Plateau should consider this option. The rail lines are major limiting factor of dry ports. G.E is taking over western narrow gauge lines so that issue will be solved im guessing.
What can be done to finalise the project in 2018?
Given the very strategic and important nature of the project to our state, it will be critical that PLSG buys equity (i.e., takes a share of the concession by becoming part owners) of the project. Buying equity will release capital to the concessionaire to complete the project, but will also ensure that Plateau shares of any profits that accrues from the venture (this is of course aside taxes that it will also collect). This is exactly what the Kaduna state Government did in accelerating the development of the Kaduna Inland Dry Container Depot.
Sequel to our last article about how Kaduna has overtaken Plateau’s competitive advantage (with the hurried development of the Kaduna Inland Dry Port).
We have since undertaken further due diligence (and obtained pictures) to understand the state of completeness of the Jos inland dry port project and to shed more light on what can be done to expedite its development.
A bit of background:
The Jos Inland Container Depot is one of 7 depots concessioned by the Federal Government. The 25 year concession was given to Duncan Maritime Ventures Ltd, headed by Dr. Godfrey Shitgurum, a seasoned freight and logistics expert.
Even though the project is a Federal Government one (not a Plateau state government project) –the state government, donated 33.4 hectares of land as its contribution to the project. This land donation enabled Duncan Maritime Venture Ltd. to forge ahead with the phase 1 development –which comprises the building of facilities for 5,000 equivalent container units. Note: the total capacity once completed will be for the handling of 20,000 equivalent container units.
As it stands, the depot is at approximately 70% completion stage. However, a few challenges still stand in the way of getting it over the line (to completion). One of such is that, the concessionaire having expended large sums in pushing the project thus far, needs further injection of capital to complete it. Sources within the Nigerian Shippers Council confirmed to our reporters, that the needed capital is required to finalise key infrastructures to enable the imminent start of the project –possible in late 2018.
How critical is the inland dry depot to Plateau?
The inland dry port, when completed will revolutionise the economic fortunes of Plateau.
Bear in mind the Federal Government’s objective of setting up such ports is to de-congest Lagos ports. The decongestion will be achieved by moving customs and excise activities from these congested ports to the concessioned inland ports in Jos (Heipang), Kaduna, Funtua, Oyo, Aba, Kano & Maiduguri.
What this means is that all customs & clearance activities, including the attendant supply chain processes will leave Lagos and be moved to these outer locations –thus creating new jobs, establishing new industries, new supply chain networks, auxiliary industries and boosting economic activities.
What this means for Plateau is that:
● The yam farmer in Shendam does not need to load his/her farm produce onto trucks and send to Lagos for export anymore. He/She can simply take such to Heipang, containerise them and get them ready for export to China. All the related customs processes and procedures will be undertaken in at Heipang. The taxes, levies, bill of laden etc will all be captured at Heipang (without having to do much in Lagos, except for loading onto ships).
● Similarly, vehicle importers who are based in Plateau can order their vehicles from Belgium, USA or UK and ask for them to be delivered straight to the Heipang port (not Lagos). Again, all clearing and excise duties with regards the vehicles will be undertaken at the Heipang depot.
● Zinc and Lead miners in Zurak (Wase) will not need to load their consignments onto trucks to Lagos for export to USA or China, they will simply utilise the depot at Heipang. Sending the consignment straight to the chosen destination without having to rely on Lagos for anything (save for loading onto shipping vessels).
Such is the magnitude of economic revolution which is impending on the Plateau if we successfully complete the dry inland port.
What can be done to finalise the project in 2018?
Given the very strategic and important nature of the project to our state, it will be critical that PLSG buys equity (i.e., takes a share of the concession by becoming part owners) of the project. Buying equity will release capital to the concessionaire to complete the project, but will also ensure that Plateau shares of any profits that accrues from the venture (this is of course aside taxes that it will also collect). This is exactly what the Kaduna state Government did in accelerating the development of the Kaduna Inland Dry Container Depot. Even though the Kaduna inland dry port is a private one, the Kaduna state government took interest in it and have worked to bring it to fruition because of its strategic importance. Up to 13,000 jobs are forecasts to be created once the Kaduna depot reaches full capacity –that is colossal.
Already, ViewPointNigeria has reached out to key principals within the Economic Team of the “Rescue Team” in this regard and can confirm that this project is in their radar of consideration.
How Kaduna is impoverishing Plateau with its quick thinking and sharp business acumen.
By Dr. Chinnan Mclean
The past few years has seen Kaduna state out-smart/out-wit Plateau in several key economic areas. These “wins” have left each of us (in Plateau) poorer, more destitute and beggarly quite frankly.
How has Kaduna done this? Well, firstly by enticing and wooing Plateau’s premier mechanised potato business out of its traditional home in Plateau to Manchok in Kaduna state. Vicampro, an indigenous agro-allied company which was set up for operation in Plateau –with the promise to create thousands of jobs was enticed by lavish offers and concessions from the Kaduna state government. All-in-all, Kaduna snatched from Plateau, up to 1500 potential jobs, millions of revenue (taxes) and the agricultural expertise etc.
Kaduna offered double the land the company had in Plateau, lavish tax breaks and other key benefits which were not on offer in Plateau. And even though there was a political angle relating to its ownership by the past administration, the bottom line is that Plateau lost while Kaduna has gained. This clever act of business poaching has robbed Plateau of billions of Naira of revenue, jobs, expertise etc. –thus impoverishing our dear state even further.
In the second and perhaps the most unfortunate case, Kaduna state has again stolen/poached another opportunity from Plateau. It cleverly and quickly expedited its inland port development so as to overtake the economic benefits of such venture from Plateau and other states. This means Kaduna becomes the first state to launch such a scheme and as such is in pole position to take advantage of virtually all benefits including taxes, supply chain, jobs, expertise etc. In fact, many Plateau based agro-allied businesses which were waiting patiently for the Plateau dry inland port in Heipang may consider exporting their farm produce through Kaduna –again robbing our dear state of precious revenue.
Being candid, Kaduna does not have a fraction of the agricultural endowments that Plateau possess. In fact, siting the port there may rely heavily on agricultural produce from Plateau and other states. But the government has cleverly realised that what Kaduna lacks in agricultural and natural endowment, it can gain in positioning itself aptly –and that’s exactly what it has done.
What is really a travesty is that, Plateau was the first to be earmarked for such a venture, but has again let itself down by being lackadaisical and whimsical. In fact, the big risk now with the Heipang project, is that some higher interests may begin to sabotage it to ensure that it never comes to fruition so that Plateau is permanently consigned to exporting through Kaduna.
It is very encouraging that Hon Minister Amaechi visited the site 4 months back and promised to expedite its development. Let’s hope the development is finalised soon – because it will unlock a lot of potentials in the Bokkos-Mangu-Barkin Ladi belt of the Plateau.
I shall leave you with the following questions to ponder:
● What is the state of completeness of the Plateau inland port –given the contractor promised to complete it in June 2017? Link
● How did Kaduna overtake Plateau in this venture even though, the Plateau project was started way ahead of that of Kaduna?
● Why were structures of the concessionaire Duncan Group of companies demolished in 2012, causing a setback to the project?
● Did the developers in Plateau not know that the state was already in advanced stages of developing this port and therefore potentially trying to overtake the Plateau advantage?
● What can be done now to expedite the development of this port to turn it around in the first half of 2018?
● What should be Plateau next line of action in the light of this advancement by Kaduna state?
Boko Haram insurgents in camouflage military uniform attacked a Nigerian Army camp in Borno State on Thursday, killing at least one officer and 30 soldiers while two officers and 17 soldiers were seriously wounded.
Scores of Boko Haram fighters carried out the attack on the military unit in Zari, a small community north of Maiduguri and near the border with Niger.
They stormed the unit in 12 gun trucks, accompanied by other fighters who came on foot, at about 4:30 p.m. on Thursday.
The details were disclosed to PREMIUM TIMES by reliable sources who sought strict anonymity for fears they might be sanctioned by authorities.
The sources said the gallant Nigerian troops initially fought to repel the terrorists but that their effort failed at a point and the insurgents broke into the camp after about an hour of exchange of gunfire.
An unknown number of troops could still not be accounted for as at Saturday morning, our sources said.
A search and rescue operation is currently underway in conjunction with troops from the 145 Battalion, this website learnt.
The wounded officers and men were evacuated to the Nigerian Army 7 Division Medical Services and Hospital in Maiduguri.
Two of our sources said the terrorists made away with armoured personnel carriers, anti-aircraft guns, water tanker, utility trucks, ambulances and other equipment.
They also burnt satellite communication equipment and destroyed makeshift tents inside the camp, the sources said.
Military authorities were still trying to ascertain Boko Haram casualties as at Saturday morning, it was learnt.
It is not immediately clear whichof the two Boko Haram factions carried out the attack.
The Abu-Mus’ab Al-Barnawi faction of the dreaded sect is known to target military formations.
Texas Chukwu, a brigadier-general and Nigerian Army chief spokesperson did not return PREMIUM TIMES’ requests for comments after several hours on Saturday.
The Army confirmed the attack occurred in a statement late Friday, but Onyema Nwakchukwu — a spokesperson for the theatre command in Maiduguri— only said soldiers killed many Boko Haram insurgents when they repelled the attack.
Mr Nwachukwu, a colonel, told PREMIUM TIMES he did not immediately have details of military casualties.
“I am only aware of aerial bombardment and the response of the ground troops that left many Boko Haram fighters killed,” Mr Nwachukwu said by telephone Saturday afternoon.
“But I am not aware of soldiers’ casualties and I would not have such information until it gets to my desk.”
John Agim, a brigadier-general and spokesperson for the Defence Headquarters, directed all enquiries about the attack to Mr Chukwu.
The Nigerian Air Force said it launched aerial bombardment of Boko Haram positions during its response to the attack, and uploaded a short video clip of fleeing terrorists who it said were neutralised.
The Zari invasion is the deadliest against a military unit since Boko Haram resumed its attacks against military formations in July.
Scores of Nigerian troops were killed in successive attacks between mid and late July, raising fresh concerns about a resurgent sect amongst top military chiefs.
The Chief of Army Staff Tukur Buratai initially responded to the killings by visiting the front lines and ordering a reshuffling of commanders.
A few days later, the Army chief followed up with a threat to senior military officers overseeing the counter-insurgency operations, warning them of grave consequences should there be another case of soldiers yielding positions to terrorists during attacks.
Meanwhile, the latest tragedy has sparked concerns across military units where news of the attacks has reached.
“Nigerian soldiers joined the military to defend their fatherland and not to be murdered because of corruption, incompetence and deceit of Nigerian people by military chiefs,” said an Army general who is not on active deployment in the northeast but has heard of the development.
The officer feared the Buhari administration is not making enough progress against Boko Haram.
“Rather, what is being done is to suppress information getting out and intimidating personnel with threat of court martial and mutiny,” the senior officer said under strict anonymity.
Anyway he's right on literacy point but the almajari education system is garbage. The students need to learn more than just Arabic language and koranic studies. Almajari are half part student and other half orphan beggars. Thats why they're subjected to all sorts of danger and the system should be regulated.
The education should comprise of learning basics like reading, writing and arithmetic like at basic level, learn other subject like any western style education or madrasa, then lastly prepare child for adult life by learn trade or prepping for college.
The northern states can solve this issue but most of them dont care. You dont need to be recognized by federal government they have control over their curriculum in domain. They should be thinking of how to better these poor boys before they stay permanent economical liability .
The Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi ll, says 60 years after independence, Northern Muslims are still under colonisation.
He also said despite Nigeria’s independence, the country has refused to recognise the five-century old Islamic system of education.
The emir made the statements at a public film screening of the docudrama on the Almajiri system titled “Duniya Juyi-Juyi” (How life goes) and the launching of the book “Qur’anic schools in Northern Nigeria” produced by a German, Hannah Hoechner.
The event held on Wednesday at the Aminu Kano Centre for Democratic Research and Training, Mambayya House, Kano.
Mr Sanusi lamented the classification of Qur’anic scholars as illiterates, and their itinerant students as ”out of school children”.
Arguing that since literacy means “reading and writing” the almajiri should be recognised as literate.
Almajiri is a system of Islamic education practiced in northern Nigeria. Almajiri is gotten from an Arabic word “Al-Muhajirun” which means a person who leaves his home in search of Islamic knowledge. The sysem has, however, been bastardised with many of the children left to beg for food and money on the streets by the Islamic teachers.
Mr Sanusi said if almajiri students can read and write in Arabic or Ajami (Hausa writing in Arabic text), they are literate.
He recalled that almajiri system has been in existence for the past 500-600 years ago, when ”Emir Muhammad Rumfa of Kano used to send people to Borno and Mauritania to learn Qur’anic education and Islamic jurisprudence”.
The emir traced a history of sabotaging almajiri system to the colonial era. He said in an effort to fight Islamic civilisation, ”a missionary Reverend Miller wrote a letter to Lord Luggard advising him to ban the use of Arabic and Ajami in official communication”.
“It is high time for Muslims to pursue real independence because we are still under colonisation, because our culture and language does not have any value in the scheme of things.
“No matter the number of Islamic books you read in Arabic or through almajiri system, as long as it is not English, you are illiterate according to Nigeria’s system of education,” Mr Sanusi argued.
To this end, Mr Sanusi called for the review of education policy in Nigeria to capture the almajiri system.
He argued that 60 years of colonialism ”should not be the reason of neglecting 600 years civilisation.”
Mr Sanusi also questioned the wisdom of making English language a pre-requisite for securing admission to study Arabic or Hausa in Nigerian universities.
The emir also advocated the use of indigenous languages as medium of instruction in Nigeria’s tertiary institutions ”as done in China, Egypt, Malaysia and other developing countries”.
“I am not saying English is not important, but I strongly disagree to narrow education to mastering English. I learnt English, and I am enjoying it. But mastering English alone is not education. “Recently, Lagos State has enacted a law which makes Yoruba language as a pre-requisite of securing admission into state owned tertiary institutions. I call on Northern governors to emulate China, Malaysia and Egypt who teach medicine, engineering, agriculture and other critical courses in their language.”
In her remarks, the author said the book was extracted from her PhD thesis aimed at deconstructing misconceptions and counter negative stereotypes on Almajiri.
She said the production process of the docudrama was done by almajiris between July-October 2011 on Thursdays and Fridays (school-free days).
Ms Hoechner added that the almajiris had undergone training on how to write a script, direct film, handle a camera and other basics of film production before the commencement.
Also speaking, the founder of the Almajiri Foundation, Yusuf Hassan, appealed to the federal government to address the movement of almajiri from rural to urban areas by establishing almajiri model school in each political ward of the country.
The docudrama depicted tribulations and prospects of almajiris ranging from hunger, exploitation and molestation, as well as the attainment of mastery of the Qur’an.
The federal government should release a paper detailing the Buhari Plan like the did ERGP. All we ever get it bits and pieces of information with lots of policy goals. They passed North East Redevelopment commission bill with not too much to talk about.
New York – The Federal Government says it has developed a 6.7-billion-dollar robust plan of action for the reconstruction, rehabilitation and resettlement of Northeast devastated by Boko Haram activities.
Nigeria’s Ambassador/Permanent Representative to the UN, Prof. Tijjani Bande, said this at a side event tagged ‘Strengthening the Humanitarian and Development Partnership in the Lake Chad Region’, at the UN headquarters.
The Nigerian envoy said that the comprehensive socio-economic Plan, known as ‘Buhari Plan’ aimed to advance the humanitarian and development nexus in the country.
Bande said Nigeria was spearheading the event based on the need to promote across board collaboration and cooperation among countries of the Lake Chad region, the donors and a whole range of humanitarian and development partners.
“At our national level, the $6.7 billion Buhari Plan of Action for the comprehensive Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Resettlement of the North Eastern Nigeria and the Lake Chad represents an ambitious humanitarian cum development initiative on the part of a national government.
“It is to demonstrate its total and unshakable commitment to the socio-economic development of the entire area.
“It is unmistakably true that beyond the current challenges lie numerous prospects for harnessing the capacity of the people and natural endowment of the area to facilitate integrated regional socio-economic development.
“Therefore, the occasion of this side event and its subsequent follow up actions would present opportunity for enhancing the objectives of several initiatives on the Lake Chad such as the All Lake Chad Governors Forum which held its inaugural meeting in Maiduguri, Nigeria in May.
“Also, the Berlin Conference on the Lake Chad has been slated for the first week of September 2018 and would build substantially on the outcomes of the February 2017 Oslo Donors Conference on the Lake Chad.
“I would like to take this opportunity to call on all stakeholders to redouble efforts and commitment towards making the coming Berlin Conference on the Lake Chad of Sept. 3 to 4, 2018 a watershed.
“This is in our collective resolve to further mobilise resources and demonstrate implicit commitment to plans that will ensure moving quickly beyond the immediate humanitarian need to concrete sustainable developmental projects capable of substantially elevating the lives of the majority of people in the region.”
The Nigerian envoy stressed the need for collaboration and cooperation among countries of the Lake Chad, the donors as well as humanitarian and development partners.
According to him, collaboration between the humanitarian and development agencies has gained traction at the UN in recent times such that the involvement of national governments is needed to make it work.
He said the protracted humanitarian and development challenges in the Lake Chad region had place enormous responsibilities on all to remain engaged in discussion aimed at scaling up national, regional and global responses to the crisis.
These responses need to be bolstered by strengthened coordination at the UN level to ensure a more synergised delivery of assistance, the Nigerian envoy emphasised.
“Let me emphasise that the recharge of the Lake Chad Basin, capacity building, and restoration of livelihood, through facilitation of occupational opportunities, job creation, skill acquisition and others are central to finding lasting solution to the problem in the region.
“To realise all these would entail our collective commitment to a broad range of actions, facilitated by strong international cooperation and partnership, involving the UN agencies and development partners, like the World Bank and African Development Bank among others,” Bande said.
Magagi Louan, Minister of Humanitarian Action and Disaster Management of the Republic of Niger, said the political leadership from the region were working together to ensure comprehensive response to the crisis in the Lake Chad.
Louan said several mechanisms to address the problem included the institutionalisation of joint security architecture such as the Multinational Joint Task Force and promotion of collaborative social-economic projects under the auspices of the Lake Chad Basin Commission.
Also commenting, Alifei Moustapha, Permanent Representative of Chad to the UN, disclosed that Chadian Government had set up a new coordination mechanism across the ministries to identify local requirements and develop flexible coherent responses to address the Lake Chad problem.
On his part, Michel Monthe, the Permanent Representative of Cameroon to the UN, stated that his country would finance resilience and socio-economic projects and called for response to humanitarian needs while simultaneously reducing risk and vulnerability.
The event, sponsored by Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger, Chad, UN Development Programme and UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, also featured presentations by UN Humanitarian Coordinators for the four countries. (NAN)
The Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, says it has declared September 14 as “a day of general strike, mourning and resistance across Biafra land.’’
IPOB, a group demanding a separate country of Biafra but labelled a terrorist organisation by the Nigerian government, warned that any person or persons seen outside on September 14 will be classed “an enemy of the people.’’
This is coming almost two weeks after over 100 IPOB women were detained after a protest in Imo State demanding the release of Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the group. The women were later released a week later by a Magistrate Court in Owerri, Imo State capital, after campaigns and demands for their release, especially on social media and by global rights groups such as Amnesty International.
Clashes occurred between IPOB members and soldiers when the military commenced an operation in the South-east states last September.
This left scores of casualties mostly on the side of IPOB and since then, whereabouts of Mr Kanu who is wanted by the Nigerian government for alleged treason has remained unknown.
The army denies knowing his whereabouts and also said no lives were lost during the clash, but Mr Kanu’s lawyer, Ifeanyi Ejiofor, insists that his client was kidnapped by the military after the September 14 “invasion.”
Also, speaking in an interview on BBC in February, Mr Kanu’s wife, Uche Kanu, maintained that the Nigerian Army should tell the world what happened to her husband, saying nobody in his family knows whether he was dead or alive.
While the federal government proscribed IPOB and labelled it a terrorist organisation in the wake of the clash, the U.S. government, however, said it does not see IPOB as such.
IPOB Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, in a statement Wednesday gave reasons why the group called for a sit-at-home order on September 14 across “Biafraland.”
He said they are carrying out the exercise to protest the invasion of the country home of its leader, Nnamdi Kanu, same date last year.
According to Mr Powerful, the protest will “be a way to register our anger regarding the men and women killed at Afaraukwu in Umuahia, during Operation Python Dance II on September 14 last year.”
“…Those killed in Ngwa, Aba, Igweocha (Port Harcourt) and buried in unmarked mass graves as a result of unprovoked military invasion of Biafraland by the Nigerian Army.”
He said inhabitants of South-East/South-South and all conscientious Biafrans living in other parts of Nigeria and the world are required to stay indoors and away from work or daily business activities throughout the said day.
Mr powerful said all businesses, offices, markets, schools and road transportation will be shut down for 24 hours from midnight of the 13th of September. “There will be no human or vehicular movement across Biafraland.”
‘’We shall also remember all those killed in the struggle for the restoration of Biafra independence since August 2015 when the army shot dead Mr. Okafor in Onitsha on a peaceful march from Nkpor to Onitsha main town. Their sacrifice will neither be forgotten nor will it be in vain, because come what may, this generation of IPOB must and will restore Biafra.”
The event, he said, will also be dedicated to the “sacrilegious and disgraceful humiliation of Igbo women, some of them great grand-mothers, ranks as one of the most abominable act of desecration ever visited upon the land of Biafra in recorded history. It will mark the defining event that completed the shame and humiliation of the Igbo race.”
The IPOB spokesman said the group and the people of the South-east are also against the military’s plans to stage Operation Python Dance 3 this year
Mr Powerful said that the sit-at-home is the only way Biafrans can honour their fallen brethren and ‘’legitimately remind our northern oppressors and their collaborators in our midst that enough is enough! We do not want another Operation Python Dance or another mass murder of Biafra agitators and humiliation of our mothers in our land.”
Ohaneze, Others Endorse Sit-At-Home
The youth wing of Ohaneze, an Igbo socio-cultural group, has endorsed the sit-at-home order by IPOB.
“Sit at home is a welcomed idea,” it said in a statement.
It however appealed to the group to carry out the exercise in a peaceful manner.
“Any action of IPOB that is peaceful is welcome. Sit at home is a welcomed idea. That is what we have been saying that IPOB is not a terrorist organisation, they are a peaceful organisation,” Uche Achi-Okpaga the group’s spokesperson said in a statement Wednesday.
“It is the Nigerian Army and government that is deploying all these ploys to make them look violent but all their actions are always peaceful and cordial”, he added.
Mr Achi-Okpaga warned the military not to capitalise on the sit-at-home to attack IPOB supporters in the region.
“There is nothing wrong with asking you to sit at home. If you want to sit at home you sit at home, if you dont want to sit at home you go about your normal business.
“Ohaneze will not be against that move but we don’t want them (the army) to capitalise on that to be killing our people,” he noted.
Also endorsing the order was the national leadership of All Nigerian Ethnic Nationalities Youth Organisations. The group said it would interface with governors of the South-east to ensure there is no breakdown of law and order during the September 14 sit-at-home.
Okechukwu Isiguzoro, the groups’ deputy national chairman, advocated an exercise devoid of violence, insisting that IPOB must change its strategy and ensure people’s lives are not lost in their struggle for self-determination.
He urged security agencies to ensure that there was no confrontation with IPOB on the day of the sit-at-home exercise.
“We call on Security agents to overlook the sit at home order and ensure that South East didn’t witness any act of confrontation between them and Biafra agitators, and maintain peace during and after September 14.”
Sit-At-Home Order – Not IPOB’s First time
IPOB, a separatist movement, seeks an independent Igbo country of Biafra.
This is not the first time it is calling for a sit-at-home.
A day after Nigeria’s democracy day last year, the group called for a sit at home in the five South-east states to mark the declaration of Biafra by late Odumegwu Ojukwu who led the Igbos in a civil war between 1967 and 1970.
Similarly, on May 30, it again called another sit-at-home for same purpose as that of last year.
While last years’ sit-at-home order recorded massive compliance across the South-eastern states, that of this year was partially observed.
Hopefully the tough talk dissuades some from this death march.
Any Nigerian found in Libya or anywhere on his way to Europe through illegal means will be brought home and we will send him back to the local government.”
No fewer than 10,000 Nigerians have died between January and May 2017 while trying to illegally migrate through the Mediterranean Sea and the deserts, the Nigeria Immigration Service said last year.
Lol this is funny. Election time everyone comes to cry like orphans claiming to be abandoned or rally in streets like fanatics. These complaints seem very petty. How far are is Onne from Eket, Esit and Ibeno local that a person can't drive to work. Why did Akwa Palms die off if it was making money?
the people had expected that the governor would have revived the long abandoned Akwa Palms,
FORMER House of Representatives member for Eket Federal Constituency, Akwa Ibom State, honourable Eseme Eyiboh, says the people of his constituency have asked the State governor, Mr. Udom Emmanuel not to seek re-election in 2019 because his administration has not been fair to them.
Eyibo said the people of Eket Federal constituency comprising Onna, Eket, Esit and Ibeno local government areas are aggrieved that the current administration has not been fair to them in terms of development in spite of the fact that the governor hails from the area.
Speaking on behalf the constituency Thursday during a media chat in Uyo, the former federal lawmaker decried a situation where the three industries attracted to the area by governor Emmanuel namely the metering, syringe, and flour mill, are all located in Onna, the governor’s home town.
Eyibo said that he was reacting to the governor’s statement at his declaration for second term in Uyo, that he (Emmanuel) was doing so to accede to the yearnings of the Akwa Ibom people.
His words, “During his declaration for second term in Uyo, he has said that he is responding to the yearnings of the people, that is why he is contesting for the a second term. The governor may only be responding to some people, but not all.
“Governor Udom Emmanuel is a good man but his administration has not been fair to the people of Eket Federal Constituency where I come from, that is the reason we are asking him not to contest for a second term in office.
” The facts must at all times speak for themselves. The opinions of most of us from Eket Federal Constituency are that democracy has no meaning. What we are saying is that democracy must be given meaning, the principle of governance must be established”
Eyiboh, who is the current chairman of the Cross River Basins Development Authorities said the people had expected that the governor would have revived the long abandoned Akwa Palms, Etebi in Esit Eket Local Government Area to provide jobs for idle youths and served as source of revenue generation to the area.
He decried how the place had been taken over and converted to dens for different cult groups, noting that the cult members now lease out parts of the areas, a worrisome situation he (Eyiboh ) said that he had even reported the issue to the police.
“Leadership is a responsibility that must be accounted for; so we insist that it must be accounted for before we go into another term of contract. It is important we bring to the notice of the general public. It is not about party, I am talking on behalf of the people of Eket Federal Constituency.
“There is nothing to reflect Eket constituency as an oil producing community. Eket people have been neglected. And we are saying if this could happen in four years, eight years could be an extension of the neglect.
” We are suffering as oil baring community and the governor during his campaigns had promised that when he become governor that oil producing communities in Akwa Ibom will no longer be the same”, he stressed.
They want to build a deep seaport and superhighway instead. The federal government keeps eating the cash. Oh well the Federal government will end up reawarding contract.
Similarly, he also called on the governor to lead the efforts towards the dredging of the channel leading to the port on behalf of all port users as the benefit to the state and its indigenes is better imagined.
Not sure you should ask a recruiter. I would think so but Nigeria is not US.
bedspread: when I say indirect officers I don't mean personnel or Recruits... I mean an officer that passed through the normal university before entering the NA
I would think they would offer direct offer rank to graduates. Why would some go university route to go enlisted route since pay difference wouldn't be that different till you rank up.
bedspread: Army University ?? Will the End products be admitted into the NA as Direct officers just like the NDA Or will they be taken as indirect officers?
The Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai, has said that the Army University is expected to commence academic activities before the end of the year.
Mr Buratai told media executives in Abuja on Thursday that the university would run courses in the sciences and humanities and that admission would be in the ratio of 30 per cent military and 70 per cent civilian, with a civilian vice-chancellor.
He said the army had been holding discussions with the National Universities Commission, Federal Ministry of Education, Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) and the Education Trust Fund.
“The Army University is taking shape. Before the end of the year, the university will take off; courses have been identified in the sciences and humanities and we are waiting for the necessary guidelines to be released.
“The university will be civilian-driven in terms of admission and we expect Education Trust Fund to provide the necessary funding while the army makes available the needed support,’’ the army chief said.
Commenting on the shooting incident near Maiduguri International Airport by some soldiers recently, Mr Buratai described the behaviour as “unimaginable’’ by soldiers who were supposed to be disciplined troops.
He said the incident had been thoroughly investigated and that those involved would be dealt with in accordance with military laws.
“Troops had been moved around from different locations such as Bama; why should their own be different? This behaviour will not be tolerated,’’ he said.
NAN reports that the troops deployed at the Maiduguri Airport were redeployed to Marte, following Mr Buratai’s directive, in a bid to strengthen security in the city.
The army explained that the redeployment became expedient after a recent assessment of the security situation by the Theatre Command.
It said some soldiers misunderstood the process, became agitated and reacted by firing into the air.
On those acting as informants to Boko Haram insurgents, Mr Buratai said that some of them had been identified and court martialled.
He, however, said that even with the stability so far recorded, the army was not resting on its oars.
“We are not resting on our oars; there are bad eggs in the army just like elsewhere.
“But we believe that everyone in the army should uphold the ethics and if soldiers decide to go against it, we will deal with them in accordance with military laws,” the chief of army staff said.
These trunkers are a Menace to Society. The only reason they park anyhow is because the police are not handing out tickets or impounding vehicles. Funny enough the warning about this were made before hand but state didnt listen. The federal government should get automated que up system implemented asap though.
The calabar dredging is the crazier story wrapped up in article. The contract was awarded twice within a decade with nothing to show.
Despite spending over N32.1billion and awarding the contract for the dredging of Calabar port channel three times by various management of the Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA, the channel has still not gone beyond the 6.4 meter draught it stood at over a decade ago.
By Godfrey Bivbere Petroleum tanker drivers have grounded operations at the Calabar port bringing port and businesses to a halt at the Calabar Export Processing Zone, EPZ, following indiscriminate parking while waiting to load petroleum products from over 10 numerous tank farms around and within the EPZ.
The situation at the moment has become so frustrating that port users, visitors and residents around the area spend between 30 minutes to two hours to get to the port or the EPZ, a journey of less 10 minutes before now.
When Vanguard Maritime Report visited the EPZ premises, there were about several tank farms located within the zone.
Despite the huge potentials of the port to serve, not just the state and the neighbouring states, but also north eastern states, business activities have remained very low because of the low channel leading to the port.
President of the Nigerian Shippers Association, NSA, Cross Rivers Chapter, Mike Ogodo, said he had warned the government years back when the construction of the tank farms commenced, that it would hinder port operations when trucks starts coming to queue up to load petroleum products from these facilities, but the then government of Cross Rivers state did not pay any attention to the warnings.
He said NSA, Cross Rivers chapter, had advised that the tank farms would not benefit Cross River community nor would it provide the much needed employment for the state indigenes.
He further warned that the situation may even get worse unless urgent steps are taken to address the issue.
Ogodo also called on the Ben Ayade led administration in the state to do something about the activities of truck drivers before they completed ground the little operations still going on at the port.
He observed that the multi million naira export business from the port and the little consignments coming through the port would varnish if the governor do not step in urgently. Similarly, he also called on the governor to lead the efforts towards the dredging of the channel leading to the port on behalf of all port users as the benefit to the state and its indigenes is better imagined.
Calabar Port is strategically situated to serve the maritime and logistics needs of 16 Northern states, the commercial cities of Aba, Onitsha and Nnewi as well as the neighbouring states of the South-South region of the country.
Industry experts also noted the proximity of Calabar Port to Equatorial Guinea and Cameroun emphasises its stratergic importance as potential hub for the West African Oil and Gas logistics.
Despite spending over N32.1billion and awarding the contract for the dredging of Calabar port channel three times by various management of the Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA, the channel has still not gone beyond the 6.4 meter draught it stood at over a decade ago.
The first contract for the dredging of the channel was awarded by the administration of General Sanni Abacha in 1996 at the cost of N3 billion before it was again awarded by former President Olusegun Obasanjo regime in 2006 for over $55 million.
There were complaints that the federal government did not make provisions for the maintenance dredging and the high rate of siltation (the return of sand to the channel after dredging) in the area made erroded the previous efforts.
Shippers in calabar last year cried out to the government to come to their aid as the low draught of the channel was affecting port operations and hindering their businesses.
According to Ogodo, following the cry to the state government about the effect of the channel on their businesses, the former governor, Liyel Imoke, had gone to the federal government to make a case for the dredging.
Ogodo however expressed surprise that when the contract was finally awarded they were not aware. He said they woke up one morning in November last year to find out that there was a lock down of the state capital because the then vice President, Namadi Sambo, was coming to flag off the dredging project.
He said the shipping community was happy when, in December last year, there was movement of equipment to site for the commencement of the dredging, but that their joy was cut short when they discovered that the contractors were no where to be found a month after.
I dont get the point of sending these people back to danger for election. After they've beeeln returned they're angry and would want to vote against the person who cased there suffering.
ABUJA/MAIDUGURI (Reuters) - Nigerian government officials have ordered thousands of displaced people to return to an unsafe area as pressure mounts to show progress in the war against Islamist groups ahead of a presidential election, according to sources familiar with the situation.
Those who have gone back say they only did so because the officials told them they would get no more aid if they remained in refugee camps. Returnees say their home area of Guzamala in the northeast is not safe and they cannot earn a living there.
At issue is the re-election of President Muhammadu Buhari, a retired general who won power in 2015 on a promise to restore security to the northeast and end the Islamist Boko Haram insurgency, now in its tenth year.
Western diplomats and aid officials have expressed concern that sending displaced people back to their home regions is part of Buhari’s political agenda, and that of the ruling party as local elections are also being held.
“Pushing these people back just to make a point when the security situation remains tenuous is a terrible idea,” one diplomat told Reuters.
The government and the election commission have met to discuss how to expedite returns as the election early next year nears, according to a person with direct knowledge of those talks.
Officials have told people their home areas are safe and they can go back to their livelihoods. That is a tempting proposition for people who have lived in camps for years, dependent on handouts.
In June, government officials told some 2,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) living in Bakasi camp in the city of Maiduguri to go back to a town in the Guzamala region, according to interviews with returnees, a government official and others with knowledge of the matter. “They said, ‘If you refuse to return, you are on your own, the government will not help you anymore’,” said Hassan, who, like other returnees, asked to be identified by his first name for fear of reprisals.
Guzamala is viewed by the United Nations and aid organizations as inaccessible or hard to reach. They do not deliver aid to a region under the sway of Islamic State West Africa. ISWA split from Boko Haram in 2016 and is now the bigger threat in Nigeria’s northeast, security experts believe.
Earlier this month, Islamist militants killed at least 19 people, and possibly as many as 63, in an attack on a village in Guzamala.
Foreign governments, which provide aid and military support in the northeast, successfully lobbied Nigerian officials to pause the returns to dangerous areas like Guzamala, though the program is expected to resume after an assessment, said four people familiar with the matter.
FORCED TO LEAVE
Four returnees who spoke with Reuters said government officials ordered them to Guzamala. Three said those officials threatened to cut off their aid if they refused - a threat that was carried out, so even those who wanted to stay had to leave. Interviewees identified Sugun Mai Meleh, the commissioner of land and survey for Borno state, and Lawan Umara Zanna, the chairman for Guzamala, as the officials who made the threats. They said Borno State House of Assembly Speaker Abdulkarim Lawan was also present.
Borno is at the center of the fight against Boko Haram and ISWA. Maiduguri and Guzamala both lie within the state.
Lawan told Reuters that he was at the gathering returnees had described, but he was not aware of any forced returns and no threats were made. “That is not true,” he said.
The Nigerian presidency, military and Mai Meleh did not respond to requests for comment. Zanna declined to comment.
Bashir Garga Idris, northeast Nigeria coordinator for the National Emergency Management Agency, said people were not being coerced to return, although he did not know about the reported threats because he was outside Nigeria at the time.
ELECTION PRESSURE
In meetings, the government has discussed how to return as many people as possible to their home regions in Borno in the run-up to the election, said a person with knowledge of those discussions.
Aid officials and Western diplomats also say the government’s return program is geared towards elections.
The aim is to have as many people returned as possible so they can vote in primaries, which run from August to October, the person with knowledge of talks added.
In Nigeria, people can only vote in regions where they are registered, potentially making hundreds of thousands of people displaced to Maiduguri ineligible unless special arrangements are made for them.
Mikah Lakumna, an official with the Independent National Electoral Commission in Borno, said that the government was trying to close some IDP camps, and INEC was exploring ways to ensure those people’s voting rights.
INEC is assessing security to see how it can send election officials into dangerous areas, and is also looking into instances where voters had been coerced into returning to regions they were registered, Lakumna said.
“WE WERE DECEIVED”
The roughly 2,000 Guzamala returnees are part of more than 7.7 million people in Nigeria’s northeast who need aid to survive in one of the world’s biggest humanitarian crises.
When they reached Guzamala, they found a wasteland.
Their town was in ruins. Many buildings were burned or collapsed, returnees told Reuters. There were so few houses that people took shelter in a school where rain had caved in the roof.
Pictures of the town, seen by Reuters, showed shattered structures and blackened streets littered with burnt-out debris.
There, some food and supplies - enough to feed a family of 10 for a day, according to one man - were distributed. Since then, the returnees have been left for weeks at a time to fend for themselves. Some soldiers took pity on them and handed over their own water rations.
“We were deceived,” said Modu, a returnee. “There is nothing in Guzamala other than suffering.”
Some in authority also had reservations. “The place was not ready for the survival of people because there is no food, water is scarce,” said a soldier in Guzamala, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“It is not only Guzamala that is in terrible state, but the whole of northern Borno - Boko Haram ruined the place and they are still there. Ordinarily, IDPs are not supposed to return now, but because our ogas (bosses) just want to make it look as if things are okay there.”
Officials had promised Guzamala’s returnees they could farm, but there was nothing to farm, nor anything to farm with, the returnees said. Much of the suitable land lies in the bush, where ISWA roams.
“They forced us to return and they did not keep their promises,” said Mohammed, another returnee.
Of those who went to Guzamala, dozens have tried to return to the relative safety of Maiduguri. The city is guarded, and aid agencies provide food, shelter and medicine.
“We expected the government to provide us with food, but nothing was done. It is better to return back to Maiduguri than to die of hunger,” said Kadai, another Guzamala returnee. “The government lied to us.”
In Maiduguri, returnees found government officials had denied them access to aid, according to two people familiar with the camp management. Left with no choice, they returned to Guzamala.
Reporting by Paul Carsten in Abuja and Ahmed Kingimi in Maiduguri; Additional reporting by Ola Lanre in Maiduguri; Editing by Giles Elgood
Maybe they'll start mining after the exploration is complete. They had issues with figuring out the mineralization of the nickel. After that source funds to carry extraction and processing. Hopefully the IPO this might be great junior company to hold on to.
They have three years exploration license (Comet Mining) from the Federal Government that would end by November, 2018,” adding that the work would commence based on the final result.
One of the uniqueness of the discovery of the Dangoma type is that a ball (nickel) is up to 94 per cent metal
Ps: Why are people worried about political parties when the companies should be the focus.
Since the discovery of nickel, a solid mineral, in Dangoma, a community in Jema’a Local Government Area of Kaduna State, the people’s expectations have been high as they envisage development and other attendant benefits of development.
In 2016, an Australian firm published its findings at Dangoma village in the southern part of Kaduna State, indicating that a high grade mineral stones, especially nickel, abound in the area and since then the small town has attracted much attention.
Shortly after the publication, the Federal Government, through the then Minister for Solid Minerals, Kayode Fayemi, confirmed the availability of the stones in the area and promised to do something to harness them.
Officials of various tiers of government have after that, been compelled to visit the area to make their assessment, while many foreign investors have trooped in to investigate the claim, as well as device means of harnessing the stones.
However, two years after, the discovery has not made much difference in the life of the people. Some of the villagers who confirmed that not much had been done in the bid to harness the resource since its presence was announced to the world, say they are looking forward to when excavation and extraction will commence fully.
Their expectation is that once this is done, many of their infrastructural problems will be over as development will flood the town.
Nickel-containing products play an important role in our daily lives. Compared with other materials, nickel-containing products possess better corrosion resistance, greater toughness, more strength at high and low temperatures, and a range of special magnetic and electronic properties. Therefore, most nickel production is used for alloying elements, coatings, batteries, and some other uses, such as kitchen wares, mobile phones, medical equipment, transport, buildings, power generation and jewellery.
The nickel found in Dangoma is said to be one of the best in the world. One of the uniqueness of the discovery of the Dangoma type is that a ball (nickel) is up to 94 per cent metal and minor silica with few sulphides and is reputed to be of very high grade, which is up to five millimetres in diametre and it has an occurrence covering about 19.8 km2.
Fayemi, in a paper presentation in 2016 titled: “The Non-Oil Sector as a Sustainable Alternative in Enhancing Revenue Generation” at the National Council on Finance and Economic Development (NACOFED), Abeokuta, said nickel had the potential to contribute to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
He said, “It is anticipated that the exploitation of these abundant minerals can contribute up to $25bn to the GDP by 2026.”
Our correspondents found out that the expectations of the people in the villages was based on a certain agreement it had with a firm, Comet Mining Ltd, trying to exploit the mineral.
Dangoma Youth Leader, Ishaku Zamani, said apart from the benefits to be derived from harnessing the resource, the agreement with the community was that compensation would be paid for surface disturbance at rates established by government, while excavated and explored lands would be rehabilitated and restored to environmentally safe state after the mining.
Zamani said other terms of the agreement included assistance to the host communities with construction of three class rooms in each community at the cost of N3m each.
He said 50 per cent of the sum would be devoted to the construction of class rooms in the first year and the balance spread over the five years tenure of the agreement to assist 10 final year students of secondary schools from each community with the payment of their final examination fees (WAEC and NECO).
The other terms include provision of potable water through five bore holes with hand pumps in each of the three host communities, cooperate with host communities in respect of peace and security, and “to give priority to the youths of the community with regard to employment based on locally available skills and in accordance with the extant Labour Act of Nigeria.”
Zamani, who claims he is the first person nickel was found on his farm, told Daily Trust on Sunday that the exploration activities were going on in phases.
He said the exploration had spread from farm in Dangoma to Bakin Kogi and Nindem communities in Nkyob and Godogodo chiefdoms respectively, adding that the exploration which included, clearing and removal of vegetation, expansion of access roads, installation of structures and mobilisation, excavation, extraction were going on gradually, and that the project’s implementation as scheduled in the Draft Report was going to be bit by bit from preliminary feasibility studies, as started in 2014, to decomposition and rehabilitation, which would reach up to 2040.
Zamani said since the expansion of the areas where nickel was found, the benefitting communities that comprised different tribes and religions had united.
“We have a committee of five representatives from each community and we are having series of meetings every two weeks calling the attention of our people on the benefit of living in peace so that we can progress and benefit from the mineral,” he said.
“I pray that this administration that discovered the mineral to succeed in next year’s elections in order to continue the economic diversification they have started and to fulfill their covenant to us,” he said.
He also said, apart from nickel, the mining company also discovered other minerals: feldspar, wolfromite, graphite, tantalite, gemstones, tin, chromite nickel and columbite.
A former District Head of Dangoma, who is also the Wambai of Kaninkon (Nkyob) Chiefdom, Jema’a Local Government Area, Kaduna State, Alhaji Mahmuda Sulaiman, said Comet Mining Limited, the first mining company that discovered the nickel, was still in the site digging for more samples. “I have here with me some samples of the sand that was removed from the spot. They have three years exploration license (Comet Mining) from the Federal Government that would end by November, 2018,” adding that the work would commence based on the final result.
He said Dangoma had only one six-classroom building, a nomadic primary school with overcrowded pupils, and two other schools that were set up by the community, and the UBE Primary School, Dangoma.
The former district head called on the state government to fulfill its promise of building two primary schools in the community since the community had provided the land.
“We also want government to build a junior secondary school for our children to save them trekking for five kilometres to the secondary school in Bakin Kogi,” he said.
“Finally, but not the least, we need government to come to our aid by constructing the nine-kilometre Dangoma-Godogodo road which is very important for our farmers and traders,” he stated.
Effort to get the side of government was not successful as the state Commissioner for Environment did not pick calls.
Points from Ayade: ● Tinapa FTZ wasnt approved by FG until recently which means extra taxes. ● Tinapa isn't connected to national grid. ● Tinapa couldn't recieve goods directly until recently. ● Nigerian shoppers prefer to go abroad.
Cross River state governor, Prof. Ben Ayade has recently shared his plans to covert $450 million Tinapa business and leisure resort to a first class advanced research university. The Governor revealed this while speaking during an interview to mark his third year in office on TV show, “The Platform: Big Talk with Professor Benedict Ayade” on TVC News Nigeria.
According to the Governor, Tinapa has failed to be a viable business venture because the first thing in tourism is local purchase power, ”if Tinapa was located in Lagos it would have worked.”
Politics › Re: Exclusive Pictures Of Jos Dry Port, With Analysis By Dr Chinnan Mclean by Blue3k2(op): 2:36pm On Sep 02, 2018*. Modified: 3:55pm On Sep 02, 2018
