The Nation Newspaper

Tag: threaten

  • Underpayment, foreign incursion threaten service providers

    Providers of value added services (VAS), which ride on the network of mobile service providers, have decried the unjust treatment being meted out to them by the big operators who, they said, exploit them by paying pittance for their services.

    They have also warned that they may become extinct if urgent steps are not taken by the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) to stop foreigners that take advantage of the ‘porous system’ of the country to do illegal business in the country.

    Acting under the aegis of Wireless Applications Service Providers Association of Nigeria (WASPAN), the group also blamed ‘rogue service providers’ for the flurry of unsolicited text messages and fraudulent deductions of subscribers’ money for services not rendered.

    Its National Coordinating Consultant, Simon Aderinlola, who spoke on the sideline during a stakeholders’ meeting with the NCC in Lagos, lamented that VAS providers work like elephants and eat like ants, arguing that since it is a commercial issue, the big telcos must bring good conscience to bear in dealing with them by not paying adequately for service rendered but by paying as at when due.

    He said a situation where value added service providers (VASP) research into, design, test and roll out services that eventually costs N100 per download on the networks of the big telcos and they are allowed to go home with only N20 is oppressive smack of immorality. He urged the NCC to look into it.

    Assistant Director, Legal and Regulatory Services, NCC, Mrs Yetunde Akinloye, said the regulator cannot do anything in that respect since the matter is basically a commercial agreement between the WASPAN and the mobile network operators (MNOs), adding that NCC does not regulate morality.

    Aderinlola said: “Tthere is no hard and fast rule as regards the commercials. We noted position of the NCC that it does not dabble into commercial agreements. We are however asking them to look at things from the moral angle which is just reasonable. This mean that if I am the one that actually created the service, I did the research for the service, I designed and tested the service, I have workers that I am paying to be able to make the service work, then eventually I launch the service in the market and maybe I am selling each download for N100. Why should I after all that efforts begin to earn N20? We are just saying:  put yourself in our shoes. Does that make sense?

    “Remember when this thing started about 10 year or there about ago, we were on 60 per cent and we were even saying this is not good enough. Today, we are being pushed down towards 20 or 15 per cent. So, we are simply saying ok, you are looking at certain aspects of regulating us, what about this aspect? What if we die, who will you regulate? That is what we are saying.”

    He said the threat posed by foreign incursions into the business is real. According to him, foreigners that are not licensed to provide VAS usually take advantage of the loose system, adding that when they are eventually caught, they open office in the country, employ a decoy and stay outside to do all sorts of business.

    He said when they come with juicy business proposals and they are allowed to operate and when they are caught, they feign ignorance about the requirements, adding that requirements for licensing are usually less stringent.

    “When they hear the NCC say don’t you know you need to have a VAS license and the guy says: what are the requirements to have a VAS licence? And you give him and he looks at it ok: CAC registration; I must have an office; I should be able to show this or that. Some of them just decided to quickly employ a local worker. So, they look at the rules and suddenly set up something, so you have a satellite office, a pipe internationally, doing all sorts of things.

    “What they would have done from outside, they will just employ a person like me bearing Segun and I own a small office somewhere and doing all sorts of things. The Commission has been informed about this kind of activities, sometimes we identify them and pass it on to them and we are really trusting that some work has been done. Like I said, this type of session will go a long way to addressing the challenges,” he said.

  • Police invade Edo assembly, threaten to shoot speaker

    Police invade Edo assembly, threaten to shoot speaker

    •We’re ready to die –Speaker •Action meant to prevent clash –Police

    There was chaos at the premises of the Edo State House of Assembly, located at the Oba Ovonramwen Square, when about 50 armed mobile policemen stormed the assembly complex in a commando style and chased the workers away.

    Some of the workers hired to carry out renovation work, including the removal of the assembly roof, were beaten up and asked to lie down.

    The assembly staffers who heard of the invasion ran out of their offices and were ordered to leave vacate the complex.

    The workers were allowed to hurriedly drive their vehicles away.

    Many of the workers said they did not lock their offices or switch-off appliances when the policemen stormed the assembly complex.

    The policemen were led by an Assistant Superintendent of Police, Florence Joseph.

    The Speaker, Uyi Igbe and other lawmakers who were at the assembly premises had a shouting match with the policemen, but ASP Florence insisted that they must leave the premises.

    She shouted, “Why are you carrying out renovation work? I am doing my job here and all of you must leave.”

    The ASP later sprayed substance believed to be tear gas on Speaker Igbe and other lawmakers.

    She snatched a camera of a local television station and also pursued some journalists around to prevent them from recording the fracas.

    Another policeman said, “Where were you people when we were fighting for the unity of this country.”

    In the fracas that ensued, a policeman cocked his gun on the Speaker, who dared him to shoot.

    The lawmakers blocked the gate and insisted that the policemen would not leave until they revealed who sent them.

    The Chairman, House Committee on Information, Youths and Sports, Kabiru Adjoto, said the Police Commissioner and Assistant Inspector General of Police in charge of Zone 5 denied knowledge of the presence of the policemen.

    He said, “We are going to defend our ground to the last. The last they can do is to kill us. The police have said they will aid the PDP lawmakers to come here to sit on Monday.

    “We are warning and not appealing to the IG to maintain peace in Edo. Mr. President should call his men to order. They cannot kill Edo people. The multiplier effect will be more than what happen in Normandy landing in Germany. Let the police come here on Monday with their rifles. These are rifles they were supposed to take to Sambisa forest to rescue of our girls but they are here intimidating people.

    “They should go to free our girls if they are so powerful, they should go to where militants are killing. We will not allow it. We are going to use the power of the people to defeat the police and the PDP. Governor Oshiomhole should find out where the policemen come from as the chief security officer of the state.

    Speaker Uyi Igbe said said the action showed that the Nigeria police was working for the PDP, saying, “the PDP lawmakers were called here by the police.”

    “The PDP lawmakers want to forcibly gain entry into one of the rooms and we are telling them it is not possible for them to come in here and attempt to sit. We will rise against it and defend ourselves without our security. Our blood will spill on this matter because we know we are on the right. They have threatened to kill me and on Monday will be the right time.”

    Impeached Deputy Speaker, Festua Ebea, who led other PDP lawmakers to the assembly premises, described the removal of the roof as executive brigandage of the APC.

    Ebea said the roof was replaced last year and that no budgetary provision was made for the on-going renovation work at the assembly complex.

    He said, “I am the chairman, Tender Board. Nobody ever reached me that we are doing renovation work. It is executive lawlessness which Oshiomhole has turned the state into. This is pure wastage of tax payers money. This is brigandage, outright stealing and wastage. All these things are being done to prevent us from sitting here on Monday. Whoever they award this contract to should go and fix them back.”

    Police Commissioner, Foluso Adebanjo, said the police were deployed to stop the renovation work to prevent possible clash between PDP and APC supporters.

    Adebanjo disclosed that security report indicated that PDP supporters were mobilizing to attack and stop the work, while APC supporters were also mobilizing to prevent them.

    He said the action was to prevent the destruction of properties in the state, and vowed not to allow any blood to be shed in the state.

  • ‘Foreign ICT vendors threaten national security’

    The dominance of foreign information communication technology (ICT) vendors in Nigeria is capable of undermining thenational security, the Nigerian Communications Satellite (NigComSat) Limited has warned.

    Its board chairman and former Minister of Science and Technology, Prof. Turner Isoun, who spoke in Abuja shortly after the board meeting, frowned at the trend, arguing that when foreign equipment vendors propose and supply security solutions to the nation’s security, para-military and critical infrastructure bodies, it portends serious threats to national security.

    Isoun warned that the practice exposes the nation “to a myriad of potential security threats from otherwise restricted data being exposed to numerous vendors’’. “This predicament is particularly worrisome not only because of the state of national insecurity but also because NigComSat Limited is the only government agency mandated to act as a clearing house and solution provider for security related ICT solutions to Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and institutions.”

    According to a statement endorsed by its head, Corporate Communications, Sonny Aragba-Akpore, the board chairman said NigComSat Limited currently manages the National Public Safety Communications Systems (NPSCS), a national safety network, adding that a network upgrade has already commenced on the infrastructure.

    Isoun said the move is to protect the nation’s territorial borders and other key infrastructure such as oil and gas pipelines.

    “All government agencies should direct their ICT needs to NigComSat Limited or through the Federal Ministry of Communications Technology within the next four weeks,” he directed, adding state governments “who are interested in providing security solutions for their respective states should liaise with NigComSat Limited for effective planning and integration into the NPSCS”.

  • Fed tapering could threaten Africa’s growth, says World Bank

    Fed tapering could threaten Africa’s growth, says World Bank

    • Boko Haram threat to growth

    Tighter global financing conditions, declining commodity prices and political unrest could weaken growth prospects in sub-Saharan Africa, according to the World Bank.

    Bloomberg said: ”The tapering of asset purchases by the Federal Reserve is expected to lead to a rise in base interest rates and spreads,” the Washington-based lender said in its Global Economic Prospects report released yesterday. “South Africa, which has strong links with global financial markets, is particularly vulnerable to sudden stops of capital,” it said.

    South Africa relies on portfolio inflows to help finance the gap on its current account, which widened to 6.8 percent of gross domestic product in the third quarter. The Fed’s monetary stimulus program has also helped to prop up emerging-market currencies like the rand since 2009.

    Concern that it may be withdrawn helped push the South African currency down 19 per cent against the dollar in 2013, the worst performer among the 16 major currencies tracked by Bloomberg.

    A protracted decline in commodity prices due to increased output and weaker demand could shave up to 3.8 percentage points off growth for oil exporters whose economies aren’t very diversified, like Angola and Gabon, the World Bank said.

    The bank cut its growth estimate for the region for 2013 to 4.7 per cent from 4.9 percent, and kept its forecast for this year unchanged at 5.3 percent. Excluding South Africa, it expects growth of 6.4 per cent.

    Risks include the political instability in the Central African Republic, which could “deteriorate further with spillovers to neighboring countries,” while Nigeria’s battle against Islamist militants may also hurt economic growth, the World Bank said.

    South Africa’s economy probably grew 1.9 per cent last year, held back by labor disputes and weak demand for exports, the bank said. It predicts growth will accelerate to 2.7 per cent this year and 3.4 per cent in 2015.

  • Igbo youths threaten Jonathan’s 2015 ambition

    The crisis rocking the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), following the removal of the Pro-chancellor and Chairman of the Governing council, Dr. Emeka Enejere, has taken a new dimension.

    Igbo youths have sworn to work against the ambition of President Goodluck Jonathan in 2015 if the pro-chancellor is not reinstated.

    The youth are also unhappy with the position of the Igbo apex socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, on the issue.

    In a letter to the Ime Obi Ohanaeze under the aegis of Ohanaeze Ndigbo youth wing at the weekend, they called for the sack of the UNN Vice- Chancellor, Prof. Batho Okolo and his arrest and probe by anti-graft bodies.

    The letter was signed by the Ohanaeze youth wing leader, Ibuchukwu Nwodo.

    The youth urged the Supervising Minister for Education Nyesom Wike to recall Enejere.

    “Ohanaeze Ndigbo should, as a mater of urgency, stand up in defence of one of its own and make representations to the president.

    “If our demands are not met within one week, we will mobilise other youths and women across the country for a protest at the Federal Ministry of Education and the National Assembly,” they said.

    According to the letter, “we shall mobilise forces against the re-opening of UNN, an action, which may negatively affect other higher institutions.

    “We see what is happening at UNN as an act of insolence on the generality of Ndigbo, with the support of the Presidency. Therefore, we shall mobilise our members for a review of our political stand in 2015.”

  • Shortage of hands, loans threaten food security

    Shortage of hands, loans threaten food security

    Sustainable investment within the agric sector may be at risk as farmers cannot find enough hands to work on the farms.

    Acute shortage of labourers and farmers’ inability to raise loans from financial institutions to purchase agricultural input, are threatening food security.

    Speaking with The Nation, the Programme Coordinator, Farmers Development Union (FADU), Mr. Victor Olowe, said the farm workers were insufficient to meet the needs of the agricultural industry.

    With labour shortage becoming the most severe limiting factor in agricultural production, he said farmers have resorted to using herbicides to clear weeds before and after harvest.

    He said clearing farms of weeds was a burden, adding that it requires the deployment of labourers.

    Even as many farmers are opting for herbicides others have curtailed farming operations for want of labourers. There are many instances where farmers have postponed operations such as application of manure or harvesting due to shortage of farm hands.

    The Nation learnt that the industry was experiencing an acute labour shortage because fewer young people are willing to work in farms. Farmers believe that the reason for this is a perception among youths that farm work is very tough, with inconvenient working hours and low pay.

    Southwest Coordinator of Cassava Stakeholders Association of Nigeria Otunba Femi Oke said farmers said lack of workers was also having effect on their operations, leading to shift in schedules and the move to mechanisation. In a few cases, they lose crops when they don’t have enough people for harvest.

    Oke, who is the Lagos State chairman of All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), said farm labour has a key role to play in supporting the government’s drive for economic growth within the agri-food sector.

    He said insufficient workers represents a major threat to future production and investment plans.

    To watchers, low wages, non-payment of wages, and poor living and working conditions are accelerating the flight of farm labourers.

    To them, the sector is not able to attract and retain workers because seasonal agricultural work cannot pay good wages.

  • Ex-militants threaten to attack opposition leaders

    Opposition party leaders are in trouble if they fail to stop “their persistent verbal attacks on President Goodluck Jonathan, ex-militants warned yesterday.

    They said: “If these attacks are issue-based, no problem. If they are party-based, it’s okay. But we will retaliate in any form possible when it is personal, sectional, diminishing and unprovoked on Goodluck Jonathan.”

    The former militants also lamented the scarcity of kerosene in the country, accusing the Pipeline and Product Marketing Company (PPMC) of ineptitude.

    They blamed the persistent unavailability of the product on the failure of PPMC to increase supply in the country.

    They alleged that the scarcity was a deliberate attempt to sabotage the Jonathan administration.

    The ex-militants threatened to organise a protest to shut down the National Assembly.

    They also mentioned “unwarranted attacks and insults on President Goodluck Jonathan” by opposition groups as one of the reasons for their protest.

    The ex-militants, under the aegis of the Leadership, Peace and Cultural Development Initiatives (LPCDI), however, said their planned protest would be peaceful.

    They called for an independent investigation into the cases of persistent scarcity of kerosene.

    In a statement by their President and Secretary, Wilson Reuben and Ezekiel Akpasibewei, the ex-militants said the protest is being organised in partnership with civil liberty groups.

    They said: “The scarcity of petroleum products, especially kerosene, across the country is a national embarrassment.

    “Preliminary investigations have shown that the scarcity is man-made and a deliberate act of sabotage on the transformation agenda of President Goodluck Jonathan in the oil and gas sector.

    “Where are the huge kerosene allocations to the Niger Delta states and the other parts of the country? What happened to the huge importation quota for kerosene?

    “Why is it that only the Northwest has regular and well circulated kerosene? Why are the Southwest and Southsouth regions deprived of the product?

    “Why is it that kerosene, when available, is sold at exorbitant prices instead of the approved official pump price of N50 per litre? Why is kerosene, when available, only found in private petrol stations rather than at every petrol station?”

  • OAUTH doctors threaten strike

    Resident doctors at the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital Complex, (OAUTHC), Ile-Ife have threatened to go on strike unless the management employs more doctors.

    Addressing a news conference yesterday in Ile-Ife, the President of the Association of Resident Doctors (OAUTHC), Ile-Ife chapter, Dr. Adeola Ajibare, said the need for more doctors to assist them had reached a critical situation.

    He said management had ignored their call for more hands, adding that they would embark on an indefinite strike from August 1 if it failed to publish the names of doctors that passed the last employment interview conducted by the hospital.

    Dr. Ajibare said: “Many of us are working under intense pressure to the extent that some of us collapse on duty and many have lately been hospitalised. We cannot continue with the stress.

    “We are tired of waiting for empty promises by the management to recruit more doctors to fill the vacancies created by those who have retired. We are not fighting for money but for a good ground to do our work in the interest of the patients, ourselves and the hospital.”

    He said going by their estimation, 100 new doctors across many departments and units in addition to 300 doctors and 140 consultants are needed in the hospital.

    He pleaded for the intervention of the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), the Medical and Dental Council Association of Nigeria and well-meaning Nigerians to prevail on the management to fulfil its promise.

    The management has assured that soon more doctors would be employed.

    Speaking on behalf of the management, the Deputy Director, Corporate Service, Mr. Olu Bello, said the doctors should be patient.

    Said he: “Management will not only release the list of successful candidates, but will also employ them soon. They went on strike on this issue sometime ago and the management board led by its Chairman, Mr. Mathew Urhoghide, a pharmacist, intervened. I assure you that soon, the list of successful candidates will be released.”

  • Monarchs threaten to dethrone corrupt members

    The National Development of Summit of Traditional Rulers (NDSTR) has threatened to wield the big stick against any monarch found to be corrupt or lawless, it was learnt yesterday.

    The custodians of the people’s culture said they would not tolerate kidnapping, illicit drug business, terrorism, among other crimes, in their domains.

    NDSTR declared its stance yesterday in Kano at the end of its two-day general meeting attended by members of the body’s governing council.

    The council, in a statement after the meeting, also agreed that besides dethroning any defaulters, family members of such chief would also be barred from holding similar positions in future.

    The council voted Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha the Best Performing Governor on Security Management.

    It noted that the governor is the only State Chief Executive who has dedicated his security vote to the running an effective security network.

    The council said Okorocha wisely collaborates with traditional rulers in recruiting, training and paying vigilantes, an approach the monarchs said has made a great impact on the fight against crimes and corruption in Imo State.

    On arrival in Kano, the council members visited the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Dr Ado Bayero, to celebrate with him on his golden jubilee anniversary on the throne.

    The council chairman, His Royal Majesty Emmanuel Sideso, described Bayero as the best Kano has ever seen.

    He said the emir is a dogged and proven advocate of peace, an inspiration to leaders, a champion of economic development and a man of profound garlands.

    Bayero hailed the council for its vision and wished its members success in their pursuits.

    Also, the council has elected new officers to replace those who had been in office since the inception of the summit in 2008.

    They include: the Chairman, Governing Council, His Royal Majesty, Emmanuel Sideso, Abe I, JP, the Ovie of Uvwie, Delta State; Programme Chairman, His Royal Majesty, Alhaji Umar Mohammed Atiku, Emir of Akko, Gombe State; and Secretary General, His Royal Majesty, Prof. Laz E. N. Ekwueme, Ezeijikala II of Oko, Anambra State.

  • N40b contract: Stakeholders threaten to sue Okonjo-Iweala over tension of four firms’ contract

    N40b contract: Stakeholders threaten to sue Okonjo-Iweala over tension of four firms’ contract

    The Coalition of Civil Society Group for Transparency & Good Governance yesterday gave the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala a 15-day ultimatum to reverse the six-month extension granted four firms involved in Destination Inspection.

    The group also threatened to go to court and take the Federal Government to Transparency International if the Minister refuses to reverse the extension

    It claimed that the payment of alleged N40billion annually to the four firms is unnecessary when officers and men of the Nigerian Customs Service had been trained to conduct the same inspection.

    The companies are Cotecna Destination Inspection Nigeria Limited, SGS, Global Scan, and Webb Fontaine

    The coalition of stakeholders made its position known in a statement last night through its Secretary-General, Muhammad Nourayn Bn – Ahmad, an engineer.

    The statement said: “As a major stakeholder, we unequivocally use this medium to align with the position of the National Assembly, the World Bank and National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) represented by Dr. Boniface Aniebonam, to renew our call for the reversal of the decision that extended the contract of the destination inspection, given the fact NCS has been certified to be well equipped and fully prepared to carry out her mandate of Destination Inspection even as at now.

    “In accordance with the core values of our coalition on transparency and good governance, it is imperative to end this culture of endless impunity with regards to frequent changes in terminal dates of outsourcing of this customs duty in Nigeria.

    “We therefore step up from our earlier condemnation to a warning that if the current decision is not reversed by the Federal Ministry of Finance within 15 days from this publication, we will be compelled to draw the attention of the Transparency International and as well take a court action to press forward our demand.

    “We are stunned that rather than taken appropriate steps to revert this ugly loss of colossal revenue accruable to Nigeria, we read with dismay comment by the Honourable Minister of Finance and the coordinating Minister of Economy Dr. Mrs Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala in some of the national dailies wherein she claimed as false alleged attempt by the Ministry to disallow the Nigerian Customs Service to perform its statutory mandate.

    “We consider it inappropriate for the Minister to have relied on the advice of an independent review committee to extend contract of the Destination Inspection when of course they have failed to deliver to terms of earlier agreement.

    “At this juncture, we like to ask the Honourable Minister the following critical questions: What magic will the renewed six months achieve to redress the seven years failure by the service providers? Whose interest is the six-month extension out to protect? Can the Honourable Minister exonerate herself from vested or special interest and share from the over N40b tax payers’ money paid annually to these non-performing contractors whom she single handedly engaged and continue to use her position to shield?

    The Federal Government had in January 2006 engaged the four firms in a seven-year year Build, Own, Operate and Transfer DI deal.

    The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) was expected to be in charge of Destination Inspection (DI) from January this year.

    At the end of the contract however, the Ministry of Finance, in a letter through its Permanent Secretary, Mr. Danladi Kifasi, claimed that President Goodluck Jonathan had extended the tenor of the deal by six months.

    The letter, with reference number F10361/S.56/ VA/491 and addressed to the service providers, reads in parts: “I wish to inform you that the President has approved the extension of the agreement dated 1st January, 2006, between your company and the Federal Government of Nigeria for the provision, installation, operation and management of X-ray scanning equipment and software for inspection of goods. “The agreement which is to expire on 31st December, 2012, has been extended for a period of six (6) months with effect from 1st January, 2013.”

    But less than a month to the six-month extension, there is a fresh plan to renew the contract of the four firms by another six years.