President Muhammadu Buhari has appointed a former member of the House of Representatives, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, as Senior Special Assistant on Foreign Affairs and the Diaspora.
The new Senior Special Assistant to the President chaired the House of Representatives Committee on Media and Publicity between 2003 and 2007.
She also was a former chairman of the House Committee on Diaspora Affairs between 2007 and 2015.
She worked for the Nigerian Television Authority for 15 years, anchoring the weekly NTA Newsline programme and taking a particular interest in poverty and social justice issues.
She retired from her position at Nigerian Television Authority to stand for election in the House of Representatives, as a lawmaker representing Ikorodu in Lagos State.
Dabiri-Erewa was born in Jos, Plateau State and attended Maryland Private School, Maryland, Ikeja and St. Teresa’s College, Ibadan, for her primary and secondary education respectively.
She obtained her first degree in English Language from the Obafemi Awolowo University, OAU, Ile-Ife, before proceeding to the University of Lagos where she obtained a Post-Graduate Diploma, PGD, in Mass Communication. She also obtained a master’s degree in Mass Communication from the same university.
Dabiri-Erewa also studied at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.
Diamond Bank has again raised the bar in financial services innovation as it is set to unveil Diamond eSUSU scheme, a digitized version of Nigeria’s traditional savings system.
The eSUSU scheme is expected to revolutionize the saving habit of Nigerians by encouraging and helping participating accountholder groups to meet their savings target timely and efficiently.
Diamond eSUSU is a contributory saving scheme that offers a group of customers with common interest, an opportunity to collectively save toward targeted goals of each group member on a rotational basis.
According to Diamond Bank’s CEO, Uzoma Dozie, Diamond eSUSU is in line with the Bank’s strategic objective to grow a savings culture among Nigeria’s banking public. ‘’eSUSU brings bottom of the pyramid marketing to the mainstream of banking, this is a great feat to us,’’ he stated.
Reiterating Dozie, the Head, Transaction and Electronic banking, Rob Giles, stated that the interest of the customers led to the creation of this innovative product. ‘’We listened to customer feedback and realized that the eSUSU system is not only widespread in all sections of society, but that it is also one of the preferred ways of mixing saving and borrowing. By creating a digital platform, we remove the administration burden for the eSUSU organizer and also provide enhanced visibility of their programme online for the group,’’ he said.
Diamond Bank Plc is one of Nigeria’s fastest growing retail banks. Through innovation and technology, the Bank enhances customer experiences and has continued to drive financial inclusion in what it terms ‘Beyond Banking’.
The Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige has reaffirmed the zero tolerance of the present administration of President Muhammadu Buhari to job losses in the oil and gas.
“We all know that the backbone of the Nigerian economy for now is still the oil and gas. As the Minister of Labour and Employment, I am committed to forestalling any issue that could bring industrial unrest in the sector or threaten job security in the country.”
“I wish to put on record that the Buhari administration has zero tolerance for any form of job loss. If the oil and gas sector or any other sector for that matter cannot create new jobs, they must go the extra mile to retain the existing ones. Any job loss has multiple adverse effects on the population. ”
“I have before me, petitions which border on industrial and employment relations – retrenchment, casualization, redundancy as well as unfair treatment of Nigerians in the employ of the oil majors. I have therefore summoned this meeting for us to properly ventilate the issues and make a way for a speedy resolution, after which we shall hold stakeholders’ summit,” Ngige said.
He said that concerning the expatriate quota, the Ministry was already in liaison with the Ministry of Interior and to check the abuse of the nation’s immigration/Labour laws and promised that the displacement of qualified Nigerians by foreigners would soon become a thing of the past.
The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Labour, Dr. Clement Iloh in his contribution regretted that the Oil and Gas Guidelines have become obsolete and should therefore be enhanced through the promulgation of a Ministerial Regulations so as to boost stability and sanity in the industry.
Tagattitude, the innovative French FinTech, has won a Kalahari Award for its digital banking platform, TagPay at the 6th Remittance and Mobile Money Expo, held in Lagos, Nigeria.
The award recognizes TagPay as the best technology enabler platform. With Near Sound Data Transfer Technology at its core, the TagPay platform can turn any mobile device into a payment tool, without changing its hardware or software. Be it a feature phone or a smartphone, the end-client can save, send and spend his money freely, right at his fingertips.
Financial service providers use TagPay to offer financial services directly on their clients’ mobile phones, thanks to a wide variety of channels, including IVR, the web and sound. With this specific channel, there is no need to depend on the USSD channel controlled by mobile network operators to process mobile transactions.
The TagPay digital banking platform manages all of the transactions that a bank needs: P2P money transfer, salary disbursement, bill payment, and transactions at the point of sale. TagPay also manages the entire branchless banking agent network, making it possible to follow and control all operations in real-time from headquarters.
Yves Eonnet, Tagattitude’s CEO, received the award in Lagos, saying that it “was a great honor. The award recognizes the impact that TagPay’s technology can have in building new financial service ecosystems in Africa. We have built TagPay, bringing the best technology to the table, in order to help financial institutions reach their financial inclusion goals.”
Yves Eonnet presented the case study of the Trust Merchant Bank, in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Trust Merchant Bank’s mobile financial service, Pepele Mobile, powered by TagPay, helps the bank reach the last mile and bank the vast unbanked populations of the country.
The Kalahari Awards were presented at the 6th Remittance and MobileMoneyExpo in Lagos, Nigeria. Emmanuel Okoegwale, Principal Associate of Mobile Money Expo, oversaw the awards. “We congratulate all of the award winners today and it is our sincere hope that the honor will inspire better innovation in 2016 and beyond,” he said. “MobileMoneyAfrica is proud to be celebrating the 6th Kalahari awards, which celebrates innovative leaders in e-commerce, payments, remittances and mobile financial services.”
The Kalahari awards are dedicated to acknowledging creativity, commitment and excellence in the digital payments and remittance industry across Africa. The awards are given to organizations that have made significant contributions to the remittance and mobile financial services sector by making financial services more affordable and more available, thereby creating impactful developments in Africa.
After the nation achieved its milestone of 5,074.70MN on February 2, power supply to households and businesses across the country has plunged by 1,589.69 megawatts.
According to reports from the Federal ministry of Power, electricity supply has dropped to 3,485MW from the 3,558.39MW generated.
This occured after the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola (SAN), had promised that the country would increase its power production by 2,000MW before the end of this year.
Fashola stated that given the various plans undertaken by the present administration in the sector, power generation would increase by 2,000MW in the last quarter of this year.
He said that a lot had changed in the management of power in Nigeria in recent times.
“Distribution of power is no longer a government business but has been taken over by private companies. Also, government has privatised power generation, which has steered towards the full privatisation of the sector with transmission aspect being managed by Manitoba International of Canada,” he said.
Air travellers in Nigeria have criticized the high cost of using some facilities at the nation’s airports, describing payment for using facilities like trolleys as clear exploitation.
In a nationwide survey conducted by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the travellers queried the high cost of some facilities provided at the Nigerian airports, ranging from parking vehicles to other sundry services.
They wondered why users of items such as trolleys still had to pay to use the facility, arguing that use of such facilities had been built into air tickets.
At the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja some of the travellers said they paid between N150 to N400 to use trolleys that ought to be provided free.
A traveller at the local wing of the airport, Mr Hakeen Adebola, told NAN that he resorted to dragging his luggage, instead of paying a huge amount demanded by an airport official for him to use trolleys.
He argued that it was wrong for government to allow private firms to extort money from air travellers, pointing out that use of trolleys was free in other countries around the globe, and so many other travellers complained about the same issue.
A check by at the premier Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, showed that a big trolley is rented at a cost of N2, 500; while a small one goes for N1.600.
Using the trolley also attracts a service charge of N150, which excludes `tips’ usually demanded by porters conveying luggage for travellers.
The scenario often casts a nasty picture at the airports, questioning the contract signed between the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and Skyblue Aviation Services Ltd on trolley services at the airport.
According to information on the website of Skyblue Aviation Services, they currently have 220 members of staff and 2, 250 trolleys for travellers at the Lagos airport.
A staff of the company, who spoke to NAN on condition of anonymity, said the trolley charges were fixed to enable the company provide world-class services to air travelers.
At the Akanu Ibiam International Airport in Enugu, an official told NAN that the management of the airport was not aware of any service charge by porters at the airport.
The official, who pleaded for anonymity, explained that porters at the airport relied on whatever they got from travellers to maintain the trolleys and make their living.
He described maintenance of the trolleys as a big issue, saying that it was difficult for FAAN to provide enough trolleys at the airport to ease the hardship of travellers.
But the President of the Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, Mr Benjamin Okewu, told the management of FAAN to consider reducing the trolley charges.
However, Mr Lucky Izevbokun, Secretary, National Union of Air Transport Employees, Lagos State Chapter, argued that charging for using the trolleys was not convenient for travellers.
“FAAN is generating revenue from the concessionaire on trolley service at the detriment of air passengers using the item to convey their luggage.
Similarly, an aviation expert, Mr Olumide Ohunayo, said that trolley services at the airports should be part of the perks to be given to travellers.
A tour operator, Miss Lorreta Ogwu, noted that air travellers were supposed to use the trolleys, saying that free access to the trolleys had been denied because of the concession agreement between FAAN and Skyblue Services.
A businessman, Mr Ikechukwu Usali, said that although the trolley service made travelling convenient, many travellers avoided it because of high charges.
A top-level official of FAAN, who pleaded anonymity, said that the payment for trolleys was instituted during the tenure of a former Minister of Aviation, Ms Stella Oduah.
The official explained that the ministry during Oduah’s tenure, signed a concession agreement with a company called “Jace Darl Trolley Services’’ to undertake trolley services at the airport.
“That is why travellers pay for the use of trolleys now and the amount is N150 for those who want to push it themselves and N400 for those who prefer the company’s staff to push for them.
“The immediate past Minister of Aviation, Mr Osita Chidoka, had directed that the concession agreement should be discontinued at its expiration to enable the passengers to use trolleys free.
“Now that we have a new government, we don’t know whether Chidoka’s directive will still work or not,’’ the official added.
The official also disclosed that a church in Abuja, known as “Family Worship Centre’’ had donated a number of trolleys to the airport for travellers to use free.
Meanwhile, the Minister of State for Aviation, Sen. Hadi Sirika, has given his assurance that payment for the use of trolleys at the nation’s airports would stop as soon as the current contract agreement expired.
Sirika explained that the arrangement could not be stopped immediately as it could lead to litigations, adding that the contract would not be reviewed as soon as it ended.
According to him, some travellers have petitioned the ministry over the issue, insisting that the cost of usage of trolleys is covered by certain taxes and charges paid by passengers.
“We have had discussions with FAAN on this and we have decided that as soon as this contract ends, we will return to the old system,’’ he said.
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and Distribution Companies (DISCOs) has pleaded with the federal high court in Lagos to consider its application for stay of further proceedings in suit filed against electricity tariff hike as well as the contempt action initiated against them by a Lagos lawyer.
According to the counsel of the agencies, Chief Anthony Idigbe (SAN), the respondents had lodged an appeal against the decision of the court, which ordered a temporary suspension of the hike pending the determination of the suit, the court should stay further action on the matter.
Toluwani Adebiyi said he had filed contempt action against NERC chairman and discos’ managing directors for disobeying the court’s orders, praying the court to commit the alleged contemnors to prison.
In his ruling, the trial judge, Justice Mohammed Idris, who adjourned till Friday for hearing of the application for stay of proceedings, said after a careful examination of the records of court, there were a number of pending applications to be dispensed with.
Also pending, is an application to stay further proceedings pending the hearing and determination of the appeal to the Court of Appeal against the orders made on July 23, 2015.
The judge also warned the respondents against disobeying subsisting court orders on electricity tariff. He said the government must not act in a way that shows disdain for the court in a constitutional democracy.
AMCON Risks Non-Recovery of N5.5 trillion Bad Loans
The Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) said on Monday that it is seeking prospective investors to buy Keystone Bank which is the last of the nationalised banks yet to be sold.
AMCON, in a public notice, said that it had decided to divest its 100% interest in the bank and asked prospective buyers to submit their bids by March 4.
AMCON appointed Citibank’s local unit and FBN Capital as financial advisers to manage the process, asking prospective investors to submit bids, showing evidence of credibility and eligibility for the transaction.
Nigeria nationalised three lenders, Afribank, Spring Bank and Bank PHB in 2011, and AMCON recapitalised them and changed their names to Mainstreet Bank, Enterprise Bank and Keystone Bank. Two of the banks have since been sold.
Based on audited account as of June last year, Keystone bank has a total assets of about 317.6 billion naira ($1.60 billion), equity of 18.9 billion naira and a loan portfolio of about 98.2 billion naira.
By December 31 2015, AMCON had 156 branches across the country with four subsidiaries, of which two are international.
Nigeria’s Sterling Bank told Reuters, at the weekend, that it was aiming to buy one or two mid-sized commercial lenders as sharp falls in the value of the naira and increased regulatory pressure were forcing banks to recapitalise.
AMCON was set up in 2010 to absorb non-performing loans in exchange for government bonds, after the central bank injected $4 billion to rescue nine lenders from collapse seven years ago.
Essential platform for international and regional food and beverage companies to network and establish business ties in Nigeria this May
Food Nigeria, organised by Informa Life Sciences Exhibitions will kick off 18 -20 May 2016 in Lagos, Nigeria at the Eko Convention Centre. The event will provide a platform for international and regional food and beverage companies to network and cultivate business ties in Africa’s largest economy, Nigeria. Informa Life Sciences successfully runs seven events in Nigeria alone addressing the Nigerian economy’s requirements.
The exhibition will host more than 150 international companies across 2,500 sqm of exhibition space. The companies will represent more than 20 country pavilions welcoming an expected 6000 attendees. The event is supported by the Association of Food Vendors in Nigeria (AFVN), the National Agency for Food and Drug (NAFDAG), and NASON.
TG Expo, organiser of the Turkish pavilion says, “As a national agency we are delighted to bring numerous companies to the Turkish pavilion at Food Nigeria. We see a great interest from Turkish companies keen to launch their products and well known Turkish delights to the growing Nigerian market. Therefore investing in a Turkish country pavilion is the best way to enhance the synergy between exhibitors from our country and professional visitors from the African food industry.”
“Food Nigeria is a business-to-business platform promoting supply chain partnership along with imports and exports. It will incorporate attendees from Nigeria and Western Africa.
Attendees will benefit from meeting industry leaders from regional and international organisations, showcasing an extensive range of the latest products and services,” says Jamie Hill, Director, Informa Life Sciences Group, Africa.
McKinsey Global Institute reported in July 2015, Nigeria’s consumption could rise to $1.4trn a year by 2030, at an average annual increase of 8%. This rise in consumption will likely be driven by higher income levels, significantly expanding the middle-income bracket. This increased affluence is expected to result in 7.1% annual growth in sales of food and non-food consumer goods.[1]
“It is important to recognise the opportunities currently present in the Nigerian market. By organising Food Nigeria, we aim to provide an opportunity to support the growing market and host international, and regional food brands to build business ties. Markets in Nigeria are becoming more defined and transforming from informal to formal, developing modern facilities, and providing a diversified purchasing experience in a growing economy,” highlighted Mr Hill.
The event will host a number of free-of-charge conferences that will address the market’s challenges, opportunities and solutions. For stand inquiry, please visit Food Nigeria,
This agrofood industry portal allows exhibitors and visitors to connect before, during and after the event. Exhibitors profit from the portal already before the event by presenting themselves and displaying their solutions and innovations in their profiles. Visitors get familiar with the show highlights, plan their visit in advance and arrange back to back meetings at the event via the matchmaking tool.
The agrofood industry portal presents the whole value chain “from field to fork” in Iran and West Africa:
agro Nigeria, agro West Africa and iran agro allow a decent view on agricultural solutions and technologies for Iran, Nigeria, Ghana and West Africa in general
food + bev tec Nigeria, food + bev tec West Africa and iran food + bev tec focus on all of the latest innovations in food, beverage & packaging technology
food + hospitality Nigeria, food + hospitality West Africairan and food + hospitality are giving an overview about specialities for the food trade, food service and food catering in the above mentioned countries and regions.
Venue:Landmark Centre, Water Corporation Road, Eti-Osa, Lagos.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation has disclosed its commitment to complete six ongoing gas projects aimed at providing gas to power plants and manufacturing industries.
The corporation’s Group General Manager, Gas Infrastructure Development, Mr. Farouk Said, noted that the NNPC was undertaking six priority gas projects that would reposition the country for profitability.
He stated that the gas infrastructure projects being executed were in tandem with the Gas Master Plan, which was approved by the last Federal Executive Council, adding that the plan would have a spin off effect on the country’s Gross Domestic Product.
“In line with the mandate of the GID, we are currently executing six critical gas infrastructure projects. Four of them are pipeline projects, the others are the Gas Revolution Industrial Park and the Western and Central Processing Plants,” he said.
Said explaind that the Escravos Lagos Pipeline System II was a 36-inch diameter and 342-kilometre pipeline, which traverses Delta, Edo, Ondo, Ogun and Lagos states, stressing that the project was expected to be inaugurated in the second quarter of this year, noting that the ELPS II would double the capacity of the existing ELPS, which currently supplies 1.1 trillion standard cubic feet of gas per day.
He noted that the pipeline would serve as a backbone of power supply as most of the power plants were located along the ELPS axis.
Bourbon Interoil – As international leader in marine services, “Bourbon” offers to the most demanding oil & gas clients worldwide a full line of innovative, safe, high performance and new generation vessels and an expanded offer of offshore oil & gas services delivered by 11 000 experienced and competent employees across 45 countries. By joining “Bourbon” you will be “Under the flag of excellence”.
We are currently recruiting to fill the following vacant positions below:
Hamilton Lloyd and Associates – Our Client is a leading market leader in human Resource Consulting. Due to internal expansion, we are recruiting to fill the position below:
Job Title: Business Development / Social Media Executive
Location: Lagos
Job Summary
The Business Development/Social Media Executive will build market position by locating, developing, defining, negotiating and closing business relationships and as well as develop, implement, track and optimize our digital marketing campaigns across all digital channels.
Key Responsibilities
Business Development Responsibilities:
Identify trendsetter ideas by researching industry and related events, publications, and announcements
Tracking individual similar businesses including competitors and their accomplishments and failures.
Locate and propose potential business deals by contacting potential partners across the country; discovering and exploring all opportunities.
Screen potential business deals by analyzing the deal requirements, financial potentials
Evaluating options, resolving internal priorities and making recommendations to management.
Develop negotiating strategies and positions by studying integration of new products and lines with company strategies and operations
Examining risks and potentials
Constantly re-assessing business needs and goals.
Closes new business deals by coordinating requirements; developing and negotiating contracts
Integrating contract requirements with business operations.
Social Media Responsibilities:
Plan and execute all webs, SEO/SEM, marketing database, email, social media and display advertising campaigns.
Design, build and maintain our social media presence.
Develop and expand community and/or blogger outreach efforts.
Measure and report performance of all digital marketing campaigns, and assess against goals (ROI and KPIs).
Identify trends and insights, and optimize spend and performance based on the insights.
Brainstorm new and creative growth strategies.
Plan, execute, and measure experiments and conversion tests.
Collaborate with internal teams to create landing pages and optimize user experience.
Utilize strong analytical ability to evaluate end-to-end customer experience across multiple channels and customer touch points.
Collaborate with agencies and other vendor partners.
Evaluate emerging technologies. Provide thought leadership and perspective for adoption where appropriate.
Key Competence:
Closing deals skills
Negotiation skills.
Ability to put a foot in the door.
Sales planning, selling to customer needs.
Extroverted
Professionalism
High energy
Excellent communication skills both orally and in writing
Excellent interpersonal skills
Innovative
Ability to prioritize and plan effectively.
Highly creative with experience in identifying target audiences and devising digital campaigns that engage, inform and motivate.
Up-to-date with the latest trends and best practices in online marketing and measurement.
In-depth knowledge and understanding of Social Media platforms, their respective participants (Facebook, Twitter,Google+, YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest etc.) and how each platform can be deployed in different scenarios.
Academic and Professional Requirements
Minimum of Bachelor’s degree in any related field.
2 years working experience in Business development.
Proven working experience in social media network.
Application Closing Date
22nd February, 2016.
How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidate should send their CV’s to:preye@hamiltonlloydandassociates.com making the subject of the mail the job title
Note: Only successful candidates will be contacted.
We attract talented individuals. Not only can they give you the benefit of their experience, they also reveal a closer, more personal look at the wide range of global opportunities we offer. At the core of the Group’s people strategy is our focus on employee engagement. Engagement is a key driver of productivity and performance, which creates the foundation of our performance culture. We encourage and focus on the behaviours that bring out the very best from every employee, assessing their performance not just on results but on how those results were achieved. To further embed these behaviours we have a remuneration programme in place, carefully designed to incentivise our employees to live our values every day.
We are recruiting to fill the following positions below:
Hilton Worldwide is one of the largest and fastest growing hospitality companies in the world, with more than 4,200 hotels, resorts and timeshare properties comprising more than 690,000 rooms in 93 countries and territories.
A report released by a global assessment firm, Builders of Hope, has revealed that Nigeria ranks high in the 25 percent world’s population, expected to live in urban slums by the year 2030.
According to the report, the challenge would be due to housing shortage for middle- and lowincome individuals in emerging market cities.
The report read in part:”The most extreme example is Nigeria, where a 17-million unit housing gap exists, growing at a rate of 780,000 units annually. Enormous back logs also exist across Africa to include Kenya, which has a shortfall of over 2 million housing units.”
Under the leadership of Arch. Ronald Omyonga, a Kenyan, the Builders of Hope said it is taking its experience to bear in African continent, aimed at addressing the noticeable shortfalls. ‘’We are employing our tool bag strategy of innovative public/private partnerships, energy efficient, sustainable, building techniques and new technologies and applications to address housing issues in Nigeria, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and the rest of Africa’’, Omyonga stated. He said, his firm had begun to expand its operations in Africa to close the housing gap on the continent.
Former staff of Habitat Community, Omyonga developed an innovative solution for waste management, clean water and localized habitat innovations as well as initiator of iBUILD mobile application. ‘’We have already begun five programmes and established formal relationships with Kenyan National Construction Authority, the Kenyan National Housing Corporation, Master- Card Innovation Lab, IBM On- Demand Community, as well as Shelter Afrique among others.
‘’By creating balanced affordable housing development projects for families in this demographic group, we believe we can better scale and enable market forces to manage future development. Most importantly, we view ourselves as a catalyst for establishing new market dynamics that pivot trends in income inequality and allow for the scaling of safe affordable housing that provides the opportunity for families to drastically improve the quality of their live’’, he added.
Infrastructure Maintenance Creates Lasting Jobs For Nigerian Youths, Says Fashola
The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola has voted 62 percent of the mega Ministry to road projects.
Fashola whose total budget for the year is put at N433billion, came up with a three-year frame work to utilize the proposed budget out of which N268bn representing 62 percent was allotted to Works, N99bn, an equivalent of 23 percent to Power and N66bn, representing 15 percent to Housing.
He made this disclosure while defending the Ministry’s budget for 2016 before the Committee on Works at the House of Representatives and Senate last week.
Breaking down the budget, the Minister noted that government is willing to complete the over 200 uncompleted road projects across the country rather than embark on new ones, adding that the completion of the projects will be beneficial to the masses and the nation’s economy.
He said that some of these projects were left uncompleted because government owed the contractors and if the money is paid, some of them are willing to return to sites.
He also disclosed that his Ministry had drawn a three year plan with the aim of covering about 6,000 kilometres of roads at the end the of third year, pointing out that each year, a total of 2,000 kilometres of roads will be covered, explaining that the projects are prioritized based on the criteria such as projects with high economic value, those that carry heavy traffic and those that are almost completed.
Fashola added that in the first year, a total number of 31 projects will be covered, a total number of 55 projects will be completed in the second year while 44 projects will be attended to in the third year. Among the projects according to Fashola, include Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, the Second Niger Bridge and Murtala Muhammed International Airport road in Lagos, explaining that Lagos-Ibadan Expressway is a major traffic road where bulk of imported cargoes come into the country through Apapa and Tin Can ports to other parts of the nation.
As part of its plans to build a gas-fired power plant in Nigeria, Cummins Cogeneration Limited has signed a 300 megawatt- Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Sapele Power Plc.
Speaking at the recent signing ceremony, the Chairman of Cummins, Deepak Khilnani said his company was delighted about its partnership with Sapele Power Plc.
Khilnani said: the synergy between the two firms will leverage individual firm’s strengths and capabilities to deliver a clean and sustainable long-term energy solution for Nigerians.
He explained:“This project will be operated using Cummins Combined Heat and Power (CHP) lean burn gas generator sets which emit up to five times less nitrogen oxide than comparable diesel generator sets and near-zero particulate matter. In adding to this, it offers a 48 per cent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions compared to traditional steam turbine engines, which makes this a highly efficient and environmentally sustainable project.”
Sapele Power Plc operates Nigeria’s second largest power plant with an installed capacity of about 1,020MW, capable of meeting the energy needs of around 750,000 homes at full capacity.
Following this partnership, the plant will distribute electricity generated from the plant directly to Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET), supplying millions of homes and businesses with clean power.
Expressing delight on the signing of the agreement, the Chairman of Sapele Power Plc, Anthony Onoh stated that the project would be split into two phases.
President Muhammadu Buhari has disclosed that the Federal Government has started mobilising the military and task forces to the oil-rich Niger Delta. He said it was necessary to halt the sabotage of oil facilities and kidnapping of citizens in those areas of the country.
The President stated that his administration is giving the highest priority to the resettlement of displaced persons and rehabilitation of infrastructure in the North East ravaged by activities of the Boko Haram sect, adding that mechanisms had been put in place to ensure respect for human rights in the fight against terrorism.
“We attach great importance to human rights. If there are breaches, they will be investigated and dealt with,” he said.
He also welcomed the growing international support, especially from the United States and Europe, for Nigeria’s efforts to end the Boko Haram insurgency.
The leader of the delegation, Ms. Nancy Lindborg, lauded the progress being made by the Buhari administration in ensuring greater security in Nigeria.
The Senate Committee on Foreign and Domestic Debt has described efforts made by some states in the northern part of the country to secure loan from the Saudi Arabia- based islamic bank in disregard with Nigeria’s extant law as grossly illegal.
The Chairman of the committee, Senator Shehu Sani, pointed out that the extant laws required any government or agency of government that wants to secure a foreign loan to first secure the support of the Federal Government pointing out that the governors cannot just go to Saudi Arabia to solicit or collect loans without following the due process of law.
“The action of the governors ran contrary to the relevant provisions of the Act that clearly and unambiguously rest the exclusive right to borrow externally on the federal government.
“The Debt management office Act 2003, section 21 and external borrowing guidelines, 2008-2012, paragraph 2.1 clearly states that any government or its agencies can only obtain external loan through the federal government and such loans must be supported by the federal government guarantee. The act is explicitly clear that no state, local government or federal agency shall on its own borrow externally.
“Governors of the northern states cannot just jet out to Saudi Arabia to solicit or collect loans without following the due process of law. The law further states that state governments and their agencies wishing to obtain external loans shall obtain federal government approval in principle from the federal Ministry of Finance. This is the provision of paragraph 2:2 (II) of the external borrowing guidelines” Sani said.
