muykem:
OBJ has backed Buhari on border closure. IPOB and PDP how far?

Border closed to curb banditry and smuggling

10 August 2003
LAGOS

Nigeria closed its western border with Benin on Sunday and said it would remain shut until the Beninois government took tougher action against rampant smuggling and banditry along the 700 km-long frontier.

Thousands of travellers were stranded at the main border crossing at Seme, 60 km west of Lagos, after President Olusegun Obasanjo's government ordered the border gates to be shut. However, eyewitnesses said cars with diplomatic plates were still being allowed through.

Nigeria's surprise action effectively cut the main highway along the coast of West Africa that is used to exchange goods between countries as far apart as Cote d'Ivoire and Cameroon.

The Nigerian foreign ministry said in a statement the border would remain closed until Benin's President Mathieu Kerekou took firmer action against smuggling and banditry.

For years cars stolen in Nigeria have turned up on sale in Benin and large quantities of cheap Nigerian petrol have been smuggled across the border.

At the same time, human trafficking has become rife in both directions. Nigerians seeking clandestine entry to Europe often leave via Benin, while West African children, recruited to work for low wages on plantations in Central Africa are dispatched in the opposite direction.

“In the past many complaints were made to the Beninois authorities, but failed
to elicit the appropriate and satisfactory response,” the Nigerian foreign ministry said. “The decision to close our border with Benin Republic was therefore taken in Nigeria's overriding national interest.”

Long queues of vehicles formed on each side of the border after barriers went down, leaving travellers uncertain about how they would get home.

“I went to buy goods in Lagos for my business in Cotonou and now I’m
stranded, I don’t know what to do,” Prosper Hunpounou, a Beninois
businessman, told IRIN.

The move by Nigeria may contravene its treaty obligations as a member of the Eonomic Community of West African States. The organisation's 15 member countries have pledged to allow the free movement of people and goods between them.

Although rising crime was cited as Nigeria's reason for sealing the border with Benin, commercial issues may also have played a role in the move.

In recent years, Nigerian officials have expressed concern at the huge volume of cargo traffic which has shifted from the port of Lagos, which is bedevilled by shipping delays, high port charges and corruption, to the more efficient port of Cotonou in Benin. From there, the goods are then trucked overland into Nigeria.

They fear that the transfer in freight movements has led to big losses in port and customs revenues for Nigeria.

Debaiz:
He did same and knows it’s the right thing to do

muykem:
OBJ has backed Buhari on border closure. IPOB and PDP how far?

naptu2:
He also closed the border when he was president.

In recent years, Nigerian officials have expressed concern at the huge volume of cargo traffic which has shifted from the port of Lagos, which is bedevilled by shipping delays, high port charges and corruption, to the more efficient port of Cotonou in Benin. From there, the goods are then trucked overland into Nigeria.

http://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/report/45407/nigeriabenin-border-closed-curb-banditry-and-smuggling

SamuelAnyawu:
Close that Border till 2050. My Taraba brothers don dey cashout

cheango:
It's is good the border is closed, but let our govt close medical treatment abroad for our office holders too, starting from Buhari, let us develop our health system too..

OndoFirstBorn:
The Federal Government plans to spend N9.05bn on the purchase, maintenance and fuelling of generators across the Ministries, Departments and Agencies nationwide.

The government also earmarked a separate N75.4m for maintenance and fuelling of generators in some of its foreign missions abroad.

The details are contained in the 2020 budget proposal which was submitted to the National Assembly by President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday.


Sunday PUNCH, however, reports that the sum to be spent on generators may be much higher as several agencies such as the Independent National Electoral Commission and the National Health Insurance Scheme which have offices nationwide, failed to provide a breakdown of their budgets.

The government has budgeted the sum despite claims that power had improved drastically.

The N9bn earmarked for generators by the Federal Government is more than the Internally Generated Revenue of Bauchi, Abia, Zamfara, Kogi, Anambra, Bayelsa, Jigawa, Ebonyi, Ekiti, Adamawa, Nasarawa, Katsina, Kebbi, Borno, Taraba, Yobe and Gombe states in the first and second quarters of 2019.


The agency of the government with the largest single budget for generators is the Nigerian Army which set aside N518.3m for fuelling of generators alone while no amount was earmarked for maintenance.

In the second position is the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission which is asking for N64.5m for maintenance, N166.6m for fuelling of the generators and N82.2m to purchase a new generator, a combined N313.4m.

The EFCC’s generator budget is 10 times higher than that of its sister agency, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, which budgeted N10m for generator maintenance and N24.2m as generator fuel cost (N34.2m)


Holding the third position is the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation which is asking for N255m to fuel its generators and another N27m to maintain the generators, a combined N283.7m.

The Nigeria Defence Academy comes fourth with a budget of N273.7m for maintenance of generators (N133.5m) and fuelling of the generators (N140.1m).

In fifth position is the Nigeria Police Force with a budget of N222.9m for maintenance and fuelling of its generators across its formations and commands in the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory while the Nigeria Police Force Academy, Wudil, seeks a separate N31.7m for the same purpose.


The Nigeria Correctional Service (formerly known as Nigeria Prisons Service) budgeted N214m for the fuelling and maintenance of its generators while its sister agency, the Nigeria Immigration Service, seeks N95m for the purchase of a new generator and a separate N109.1m for fuelling and maintenance of its existing generators- a total of N204m.

The Federal Ministry of Health and its agencies comprising 88 federal teaching hospitals, medical centres and agencies have the highest budget for generators at N1.5bn.


The ministry and its agencies budgeted N173.7m for generator maintenance and N1.1bn to fuel them while a separate N220.8m was earmarked for the purchase of new generators.

The University of Benin Teaching Hospital and University of Calabar Teaching Hospital planned separate procurements of one 500KVA generator each at N25m; Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital, Nnewi budgeted N20m for two 500KVA soundproof generators.

Federal Teaching Hospital, Ido Ekiti, allocated N20,844,821 for a 250KVA diesel generator; Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital, Irrua budgeted for a N30m generator; and Federal Psychiatric Hospital, Calabar pencilled N14.5m for “purchase and installation of generators.


The Federal Medical Centre, Kebbi State indicated the need for the procurement of two 500KVA generators and other items at N32m; Institute of Public Analysts of Nigeria also budgeted N3.5m for the purchase a generator for its laboratory; and the Federal Teaching Hospital, Gombe allocated N50m for “generators and inverters.”

The Ministry of Education which oversees 197 federal secondary and tertiary institutions, departments and agencies has the second highest budget for generators.

The ministry and its agencies have earmarked a total of N366m for generator maintenance; about N806m to fuel the generators and another N104m to buy new generators, a combined N1.27bn.


The National Commission for College Education Secretariat budgeted N9.5m for the rehabilitation of a “generator plant”; International Centre for Biotechnology, University of Nigeria Nsukka, Enugu allocated N7.3m for a new 250KVA generator; and FGC Azare earmarked N20m for the procurement of a 200KVA generator.

Also, FGC Kwali is to spend N18.1m on the “purchase and installation” of a 250KVA generator; FGC Ido-Ani pencilled N22m for the purchase and installation of a 250KVA generator and 300KV transformer; FGGC Gboko budgeted N7.5m for the “supply and installation” of a 50KVA generator; and FGGC Shagamu allocated N20m for the procurement of a 250KVA generator.

https://punchng.com/fg-budgets-n9bn-to-maintain-purchase-generators/amp/?__twitter_impression=true