The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Ministry of Interior

  • FG, expatriates deny Nigerians their benefits – PENGASSAN

    The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) Wednesday condemned the manner that the Ministry of Interior and the Nigeria Customs Service are corroborating with the expatriates in the oil and gas industry to deny Nigerians their benefits.

    Addressing journalists in Abuja on the 40th anniversary of the association that is billed to hold on Thursday, the association’s President, Comrade Francis Johnson, said that in the industry, “the challenges are very enormous.”

    Read Also:PENGASSAN, NUPENG to collaborate with NCDMB on local content

    The theme of the 40th anniversary, according to him, is “labour fueling the economy.”

    He said: “There is a challenge where we have the Ministry of Interior, Customs corroborating with expatriates to make sure that Nigerians do not get their benefits.”

    He also decried the issue of job auctioning and capital flight as some of the challenges bedeviling the sector at the moment.

    Johnson expressed worry that “You also talk about the issue of job auctioning; Nigerians are experience capital flight from the jobs that should have been done in Nigeria taken to Dubai and somewhere else whereas there are some Nigerians that are capable of doing it.”

    He complained that in some of the International Oil Companies (IOCs) there are still security apparatus that are being headed by foreigners whereas during ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo administration there was a policy that any foreigner that has served in any of the country’s apparatus should not head the IOCs security in Nigeria.

    Another challenge that he highlighted was the abuse of the right and privilege of the oil and gas workers by their employers.

    Commenting on the collaboration among the unions and the government, he said “we have collaborated with the employers as far as possible to see that the interests are protected.”

    He advised the government to ensure that it start engaging labour in dialogue from the beginning of an ultimatum instead of waiting till the dying minute.

    On minimum wage, he urged the government to give workers their dues, adding that that government should adopt a wage and its review timeline to settle the wage issue instead of giving the citizenry the impression that labour is insensitive to their plight.

    Johnson, however, noted that the association has made remarkable progress in the last few years that include the engagement of government to settle the cash call.

    He recalled that the association played a major role in the attainment of democracy that the country now enjoys.

    The labour leader said that “the greatest role that the association and other played was the time of June 12.  That time it was very tough and our members were incarcerated.”

    He appealed to politicians to always identify the role that labour played in the attainment of democracy, stressing that the politicians should ensure political stability.

    The association, he said, has ensured that the oil and gas industry fetches the country more revenue.  It has also contributed to the advocacy for the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill.

  • Nigeria cultivates only 40% of its arable land – Sen. Adamu

    Nigeria cultivates only 40% of its arable land – Sen. Adamu

    Sen. Abdullahi Adamu, Chairman, Senate Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development, says that only 40 per cent of Nigeria’s arable land is under cultivation.

    Adamu, who said this in an interview on Monday in Abuja, called for increased investments in agriculture, as the situation had elicited serious concern.

    He said that one good thing that the recent economic recession had done to Nigeria was that people from all walks of life were now going into agriculture.

    On some reports that foreigners had taken over farming in the country, the senator said that the Nigerian economy was a free and open economy.

    “We need large-scale farming to increase our agricultural output if we are talking about food security.

    “Yes, we have been fed by peasant farmers, smallholder farmers in this country for quite a long time,’’ he said.

    Adamu noted that one of the reasons why the country had not been able to attain food security was because smallholder farmers had certain limitations, including how to use the little funds at their disposal in a pragmatic way.

    “The smallholder farmer also has limits regarding the land he owns, how much money he requires to invest on it and the equipment he needs to some extent,” he said.

    Adamu said that as a country, Nigeria had decided to transit from smallholder farming to medium or large scale farming activities.

    He said that most farmers had some waiting period for them to mature, in terms of attaining all the requirements for large scale farming.

    “In the interim, if foreign investors can come in, on terms that are acceptable by government through policy, there is nothing wrong with it,” he said.

    On reports of kidnapping of farmers in the northern part of the country, Adamu said: “I don’t know if that is completely true or correct.

    “I accept the fact that there has been some degree of exposure of insecurity in farms across the country.

    “It is not something that is just in the northern part of Nigeria, but what I do know is that government is striving to check the development.

    “I know government has taken very specific steps to combat it,’’ he added.

    The lawmaker said that government was deploying security outfits to farms, while that the Ministry of Interior was training young men and women to provide security in farms.

    “We cannot be everywhere but at least, for a start, we cover substantially some of the farms where we know huge investments have been made, or where we know there is a menace of disruption of farm activities by these men of the terror world.

    “Government is trying to make sure that the farms have some level of security. It is a national phenomenon and we are seeing it in that light: We are taking the steps that are absolutely necessary to contain the menace,” he said.

    While assessing the Anchor Borrowers Programme ( ABP ) of the Central Bank of Nigeria ( CBN ), Adamu said that unfortunately, the programme was not quite going round all the 36 states.

    The Anchor Borrowers Programme is designed to create a linkage between companies that are involved in processing of key agricultural commodities and smallholder farmers, among other things.

    Adamu said there was concentration of ABP projects in certain parts of the country, while some areas have yet to benefit from the programme.

    “Like anything in the world, everything has teething problems in the beginning; we can forgive the concentration in one part of the country to the detriment of the other part.

    “The good excuse we have is that the programme is just beginning and it has recorded some successes by the grace of God.

    “The CBN is anchoring the ABP projects through its various intervention funds and this is doing a lot of good to us,” he said.

    NAN

  • How he was reinstated, by minister

    How he was reinstated, by minister

    Minister of Interior Abdulrahman Dambazau yesterday explained how Maina was reinstated into the civil service.

    A statement yesterday by Ehisienmen Osaigbovo, Dambazau’s spokesman, said:  “The ex- Chairman of the Presidential Task Force Team on Pension Reforms Abdulrasheed Maina was posted few days ago to the Ministry of Interior by the Office of the Head of Service in an Acting capacity to fill a vacancy created following the retirement of the Director heading the Human Resources Department in the Ministry.

    “For the avoidance of doubt, issues relating to discipline, employment, re-engagement, posting, promotion and retirements of Federal Civil Servants are the responsibility of the Federal Civil Service Commission and Office of the Head of Service of the Federation, of which no Minister exercises such powers as erroneously expressed in this publication. It is understood that Maina’s last posting was with the Ministry of Interior, and that is probably why he was re-posted back to the Ministry.

    “It is therefore improper for anybody to think that a Minister could exercise such powers or influence the process of Discipline, Re-engagement, and Deployment of any civil servant to his Ministry or any other Ministry for that matter. Again such responsibility is that of the Federal Civil Service Commission and/or the Head of Civil Service.

    “In any case, the relevant institutions of government are alive to their responsibilities regarding the allegations confronting Mr. Maina.”

  • ‘4,281 deportees return through MMIA from Jan. to June’

    ‘4,281 deportees return through MMIA from Jan. to June’

    No fewer than 4,281 Nigerians were deported from several European, American and African countries through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport ( MMIA ), Lagos, between January and June this year.

    Figures obtained from the Ministry of Interior showed that the deportees comprised of 2,823 males and 1,458 females.
    According to the document, 2251 of the deportees arrived in the country through chartered flights while 2030 others came by regular flights.

    Some of the deportees, who were allegedly involved in criminal activities in their host countries, were handed over to the Police, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency and National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons for further prosecution.

    Also, a total of 691,934 travellers departed while another 560,988 arrived in the country through the Lagos airport during the same period.

    Out of these numbers, 519,215 were Nigerians while another 179,739 were foreigners departing the country.

    During the period, 550,988 passengers arrived in Nigeria through MMIA comprising 392,237 Nigerians and 158,751 foreigners.

    NAN

  • FG approves weapons for Aviation Security

    FG approves weapons for Aviation Security

    The Federal Government has approved that the Aviation Security personnel should bear arms to enhance the security of passengers and installations across the nation’s airports.

    The Minister of State for Aviation, Sen. Hadi Sirika, stated this when he briefed State House correspondents at the end of the FEC meeting, which was presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari.

    He said that his ministry would partner with the Ministry of Interior and other stakeholders in the training of the affected Aviation Security personnel in arms’ handling.

    “We are very serious about aviation security, just last week the President approved that aviation security should bear arms, so we are trying to make them take the form and shape of TSA of the US with K-9 dogs, handcuffs, the guards, the batons, light weapons, etc.

    “The Minister of Interior is helping us in that regard from the directive of Mr President to partner with them and other stakeholders to ensure we keep our airports secure.

    “So, very soon you will them with uniform, doing different functions and securing our airports.

    “All these will be unveiled at the next stakeholders meeting,’’ he said.

    The minister also disclosed that the council approved N1.1 billion for the completion of the Kaduna International Airport Terminal building.

    He said the contract for the rehabilitation of the building was initially awarded in 2011 at the cost of about N500 million.

    He said the contractor noticed some structural damages to the building which necessitated the variation of the contract sum to the N1.1 billion.

    “FEC has approved the completion of Kaduna terminal building. It was awarded in 2011 and commenced in 2012.

    “During the rehabilitation of the terminal building a contractor noticed some structural damages to the building itself and then increased the scope of what to be done to put it to use and that necessitated the variation of the contract sum.

    “The cost of variation is in excess of 15 per cent, it had to go to the then President Goodluck Jonathan for approval anticipation, that was approved and they went to BPP.

    “So we brought it to council today to ratify and of course taking into cognisance the exchange rate and inflation that has increased the cost of completion of the terminal building.

    “Council has approved the completion of that terminal building and it will be completed in six months.’’

    On how to manage the closure of Abuja airport and construction of Kaduna airport terminal building, Sirika stated the rehabilitation work would not hinder flight operations.

    “There is another elaborate terminal robust enough to take the passengers for the operation of six weeks.

    “It will not stop them also from working. It may be also a bonus likely if the contractor is able to run through and finish before March.

    “But, whether it finishes or not it will not affect the operations because there are enough buildings to carry out the operations of the airport.’’

  • Fed Govt withdraws ‘illegal’ diplomatic, official passports

    Fed Govt withdraws ‘illegal’ diplomatic, official passports

    The Federal Government yesterday directed the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) to retrieve all valid diplomatic and official passports from people who are not entitled to it.

    According to a statement by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Interior, Yusuf Isiaka Alhaji and made available to The Nation, “The Federal Government has found out that some Nigerians who are not entitled to hold diplomatic and official passports are in possession of these documents.

    “In view of the Federal Government’s determination to protect and promote Nigeria’s integrity in the comity of nations, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Interior has directed the Nigeria Immigration Service to retrieve all valid diplomatic and official passports with immediate effect from all persons who are not entitled to hold such documents.”