The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Nigeria News

  • 41% of firms generate own power, says NESG

    41% of firms generate own power, says NESG

    Despite improved power supply, 41 per cent of businesses still generate their own electricity, while 56 per cent don’t have access to electricity, the Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG) said yesterday.

    Speaking at the opening ceremony of the 21st Nigerian Economic Summit, NESG Chairman, Kyari Bukar, also advocated the immediate passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) into law by the National Assembly, pointing out that the bill contained provisions that will transform the oil and gas sector.

    While lauding President Muhammdu Buhari for the improvement in power supply, he said the country faces significant challenges in developing a stable business environment as she ranked 170 out of 189 countries the World Bank is doing business with.

    He said: “As an emerging nation with developing institutions and structures, Nigeria faces significant challenges in developing a stable business environment as she ranked 170th out of the 189 nations the World Bank is busy doing business with.

    The security situation has made that challenge more pronounced despite some successes against Boko Haram in the Northeast. In that part of the country, security is a major challenge.

    “We acknowledge the significant improvement recorded in the power sector since the inception of this administration. This administration has demonstrated a rare dedication and determination in providing a stable and constant power supply to all Nigerians.

    READ ALSO: Nigerian Economic Summit Group nominates NCC DG on steering committee

    “Power generation has, for the first time in Nigeria risen to an all time high as a result of efforts at tackling corruption, fixing the ailing facilities of the transmission companies, stable gas supply and tackling vandalism. All these improvement are laudable and are merely the beginning if the desired change required in the power sector.

    “As at today, over 56 per cent of Nigerians have no access to electricity and those who are connected to the grid faces substantial power disruption. An estimated 41 per cent of Nigerian businesses generate their own power supply.

    Nigeria ranked far behind other developing nations in terms of electricity consumption.

    “We commend the present government for ongoing restructuring of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). However, for the fourth year running, we must appeal to our legislators to work on the PIB and bring it to a positive conclusion.

    “This bill contains provisions that will redefine and change the oil and gas sector and line with the philosophy of the NESG to turn the NNPC into a fully commercial enterprise and so, cease to be a wholly runned government enterprise.

  • Why I hate wedding vows

    Why I hate wedding vows

    Anyone who knows me knows that I have a love-war relationship with weddings. After all it is the happiest day of a couples life, a day where everyone can get together in smiling faces and their best Aso Ebi’s (that they will probably never wear again), a day where the pastor will bless the wedding and give stories of why the couple should stay together, for better, for worse, in sickness and in health, till death do us part!

    And here in lies my issue with weddings. They give…in fact everybody gives the image of the permanency of marriage, that divorce is a sin, that you should do all you can do to stay in your marriage, that there is no reason on the face of the earth why you should leave your man or woman, except death separates you.

    And sometimes death does occur. It might not be the physical death, but most of the times it is emotional death. Psychological death.

    Situations where a husband (mostly) turns his wife into a punching bag…but she does not leave, because of the vow…that vow. The better or for worse vow, then he beats her till she is almost sick, but she does not leave, because of the in sickness and in health vow, then he brutalizes her, almost defaces her, scars and in some cases kills her, and that is when she eventually leaves, till death to us part. But by then it is too late…

    You see women; have been brought up to believe the permanency of marriage. And for the most part, especially in my country, they live out their wedding vows.

    But what if we change the wedding vows? What if the Pastor changes his or her message? What if the pastor speaks the truth and lets the woman know that there are indeed times…times when she has to run for life, times when she has to take the kids away from the home and never bring them back. What if the pastor spoke about these things, not just in pulpit, but in the wedding vows? What if a woman was allowed to vow on her wedding:

    To have and to hold, in sickness and in health, unless you become a psychotic and deranged wife beater…then I vow to leave your ass!

    What if?

    I tell you what if, I believe more women around the world will know that they can leave marriages when it turns for the worse. And contrary to the naysayers, it will not proliferate a mass binge of divorces across the nation. It will actually make marriages better, because the men know now that they have to step up and that their wives are not going to be there regardless.

     Ofili writes from Lagos.

  • The Nation thanks God for ‘special year’

    The Nation thanks God for ‘special year’

    Members of the staff of Vintage Press Limited, publishers of The Nation and Sporting Life, were ecstatic yesterday as the management held a special end-of-year interdenominational thanksgiving service.

    The quadrangle at the company’s premises was saturated with “anointing” from respectable clerics, who joined the the employees to give thanks to God for “a special year.”

    The thanksgiving followed the resounding achievements of the company last year.

    The Nation and Sporting Life shone at the Diamond Awards for Media Excellence (DAME), Sports Business/Media Award, Nigerian Media Merit Awards (NMMA) and PEARL Awards among others.

    The Nation is the Newspaper of the Year at the NMMA. It won five others, including Editor of the Year, Editorial writing of the Year and three individual awards.

    The service began with the a praise and worship session led by Olawale Olugbayibi, a store keeper and Moses Emorinken, the Personal Assistant to the Managing Director.

    The duo anchored the over two-hour spiritual-filled service, which featured special prayers, various hymns and a sermon.

    Editorial Page Editor Sanya Oni led the opening prayer. General Manager, Training and Development Pastor Soji Omotunde delivered the welcome address.

    Pastor Omotunde described the year as “special” for the company.

    He said: “It is great to witness this moment. Within seven years of its creation, our newspaper claimed Newspaper of the Year prize. Some newspapers are now envious of us because of our achievements.”

    He urged workers to put in more efforts to sustain the position.

    “God has placed us in the number one position. We should not go back; we are working towards sustaining that position,” he said.

    Urging the staff to be godly, Omotunde prayed that the company and its workers will “overflow” to 2014 by God’s grace.

    Deputy Chairman Editorial Board Tunji Adegboyega, who said a special prayer, thanked God for the company’s achievements.

    Pastor Steve Bulugbe, who ministered, said God had been wonderful in the last seven years.

    Quoting several lines from the Bible, the cleric said there was need for gratitude for whatever God had done.

    According to him, if an organisation deems it fit to thank God, He would bless it the more.

    Prophesying that the level of everyone present will change, his prayer received a thunderous “Amen”.

    Thanksgiving, Pastor Bulugbe said, is commanded by God.

    “Thanksgiving is the will of God to man; it is better to do God’s will . Every obstacle in front of The Nation shall be divided,” Pastor Bulugbe said and the gathering yelled ‘Amen’.

  • Pointless single term controversy

    Neither the Senate nor its Constitution Review Committee has confirmed the veracity of the presidential and governorship tenure proposal reportedly under consideration. But since the speculated recommendation on tenure has not been refuted, it is fair to make a tentative comment on it. Last week, newspapers reported that the Senate committee was toying with the idea of recommending a six-year single term for the executive arm of government. The suggested tenure, the reports indicated, would take effect from 2015, and would bar the present set of executives from benefiting from it. By their interpretation of the Senate proposal, the media conclude neither the president nor governors whose term in office would expire in 2015 would be eligible for re-election.

    Though the Senate has not published the final details of its review proposals, the snippets published so far present a basis for animated discussions. Assuming the interpretations of the proposals are accurate, it is hard to see how the Senate can push the provision on tenure through the legislative process. Quite apart from the din it would raise among President Goodluck Jonathan’s supporters, and considering how severely it would abridge their plans for re-election or extended tenure, the proposal stands on very leprous legal legs. When the present set of executives vied for elective posts, it was on the legal and constitutional understanding that those entitled to a second term would exercise their rights to vie for the same office if they wish. No constitutional or legal provision could justify a change of goal post midway into their tenure. Nor is it likely a court could be found to sustain the Senate’s tenure proposal even if it were to be adopted.

    If newspaper reports are accurate, there are indications the president and his men may be rallying against the Senate’s tenure proposal. This is a waste of time and resources. They should understand that the proposal can only stand if it is not applicable to current office holders. Sitting president and governors took office under the 1999 constitution; they will, therefore, exercise their right to seek re-election if they have served only one term. Notwithstanding, the Senate proposal must be seen in the context of the feverish manoeuvres triggered by the president himself when, barely one year into his first term, he began to toy with the idea of a seven-year single term proposal. It was not clear why he embraced that astonishing idea, but many analysts believed it was a selfish ploy to help him navigate the maze around his completion of his predecessor’s unfinished first term.

    The country must, however, not be held to ransom by the president’s and Senate’s tenure intrigues. Proposing changes to the subsisting tenure provision is a misdirected effort and a gross misreading of the political problems of the country. The president’s argument that a seven-year single term provision would eliminate the problems associated with re-election battles and curb the huge cost of seeking a second mandate is as untenable as it is a needless distraction. Re-election battles are doubtless costly and sometimes destabilising, but the need to seek a fresh mandate generally restrains the executive’s dictatorial tendency and gives the public a fail-safe option to throw out an incompetent government before irreversible damage is done. A six-year or seven-year single term is as prone to mindless abuse as any other tenure system. Imagine, for instance, being stuck with an incompetent and dictatorial government for six or seven years instead of four.

    The problem with Nigeria is not its tenure system. While it is okay to review the constitution in some respects, it must not be forgotten that the past 14 years of the Fourth Republic witnessed unrestrained manipulation of the system by a few self-appointed kingmakers who have neither the moral compass nor the democratic credentials to make the constitution, as defective as it is in some aspects, to work. Even if the tenure system were to be reworked and eventually adopted, as long as the said manipulators still have free rein, the system would continue to be undermined.

  • One child dies every 60 sec of malaria

    One child dies every 60 sec of malaria

    

    People across the globe are taking part in World Malaria Day on 25 April
    
2013. Malaria affects and kills millions of people worldwide. In Africa,
    
approximately one child will die every minute ranking malaria as one of the
    
top 3 disease killers.
    

    Throughout the world, 90 percent of all malaria deaths occur in pregnant
    
women and children under the age of five. The World Malaria Report 2011
    
reported an estimated 655,000 people died in 2010.
    

    Even when the disease doesn’t kill, it still can wreak havoc on
    
overburdened communities, governing bodies and economies in malaria-endemic
    
countries. Malaria often affects school and work attendance, decreases
    
worker productivity and drains household resources as families struggle to
    
pay for treatments.
    

    In Africa, malaria deaths have been cut by one third in the last 10 years.
    
Malaria was once found on every continent and in almost every country. 35
    
out of the 53 affected countries outside of Africa have reduced malaria
    
cases by 50 percent in the same time period. Investments have created more
    
than 90 countries malaria-free and another 26 nearly achieving a similar
    
status.
    

    Despite the improvements, significant concerns are upon the horizon.
    
Financial support and control initiatives for malaria are now beginning to
    
fade. Sadly, the global economic recession is tightening budgets of
    
individuals, governments and NGOs. Once earmarked malaria dollars are now
    
being spread out to help combat non-communicable, lifestyle-induced
    
conditions such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity and cancer.
    

    Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) have been referenced by sensational
    
healthcare professionals as ‘diseases for dummies’. However untrue, the
    
skyrocketing rates of these mainly personal choice, lifestyle-induced
    
conditions are affecting the funding to non-lifestyle, communicable
    
diseases such as malaria.
    

    Essentially, high-risk, poverty-stricken pregnant women and children could
    
be suffering from malaria further due to potentially unnecessary healthcare
    
funding being distributed to the middle-to-upper classes for preventable
    
NCDs. The negative health outcomes of poor choices of those with money are
    
starting to cost more than the lack of choices of the world’s poorest.
    

    To complicate the problem, drug-resistant strains of malaria are now
    
surfacing in high-risk populations of the world as well. In 2012,
    
researchers found that the most effective drugs are becoming less effective
    
and over 20 percent of patients have begun to show treatment resistance.
    

    Therefore now is the time for the malaria community to regroup, reenergize
    
and look for new innovative ways to prevent the resurgence of malaria.
    
Further investments and a strong defensive strategy must center on
    
prevention and not just the treatment of malaria.
    

    Prevention provides tools that enable families and employees to protect
    
themselves against malaria and its effects. Such interventions may seem
    
costly at first, but the long-term health and economic benefits far
    
outweighs the cost of treatments.
    

    As a basic guideline for protection against malaria, United Against Malaria
    
recommends having at least two long-lasting insecticide-treated nets in a
    
household. These nets will typically provide two to five years of
    
protection for a family. The level of protection is based on the size of
    
the family, the type of net, the number of washings and the degree of care
    
given.
    

    Insecticides used in indoor residual spraying (IRS) are safe for humans but
    
lethal to mosquitoes that land on walls within the structure. IRS has been
    
shown to significantly decrease mosquito and larvae populations, especially
    
in communities where stagnant water are present, such as those near mines,
    
farms or brick-making operations.
    

    Dr. Cory Couillard is an international healthcare speaker and columnist for
    
numerous newspapers, magazines, websites and publications throughout the
    
world. He works in collaboration with the World Health Organization’s goals
    
of disease prevention and global healthcare education. Views do not
    
necessarily reflect endorsement.
    

    Email: drcorycouillard@gmail.com
    

    Facebook: Dr Cory Couillard
    

    Twitter: DrCoryCouillard
    

    
			
    
		
    
		
	
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    12 shocking facts about Nigeria
    
			
    12 shocking facts about Nigeria
    
			
    Some years ago, a brilliant lecturer of mine (now late) said something about Nigeria that I waved aside as an exaggerated expression of patriotism. He told my class then that he had travelled to many places in the world and had finally come to the conclusion that Nigeria is the most blessed nation on the planet. I knew Nigeria was blessed but I couldn’t understand how he could boldly claim that top position for Nigeria: yes we have oil, gas, landmass–in fact, abundant natural and human resources, but was that enough?
    

    Fast-forward to September, 2011. By this time, my doubt had given rise to a burning desire to know the specific things that make us great as a nation–that make us the most blessed people on earth. I felt if I did find these specific facts, they would need to be shared with Nigerians and the world in spectacular ways. To achieve this aim, I discussed the idea with my friend, George Okewih, and our subsequent brainstorming led to the birth of The Green Heritage page on Facebook to promote our cultural and natural heritage to Nigerians and the world. It’s been eighteen months of rigorous research since, and now I am convinced that my late lecturer was right.
    

    Here are some facts from our common heritage that should make you proud to be called a Nigerian:
    

    1. Nigeria is home to seven percent (7%) of the total languages spoken on earth. Taraba state alone has more languages than 30 African countries. The importance of this fact is appreciated when one understands that language is the “soul of culture” (as Ngugi wa Thiongo famously said). It is language that births the proverbs, riddles, stories and other aspects of culture that give us identity. UNESCO puts forward that the world’s languages represents an extraordinary wealth of creativity. Linguistic diversity correlates with cultural diversity. This means Nigeria can look inwards and drive itself to become the greatest hub for cultural tourism on earth, and consequently empower its citizens tremendously in the process.
    

    2. The Walls of Benin (800-1400AD), in present day Edo State, are the longest ancient earthworks in the world, and probably the largest man-made structure on earth. They enclose 6500 square kilometers of community lands that connected about 500 communities. At over 16000km long, it was thought to be twice the length of the Great Wall of China, until it was announced in 2012 (after five years of meticulous measurement by Chinese surveyors) that the Great Wall is about 21,000km long.
    

    3. The Yoruba tribe has the highest rate of twin births in the world. Igbo-Ora, a little town in Oyo state, has been nicknamed Twin capital of the World because of its unusually high rate of twins that is put as high as 158 twins per 1000 births. In a video I watched last year on YouTube presented by Titi (a white lady who speaks Yoruba), and which was centred on twin births in Igbo-Ora, one of the locals boasted that every family in the town has at least one twin!
    

    4. Sarki Muhammad Kanta The Great of Kebbi, was the only ruler who resisted control by Songhai, West Africa’s greatest empire at that time. He founded and ruled the Hausa city-state of Kebbi around 1600 A.D and built Surame its capital, a planned city which was almost impossible to penetrate during war. In fact UNESCO describes Surame as “one of the wonders of human history, creativity and ingenuity”, and probably the most massive stone-walled constructions in West Africa. He is listed in Robin Walker’s 50 Greatest Africans.
    

    5. Africa’s oldest known boat is The Dufuna canoe which was discovered in Dufuna village, Yobe state, by a Fulani Herdsman in May 1987, while he dug a well. Various radio-carbon tests conducted in laboratories of reputable universities in Europe and America indicate that the canoe is over 8,000 years old, thus making it the oldest in Africa and 3rd oldest in the world. The discovery of the canoe has completely changed accepted theories of the history and sophistication of marine technology in Africa.
    

    6. Sungbo’s Eredo, a 160 km rampart equipped with guard houses and moats, is reputed to be the largest single pre-colonial monument (or ancient fortification if you like) in Africa. It is located in present-day Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State and when it was built a millennium ago, it required more earth to be moved during construction than that used for building the Great Pyramid of Giza (one of the Seven Wonders of The Ancient World). The most astonishing thing is that Sungbo’s Eredo was the biggest city in the world (bigger than Rome and Cairo) during the Middle Ages when it was built!
    

    7. Sarki Abdullah Burja of Kano (ruled 1438-1452 AD), the 18th ruler of Ancient Kano, created the first Golden Age in Northern Nigeria and ushered in a period of great prosperity. During his reign, Hausa became the biggest indigenous language spoken in Africa after Swahili. He is on the list of 50
    

    Greatest Africans in Robin Walker’s wonderful book, “When We Ruled”.
    

    8. The Jos Plateau Indigobird, a small reddish-brown bird, is found nowhere else on the planet but Plateau state, Nigeria.
    

    9. The Anambra waxbill, a small bird of many beautiful colours, is found only in Southern Nigeria and nowhere else on earth.
    

    10. The Niger Delta (which is the second largest delta on the planet), has the highest concentration of monotypic fish families in the world, and is
    

    also home to sixty percent of Nigeria’s mangrove forests. You should know too that Nigeria’s mangrove forests are the largest in Africa and third largest on earth.
    

    11. According to the World Resources Institute, Nigeria is home to 4,715 different types of plant species, and over 550 species of breeding birds and mammals, making it one of the most ecologically vibrant places of the planet.
    

    12. Ile-Ife, in present day Osun State, was paved as early as 1000AD, with decorations that originated from Ancient America suggesting there might have been contact between the Yorubas and the Ancient Americans half a millenium before Columbus ‘discovered’ America.
    

    Now, what if we tell you seventy-five other amazing facts about Nigeria that The Green Heritage has discovered over the past eighteen months? Would you not be thrilled to watch a movie that resurrects and projects, in stunning visuals, the historical, cultural and natural heritage of Nigeria? This is the idea behind the movie project titled, “The Green Heritage 3D: 87 Marvels From Nigeria”. And the ball has begun rolling. A teaser that demonstrates some of the advanced 3D modelling and animation that would be partly employed to recreate parts of our heritage and project it to the world, has been uploaded on our YouTube channel. With a talented team of young Nigerian writers, programmers, artists, architects and producers, all given visual life to a massive amount of research about and for Nigeria, you can rest assured that this might just be the most important movie of our generation, from Nigeria.
    

    Samuel Okopi is the writer/director of The Green Heritage 3D: 87 Marvels, From Nigeria. He can be reached on 08066037453.
    

    Watch the teaser on YouTube: www.youtube.com/TheGreenHeritage
    

    Direct link to teaser: http://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=plcp&v=UMzNjVE6aKU
    

    Join The Green Heritage on Facebook: www.facebook.com/TheGreenHeritage
    

    
			
    
		
    
		
	
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    TUC rejects Fed Govt’s circular on minimum wage implementation
    
			
    The Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) has accused the Federal Government of betrayal of trust over the implementation of the new national minimum wage.
    

    In a statement by its President, Quadri Olaleye and Secretary-General, Musa-Lawal Ozigi, the congress said it was rejecting the recent circular by the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission on the implementation of the new minimum wage.
    

    It claimed that the government was trying to use backyard tactics to avoid labour action.
    

    TUC warned that it would not accept anything that negates the reason for setting up the minimum wage committee.
    

    The statement reads: “We have read with concern the circular released by Chief R. O. Egbule, the Executive Chairman of the National Minimum Wage Committee, set up by the Federal Government to work out the consequential adjustment arising from the wage increase.
    

    “Let it be known that this circular is unacceptable to us because it contradicts the raison d’etre for setting up the committee. We consider this as a smart move on the part of government to discourage labour action. The TUC is not fooled.
    

    “The congress views this latest move as a betrayal of the trust reposed on the Federal Government. We wonder why anything that has labour undertone becomes the issue of rejection by government.
    

    “By this circular, the government is testing the patience of the workers, and we assure them that they either go to the negotiating table to complete the assignment or risk the wrath of the workers.
    

    “It will be recalled that recently the newly inaugurated green and red chambers of the National Assembly were showered with billions of naira at a time government is playing games with the minimum wage. The organised labour should not be blamed for any consequential action arising from non-implementation of the minimum wage. To be forewarned is to be forearmed.”