The Federal Government of Nigeria has concluded plans to set up one hundred Primary Health Care Centres across the country within the next three months, a government official said on Tuesday.
Minister of Health, Professor Isaac Adewole, who gave the figures while addressing reporters during an assessment tour of healthcare facilities in war torn northeast Nigeria, said that the plan was to provide each ward in the country with self-sufficient healthcare centres in line with global best practices.
In Borno State, the state worst hit by the insurgents, the State Governor, Kashim Shettima, was excited about the Federal Government’s interest in parts of the country ravaged by insurgency.
Shettima told the Minister that health facilities in Maiduguri the state capital were now overstretched because of the burden of insurgency victims and Persons dislodged from at least 20 local governments of the state.
Over two million persons have been displaced from the region in the over six years’ insurgency by members of the Boko Haram sect.
The government had last week inaugurated a committee to map out all the Primary Healthcare Centres across the nation.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, on Monday arraigned four men for allegedly diverting N1.4bn which they obtained from the Bank of Industry under false pretense of investment.
The accused, who were charged before Justice Oluwatoyin Ipaye of a Lagos State High Court in Ikeja, are Johnson Salako, Toritseju Jemide, Enoche Ugbabe and Enebeli Theophilus.
They are been charged with five counts bordering on felony, stealing and forgery, contrary to sections 467 and 516 of the Criminal Code Law of Lagos State.
The EFCC, said that the accused “forged a Certificate of Occupancy of Lands Registry in Lagos State, which you pledged as security to obtain the facility.” Also the accused forged two title deeds to obtain the loan from BOI under the false pretence that they were investing it in a project.
Enoche and Enebeli pleaded not guilty to all the charges, following which Justice Ipaye ordered their remand in the prison custody.
The matter was adjourned till February 4, 2016 for the hearing of the bail application of the accused.
No fewer than 700 make-shift shops at the popular Station Food Stuff Market in Kaduna, north-central Nigeria, have been burnt down in an early morning inferno.
The fire incident, which was attributed to a power surge, occurred at about 12 midnight when the traders had retired from the day’s business.
An eyewitness said that two people, who were sleeping inside one of the shops, also lost their lives in the fire while goods worth millions of Naira were completely destroyed.
Efforts by the State Fire Service could not save the situation, as the fire razed all the shops and destroyed food items. Only zinc and iron protectors in some shops were the only things in sight at the market, as some owners of the shops gathered, with agony on their faces.
The make-shift shops were made with wood, zinc and other materials that fire can easily burn.
One of the traders, whose shop was affected, said that the fire incident could have been averted if the previous government had listened to their demand for permanent blocks of shops to be constructed in the market, instead of the make-shift shops.
“The make-shift shop can easily be gutted by fire,” he said.
The Station Market is popularly known as a place to buy cheap food items and fruits in Kaduna, the state capital.
The incident is likely to affect food supply in the state capital, as food items and other consumables such as chicken, fish, water melon were destroyed.
security operatives have been deployed to the market to maintain law and other
Procter & Gamble Nigeria is the largest FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) company in the world with strong brands like Pampers, Ariel, Always, Gillette, Oral B just to name a few. We have been in existence for over 176 years globally and 21 years in Nigeria.
We are recruiting to fill the below position:
Job Title: Manufacturing Process Engineer – Internship Program
A P&G internship/co-op program offers the opportunity to experience all that we have to offer – our work, our people, our values, and our culture.
During the internship time you will work on real business projects which are supporting current business strategies.
As an internship, you are given the opportunity to:
Make a meaningful contribution to the manufacturing site and to learn about manufacturing, technical management, and P&G.
Get hands-on experience working with engineers in a cutting edge communications environment
Our Manufacturing Engineers focus on continuous improvement of P&G manufacturing products, process technologies and systems. They also focus on cost saving technologies, quality, reliability, safety, and Integrated Work Systems “IWS”.
The CO-OP will be called upon to support a variety of hardware engineering activities in a dynamic environment & will be assigned to a variety of tasks throughout the departments.
Each co-op will have a mentor to assist in completing tasks and answering questions.
Work is done in a wide variety of fields, including control systems, high-speed packaging, process mechanical operations and chemical processing, all in a highly cooperative team environment.
Although we make no guarantee of employment, it is our goal to have our Interns fully capable of stepping into a full-time position within our organization by the end of the program.
Qualifications
Saudi Citizen.
Currently studying in 2nd 3rd or 4th the year in Mechanical, Electrical, Industrial, Chemical Engineering or have relevant Majors.
Have Strong skills in leadership, and excellent in communication.
Good command of the English language.
Application Closing Date
Not Specified.
How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should APPLY
JAGAL Group is a leading Nigerian conglomerate with operations in the Oil & Gas, Construction and Manufacturing industries. The company has been growing successfully over the past 40 years, and has become a valuable and respected contributor to the development of the country’s economy.
Jagal offers diverse career opportunities across all its business activities. The Group’s broad range of industries and services offer rewarding prospects for various professional backgrounds and can satisfy ambitions for a successful future career.
We are recruiting to fill the following vacant positions:
Jumia is the largest e-commerce mall in Africa with over 100,000 unique visitors a day, buying everything from Fashion to Phones. Founded in 2012 in Nigeria, Jumia’s mission is to revolutionize the concept of shopping by providing customers with the best online shopping experience.
Jumia is part of Africa Internet Group, a leading global incubator of startups specialised in e-commerce. Africa Internet Group is Africa’s leading internet firm, with already over 3,000 employees in over 20 African countries and huge successes such as Jumia.com, Kaymu.com, Hellofood.com, Lamudi.com, Carmudi.com and Jovago.com. It is led by top talented leaders offering a great mix of local and international talents and is backed by MTN, Millicom and Rocket Internet.
We are currently looking for young talented, customer centric, professionals with offline sales experience in Nigeria to join our team and embark on an exciting journey in the core of marketing and entrepreneurship:
Job Title: Onsite Merchandiser
Location: Lagos
Department: Marketing
Job Description
The Onsite Merchandizer is responsible for proactively commercially animating and driving online business on the Jumia Nigeria app as well as mobile and desktop website.
His work is the showcase of our entire company.
You will report to the Onsite Merchandizing Manager Africa in Paris and Top Management in Lagos. The position is based in our office in Lagos.
Your position as Onsite Merchandizer entails:
Drive the optimization of conversion rate and all of the mobile and desktop website’s, as well as the app’s key metrics,
Supervise the maintenance of the Jumia Nigeria website on a daily basis to optimize revenues, as well as ensure outstanding quality of the content,
Coordinate and filter onsite requests, as well as manage onsite capacity, manage and coach the Onsite Merchandizer Associate,
Monitor, analyze, optimize and report on performance of campaigns to maximize results, and be a source of innovative ideas,
Improve landing pages performance and report on it,
Ensure an efficient e-merchandising: challenge product assortment, catalog structure and navigation, and optimize user experience to maximize sales,
Track key business indicators and ensure regular reporting with high value-added analysis,
Foster synergies between Jumia countries by sharing valuable learning and applying best practices,
Profile Requirements
Strong leadership and analytical skills, as well as managerial spirit,
Fast learner and initiative taker,
Well organized and rigorous, with a strong anticipation ability and attention to details,
Strong inter-personal skills: convince the people about your expertise fields,
Trustworthy and very independent with a strong ability to go further than the expectations,
Action oriented and results oriented,
Ability to work under pressure with tight deadlines,
Previous experience in online marketing, project management or IT,
Proficiency in MS Office, and knowledge on coding (HTML, CSS, Java) and Photoshop is a plus.
Application Closing Date
Not Specified.
How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should APPLY
The Place – We are a fast growing, world class, dynamic, multi-billion Nigerian conglomerate, presently into restaurants, hotel, agriculture and nightclubbing.
We are currently opening new outlets in Lagos and are looking for high-flying customer service oriented employees to fill the position below:
We require a naturally creative, versatile and open-minded Management Consultant for the position of an Operations Analyst for our restaurant business.
We will prefer someone who has a passion for food/ cooking and has acquired baseline research and analytical business consulting skills (minimum of 2 years work experience) from leading management consulting firms.
The candidate will be heavily involved in conducting research and proffering improvement solutions in varied aspects of our restaurant business.
Primarily, he/she will work with the Operations Manager to champion development of new innovative, food products while also maintaining the Company’s approved operational standards across all outlets.
The candidate must be able to learn quickly, multi-task and successfully work with a wide range of stakeholders across various career levels.
It will also be critical for the candidate to be willing to take up new challenges, have a knack for identifying improvement opportunities and the wherewithal to assist in the implementation of operations enhancement initiatives.
Application Closing Date
Not Specified.
How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should APPLY
AMCON Risks Non-Recovery of N5.5 trillion Bad Loans
The Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions headed by Senator Rafiu Ibrahim, on Monday, said it had commenced a probe into the N 5.4 trillion owed the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) by some firms,which is said to more than triple the N800 billion debt limit guaranteed to AMCON by the act establishing it.
Managing Director of AMCON, Ahmed Kuru ,who spoke with journalists shortly after the meeting with Senators, said that the lawmakers were in support of its determination to recover the huge debts.
He said : ‘‘We have seen that most of the debtors in AMCON are big men that fly in private jets, live in big mansions and they have taken money and they are not paying back.
The Senate is really disturbed and they are ready to do anything under the law to ensure that the N5.4trillion that is outstanding obligation of AMCON is repaid.”
The quest for total eradication of Lassa fever continues as the Lagos State chapter of the Environmental Health Officers Association of Nigeria on Monday said it had killed no fewer than 7,243 rats in eight major markets in the state under its ‘De-rat Market’ programme.
The ministry of Local Government and Community Affairs, the health workers association’s President, Samuel Akingbehin, said the 7,243 rats were killed at the Onigongbo, Oshodi, Oke-Odo, Ikotun Idanwo, Ojuwoye and Mile 12 and Alaba Rago markets. He said de-rating the markets was part of the association’s efforts to curb the spread of Lassa fever in the state.
He said the plan was to de-rat markets in one local government area per day, starting from 5pm. “We decided to put the exercise in the evening due to the nocturnal nature of rodents and our members had recorded successes in the markets visited till date. he said.
“It took us about three hours to cover the Oshodi Market when our members went there for the exercise. Today, Monday, we will be visiting Suru-Alaba Market in Orile with about 400 EHOs to de-rat it.”
The Commissioner for Local Government and Community Affairs, Muslim Folami appealed to the health workers to go to the nook and cranny of the state to sensitise the residents.
The Consumer Protection Council (CPC), has said it will sanction Turkish Airlines over the airline’s failure to provide full situation report on the incident that led to complaints bothering on abuse of consumer rights .
Director-General of the CPC, Mrs. Dupe Atoki, said the airline should have realised that the days of impunity when businesses could infringe on the rights of consumers are over.
The director-general insisted that the responsibility is on Turkish Airlines to respond to CPC, showing clearly, with facts and figures, that it has satisfactorily resolved the complaints of consumer rights abuse leveled against it.
A Globally acclaimed secondary school in Nigeria, Olashore International School, has just won the British Council International Schools Award (ISA). This was made known during the recently organized road show in Lagos by the Principal of the School, Mr Derek Smith.
The British Council International School Award (ISA) is a benchmarking scheme that accredits schools as having an outstanding level of support for nurturing global citizenship in young people, and enriching teaching and learning. ISA is a yearly award given to participating schools. Applications from interested schools are called in every year, August/September period and schools are selected on the basis of their application. The British Council offers the ISA as an accreditation framework for schools to record and evaluate their international work and embed it into the curriculum.
Caption : L_R PTA Vice Chairman, Olashore International School, Mr Adekunle Ogunbufunmi, Principal, Olashore International School, Mr Derek Smith, Chairman, Board of Governors of the school, Prince Abimbola Olashore, and PTA Chairman of the school, Mr Otunba Bolarinwa ,during the Olashore Road Show Event in Lagos recently.
According to the Principal, Mr Derek Smith, Olashore won the award based on various projects organized in the year 2015. His words: “We did a lot of projects which lasted for a period of twelve (12) months in the year 2015 which cuts across Human Rights, Supporting International Communities, Civic and Governance, Learning Through Technology, Global Awareness, International Food, and Africa Is Not A Country. It was a wide range of project involving everybody in the school. We believe that International work exposes educators to new practices and perspectives, aiding their professional development and as such raising teaching standards. For young people it is a window into different cultures and countries, preparing them for life in a global society. In November 2015, we submitted all the projects done, and International panel of judges were sent up to review these projects, at the end of the process, we emerged 47marks out of 49marks. We had all our evidences. This accreditation award will last between 2016 and 2019. The British Council World -wide runs a network of registered schools and they offer International exams. I’m happy because our school gained recognition for what we do, and this is quite encouraging to do more”.
Organized annually by the school, the Road show kicked off its 2016, national and international interactive road shows starting from Port Harcourt, and also touched a number of other major cities including Abuja, Warri, Lagos and rounded off in London UK. The Road Show is aimed at fostering parents’ involvement in the education and development of their wards and in decision making. It is an avenue for invited prospective parents to learn more from the testimonials of some of the current parents at Olashore, and meet with the school authorities in a relaxed atmosphere.
The Principal commented “The idea of the Road Show is to go round to meet with our parents, get prospective and project what we are doing in the school. We realized that what is done in school is not adequately explained and understood by parents, so we felt this platform will be better to do so. Aside that, parents like us to come around to explain better where they haven’t been able to explain and convince their friends of what the school has in the offing and the reason they need to get their wards in. The Roadshow has been successful all the years”.
Commenting on the school, The Chairman, PTA Olashore International School, Mr Otunba Bolarinwa stated “I’ve been a parent in this school for seven (7) years and I can testify to the fact that the school has a lot of benefits in the offing. Having existed for Twenty-two (22) years with standard and quality education, I’m proud to be associated with it and I urge the prospective parents to partake of this quality for their wards. Affordability should not be a problem because the school provides scholarship scheme for the less privileged, and even at the PTA level, we make provision for similar purpose”.
One of the prospective parents, Mrs Blessing Ishomo, pointed out “We were invited for this Road Show and I think I’m glad that I’m here. As a parent, I’m looking for two things- Academic Excellence and the God Factor. With the presentation from the principal, I’m excited because it is holistic. I love academics though, but I also love Critical thinking, drama, music, leadership trainings, amongst others which Olashore School offers. I advise other incoming parents to check this place out, and if it marks all their checklists, then they should try to consider it”.
Established in 1994, on 60 acres of land, Olashore International School is a co-educational school which offers high calibre education in a wide range of subjects. It is one of Nigeria’s leading boarding schools, is particularly appealing to discerning Nigerians at home and abroad, as well as expatriates residing in Nigeria, who desire a school with a strong value system, proven track record and a clear sense of purpose.
A House of Representatives Adhoc Committee has disclosed that the country was short-changed in the execution of the $470 million contract for the installation of Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras in Abuja and Lagos.
The contract was awarded to the ZTE Corporation of China by the immediate past administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan.
The revelation is coming ahead of a public hearing organised by the committee investigating the projects slated for today, with the panel disclosing that the naira equivalent of the money paid to the contractor was “over a trillion naira,” and calling for public support for a hitch-free investigation.
The committee chairman Hon. Ahmed Yerima, in a press statement issued yesterday, recalled how the 7th House of Reps conducted a similar probe in the past, but that “powerful forces” did not allow the report to see the light of day.
ZTE Corporation was said to have abandoned the projects after collecting an upfront payment of $100m, explaining that the amount collected represents about 20 per cent of this year’s N6.08trn budget of the country.
The committee added that the non-completion of the projects has also hampered the capacity of security agencies to gather intelligence on the activities of criminal elements in the country.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced that bank customers will start paying a maintenance fee on current account transactions.
CBN’s Financial Policy and Regulation Department Director Kelvin Amugo, in a circular released by the apex bank said that the new fee, a negotiable current account maintenance fee not exceeding N1 for ever N1 million, may be charged in respect of all customer-induced debit transactions.
Amugo, who said that the CBN was not oblivious of the impact of declining crude oil prices, operation of Treasury Single Account, and some other market turbulence on the viability and stability of the banking system, explained that the new fee was introduced in the interest of stability of the banking system.
The fee is coming weeks after the regulator struck out Commission on Transaction (COT) fee, which contributed significantly to lenders’ profitability.
Oil marketers in the country have said that the removal of subsidy on kerosene by the Federal Government will not guarantee the adequate supply of the product across the country, as the excessive demand for the product cannot be matched by the supply, and as such it will barely sell for N83 per litre.
The Federal Government halted the payment of subsidy on kerosene. The latest pricing template for House Hold Kerosene released by the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) showed that instead of the regulated pump price of N50 per litre, the product will now sell for N83.
About three weeks ago, the government ended subsidy on petrol when it released the pricing template for Premium Motor Spirit.
Nigerians love android phones and Samsung is one of their favourite brands. The company has constantly launched an upgrade of their Galaxy S series and as expected, they are soon to roll out the latest upgrades for the series: Galaxy S7, Galaxy S7 Edge and Galaxy S7 Edge Plus variant for 2016 at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2016 to be held in Barcelona come February.
People who are gadget freaks cannot wait for this new device to hit the markets. To help them prepare for the arrival of Samsung’s incoming flagship phone, Jovago.com has put together bits of information believed to be the most consistent of all theories surrounding the “S7” smartphone.
Release date
According to the news released online, the launch date is most possibly on the February 21, 2016. However, the company’s previous release dates are the truest indication of when the Galaxy S7 will be released. Aside from the S3, the Galaxy smartphones have all been launched in April – S4, April 11 , Saturday; S5, April 27; and Galaxy S6 Friday, April 10. Following the trend, there is high probability we will see the phone around April 8, or April 15.Unfortunately, Samsung is yet to confirm details.
New Features
As expected, the Samsung S7 will have new features including: a quad-core Snapdragon 820 at its heart, bringing with it Qualcomm’s new Kryo processor; the famous fast-charging USB-C that is taking the mobile world by storm; Google’s latest Android 6.0 Marshmallow operating system, which brings a host of upgrades including Android Pay, improved app permissions, standardized fingerprint support, battery life improvements and so much more.
Design
In terms of design, the Galaxy S7 should be aesthetically similar to the Galaxy S6. The Galaxy S7 is expected to have a 5.1 inch SUPER AMOLED 4K display and the Galaxy S7 edge, a 5.5 inch curved display, each with a slick design (7.9 mm) made of superior quality metal. Both these smartphone will also feature a pressure-sensitive display, similar to what Apple’s iPhone 6s series offers with its 3D-Touch screens.
Cost
While no one is exactly sure how it will mark up in stores until the official announcement, However, a good starting point would be a mark above the current sales price for the S6. It is no secret that the Samsung galaxy S series are high-end android phone and again smartphone pricing naturally increases over time anyway, so somewhere north of N180,000 for the S7 would not be a big surprise.
Generally, the Samsung Galaxy S7 will have the most advanced specification and features, as well as a powerful hardware.
Yoga may have originated from India but its potency has made it a global phenomenon such that even the United Nations declared June 21 of every year as the international day of Yoga.
What exactly is Yoga? It is a Hindu spiritual practice and ascetic discipline, a part of which, including breath control, simple meditation, and the adoption of specific bodily postures, is widely practiced for health and relaxation according to Wikipedia.
In a fast lane city like Lagos, known for its notorious traffic, Yoga has become an important way for many Lagosians to relieve themselves of stress. Yoga classes are available in the majority of the gyms in Lagos and Jovago.com, Africa’s No 1 hotel booking portal lists four places to go for a zen moment in Lagos.
Chi’s Yoga
Venue: GQ Lagos, No 16 Oyinkan Abayomi Drive, Former Queen’s Drive, Ikoyi, Lagos, Nigeria.
Price: N2,500 (Wednesday and Saturday)
Chi’s yoga is one of the most popular Yoga hubs in Lagos. They offer classes in small group sessions and can help you reclaim your body’s natural rhythm with deft movements and meditation. Private classes are only available in Ikoyi, Victoria Island, and Lekki. It is advisable to take your mat along.
Spa and Fitness is an all-around fitness center where you can also practice Yoga. With a serene ambiance, spa and fitness is a smooth and classy place to keep fit and through their Yoga classes you can be more present and unthreatened by the highs and low of experiences.
Yoga with Stacy
Venue: The Garden Pearls, 1 Vanni close off Universal road, Adeniyi Jones, Ikeja
Price: N1,500 (First and second Saturdays of every month)
Yoga with Stacy is the place to go for new Yoga beginners. Stacy will ultimately help you master the art of quieting your mind. It features Vinyasa flow yoga, Dance Cardio and meditation. It is 2 hours of brooding and musing with other ‘Yogis’.
Proflex Fitness Center
Venue: 20-24 Ozumba Mbadiwe Avenue, Victoria Island, Lagos.
The Vintasa flow Yoga is one of the most popular type of Yoga in Nigeria. It involves learning how to control your breathing through a series pose, movement and body sequencing. You can get all this exclusively at the Proflex fitness center. Interestingly, everyone can practice Yoga, regardless of their age or fitness level.
In preparations for the 2016 ABL season scheduled to tip off on Friday, March 4 2016, The Stallions have signed on three players who have played in different leagues across the globe.
The players are Kelechi Anuna, Hassan Adams and Akintunde Moses.
Kelechi has played for the Nigeria National team and with clubs in top leagues in Tunisia, Slovakia, Egypt, Venezuela and most recently Dominican Republic.
Kelechi is happy to be back in the country and excited about the opportunity to be a part of the league.
Hassan was drafted in the NBA in 2006 after playing his college basketball as an Arizona Wildcat in University of Arizona.
He has played with NBA clubs including New Jersey Nets (Now Brooklyn Nets) and Toronto Raptors. He has also played in Philippine (Rain or Shine Elasto Painters) and Singapore (Singapore Slingers).
He plans to bring this experience to bear as he joins Stallions.
US-based Akintunde Moses played with the El Shams Basketball Club. He played college basketball with the Three Rivers Community College and was at Mullen All-Star Basketball Camp.
He is a tenacious rebounder and finishes around the basket with authority. We should expect this from him as he joins the ABL.
The maiden season of the African Basketball League which was earlier scheduled for Sunday 31 January 2016 was postponed to allow the league management finalize agreement with all players and to ensure that all game centers are fully ready.
The first game will be held on March 4th,2016 at Landmark Event Center in Lagos.
The ABL is proudly supported by Cornerstone Insurance, Wakanow, Radisson Blu and Union Bank.
There are some LinkedIn profiles you will love to check but would rather not because if LinkedIn will immediately send an email notification to the individual whose profile you checked. While the notifications are a great idea for some others oppose it.
This feature has been a part of LinkedIn for a while now. Luckily, there are ways you can deactivate this email notification from getting to the profile owner. Jovago.com, Africa’s No 1 hotel booking portal outlines steps to take to remain anonymous when you view any LinkedIn profile.
You have two options
The first option
1a. Select privacy and setting on your LinkedIn account from the drop down menu.
1b. then scroll down to privacy control and choose ‘select what others see when you’ve viewed their profile’.
1c. You will find three available options – you can select either of the last two.
The second option
2. To do this, logout from your LinkedIn account and search for the person’s profile on Google or any other search engine of your choice. You will view the person’s profile without LinkedIn sending any email notification. However, the information you have access to will be limited.
There are reports of panic in the oil industry both in Nigeria and globally, as oil companies are expected to start disclosing their annual reports soon.
Those who have declared their 2015 results and forecast for 2016 have already indicated plans to reduce workforce in 2016 a priority.
Royal Dutch Shell last Wednesday said in its fourth quarter and full-year update it would, in 2016, sack employees globally, including those in their services in Nigeria.
The oil giant said it would cut 10,000 jobs in an effort to further reduce costs amid a severe slump in oil prices.
The United States multinational energy corporation, Chevron, had stated in October 2015 that it might eliminate up to 7,000 jobs, though the firm, which is the third-largest oil producer in Nigeria, did not say when or where in its global operations the jobs will be reduced.
The Manager, Public and Government Affairs, ExxonMobil Nigeria, Akin Fatunke, precisely disclosed that ExxonMobil laid off workers some time ago.
“The same thing is most likely going to happen. As I speak with you, about 104 workers had been laid off in the upstream. I won’t use the word sack, as they are smiling and very happy because they were paid handsomely and they are still our friends,” Fatunke said in a chat with reporters at an energy workshop.
Oil unions are already expressing concerns over the impending global sack in Chevron and Shell, among others, and had called on the federal government to stop companies from extending the planned sack to Nigeria.
The workers, under their umbrella union – the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), in a statement on Friday by the president, Igwe Achese, described the planned sack as alarming. NUPENG warned that it may be forced to embark on industrial action if the federal government fails to stop the companies from sending oil workers in Nigeria to the unemployment market.
Elsewhere, the slump in oil prices has battered energy giants such as BP and Petrobras. Last week, UK oil firm, BP, reportedly said it would cut 4,000 jobs globally, 600 of which will be from its North Sea operations.
The news came as profits continue to suffer, leading to a big cutback in investment across the oil industry. BP said all the job losses would occur in its oil exploration and drilling business.
The minister of science and technology, Ogbonnaya Onu, has said the federal government will not rely on international agencies’ financial commitments to get the economy back on track.
Onu disclosed this on Monday after a World Bank delegation led by its Country Director for Nigeria, Mr Rachid Benmessaoud, paid him a working visit in his office in Abuja.
“We are not going to rely on any country or international agency to help develop our economy, this is something we as a people must do ourselves,” he said.
“For too long, Nigerians have been thinking that other nations and donor agencies will help the country develop its economy, but this has yet to take place.”
“We should rather take it as our responsibility, all the countries that have developed took it as their own responsibility to develop their economies themselves.”
