The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Niger

  • Niger loses 32 soldiers in fight with Boko Haram

    Thirty-two Nigerien soldiers have been killed in a clash with Boko Haram fighters on Niger’s border with Nigeria, Niger’s defence ministry said yesterday.

    It is one of the deadliest tolls inflicted by the jihadists.

    “Hundreds of assailants” reportedly attacked a military post in Bosso town on Friday evening, the defence ministry said in a statement that gave a “provisional toll” of 30 Nigerien and two Nigerian soldiers killed and 67 wounded.

    “On the enemy’s side, several dead and injured were taken away,” the ministry said.

    “Boko Haram elements effectively took control of the town temporarily, but now they were dislodged,” a security source said.

    Local resident and former MP Elhaj Aboubacar said: “They drove up at twilight, shouting Allahu Akbar (God is Great), they fired a lot of shots and torched many places in Bosso.”

    “We don’t know where our military went, but one thing is for sure, Boko Haram were able to do what they liked until dawn,” Aboubacar said.

    “The situation is under control and calm has returned,” the defence ministry said, adding that a “mopping up” operation was underway by land and air.

    Since February 2015, Niger has been plagued by Boko Haram attacks in its southeast region.

    The Islamists frequently stage cross-border raids from their stronghold in Nigeria.

     

  • Sai Baba and Niger Delta

    Sai Baba and Niger Delta

    It is one year and five days today that President Muhammadu Buhari became the landlord in Aso Presidential Villa, Abuja. Not one single kilometre of federal road has been tarred anywhere in this oil-rich region. The North, Southeast and Southwest are also in the same situation.

    The song of hip-hop act, African China, comes to mind at a time like this: “Food no dey, walahi light no dey. And our road no good…”

    And to add salt to injury, the people of five states in the region have not had the honour of being visited by their president. Of the six states in the Southsouth, Buhari, in his first year in office, only visited Cross River. Delta, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Edo and Bayelsa did not have the honour of hosting the president.

    For reasons best known to those behind it, brigands in the Niger Delta were reborn in the first year of the Buhari administration. A new ‘terror’ group, the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA), emerged. Grenades were thrown at major oil and gas facilities at will. They said without some conditions being met by Buhari, peace would elude the Niger Delta, their home. And, by extension, Nigeria.

    They bombed the Chevron valve facility and the 48-inch trunk line supplying crude oil to Warri refinery. The Chevron facility they bombed is the main connecting point where all other platforms are linked up. “With the valve platform blown all Chevron activities are now halted,” the group boasted.

    Their demands are myriad. One of them is the immediate implementation of the report of the 2014 National Conference organised in the run-up to the last general elections by ex-President Goodluck Jonathan. They said if this was not done, the country would break up.

    Another of their demands centres on ownership of oil blocks. They said 60 per cent of the oil blocks must be owned by indigenes of oil-producing areas.

    The avengers also had an axe to grind with their fellow Niger Deltan and Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, who earlier in the life of the Buhari administration faulted the Maritime University started by the Jonathan administration. They said Amaechi, an Ikwerre man from Rivers, must apologise to the Ijaw on whose soil the university is situated for his “careless and reckless statement about the siting of the university”. They said maritime university “is located in the most appropriate and befitting place Okerenkoko” and must start the 2015/2016 academic session immediately.

    They also said Ogoni and all oil-polluted areas in the Niger Delta must be cleaned up and compensation paid to the communities. They also demanded that the Niger Delta Amnesty programme must be well funded and allowed to continue to function effectively.

    These avengers also claimed the Buhari’s anti-corruption campaign was, in his first year, skewed in favour of his political associates. The militants said that all members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) indicted in any corruption-related cases should be made to face trial like members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

     

    They also demanded apologies from Buhari, the Department of State Services and ex-Governor Timipre Sylva for killing former Governor of Bayelsa State, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, “with intimidation and harassment because of his party affiliation”.

    “Until our demands are met, no repair works should be done at the blast site. Whoever that is going there for any repair work will be doing that at their detriment,” they threatened.

    As expected, the president wrote them off. Fighter jets are now in the region trying to smoke them out. If their statement is anything to go by, they are not deterred. Their latest statement, issued on Tuesday, threatened the military, the oil companies and their workers. And of course the economy.

    Let’s get away from the avengers, whose real motives are still shrouded. In the last one year, the common man in the Niger Delta has not felt the change that Buhari promised.

    The common Niger Deltans are still poor, stinking and not sure of where the next meal will come from. They are yet to quit the creeks. Their houses, made of wood, are still covered with palm front. For them, luxury is a stranger. Their children can still not go to school.

    At this juncture, I will like to share my thoughts on what the president and governors in the region can do so that by May 29, next year and beyond, we will have a better story to tell about the common Niger Deltan.

    I will start with the East-West Coastal Road, which can be funded through Public Private Partnership (PPP) since there is cash crunch in the land. The concept, construction and cost of the East-West Coastal Road surpasses geographical spread, technical and structural specification, of any other project ever undertaken since independence.

    The proposed road, which will originate from Udukpani in Cross Rivers State, will transverse and connect over 1,000 communities and will terminate at Aiyeteju, Epe, in Lagos State. The three sections of the road will pass through areas with challenging and difficult terrains. The East-West Coastal Road Section 1 is from Warri to Kaikama in Delta State; the Section II is from Port Harcourt to Ahoada in Rivers State and Section II-II from Ahoada, Rivers State to Kaiama in Bayelsa State. It will interface with the ongoing Trans-African Highway running from Dakar, Senegal to Mombasa in Kenya.

    The East-West Coastal Road, according to experts, will serve as the shortest link between Lagos and the coastal areas of Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo, Ondo and Rivers states. It is also meant to stem the rising tide of rural-urban drift as the opportunities within the region will outweigh those outside it.

    The road will enhance the security of the region and Nigeria at large. It will facilitate the direct access to waterways that have not been utilised, even as it will encourage the setting up of core maritime engineering facilities, such as ocean terminal for deep-sea anchorage; ship repairs and maintenance facilities to handle the engineering needs of big ocean-going vessels; fishing and passenger commuter terminals; increase in fishing activities in the coastal region; encouraging the establishment of functional Export Processing Zones (EPZs) in the coastal states; and boosting trading activities.

    The road will open up employment opportunities to both skilled and unskilled labour during and after the construction of the road. The road will facilitate new investment in the coastal areas of the Niger Delta and encourage local technology and content.

    Also, there should be profound commitment to the prosecution of a diversified economic roadmap with special emphasis on agricultural transformation and agro-industrial development that will utilise available local raw materials and other contents.

    The various states should be made less dependent on statutory allocations from the Federation Account and concentrate on other areas of revenue-generation. This is time to plan for Niger Delta after oil.

    I also want the administration to ensure the proper monitoring of the activities of oil companies to control the recklessness associated with oil exploration and exploitation as most of the past spills and other ecological disasters have either been as a result of poor regulation or none at all.

    Given the success of Indorama Eleme Petrochemicals, more investment should be encouraged in the area of petro-chemicals and agro-allied industries.

    And to governors in the region, it is time to collaborate to realise their goals through judicious deployment of the region’s oil earnings to ensure a seamless transition from huge allocations to none at all.

    My final take: It is only when the welfare of the people of the Niger Delta becomes the utmost concern of leaders at the federal, states and local government levels that those years of marginalisation, lack of representation, physical development and exploitation can be reversed. With opportunities for all, dissent and rancour will be banished.

    The region sure needs leadership that thinks years ahead of its contemporaries to bring enduring succour and satisfaction to the people and extricate them from crass poverty, hunger, under-development and want.

     

  • Lawmaker aids Niger farmers

    A member of the House of Representatives Honourable Lado Suleja representing Suleja/Gurara/Tafa, Niger State, has distributed five trailer-loads of fertilizers and others farm inputs to growers in his constituency.

    This, he said, will help them provide food for the constituency.

    Lado said the distribution would be done ward by ward and by elders and traditional leaders in each ward.

    According to him, the gesture is part of his representation to the people and an oversight function towards ensuring that what is meant for his constituency is channeled to them at the right time.

    “Suleja has always been [excluded] in the past, allocations were usually made but there will be no implementation. I am representing my people to ensure that what belongs to them is given to them and I am going to sustain it until 2019.”

    The lawmaker, who is the National Coordinator of Gwari Youth Forum disclosed that about 30 communities in his constituency would soon be electrified as 24 transformers will be delivered to his constituency.

    He warned the people not to sell the farm implements and ptoducts urging them to use it judiciously while pleading for patience as there was enough to go round.

    Lado stated that his priority to the people shall be on health, education and agriculture with more attention to be focused on children of the masses adding that in the past one year, he has provided basic amenities in his constituency and empowered over 4000 people on entrepreneurial skills.

    According to him, 17 people will soon be sponsored to Cairo to study while six girls will be sent to Sudan to study medicine, adding that plans are underway to help traditional leaders in his constituency.

    He urged the people to have patience with the present administration as things will get better with time.

    Speaking on behalf of the chairmen of the three local government areas that constitute the constituency, the local government Chairman of Tafa, Ado Abubakar commended the legislator for his gesture adding that it will go a long way in assuaging the sufferings of the people.

    He promised that the constituents will make judicious use of the fertilizers and farming implements and products assuring that the local government chairmen will walk in his path in putting up relevant programmes that will touch the lives of the people.

    Items distributed freely to the farmers include fertilizers, seedlings, wheel barrows, insecticides, high grade farming implements and sprayers.

     

  • Niger ends sales monopoly of state oil firm

    Niger’s oil refinery, Soraz, can start selling petroleum products, ending a monopoly held since 2011 by state oil products company Sonidep, according to a government document.

    Soraz is a joint venture between the government and China National Petroleum Corporation, which owns 60 percent, Reuters reported.

    It processes some 12,000 to 16,000 barrels per day, offering Niger’s only large-scale means of transforming crude oil into petroleum products such as gasoline.

    “Soraz and Sonidep are authorized to jointly export refined products. After meeting domestic needs, the excess production will be split 50-50 between the companies,” Reuters quoted Energy Minister, Foumakoye Gado, as saying in a letter to the Minister of Commerce.

  • Niger residents groan as water scarcity worsens

    Life’s most precious liquid has been hard to come by in Niger State for weeks and there is little sign that the worst is over. Residents have been groaning as a result.

    Water boreholes have hardly made any difference because there has been no electricity to power them. There has been little or no supply of water from the state water board; when the board does pump water, only about 30 per cent of residents manage to get it.

    Even the Mai Ruwa or water vendors, who usually push their trucks about, are hard to come by; when they are seen, their fees are exorbitant.

    Members of the state House of Assembly have expressed concern over the development. The legislators urged the state government to do something and provide the people with water. They also asked for the upgrade of the water board.

    The call was made following a motion moved by the member representing Bosso Constituency, Hon Madaki Malik Bosso urging the state government to work in improving water supply in the state.

    Bosso noted that the supply of adequate water in the state has completely deteriorated adding that a lot of areas have been completely cut off from water supply.

    He added that the state water board which is supposed to supply the state with water has been commercialised as private water tankers who buy from the board and sell to residences at exorbitant prices adding that the water board needs a complete overhaul of equipments to meet up with the increasing expansion and populace of the state.

    He said, “It is pathetic to see people going up and down searching for water, even the truck pushers are not easily accessible. People hardly get water to drink, cook and bathe.

    “Government must make sure that the needs of the citizens are catered for. Water is first before anything. That is what prompted me to bring out the motion. Government have to find a lasting solution to water in the state.”

    After deliberation, the Legislators urged the government to direct the water board to engage their water tankers to supply water on regular basis at subsidised rate to people in the state while stressing on the need for the government to extend the ongoing water project in the state to meet up with adequate water supply.

     

  • Poor compliance in Ibadan, Warri, Niger, Jigawa

    Poor compliance in Ibadan, Warri, Niger, Jigawa

    THE nationwide strike called by a faction of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) failed in Oyo State yesterday as private sector workers were at their duty posts.

    In Ibadan, the state capital, most state and federal civil servants were in their offices.

    But there was a protest which started at the NLC secretariat, Agodi.

    The protesters displayed banners and placards condemning the price hike but did not harass those carrying out their businesses.

    Commercial transporters and other essential service providers opened for business. Banks and private schools were also open.

    At the Federal Secretariat, Agodi, over 60 per cent of workers reported for work. They carried out their duties till closing hour.

    The strike also failed to achieve significant success in Warri, Delta State.

    Although some labour bodies in the civil service, such as public schools and sections of the judiciary joined in the industrial action, normal businesses went on in other sectors of the economy.

    Secondary schools in Warri, such as the Urhobo College, joined in the strike but lecturers at the State University (DELSU) were still at work.

    In Niger State, workers defied the directive by opening their offices and businesses.

    At the state secretariat, Organised Labour locked the gate but it was forced opened by security agents.

    All offices opened with workers going about their duties.

    From ministries, schools to private establishments and market places, residents turned out in large numbers for their daily activities.

    Motor parks and some filling stations also opened for business.

    However, some organisations, such as the state radio corporation, were locked.

    The State NLC Chairman, Yahaya Idris Ndako, praised the workers, who obeyed  the strike.

    There was poor compliance in Jigawa State.

    In Dutse, the state capital, schools, banks, filling stations, markets and other public offices were open.

    The State NLC Chairman, Usman Ya’u, attributed the non-compliance to the inability to send the circular to appellate unions.

    Ya’u said: “We finished the National Executive Council meeting (NLC NEC meeting) at about 1am and we arrived the state at 6am, we gave an announcement before we sent the circular.

    “But now we have sent the circular to everyone and we have paid for public announcement on the radio. By today, we expect full compliance.”

    Workers’ apathy made the Anambra State NLC Leader, Jerry Nnubia, call for an emergency meeting, where it was decided that the strike continues today.

    But the state chairman of the Judicial Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN), Mark Ifezue, said they were not part of the strike.

    According to him, “we cannot go against the industrial court order. You can see that our members are in their offices.”

    Government businesses and commercial activities did not experience any halt and traders were seen carrying out their business at Muda Lawal, Central and Wunti markets in Bauchi State.

    Public and private sector workers in Kuje Areal Council, one of the six satellite towns of the Federal Capital Territory, (FCT), Abuja, defied the strike.

    Socio-economic activities also went on, with schools, banks, markets, hospitals and other businesses fully opened.

    Some civil servants said they would not join the strike because it would only aggravate current hardships in the country.

    In Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, the Trade Union Congress (TUC), commercial banks, Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) and transporters yesterday distanced themselves from the strike.

    Bank customers were seen moving in and out of banks within Ilorin metropolis while members of transport unions continue with their normal activities.

    But the state NLC shut many government establishments and schools across the state.

    Many government buildings including Governor’s Office, State Secretariat and Ministries were equally picketed by the labour leaders in the state to force workers to comply with the industrial action.

  • NDE empowers 430 after skills training in Niger

    NDE empowers 430 after skills training in Niger

    Four hundred and thirty persons, who received skills training have been empowered by the National Directorate of Employment (NDE).

    NDE Acting Director-General, Mr. Kunle Obayan made this known at the resettlement of graduates of the Vocational Skills Development (VSD) programme in Minna, the Niger State capital.

    He said the disbursement was in line with the plan to create mass employment for unskilled and unemployed Nigerians by the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration.

    Obayan said the desire of the NDE had always been to empower beneficiaries of its skills training programmes. He, however, lamented that this had been limited by the funds available to the directorate each year.

    He advised unskilled and unemployed young Nigerians to take advantage of the various programmes of the NDE to exit joblessness, assuring that the directorate would not relent in its efforts to assist young Nigerians to access decent jobs.

    The Director-General, New Partnership for Africa Development (NEPAD), Mr. Abdullahi Abubakar, said the empowerment of over 400 persons across the nation by the NDE was a step towards addressing the developmental challenge the nation was facing.

    He called on the beneficiaries to use what was given to them judiciously and urged the youth to discover their potentials.

    Abubakar said the state government is encouraging youths to go into business ventures as government alone could not provide jobs for all the unemployed youths in the state. He said the state government would roll out its programme for youth empowerment soon.

    The beneficiaries were given equipment for welding, electrical engineering, beads making, shoe making, fridge repair works, among others

  • Council autonomy takes off in Niger

    Council autonomy takes off in Niger

    Niger State may have made history by allowing local governments to determine what to do with their finanaces, reports JUSTINA ASISHANA

    Local governments in Niger State can now determine how to spend their cash, Governor Bello has said.

    This is memorable because councils are usually denied financial autonomy. Their cash is handed to them by the state governor and in many cases they are told what to or not to do with it.

    In Niger this has ended, with Governor Abubakar Bello saying  the state government will no longer interfere with councils’ finances.

    The directive took off from this month.

    “Beginning from May, the affairs of local government administration are in the hands of the local government,” the governor said. “Let each local government manage their affairs. I am not interested in local government funds; I have no need for them. Let the local government manage their wage bill and improve their Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).”

    He was speaking at a town-hall meeting before a motley crowd of political chieftains, businesspeople, Trade Union Council officers, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) representatives, youths and civil society organisations.

    The meeting was viewed as a success because it addressed the controversial state and local government joint account system. The governor finally gave autonomy to the local government areas in the state, giving them complete independence to run their finances and manage their wage bill the way they deem fit.

    He called the joint account a fraud, designed to punish the local government areas.

    Bello also lamented the high rate of ghost workers at the grassroots and hit out at his own team over alleged sharp practices.

    He said he was finding it difficult to trust people in his administration, alleging that most of them are after their own personal gains.

    Governor Bello recalled an instance when he said he asked one agency responsible for road repairs to work on the Minna-Suleja Road. In that encounter, he said he was given a bill of N1.8 billion but when he he asked a contractor to quote his bill for the same project, the contractor tendered only N400 million.

    “The same agency was asked to work on the Minna-Bida Road and we were given a bill of over N40 million while a contractor came with a bill of N15 million and we gave it to the contractor,” the governor said.

    “It is sad that this agency is part of my government. Where is the love, concern and patriotism? I have a burden I am carrying; I do not know who to trust. People who are supposed to work with me are the ones giving me false information. I do not know what to do. Government is not a business of one person, I cannot do the business alone but the people around me are here for something else.”

    The governor said that the past government may not have noticed because it had lots of funds to play with, adding that he noticed it because his government does not have any money.

    Governor Bello further predicted the economic crunch bedeviling the nation will bite harder in the next two months, adding that states will find it difficult to stay afloat.

    More states, he said, will end up not being able to pay salaries while those who manage to pay salaries will have difficulty having development projects that will impact on the people.

    He said he was equally worried by the situation where the entire revenue of a state goes into the payment of salaries, adding that the state is finding it difficult to borrow N400 million every month to augment civil servants wages as the money received from Federation Account is not enough to pay workers salary for one month

    He said, “We have seen the era when the oil rose to 140 dollars a barrel but what we have now is a situation where the entire revenue accruing to the state go straight to civil servants salary.

    “The entire population of civil servants in Niger State is not less than 30,000, and the allocation from FAAC [Federation Accounts Allocation Committee] to us is for over 4m people and it is being distributed among only the workers, which is a very serious situation. It means that there will be no developmental projects in the state.”

    He urged workers to tighten their belts for hard times ahead while promising to do his best for the people no matter the predicament.

    “Last month we borrowed to complete the salaries; this month will be worse and next month worst. Workers must endure with the government for in no distant time things will change for the better,” he said.

     

  • NDLEA fights youth addiction in Niger

    NDLEA fights youth addiction in Niger

    The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in Niger State has appealed to patent medicine dealers to join the agency in the fight against illicit traffic, sale and abuse of drugs.

    Of particular concern to the anti-drug agency is the increasing addiction of youths to drugs.

    The NDLEA State Commander, Mr Joseph Iweajunwa made the call at a sensitisation workshop the agency organised in conjunction with the National Association of Proprietary and Patent Medicine Dealers (NAPPMED) in the state.

    One of the problems facing humanity, he said, is the abuse and traffic of drugs, adding that no country is immune to the devastating consequences of drug abuse.

    He lamented that a large number of youths have become hooked on these drug, expressing concern over the new dimensions of abuse where psycho-active substances have become the drugs of choice.

    Iweajunwa said the workshop for NAPPMED members was necessary because the major source of abused substances especially Tramadol and cough syrups with codeine are the patent and proprietary medicine dealers.

    He intimated that NAPPMED need to put in place sanitising mechanism like a task force to ensure their members operate with the scope of their license as well as educating and sensitising its members on issues concerning their business.

    The NDLEA Commander said, “If the truth must be told, there is no other professional body that can carry out your role in the health delivery system of this nation. All we are asking is that you perform your statutory role in line with the rules and regulations guiding your license and profession.

    “It is only NAPPMED members that can reach out to every nook and cranny of this nation. Your members are the ones that are there for the poor masses. We all know that if your members decide to withdraw their services or go on strike even for one day, the nation may not survive the health crisis that will occur.

    “The reason we do business is to make profit but it is our social responsibility and morally imperative for us to consider the aspect of our actions on the mind and body of our people. A situation where we smile home with cash made from sales of psychotropic substances that have devastating effects on the people is totally unacceptable.”

    He then urged NAPPMED members to liaise with relevant law enforcement and regulatory agencies in carrying out their lawful business adding that nobody can ban them from practicing their lawful and statutory profession if it is done with their license.

    He then urged NAPPMED members to liaise with relevant law enforcement and regulatory agencies in carrying out their lawful business adding that nobody can ban them from practicing their lawful and statutory profession if it is done with their license.

    Giving the participants a lecture on “the role of patent medicine dealers in curbing illicit traffic, sale and abuse of controlled and psychotropic substances,” the NDLEA Deputy State Commander, Mr. Isaac Aloye disclosed that the commonly abused psychoactive drugs in Niger State include Valium, diazepam, rohynol, pemoline, Chinese capsules, nitrasepam, tramadol and cough syrup with codeine.

    He pointed out that the abusers of these drugs get them through the loose hands of private health centres and medicine stores, adding that the effects of drug abuse range from physical to social-political and economical which pose a serious health threat to human existence.

    They were also lectured on the various types of psychoactive drugs, how they can discern the signs of drug abuse and legal implications of illicit traffic and sale of controlled drugs.

  • Niger youths get N3.5m NDE grant

    The National Directorate of Employment (NDE) in Niger State has given N3.75 million to 25 youths trained in gardening and animal husbandry.

    The state NDE Coordinator, Mr Abdullahi Babamini Mohammed, an engineer, who released the information, said that each of the 25 youths was given N150,000 each to enable them start up their own farms.

    According to him, the Directorate last year trained 1000 youths in its four core programmes in 2015 adding that more will be trained this year to reduce the high rate of unemployed youths in the state.

    Mohammed who lamented on the unavailability of soft loans for trainees called on the federal government and philanthropists to provide soft loans to enable these trainees start up their own businesses.

    “There are a lot of youths who do not maximize the knowledge they get. This is one of our challenges. We need to equip them to work. NDE can only resettle 10 per cent of the population we train. We want the state government and other philanthropists to come to our aid in resettling the trainees by providing them with soft loans and connect them to SMEs and cooperatives.”

    He then stated that the Directorate is currently giving coaching lessons to 48 secondary school graduates who failed their WAEC and NECO last year giving them a second chance to make their papers.

    He said that this will give them an opportunity to pass the examination with flying colors this year adding that the Directorate was encouraged to conduct the coaching classes due to the 80 per cent success it recorded in the pilot scheme last year.

    “The training which is very intensive is free of charge and has skilled hands to ensure that these youths do not fail these examinations again.”