The Nation Newspaper

Tag: warns

  • Emefiele warns

    •Since the threats are all too familiar, solutions should be easy

    The latest dire prognosis coming from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor, Godwin Emefiele, on the state of the economy has, no doubt, raised the fundamental question of whether the measures being applied to manage the economy are actually working. Rising from the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting in Abuja last week, the apex bank governor had announced that MPC members were worried that “the exit from the recession may be under threat as the economy slowed to 1.95 per cent and 1.50 per cent within the first and the second quarters 2018”.

    Barely two months ago, the same apex bank had announced, rather gleefully, that the economy had regained stability. Among the key indicators it cited were relative stability in the foreign exchange market, a robust level of external reserves and inflation trending downward for the 18th consecutive month.

    Now, the CBN says that these very gains “appear to be under threat of reversal following the new data which provides evidence of weakening fundamentals.”

    Among other threats, the CBN chief cited “inflationary pressures” and “capital flow reversal” that have “intensified as shown by the bearish trend in the equities market even though the exchange rate remains very stable”. He spoke of “the potential impact of liquidity injection from election related spending and increase in FAAC distribution…rising in tandem with increase in oil receipt”. Above all, he raised the issue of potential threats to the food supply chain in major food producing states due to poor infrastructure, flooding and security challenges” leading to possible “rise in food prices, contributing to the uptake in the headline inflation”.

    We couldn’t agree more with the apex bank chief that the situation is dire enough. But then, none of the so-called indicators can be said to be anything new, particularly since they have always been with us. Whether it is the electoral cycle and its associated cycle of unbridled spending, or the “capital flow reversal” that is easily its other companion; or even the cyclical swings in oil prices that although the country currently revels in its good fortune, yet it nonetheless carries the direct consequence of increasing money supply; or the perennial flooding and the infrastructure challenge threatening the nation’s food security situation.

    To the extent that these are simply old, familiar faces of the development albatross that the country continues to grapple with, we would have expected thatthe economic management team, of which the CBN governor occupies a prominent seat, more so under the circumstances that the Buhari administration has found itself in the last three years during which the economy tanked, tohave figured a way to mitigate the problemsaway from the perennial fixationwith orthodoxies andthepenchant to skirt around problems that are of deep-seated and structural nature.

    The question certainly bears asking – what has changed?

    As far as we can see, the only difference is the modest recovery in oil prices. Even that itself could not guarantee that the economy would not shrink in the second quarter as the latest figures indicate. Overall, we still live with the paradox of a country whose politicians retain enough troves of cash to keep the monetary system awash with liquidity even when the government can’t seem to find the cash to execute the basic capital projects needed to rev the economy back to life. The budget, supposedly designed to turn the infrastructure tide has since become a luxury item for the executive and the legislature to tango over. To compound matters, the political class thinks little of taking the country to the brink hence the current so-called “capital flow reversal”.

    Nothing of the aggressive programme of infrastructure renewal to stir small and medium scale businesses let alone a clear-headed initiative to foster the emergence of start-ups as one would expect; or a complementary programme to streamline access to credit for different categories of players in the economy; to be sure, nothing of a comprehensive programme to retool the hordes of our unemployed and unemployable youths through establishment of vocational institutions as the current situation would seem to demand.

    Far from the warning indicators identified by Emefiele, it is the absence of these concrete measures that could go a long way to deepen the economy that makes the future so frightful.

  • We’re over-deploying soldiers, ex-IG Arase warns

    NIGERIA is over-deploying its military personnel to maintain law and order in different parts of the country and thereby making areas where security is most-needed vulnerable, former Inspector General Solomon Arase has warned.

    Arase, who spoke in Zaria yesterday while presenting a lead paper at the 50th anniversary and International Conference of Department of Political Science and International Studies, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, said such action should be a source of serious concern to the nation.

    The ABU alumnus, who graduated 38 years ago from the department, said the country’s soldiers were deployed to 28 states, warning that such a situation would keep undermining the country’s civil police.

    The former IG said the country should as a matter of urgent national importance strengthen its civil police to allow the military face its primary traditional assignment of defending the country from external aggression.

    He expressed concern that most state governments hardly convene regular security meeting, except when there was a serious security breach.

    According to him, governors must accord genuine attention to community-policing to confront head on the security challenges facing the nation.

    Arase also canvassed for the development of a comprehensive national policy framework for effective security network with much emphasis on community policing, where traditional institutions would be deeply involved in security handling.

    The former IG said no society could get its security system right without, first and foremost, the consent of its people since security matters were the concerns of everybody.

    He said the Federal Government should take the advantage of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) to improve on its security system, saying that when he was IG he once requested the then President to send an executive bill to the National Assembly to make it mandatory, the installation of CCTV cameras in all shopping malls in Abuja and other cities across the nation.

    Emir of Birnin Gwari in Kaduna State Malam Zubairu Jibrin concurred with the position of the former IG on security measures, saying community policing was inevitable, if the country was serious in the search for effective security system.

    “Community policing is not new to us (traditional rulers); it has been with us since time immemorial; and it is still relevant to our present situation. In fact, the complete picture of the former IG’s lecture is that security issue is also part of the responsibility of the traditional institutions,” he said.

    The emir, who attended the occasion in his capacity as an alumnus of Department of Political Science and International Studies, urged leaders to make the welfare of soldiers and police personnel.

  • Agip warns contractors against flouting govt regulation 

    The Nigeria Agip Oil Company (NAOC) and its Joint Venture partners yesterday began a special training for contractors on dangers of disobeying government regulation and extant laws.

    The fifth edition of the capacity building programme, attracted contractors, oil magnates and managers in public and private oil establishments across the country, especially Niger Delta.

    NAOC, Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and Oando, which partnered on the programme, said contractors should obey the laws to avoid legal pitfalls.

    NAOC’s Vice Chairman/Managing Director Mr. Lorenzo Fiorillo, who opened the workshop, said it was designed to develop the capacity of Nigerian-owned companies to participate in oil and gas and help the government achieve its local content laws.

    He said the workshop would address gaps in competencies for business growth, adding that Agip and its joint partners would deepen the capability of stakeholders.

    Fiorillo, represented by general manager, Distribution, Alessandro Tiani said: “Nigerian companies will be equipped with knowledge and best practices required to close the gaps in their understanding of relevant regulations in the contracting and procurement process in the Nigerian oil and gas industry”.

    Executive Secretary, Nigeria Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Simbi Wabote, said the country lost  $380 billion to capital flight following lack of capacity by Nigerians in oil and gas

    He said the inability of the country to enhance its potential led to loss of jobs to foreigners and low participation of Nigerians in the industry.

    “Nigerian content was only five per cent. Today, we have achieved 28 per cent local content retention, increase in capacity, and engineering capability, fabrication among others.”

    To tackle the problem, Wabote, represented by Director of Planning, Research and Statistics at NCDMB Patrick Obah said a 10-year strategic plan was in place to increase local content in oil and gas from 28 per cent to 70 per cent by 2027.

    He said the launch of the $200 million intervention fund with an interest rate of eight per cent for local contractors would assist local contractors.

    Also speaking, Oando’s Chief Executive Officer Mr. Wale Tinubu, represented by Adeyemi Oreagba, head of Government and External Relations, said Oando would support community-based companies doing business in the country.

  • UN warns lions, tigers, leopards going into extinction

    UN warns lions, tigers, leopards going into extinction

    The United Nation (UN) has called for the protection of big cats species such as lions, tigers and leopards, warning that they are fast going into extinction.

    The UN spoke against the backdrop of the 2018 World Wildlife Day, celebrated every March 3, with the theme: “Big cats: predators under threat’’.

    According to the UN, the big cats are under increasing threat, mostly caused by human activities.

    UN Secretary-General António Guterres said: “This year, the spotlight falls on the world’s big cats. These charismatic creatures are universally revered for their grace and power, yet they are increasingly in danger of extinction.”

    Guterres said just more than a century ago, some 100,000 wild tigers roamed Asia while fewer than 4,000 remained today.

    According to him, all the big cats are collectively under threat from habitat loss, climate change, poaching, illicit trafficking, and human-wildlife conflict.

    “We are the cause of their decline, so we can also be their salvation. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) include specific targets to end the poaching and illegal trafficking of protected species of wild fauna and flora.

    “Ultimately, the solution to saving big cats and other threatened and endangered species is conservation policy based on sound science and the rule of law,” he noted.

    Guterres pointed out that by protecting big cats we also protect the landscapes they inhabit and the life they harbour, adding “it is a gateway to protecting entire ecosystems that are crucial to our planet’s health.

    “Wildlife conservation is a shared responsibility,” he said, calling on people around the world to “help raise awareness and to take personal action to help ensure the survival of the world’s big cats and all its precious and fragile biological diversity.”

    In his message, Yury Fedotov, Executive Director, UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), said that while “the cheetah is the world’s fastest land animal, like other big cat species, it cannot outrun the threat of extinction.”

    According to Fedetov, across the world, lions, tigers, leopards and jaguars, as well as many other big cat species, are under pressure due to poaching, lost habitats and disappearing prey.

    “UNODC is working to help countries criminalise wildlife poaching and trafficking as a means of protecting animals, including big cat species, and halting their tragic disappearance into history.

    “Our collective roar of defiance must be aimed at the poachers, traffickers and all those who would destroy our natural heritage. We must not let them succeed,” he urged.

    The Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed also lamented that “biodiversity is disappearing at a thousand times the natural rate’’, saying that the varied causes could be linked to the 17 SDGs of the 2030 Agenda.

    “Protecting ecosystems and ensuring access to ecosystem services by poor and vulnerable groups are therefore essential to eradicating extreme poverty and hunger,” she said.

    Mohammed said conservation, restoration and sustainable use of biological diversity was “an effective anti-poverty strategy,” and emphasised the need to better maintain the natural resources on which billions of people depend, especially the world’s rural poor.

    “They say cats have nine lives. Our big cats are on at least number eight,” she said, observing, however, that in many cases, poverty, hunger and biodiversity loss are intrinsically connected.

  • Council poll: Oyo APC warns members against blackmail

    Council poll: Oyo APC warns members against blackmail

    The Oyo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has warned its members, particularly aspirants jostling for tickets in the forthcoming local government election and their supporters, to desist from any conduct that can bring the party into disrepute or cause its leadership to lose focus.

    The warning followed a protest rally at the Oke-Ado, Ibadan, state secretariat of the party by a group of persons believed to be APC members and supporters.

    The protesters said they feared that there were plans to compromise the conduct of the party’s primaries for many aspirants eyeing chairmanship and councillorship seats in the 33 local government areas and 35 local council development areas (LCDAs) in the May 12 poll.

    In a statement on Monday by its spokesman Olawale Sadare, APC described the allegations of planned imposition of candidates as a figment of the imagination of the protesters and their sponsors.

    The party urged the public to regard it as cheap blackmail to cause unnecessary tension in the land.

    It said: “We are indeed embarrassed at the level which decorum was thrown into the air by this set of people, some of who we could identify as APC members in the state. Peaceful and purposeful protests are some of the essentials of democracy. But when cheap blackmail is involved, it becomes condemnable.

  • Abubakar warns commissioners against corruption

    Bauchi State Governor Mohammed Abubakar has warned new commissioners against corruption.

    He said anyone caught stealing state funds would not be spared.

    Among those sworn-in is the Attorney-General and Commission Mr. Haruna  Mohammed.

    The governor urged them to exhibit exemplary leadership and diligence in running state’s affairs.

    Abubakar said the appointees got the job on merit, adding they must be fair to all irrespective of tribe, religion or political leanings.

    He warned them against indolence and the temptation to embezzle public funds, saying that anyone caught would face the full wrath of the law.

    He also advised them to be prudent in the management of limited resources.

    The other commissioners include Rifkatu Samson (Environment), Rukaiya  Kewa (Women Affairs and Child Development),  Umar Sade (Information),  Ibrahim Sale (Social Welfare and Sports), Yakubu Kirfi (Agriculture) and Mohammed Abubakar (Rural and Community Development).

    Others are Nasiru Giade (Co-operatives), Muhammadu Bashir (Power, Science and Technology), Umar Mohammed (Housing, Land and Survey), Umar Gazali (Commerce and Industry), Garba Akuyum (Finance) and Ado Aska (Religious Affairs).

    The rest are Nasirudeen Mohammed (Local Government),  Zuwaira Ibrahim (Health), Ibrahim Suleiman (Water Resources), Haruna Danwanka (Education) and Musa Baima (Solid Minerals).

    Deputy Governor, Nuhu Gidado (Works and Transport Ministry).

    Abubakar  also inaugurated a committee chaired by retired Justice Dahiru Saleh review the issue of additional District, Village and Hamlet Areas in view of their dissolution by the State House of Assembly in 2015.

    Its terms of reference include to recommend the number of districts to be created or reinstated, to demarcate and delineate boundaries of both the old and the new district and village areas, to identify constituent village areas, among others.

  • Don warns against bird flu outbreak

    Aformer Dean, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Ilorin, Kwara State, Prof Abiodun Adeloye, has  warned about the likelihood of avian flu outbreak with lasting implications for people’s livelihoods.

    H5N1 avian influenza, or bird flu, has spread across Nigeria and some West African countries in the past two years, hitting poultry farms.

    Nearly 3.5 million birds in Nigeria have been killed by the virus.

    Adeloye noted that though  the epidemic had ceased , there is likelihood of  occurrence with  importation of livestock.

    He called on animal health authorities and border agencies to monitor the movement of live livestock in an effort to stop the spread of the disease.

    According to him, there should be successful preventative measure for farmers and breeders.

    H5N1 bird flu first infected humans in 1997 in Hong Kong. It has since spread from Asia to Europe and Africa and has become entrenched in poultry in some countries, causing millions of poultry infections and several hundred human deaths.

    Last year, the Federal Government announced the outbreak  of Avian Influenza, popularly known as bird flu, was in 123 local government areas and 800 poultry farms across the country.

    According to the government, six states and the Federal Capital Territory had reported the disease in 2017, adding that the last reported outbreak was from Kaduna State on May 30 last year.

    The Federal Government explained that aside Kaduna, other states where the cases of bird flu were reported this year include Bauchi, Kano, Katsina, Nasarawa and Plateau.

    Bird flu is a highly contagious viral disease, initially of birds but affects other animal species and humans.

    The disease is spread by migratory wild birds and movement of infected birds and products, which can have serious socio-economic, public health, as well as security implications.

    Experts say the disease can kill all birds in a poultry farm and can cause 100 per cent mortality.

    The disease was first reported in Nigeria in 2006 and was successfully controlled and eradicated in July 2008.

  • Fed Govt warns workers against lockout, picketing

    Fed Govt warns workers against lockout, picketing

    The Federal Government has warned workers against locking out of duly appointed officers and picketing as a resolve to industrial disputes in the country.

    Minister of Labour and Employment Chris Ngige gave this warning in a statement yesterday in Abuja.

    Ngige stated this in reaction to the recent spates of trade disputes between workers and their employers, especially in the Public Service of the Federation.

    He noted that these were issues regarding appointments, promotions, administrative postings, and discipline in the public service.

    “Workers must engage in social dialogue in resolving industrial disputes as self-help such as lock-out of duly appointed officers and picketing are unconstitutional and an effrontery to the constitutional powers of the President who made such appointments.

    “Federal Government wishes to use this medium to re-apprise Employees of Government and their respective Trade Unions that by virtue of the provisions of Section 130(2) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Government of Nigeria

    “This is as amended by Mr President, who is the Head of State and Chief Executive of the Federation.

    “Section 169 of this same Constitution created the Public Civil Service of the Federation, while Section 170 allowed Mr President to delegate functions to any Member of the Civil/Public Service.

    “Section 171 gave him powers to appoint persons to hold offices in the actualization of the contents of the two previous sections, ‘’he said.

    Ngige, therefore, noted that the recent trade disputes in Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) was illegal.

    He added that workers had embarked on illegal lockouts of officers duly appointed by Mr President as it happened in the National Population Commission (NPC), and the picketing in some Agencies and Ministries.

    The minister said this was clearly violations of the constitutional powers of Mr President as Chief Executive and Appointing Authority.

    “The same goes for establishments where workers have threatened forceful ejection, removal of Chief Executives and Permanent Secretaries over promotion, discipline, administrative postings, and even lawful employment of staff,” he said.

  • NCC warns telcos over SIM card pre-registration

    NCC warns telcos over SIM card pre-registration

    The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has warned telcos over improperly registered, unregistered and pre-registered Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) cards. It said non-compliance with the rules  will attract severe consequences.

    Its Executive Vice Chairman (EVC), Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta who gave the warning after meeting with all the telcos at NCC Headquarters, Abuja, said security reports from the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) has shown  non-compliance to the Telephone Subscribers Registration Regulation 2011 by the telcos.

    The Monday meeting was the highpoint of several meetings initiated by the Commission in the last two years designed to find solutions to the recurrent dangers improperly registered SIM cards constitute to the country.

    “We must safeguard the lives and properties of Nigerians who travel by road especially now that the festive seasons are around the corners and others who may be threatened or blackmailed via unregistered and improperly registered SIM cards,” Danbatta was quoted to have said in a statment endorsed by NCC Director, Public Affairs, Tony Ojobo.

    Danbatta lamented that even where SIM cards were registered, the captured data represents strange figures different from the user of such SIM card.

    He said the dangers are real and everybody will lose at the end, hence the need to tackle it  before the situation gets out of hands.

    While appreciating the cooperation of the telcos so far in the race to solve this problem, Danbatta said much is left to be done “hence this meeting”, for continuous engagement.  “Today’s meeting has the backing of the government which desires solutions as quickly as possible,” he said.

    A 12-man taskforce was constituted to address the menace. The taskforce will ensure that operators put in place a robust and active back end to check cases of improperly registered SIM cards before activation amnong others.

  • Coalition warns Fayose, Ayenimo against alleged service extension

    Coalition warns Fayose, Ayenimo against alleged service extension

    A civil society coalition, Integrity Leadership Group, has warned Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose and a retired Chief Magistrate, Idowu Ayenimo, against an alleged plot to extend Ayenimo’s service.

    It alleged that the governor wants to manipulate Ayenimo’s records to enable him stay longer and continue sitting on the panel probing former Governor Kayode Fayemi.

    In a statement yesterday in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, by its State Coordinator, Lekan Oyediran, the group said reports on the alleged service elongation plot for Ayenimo was worrisome because of Fayemi’s suit challenging Ayenimo’s suitability to sit on the panel.

    The group noted that what qualified Ayenimo for the job was his headship of the Magistrates’ Court.

    It said the panel member must vacate the panel after retiring from service.

    The group said: “Chief Magistrate Idowu Ayenimo must vacate the panel, after retiring from the service two weeks ago, because what qualified his membership is the office he was holding at the time of his appointment.

    “Any plot to doctor Ayenimo’s records of service to enable him continue to sit on the panel is illegal and criminal; it will only confirm Fayemi’s allegation that he is Governor Fayose’s mole to nail the former governor, as he alleged in his lawsuit challenging the suitability of Ayemino to be on the panel over alleged partisanship.”

    It warned the State Judicial Service Commission against assisting the governor to achieve his alleged aim of implicating Fayemi in the panel’s report.

    The group urged the Chief Judge, Mr Justice Ayodeji Daramola, to maintain his good records by resisting any pressure to act against the law and civil service rules.