₦airaland Forum

They are not needed in that conference..no political party should set foot in the proposed conference.Pls Femi okoronmu and his committee should take note..

APC bunch of self centered politicians whose only interest is to get into Aso rock by hook or crook.

Those young boys who northern politicians use as their army of thug during elections can now be meaningfully engaged.Gradually they will come to understand how their so called leaders have taken them for a ride for this long.

Good one GEJ

The remaining 25 schools are at various stages of
completion.

The acting Minister of Education, Nyesom Wike, has said
that the Federal Government has completed 64 out of the
89 Almajiri schools in the country.

Mr. Wike said on Tuesday in Gombe that the schools,
constructed in different parts of the country, had been
handed over to the affected states.

The minister disclosed this in an address at the opening
ceremony of the 10th Quarterly Meeting of the Universal
Basic Education Commission’s (UBEC) management.

The meeting is being held with the executive chairmen of
the States Universal Basic Education Boards (SUBEBs).

Mr. Wike said that the remaining 25 schools were at
various stages of completion at their sites.

He said the Federal Government envisaged that the state
governments would ensure the eradication of street
begging and retain Almajiri pupils in the schools.

Commenting on efforts to provide the girl-child with
education to address the issues of equity, he said five out
of the 13 girl-child schools under construction had been
completed.

The minister also said the Federal Government would soon commence the construction of basic vocational schools for out-of-school boys in the South East and South South parts of the country.

According to Mr. Wike, contracts were awarded for the
construction of e-libraries in 62 federal unity colleges while 32 of the projects had been completed.

In his address, the Acting Executive Secretary of UBEC,
Charles Onocha, said efforts were on to address the
challenges of shortage of qualified teachers at the basic
level.

Mr. Onocha said as a result, 105,788 teachers applied for
the Federal Teachers Scheme Screening Test in 32 states
and the Federal Capital Territory in August.

He said that after selection, 400 of the applicants would be deployed to primary schools and 100 would be sent to
junior secondary schools in the participating states.

Governor Ibrahim Dankwambo of Gombe State said among other achievements, his administration had so far spent N5billion on basic education school facilities in the last two years.

Mr. Dankwambo explained that government embarked on
the rehabilitation, renovation, reconstruction and
construction of new model schools in Gombe, Kumo,
Bajoga and Deba.

He said that new ones would also be constructed in Dukku,Balanga and Shongom local governments.

The theme of the meeting was “Towards Improving
Teacher Quality at the Basic Education Level in Nigeria. The Imperative of Continuing Teacher Professional
Development.”

A communiqué is expected to be issued at the end of the
meeting on Wednesday.

premiumtimesng.com/news/147055-nigeria-government-completes-handover-64-almajiri-schools-states-wike.html

And I ask Prof Femi the recent proposal of N200 billion+TETFUND grant and the extra N10 billion for earned allowances is that not a good step towards addressing this issues?

CFCfan: ^^
Wow, talk about journalistic standards.

Anyway, this still opens the door for a merger between Air Nigeria, Aero and Arik

One of the reasons I don't trust any of the so called Investigative reports by our Journalists

Ministry denies plan to make Aero national carrier

Embattled Aviation Minister, Mrs. Stella Oduah has denied
reports of ongoing plans to confer national carrier status on Aero, Nigeria’s second largest domestic airline.

The minister, who spoke through her Special Assistant on
Media, Joe Obi, however said the Federal Government is
going ahead with the proposed ‘Nigeria one’ national
carrier.

Oduah had in the past repeatedly explained that the new
national carrier will be managed by private investors, with
the Federal Government creating an enabling environment for the carrier to operate.

A section of the media had Monday reported plans to turn
Aero to the national carrier by virtue of the government’s
60 per cent shareholding through the Asset Management
Company of Nigeria (AMCON). AMCON acquired Aero’s
$200 million (about N32 billion) debt translating to 60 per
cent equity off the books of Nigerian banks, leading the
previous sole owners- the Ibru family with the remaining
40 per cent.

When contacted on Monday over the reported national
carrier move, Managing Director of AMCON, Mustafa Chike-Obi, while not denying or confirming the development to our correspondent, said it is not the responsibility of AMCON to decide for Nigeria which airline will be a national carrier.

According to him, “AMCON does not decide who will be the national carrier”

Aero, Nigeria’s oldest surviving airline, founded in 1959
and registered in Nigeria a year later, has 16 aircrafts in its fleet and flies 14 destinations across Nigeria and the West African region.

dailyindependentnig.com/2013/10/ministry-denies-plan-to-make-aero-national-carrier/?utm_content=bufferb5df4&utm_source=buffer&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Buffer

karl max: Tinubu's Alpha-beta should take note

Exactly!

CFCfan: I think AMCON would eventually divest it's ownership of the new airline, since the FG doesn't want to own any stake in the airline.

Also, the airline could lease some aircraft if it wants to begin intercontinental flights immediately; or the management could wait for at least 18 months before the new planes arrive.

Its even stated in the article

The source further revealed that AMCON would only
hold on to its 60 per cent shares in Aero Contractor for a
limited period, after which they will be sold to the public
at some future date.

Some communities in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) which include Karu,Mararaba, Nyanya, Masaka, Jikowi, Karshi and neighbouring environs of Nassarawa State now enjoy at least 16 to 18 hours power supply daily,according to the Minister of Power, Prof Chinedu Nebo.

Please can anybody living in the above named places kindly confirm the above statement

Seems Sahara Reporters is still basking in the euphoria of their recent sucess with the BMW scandal

WorldStage Newsonline-- Some communities in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) which include Karu,Mararaba, Nyanya, Masaka, Jikowi, Karshi and neighbouring environs of Nassarawa State now enjoy at least 16 to 18 hours power supply daily,according to the Minister of Power, Prof Chinedu Nebo.

Nebo said on Monday while commissioning a 2x60MVA, 132/33KV transmission sub-station in Karu, noting that previous power supply to the areas was a worst case scenario, and that in assisting Nigeria, the World Bank decided to take the worst case scenario to show that if it could be done anywhere in Nigeria.

"Today, we rejoice that from two to four hours of power supply daily, Karu,Mararaba and environ, the people are enjoying 16 to 18 hours of power supply daily," he said.

He noted that "with today commissioning, the transmission inadequacy in the area has been squarely addressed, awaiting more power generation on the way to achieving uninterrupted power supply for Abuja and eventually the whole of
Nigeria."

Speaking on behalf of the World Bank Project Monitoring Unit (PMU) of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), Engr Ciroma Joseph, explained that the station was a 2x60MVA, 132/33KV Transmission sub-station funded by the World Bank under the National Energy Development (NEDP) and managed by the PMU.Joseph said: "This awarded to the Joint Venture (JV) of system Shreem-Jyoti-MBH Engineering consort protium on the 13th September, 2007 at a $6,066,739.06 while the Ground Breaking to kick-start the project was performed on 18th
January, 2008 in this same place."

The TCN Managing Director, Engr. Don Priestman said that as the Federal Government continued to work towards expanding the power sector, TCN enjoined
Nigerians to join hands protecting all electricity installations from the activities of vandals , miners who evacuate minerals, laterite and sand around the foundation of power transmission towers, causing some of them to collapse.

Nebo also raised alarm over the continuing incidences of vandalism of power installations in the country.
He called on the citizens to put the station under surveillance and protect miscreants from vandalizing the facility and plough them into darkness and cost
more funds to reinstall.Nebo cited an instance where some vandals broke into a transformer to remove
copper worth N10,000 caused a long time power outage and suffering for over one million customers.
The repair of the damaged transformer, according to the minister, gulped N27 million even as only N10,000 copper was extracted from it.

His words: "While the Federal Government is partnering with the security agents to effectively check the menace of vandalism, let me again plead like everyone of
the speakers before me has pleaded that the people of the entire area do everything you can to protect what is yours." Nobody will ever came and carry this sub-station to any other part of Nigeria. But unless you protect it, defiant unscrupulous elements and people who don't like the country or the development of the country, will vandalize this. Not long ago, some miscreants went to some parts of Ikeja, vandalized transformers, and when they vandalized this transformers, all what they stole was not worth up to N10,000 worth of copper. Meanwhile, they locked out over one million people out of power
supply and it took N27 million to repair what they stole that wasn't want up to N10,000.

"That is why everyone of us, we must redouble our efforts and become a vigilante of a sort to ensure that what is given to us is not taken away from us by people who don't think well or think well for the country."

worldstagegroup.com/index.php?active=news&newscid=11457&catid=26

Contrary to some recent media reports, the Federal
government has not adopted a take-it-or-leave-it approach in its negotiations with ASUU. Rather, the approach is focused on positive engagement and achieving sustainable solutions to the challenges facing higher education in the country. That is why President Goodluck Jonathan recently appealed to ASUU to respond to government’s positive steps by calling off its strike in the interest of suffering students and parents.

Despite this, for several days now, some elements in ASUU have been distributing pamphlets and flyers with abusive and inflammatory messages against the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala in mosques and other places. This is taking academic unionism to a new low and infusing it with unnecessary politics. I am sure majority of ASUU members are not in support of this.

These messages are directed at using falsehood to demonize the Minister as callous and unsympathetic to the plight of students and parents. The major lie being peddled in the pamphlets and flyers is that Dr Okonjo-Iweala has insisted on a “take-it-or-leave-it approach” in the negotiations with ASUU. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Dr Okonjo-Iweala is the daughter of two retired professors and her father is presently a member of ASUU’s Board of Trustees and has been one for a long time. She speaks with her father everyday on the issue so how can be insensitive to issues concerning the sad state of tertiary education in the country? She understands and sympathizes with the plight of both students and lecturers. She wants our children back inschool as soon as possible. Remember she is a mother and two of her young relatives are sitting at home due to the
strike.

This is why government is working hard, under the
leadership of the President, to seek practical and sustainable solutions to the challenges facing higher education in Nigeria.

The President has made available N100 billion a year in the first instance to repair hostels, laboratories and classrooms and other facilities. An offer has also been made to ASUU of N30 billion towards their earned allowances. In fact,negotiations have even gone further than this. This is the first time, in years of negotiating with government, that significant sums of money have been put on the table ƒσя ASUU and universities on this particular set of issues. The Coordinating Minister is fully part of this.

Against this background, ASUU elements who want the strike to continue should have a heart and rethink their current take-it-or-leave-it approach to negotiation. Government has demonstrated its commitment to improving the university system. And it is even ready to do much more going forward. ASUU should listen to the voice of reason and the yearnings of Nigerians on this issue.

Paul C Nwabuikwu
Special Adviser to the Coordinating Minister and Minister of
Finance

https://m.facebook.com/ngoziokonjoiweala/posts/637819239601677

Capt. Dele Ore ?...this name sounds familiar..wait is this not the same man who said Entry of Ethiopian airline into Enugu airport will kill aviation industry..
www.nairaland.com/1482435/entry-ethiopian-airlines-into-enugu

Now look at his words here

Clap for her for improving the airports. In fact,
Captain Dele Ore in his anger and frustration, allegedly
said she must go now; that the armoured car bought for
her “will not save her.” That was a veiled threat.

This means that the author of this article is not making wild allegations.Now the picture is getting clearer...Stella is going nowhere!

[quote author=A-ZeD]is there any advantage to having a so called National carrier?[/quote]It will reduce the price of airfares..so travelling by air will no longer be an elitist affair

•Airline to acquire Air Nigeria assets
By Chinedu Eze

As the Ministry of Aviation proceeds with plans to set up a
national carrier that would operate international, regional
and domestic services, it has emerged that Aero
Contractors has been designated the nation’s flag carrier.

It was gathered that the decision to designate Aero
Contractors as the national carrier was supposed to have
been announced during the October 1 national broadcast
to mark Nigeria’s Independence by President Goodluck
Jonathan, but it was deferred for another date.

As a national carrier, Aero Contractors is expected to enjoy preferential rights or privileges accorded by the federal government for international operations.

It would hold some lucrative routes in monopoly, negotiate commercial agreements, pools and bilateral agreements with foreign airlines, articulate manpower training for the sector and serve as diplomatic tool for Nigeria.

Designating Aero Contractors as the national carrier would also allow the airline to codeshare with other international airlines, as this would improve Nigeria’s ability to take advantage of Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA) it has in place with other countries.

Aero Contractors, it was further gathered, was selected for the role because of the 60 per cent stake the Asset
Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), a federal
government institution, already holds in the airline.

Under the arrangement, the federal government shall
retain 60 per cent through AMCON, while Legacy Holdings,a company owned by the Ibru family, will hold 40 per cent in the national carrier.

Also, AMCON would offer some of the assets of the defunct Air Nigeria to Aero Contractors.

In this regard, an industry source said AMCON was
undertaking a valuation of Air Nigeria assets, which it took over from UBA Capital when the latter assumed the loans of the airline.

He said: “AMCON is currently undertaking a valuation of Air Nigeria assets, which would be concluded in the next 30 days, following which they will be offered to Aero
Contractors to expand its operations.”

The source further revealed that AMCON would only hold on to its 60 per cent shares in Aero Contractor for a limited period, after which they will be sold to the public at some future date.

However, THISDAY gathered that there is also a plan to
offload 10 per cent of the designated national carrier to a
facilitator suspected to be a top government official in the
aviation sector. The facilitator is said to have been
responsible for facilitating the transaction.

The facilitator, it was learnt, has set up a Special Purpose
Vehicle (SPV) that would acquire 10 per cent of Aero
Contractors three years from now.

The source said under the deal, the facilitator would be
required to ensure that the airport is modernised and a
hub is created to enhance air traffic for the West African
region as the conditions precedent for the acquisition of the 10 per cent in three years time.

Although another source said the facilitator is a European
low cost airline, it is believed that the low cost carrier is
being used as a front for the government official.

Presently, Nigerian airlines do not airlift up to 10 per cent of the estimated six million passengers who travel out of the country annually.

Also, with the failure of domestic airlines to play a
significant role, international carriers export huge resources from the country by way of earnings made from ticketing and remuneration for expatriate personnel.

Besides, since the demise of Nigeria Airways, the country
has lost competences in different segments of the air
transport industry including manpower development.

www.thisdaylive.com/articles/aero-contractors-to-emerge-national-carrier/162232/

Ime Obi Onitsha, the Kingdom’s traditional council, has
said contrary to some reports, the Obi of Onitsha, Igwe
Alfred Achebe, did not approve the rally by the
gubernatorial candidate of the All Progressives Congress
(APC), Senator Chris Ngige, which was held in Onitsha on
October 8, the same day as the annual Ofala festival.

The council therefore dismissed the claims made by Ngige and one of his aides, Hon Uche Okonkwo-Okom, as false.

A statement by the traditional council observed that “the
Traditional Council and the Monarch of Onitsha, as a policy,always studiously steer clear of any involvement in partisan politics. "That notwithstanding, after due reflection, the council considers it necessary to correct the persistent misrepresentation of our highly principled and respected monarch, resulting from the privileged access that he granted Okonkwo-Okom, as a deliberate effort to portray our monarch as unreliable,” the statement stated.

The council also bemoaned the manipulation of the APC
stalwarts in the state as a result of their privileged access
to the traditional council of Onitsha.

The statement signed by notable chiefs led by Chief Chike Ofodile (SAN), the Onowu Iyasele of Onitsha, clarified the sequence of events leading up to the purported approval by Ngige. It said Ngige had through Okonkwo-Okom, informed His Majesty via a text message of his intention to attend the Ofala festival in company of some serving governors and requested for His Majesty’s prior consent and protocol accommodation in the programme of the day.

The council explained that His Majesty responded through another text message saying: “He, Ngige, and the governors are very welcome. To ensure proper protocol,advised the number of them coming and names, if possible. I’ll emerge at 2 p.m. and all should be seated by then. Ofala Onitsha is a cultural event and not for politics. I look to seeing you there personally."

“In all the SMS exchanges, there was never any mention of a political rally. Thus, the claim by the party that approval for it was granted by our monarch or the palace is a mere ruse. No approval for political rally was sought and none was granted.”

“Their intention was very manipulative and irreverent of
the culture and tradition of his people and therefore
unacceptable. Our monarch further told Hon Okonkwo-
Okom that it would be best, in the circumstance, for the
APC chieftains not to appear at the festival to avoid an
explosion of the anger of his people.”

“Our people believe strongly in the plural democratic
traditions of the country. Thus, we respect the
constitutional rights of every political party to pursue its
objectives. Indeed, our indigenes enjoy diverse political
affiliations, including membership of the APC,” the
statement stated.

www.thisdaylive.com/articles/obi-of-onitsha-i-didn-t-approve-apc-rally/162238/

Punch is surely enjoying this offensive on the minister...just imagine a journalist because he/she has access to a widely circulated medium of information will just concote his/her thoughts and put it on print..No wahala make we the watch

Goddex: Has anyone wondered why APC is yet to come out with a statement on the NCAA purchase? It's because Fashola purchased his own for 200m naira

See where the silly man and his silly party's interest lies
www.vanguardngr.com/2013/10/apc-calls-plot-force-amaechi-resign-last-desperate-act/

Chief Executive Officer of Niger Delta Power Holding
Company, owners of NIPP, Mr. James Abiodun Olotu
commended China Machinery Engineering Corporation
(CMEC) for completing the project six months ahead of
schedule.

So Omotosho 2 was completed a whooping 6 months ahead of schedule..quite impressive

Moderators pls this should be on the front page
www.nairaland.com/1484861/president-goodluck-jonathan-commissions-500mw
Nigeria just added 500MW to the grid for crying out loud

taharqa: Reali? Was d date of d Commissioning stated?... I wonda when Geometric Power at Aba wud also be commissioned??

I heard it from his speech yesterday..he didn't give a date

NCAA DG said those vehicles are Operational vehicles..so the question is was money appropriated for operational vehicles in NCAA 2013 budget?..Premium Times should stop twisting fact by saying no money was budgeted for Minister's car...

otokx: @awodman

thanks for the info but there is normally a spending limit, was due process followed?

If you check the documents by sahara..it shows that every right step necessary for those cars to be bought was followed..starting right from the issuance of the profoma invoice..

However,I think the outrage here is about the cost of the car..which many of us think was inflated..

They are fighting through proxies..make them just try talk anything and PDP go just open their yansh..they are in this business together

gbadexy: I don't know what the probe is about.
Is it for the cost or for abusing the power of her office to coerce an agency into buying two expensive cars from its limited funds not covered in the budget.
Its just sheer wastefulness buying two of such vehicles.
I would have thought diezani madwueke and ngozi okonjo had more threats and required such security, I can't wrap •̸Ϟ•̸y minds on wanting to kill an aviation minister for rehabilitating airports, who stands to lose from her rehabilitation!

Sнε cancelled alot of concessions FAAN had with some companies from Bi-courtney,Maevis e.t.c..those concessions are money spinning ventures and the beneficiaries of such can't just go down without a fight..the fight have been taking place in the courts

Note am not saying stella was right by spending such huge amount

otokx: @Kengali

Festus got tired and resigned; GEJ did not sack him

Was the purchase of those armoured BMW included in the budget approved by the National Assembly and at what costs?

The DG of NCAA said the money was budgeted for,however this can't be confirmed from the Budget office of the federation because NCAA's budget is seperate from the aviation Ministry's budget..also NCAA is empowered by law to spend its Internally generated revenue and remit 80% of the surplus to the federation account

1.8 billion was proposed in this year's budget for religious pilgrimage(both Christain and Muslim) and the National Assembly approved it..so they are simply spending money which has been appropriated by law in which their Muslim counterparts have spent..

I think our anger should be directed at NASS who approved such amount in the first place

According to the Minister of Power..Olorunsogo Phase 2 is up next for commissioning..that will make it 3 down and from there we will continue our countdown to 10..

Hope our transmission system has been positioned to successfuly evacuate this harvest of power

Step by step we are making progress as a nation..I hope our transmission infrastructure has been thoroughly prepared to fully evacuate the power from this 10 plants.

Fresh Air!

Let's look at the following facts...
1) NCAA DG claims that these cars where budgeted for..but we can't really determine this from the FG budget because of this

NCAA submits budget as a revenue generation agency.Its budget is not made public on the Budget office of the federation website

2)

NCAA is empowered to spend its IGR and it is expected to remit 80% of its operating surplus to FG

With the above,it can be established NCAA didn't act outside the confines of the law..however what I believe have caused this outrage and what we should be fighting against is the issue of waste and abuse of privileges

@tharqa..done

“The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) plenary has
removed Nigeria from its Public Statement following the
country’s full implementation of the mutually agreed
Action Plan and the exhibition of a clear political
commitment to continue the development of its Anti-
Money Laundering/ Combating the Financing of
Terrorism (AML/CFT) regime.

“In a statement issued on Friday, October 18, 2013, in
Paris, France, the FATF expressed satisfaction with the
political will displayed by Nigeria in improving its Global AML/CFT Compliance.

“Critically, the Attorney-General of the Federation and
Minister of Justice and the Minister of Finance also
confirmed that the multi-agency Presidential Committee on the FATF (the chair of which has been the primary point of contact with the RRG throughout the ICRG process) would continue in existence as the national coordinating body for AML/CFT policy and
implementation issues.

“It will also be recalled that due to the listing of Nigeria
as a high-risk jurisdiction by the FATF, many financial
institutions treaded cautiously in transacting business
with their Nigerian counterparts. However, following
political commitment by President Goodluck Ebele
Jonathan, particularly in the past two years, Nigeria fast-
tracked its implementation of the mutually agreed
Action Plan.

“It is expected that there will be great reduction in the
costs and time line of financial transactions between
individuals and institutions between Nigeria and other
countries. Besides the guarantee of improved global
rating for the country’s financial system, the amended
laws and regulations will strengthen the enforcement
and regulatory capacities of relevant institutions in
Nigeria,” said Stephen Oronsaye, Chairman, Presidential Committee on Financial Action Task Force.

The authorities are now engaging with
the World Bank to undertake a national risk assessment
to provide a basis for further developing the overall
AML/CFT regime and strategic framework. The
Presidential Committee is committed to continuing the
coordination of this process.

eGuerrilla: What hatred are you talking about here?
Since when did holding someone to the same set of standards you hold yourself become hatred?

You asked a specific question about 'corruption', I gave you a specific answer.
Now you wider the goal posts by raising pedestrian questions like: "who does Sanusi report to"?

When Soludo make an attempt to re-denominate the Naira, it was his idea - informed no doubt by the quality of advisers he had - and guess what; for good or bad, he ultimately fell on his own sword.

I don't go around ascribing every bad deed to the President, just as I refrain from giving him kudos that have not been earned.

Call it tough standards - if you will - but "hatred" it ain't!

Once again, I would rather stick with the theme of this thread, so as not to lose sight of the topic it addresses.
Feel free to take me up on what you might consider 'hypocrisy' elsewhere.

I believe you don't have comprehension problem..please read your post again..maybe this time slowly with your thinking faculty switched on