose the names of the foreign firms.

    Mubadallah left Nigeria this  month over unresolved issues on loans by a consortium of commercial banks.

    According to Shittu, the Federal Government intervened in the loan crisis rocking the company in order to prevent it from closing down with the attendant negative implications.

    Shittu said thousands of direct and indirect jobs would have been lost while investors’ confidence would have been eroded.

    The minister said the government would continue to strengthen the enabling environment for investments and job creation initiatives in the country.

    Shittu said the country needed more Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) to strengthen the economy.

    He said the government could not afford to fold its arms and let any good investment go under, pointing out that the telecoms industry contributed over 10 per cent to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the last financial year.

    He described the feat as unprecedented and a mark of the huge importance of the industry to the economy.

    Accordintg to him, there are 150 million active mobile telephone lines in Nigeria.

    The minister also hinted of his ministry’s plan to encourage telecommunication firms to begin to provide scholarships for students insupport of education.