₦airaland Forum

But negotiates loan for Kano-Niger Republic rail line

Even though it has received official approval, the Federal Government has ruled out the immediate execution of the $16billion rail project in the eastern part of the country.

The government said that the project would be put on hold because “there is no money to commence it.”

 
The Minister of Transportation, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, said on Thursday that despite the approval to modernise the rail system in the Eastern part of the country along with other sections, at the cost of $16 billion, the Muhammadu Buhari administration has no resources to go ahead with it. He told journalists at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Thursday, after a closed-door meeting with President Buhari, who he said was very concerned but pleased with developments in the transport sector, that “there are approvals but we have to look for the money. The money is just not there. It is not easy, it is a total of about $16 billon and you don’t pluck $16 billion from the sky.”

Amaechi continued: “That is No fund for Eastern rail projects yet , why I was summoned. Don’t forget that the President sleeps and wakes up thinking about railway and if his blood pressure (BP) will not rise, I must see him and tell him how far we have progressed.

Once he hears that progress is being made he feels a bit happy.” The minister said that one of the issues discussed with the President is the already approved Eastern flank of the railway modernisation spanning from Port Harcourt (Rivers State) to Maiduguri (Borno) cutting across Aba (Abia), Owerri (Imo), Enugu, Umuahia (Abia) to Makurdi (Benue), to Abakiliki (Ebonyi),and to Awka (Anambra), Lafia (benue) down to Bauchi, Gombe, Yola (Adamawa) and to Damaturu (Yobe) and ends in Borno State.

Asked when work would commence on the project, the minister insisted that “there are approvals but we have to look for the money. The money is just not there.”

On whether a Public-Private- Partnership (PPP) arrangement will be explored, he said that it was a difficult task because of the expensive nature of railway projects, but that the arrangement was more feasible for seaports.

According to him, “that is the first line of action, we will try and see if we can work on PPP particularly as it pertains to the seaport. Don’t forget that two deep seaports have been approved -Bonny Seaport and the Warri Seaport.

 
“For the Port Harcourt Railway Industrial Park, we should also be able to implement that through PPP. l hope we can but l doubt if it will be easy to get railway as PPP because it is quite expensive,” he said.

But for a similar rail project which links Kano to Niger Republic, the government has made progress on how to secure foreign loans to execute it.

Amaechi said: “The other railway from Kano to Maradi in Niger Republic, I needed to brief the President about how we are progressing with negotiations of loans and others and our possible financiers”; as well as efforts to complete the Lagos/Ibadan and Lagos/Kano axis.

He stated that the problem of gridlock on the road leading to Apapa Port in Lagos would be solved by December when the narrow gauge hitch would be overcome and trucking cargo from Apapa to Ebute-Metta-Lagos would begin.

The minister also announced “between now and December; we are bringing in more locomotives, coaches and wagons, to ensure efficiency in the narrow gauge. We are expecting 10 for Kaduna-Abuja axis and another seven, which will hopefully go to Itakpe-Warri because we believe that by June, that axis should also come alive”.

Amaechi spoke of the plans to construct two deep seaports in Bonny, Rivers State and Warri, Delta State; as well as the dredging of the Calabar Seaport through PPP and for which the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) has advertised for bids.

The Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly says it is not aware that the state-owned Ibom Specialist Hospital has been shut down.

PREMIUM TIMES newspaper broke the news on Thursday about the closure of the multi-million dollars hospital which was built and inaugurated just two years ago by the then administration of Governor Godswill Akpabio.

It is more than two weeks now since Cardiocare Medical Services Ltd, the private managers of the hospital, terminated their contract with the Akwa Ibom State government and pulled out from the facility in Uyo, the state capital, because of disagreement over funding.

“We are not aware that the place has been shut down,” the Deputy Leader of the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly, Ime Okon, told PREMIUM TIMES, Friday. “It has not been reported to the House.”

Mr. Okon is also the Chairman, House Committee on Information.

“Now that I have gotten the information, we will take steps to investigate,” the lawmaker said when this newspaper informed him about its report on the hospital closure.

Mr. Okon said the hospital should be under the state Ministry of Health, but that he was aware that the state government handed over its management to a private company.

“We will make findings to know what is happening,” he said.

The Commissioner for Health in the state, Dominic Ukpong, confirmed the hospital closure to PREMIUM TIMES. He accused the private managers, Cardiocare Ltd, of poor management of the hospital resources.

“Their excuses have been that government didn’t meet its own part of the obligation. But I am a witness to the huge amount of money the government has given to the service provider to run the hospital. And we haven’t had much to show for it,” the health commissioner said.

The commissioner said the state government was negotiating for new investors for the Ibom Specialist Hospital, but that it was difficult to say when it would re-open for business.

Akwa Ibom State Government has promised journalists and football fans free internet service inside the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium Uyo on Saturday when the Super Eagles take on the. Chipolopolo of Zambia in a crucial 2018 FIFA World, Cup qualifier, Completesportsnigeria.com reports.

The previous three home games of the Super Eagles at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium had been rocked by reports that mobile networks signals jammed at the venue when special dignitaries got into the stadium.

But that is expected to change this Saturday.

According to a statement from the Akwa Ibom State Commissioner for Sports Monday Uko through his media aide, Edidiong Stephen, the state government will make available access codes for free internet service.

“There will be free internet services available to fans at Goodwill Akpabio stadium during the Nigeria Vs Zambia match sponsored by Kalex Solutions Ltd,” the statement reads

“Access codes for the free internet will be embedded in a closed panel on seat covers which will be used to cover seats at the Stadium.

“Another great innovation by Akwa Ibom State Government and Akwa Ibom State Football Association.”

By Udeme Clement

About four months after the Tincan Island Command of Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, intercepted 440 pump action rifles smuggled into the country from Turkey, the government of the United State of America, USA, is yet to assist Nigeria in tracing the agency or individual that the arms were sold to.

The arms intercepted precisely in May, 2017, concealed in a 20ft container and falsely declared as white cement by the importer, in a bid to escape security checks, were uncovered by the intelligence driven technique used by Customs officers during examination.

Sunday Vanguard during investigations gathered that, though the deadly weapons were smuggled into Nigeria from Turkey, that the arms were manufactured by a company in US. In that capacity,  the US government requested for the serial numbers of the arms, in order to assist Nigeria trace the real buyer, and the Customs management took a bold stop in sending the serial numbers of the arms, in order to ascertain which organisation or individual that the manufacturing company sold the arms to, but till now, nothing has been done to follow up the case.

However, till this moment, the US government that has earlier promised to assist Nigeria, in order to fast track the investigation has not responded again. Now, the questions are, why is nothing being done to trace those who bought the rifles from the manufacturing company in US? Why is the US government not responding in assisting Nigeria as earlier promised?

Information made available to Sunday Vanguard from the sources at the US Embassy in Nigeria  revealed that what prompted Customs to write the US government initially was the willingness shown by US  to assist Nigeria, but suddenly, nothing is being done about it till now.

A stakeholder who spoke under anonymity called on the Customs management to send another letter to the government of US on this issue, stressing that such a sensitive issue, which has to do with national security  must not be swept under the carpet for any reason.  He said, “With this delay , it means Customs has a lot of work to do.”

Aside from the issue of 440 rifles, the challenges facing Customs in their operations are enormous. One of such problems making their work extremely difficult is the sick scanners we see all over the place.  At present, all the scanners at the seaports and Customs Commands across the whole Nigeria are not functional.

Places visited by Sunday Vanguard during investigations to check the condition of the scanners include Seme Command, Idiroko border, Tincan Island port, Apapa that is the premier port in Nigeria and other Commands. At Seme, which is known to be the busiest border in the sub-region, it was revealed that the scanner was not working due to what the officers in charge described as software problem, that can only be rectified by the manufacturer.  At Idiroko, the border between Nigeria and Benin Republic, where there is a Free Trade Zone, FTZ, it was the same challenge, as the scanner there has been inactive for years now. In fact, the story of sick scanners was the same at Tincan,  Apapa and other Commands visited during the week.

However, the economic implication is that, with faulty scanners at every Command, the new Executive Order on ease of doing business may suffer a setback.

The Federal Government has reiterated its resolve to complete work on the Second Niger Bridge as well as other federal projects in the South-East zone.

Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo gave the assurance during a funeral mass for late Roseline Ezinma Akabueze, the mother of Ben Akabueze, the Director-General, Budget Office, Abuja at St Gabriel Catholic Church, Ifitedunu, Anambra State.

Mr. Osinbajo explained that the government under President Muhammadu Buhari was committed to completing every federal project in the South East especially the Second Niger Bridge.

“President Buhari went to China to negotiate with them about the second Niger Bridge and East-West road,’’ he said.

He said everything had been put in place to ensure the completion of Enugu-Onitsha expressway.

Mr. Osinbajo urged the National Assembly to consider and accommodate all the federal projects during their deliberations on the budget.

He said that one of the cardinal principles of Buhari administration is fairness, which according to him has allowed every political zone the opportunity to benefit in his government.

Gov. Willie Obiano recalled that Ifitedunu community had benefited immensely from his administration, especially in the area of appointments.

Mr. Obiano urged the people to apply for the second phase of his N20 million community choose your project initiative, which had been geared towards developing every community simultaneously as well as empowering the youths.

Dignitaries present included the Minister of Labour, Chris Ngige, Minister for Budget and National Planning, Udoma Udo Udoma, and the Minister of Industry and Investment, Okey Enelama.

By Uchenna Inya

Governors of the South-East geopolitical zone yesterday, said plans were underway to empower and rehabilitate members of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) in their respective states into a meaningful venture.

Chairman of the South- East Governors’ Forum and Governor of Ebonyi State, Chief Dave Umahi stated this in Ishielu Local government area of the state during the celebration of the state’s peace day. He noted that the governors had reached a resolution bearing in mind that some of the youth were misled into joining the outlawed IPOB group. He said Ebonyi state would soon commence the rehabilitation and empowerment exercise for the youth who were misled into joining IPOB in the state.

Besides, the governor, who disclosed that South-East Governors had been commended and condemned since they announced the proscription of IPOB, said that they had no apologies for their action as they would still do the same if such situation presents itself again. Umahi said: “As governors, we have said that some of these youths were misled into doing this group. We agreed that they must be re-absorbed and reintegrated back into the society and rehabilitate them to get something doing with their hands.

“I will ask the for Youths Empowerment to open a register where some of these youths who were misled into joining this group will come and enter their names. By my words, we must rehabilitate them into meaningful venture in Ebonyi state. “On the issue of proscribing IPOB, people were sending us text messages, some were commending us, some were condemning us, and some were praising us while some abused us. But our people must know something: agitation does not mean insulting the leaders of AlaIgbo. “It is not about insulting the sitting President. It is not about insulting other tribes.

You can’t achieve anything from that. You cannot. It is by peace that a house is built. And I think that the issue of agitation, when you make your point, it should not degenerate into self-help. “As governors, we make all efforts to see that there is real peace.

So, we sat as governors to proscribe IPOB. We did that to save 12 million lives of Igbo that are living in Northern Nigeria and other parts of the country. And we have no apologies for saving the lives of not only Igbo but other ethnic groups that are within the South-East. “If the opportunity comes again, we will be unrepentant to do same.

“It is not about having ministers and all that. It is about giving the South- East additional state. It is about creating more local government areas to be like others. Other ones come and go but these are very important things that will help us develop.”

A court on Monday remanded 60 members of the separatist group, IPOB, in prison.

The Chief Magistrate Court sitting in Umuahia, Abia State, ordered that the accused be remanded at the Afara Federal Prisons in Aba, the Nation Newspaper reports.

The IPOB members were among those arrested in the clashes with security officials which eventually led to the secessionist group being declared a terrorist organisation.

IPOB is seeking an independent Igbo country of Biafra, while its leader, Nnamdi Kanu is currently being prosecuted for alleged treason.

After the clashes in Abia which also led to the death of a police officer and burning down of a police station, the group was proscribed by the South-east governors and alter declared a terrorist organisation by a federal court following an application by the federal government.

PREMIUM TIMES had earlier reported the police statement that arrested IPOB members would be prosecuted for arson and murder.

On Monday, the counsel to the suspects challenged the jurisdiction of the court. The suspects were arraigned for alleged conspiracy, terrorism, attempted murder, and membership of unlawful society. The case was later adjourned till October 25.

Northern elders under the aegis, Northern Elders’ Forum (NEF), have claimed that the President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, saved President Muhammadu Buhari from being embarrassed in court by the secessionist group, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), over its proscription and categorisation as a terrorist group by the Nigerian government.

Barely 24 hours after the Nigerian Army pronounced IPOB a terrorist organisation, Saraki came out to condemn the decision and labelled it unconstitutional.

The Senate President stated that only the National Assembly, had the right to such pronouncement.

The Northern Elders have now said that there is no cause for alarm in what Saraki said. Chairman of the Northern Elders’ Forum, Dr. Paul Unongo who made the statement during a press conference on Thursday, said that Saraki saved President Buhari from being embarrassed in court for following due process towards proscribing a group in the country.

“We wish to reiterate our consistent position that there are no issues of disagreement and demands by individuals and groups in the country or anywhere in the world that dialogue cannot resolve.

“The NEF acknowledges that we, the citizens of Nigeria, are capable of resolving our issues internally.

“The North recognizes and acknowledges that there are demanding and legitimate questions on the current operations of the Nigerian State.

“The North has very clear ideas on all issues and positions that the nation sees as challenges and is willing to dialogue on all of them,” he said.

According to him, the north is not averse to negotiation, but said the region would not succumb to intimidation.

“What the North will not allow, however, is to be stampeded into adopting an agenda and grand designs from other parts of Nigeria which will hurt its basic interests.

“The North will demand a respectful and responsible approach to its participation in the search for answers to the many questions confronting our country.

“We will also insist that the Constitution and our national institutions, such as the National Assembly be accorded due and appropriate recognition in all initiatives and efforts towards addressing our challenges,” Unongo stated.

EazyMoh:
It also seems Fayemi has a vested interest with the Russians, if not why would he care who runs the plant as long as it's operational.
Mtsweewww

The NCP meeting would be coinciding with the date the Federal High Court, Abuja is also scheduled to deliver judgment in a $2.8 billion suit filed in 2013 by BFIG against UC RUSAL for its undue interference and conspiracy to frustrate its acquisition of ALSCON

EazyMoh:
I will read, let me go and pray first.

The Nigerian government has, through the Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Kayode Fayemi, been mediating in a multi-million deal that apparently violates a Supreme Court ruling, PREMIUM TIMES has learnt.

The deal is to get a Nigerian-American firm, BFI Group, to surrender to a Russian firm, UC RUSAL, its win of the 2004 bid for the multi-billion Aluminium Smelter Company of Nigeria, ALSCON.

BFIG has, however, rejected a $35 million offer to forfeit its legal rights after meetings by all parties.

The firm also communicated its position to both the Bureau for Public Enterprises, BPE and the National Council on Privatization, NCP.

Its Chairman/Chief Executive, Reuben Jaja, accused Mr. Fayemi of compromising his office by ”continuously jumping in bed with the Russians to subvert rule of law, in defiance of two subsisting Supreme Court rulings” pending federal government’s implementation on the matter.

The spokesperson to the minister, Yinka Oyebode, in response to PREMIUM TIMES’ inquiry on Thursday, not only denied knowledge of the deal, but also exonerated his boss.

“I don’t think my ‘Oga’ will be part of that kind of deal. The much interest I know he has is to resolve this issue. I don’t think he will sit down with anybody to ask anybody to pay off anybody or stuff like that. This idea of somebody offering anybody money, I don’t think he will be involved in it,” Mr. Oyebode said on telephone.

He, however, said he would not comment further, as the minister was outside the country attending the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

PREMIUM TIMES also sent emails to both the minister’s official and private mails as well as text messages to his known telephone lines requesting his reaction.

He was yet to respond to any of the messages at the time of publication of this story.

 

HISTORY

In 2004, UC RUSAL had lost out in the bid to acquire ALSCON after it was disqualified by the NCP, for violating bid guidelines.

Although BFIG was later declared the winner of the bid with a $410 million offer, the BPE later cancelled the results in controversial circumstances.

BPE later reinstated UC RUSAL and handed over the plant to it in 2006 on the orders of then President, Olusegun Obasanjo, triggering a protracted legal battle that dragged till July 6, 2012 when the Supreme Court ruled in favour of BFIG as the recognised winner of the bid and owner of ALSCON.

On July 11, 2016, the apex court reaffirmed its ruling through a unanimous verdict dismissing for lack of merit an application by UC RUSAL on November 4, 2015, seeking a review and vacation of the previous judgment.

In each of the two separate rulings, the Supreme Court ordered the federal government, through its agencies – BPE and NCP, to invite BFIG and negotiate a mutually agreed share purchase agreement, SPA, with a view to handing over ALSCON to the rightful winner.

Curiously, in April 2017, in apparent in defiance of the Supreme Court directives, Mr. Fayemi visited ALSCON and was received by UC RUSAL’s managing director, Dimitriy Zaviyalov, whom he promised to work with to reactivate the plant.

During the visit, the minister also assured the Russians of the federal government’s commitment to “encourage the Supreme Court to expedite action on the ruling,” and to “free the complex of any encumbrances,” in a move that appeared ignorant of the fact that the apex court already ruled twice on the matter.

Following the visit, Mr. Jaja accused Mr. Fayemi of perpetrating illegality, by ”contemptuously romancing with UC RUSAL on a matter the Supreme Court had already ruled on two occasions.”

THE NEGOTATIONS

However, ahead of the first meeting of the reconstituted NCP scheduled for September 26 in Abuja, Mr. Jaja has again accused Mr. Fayemi as the unseen hand behind UC RUSAL’s latest clandestine plot to hijack the ALSCON ownership in defiance of rule of law and subsisting Supreme Court orders in favour of BFIG.

To get BFIG to accept to participate in the out-of-court settlement deal, PREMIUM TIMES investigations revealed on Wednesday that Mr. Fayemi reportedly asked his kinsman from Ekiti State, Wole Olanipekun, whom he believed could influence BFIG, to be involved.

Mr. Olanipekun has been a long-standing counsel to the consortium throughout its legal tussle to reclaim ALSCON.

Consequently, the minister, along with BPE Director-General, Alex Okoh, and other officials, held a secret meeting on August 21 with UC RUSAL agents, Danba & Associates Limited, led by its Chairman/CEO, Saadina Dantata, to compel BFIG to accept an offer for the relinquishment of its legal rights guaranteed by Supreme Court ruling of July 6, 2012.

Earlier, UC RUSAL had written to BPE to confirm its appointment of Mr. Dantata as its representative and leader of delegation for negotiations in the disputes over the ownership of ALSCON.

It was gathered that at a meeting brokered by Mr. Fayemi and attended by BPE DG, an initial $30 million offer was tabled by Mr. Dantata on behalf of UC RUSAL payable to BFIG over 20 years, after agreeing to sign off all settlement agreements to terminate all outstanding legal cases in court in relation to the deal to acquire ALSCON.

A source close to the meeting said BFIG officials had made their stance known clearly that they were not interested in the offer, insisting on the minister to rather advise the federal government to uphold rule of law by implementing the pending Supreme Court orders in their favour.

Also, the company (BFIG) in turn offered to refund to UC RUSAL the $130 million the Russians said they paid to BPE when ALSCON was handed over to them in 2006.

The source, who asked not to be named, because of the sensitivity of the matter, said the Russians rejected the proposal and demanded that BFIG paid to them additional $550 million instead.

The source said Mr. Fayemi was so incensed with BFIG’s rejection of the offer that he threatened to invoke government’s powers to revoke the entire ALSCON sale transaction if by the next meeting they refused to change their mind.

During a follow-up meeting on August 28, 2017, UC RUSAL’s representative was said to have made an adjusted final offer of $35 million, consisting $20 million initial payment, plus another $10 million spread over 20 years, on the same conditions “in the spirit of an amicable settlement.”

Although BFIG officials were said to have been absent, it was gathered that the outcome of the meeting was later sent to BFIG through BPE on September 13, 2017.

But, in a written formal response dated September 18, 2017 and addressed to the BPE Director-General, copy of which was obtained exclusively by PREMIUM TIMES, BFIG reaffirmed its earlier rejection of the offer by UC RUSAL representatives.

The company described the offer as not only insulting and denigrating, but also an attempt to lure it into becoming complicit in a violation of the U.S. anti-corruption law.

“We continuously maintain the belief that our acceptance of the offer can be interpreted as our direct or indirect assistance for a person to secure an improper advantage in a business transaction”, BFIG General Counsel, Jimmie Williams, said in the letter.

“This acceptance (means) our relinquishment of the binding 6 July 2012 Supreme Court judgment and the discarding of our legal rights, can be viewed as making us complicit in a violation of the United States Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, 15 U.S.C,” he added.

Copies of the response, which were sent to both the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, who is the NCP Chairman, and Mr. Fayemi, reiterated BFIG’s readiness and willingness to commence the initial takeover inspection of ALSCON aborted unilaterally at the last minute by BPE in 2012.

The inspection visit approved by the NCP at its sixth meeting in November 2012 was part of the process to finalise the mutually agreed SPA towards the takeover of ALSCON.

The visit was to enable BFIG conduct a complete site, engineering, technical, environmental, management and financial review of ALSCON to determine the final price following the Supreme Court ruling.

A senior official in BPE, who is familiar with the ALSCON sale controversy, said the rejection of the latest deal by BFIG was a major blow to the scheming by ”a shadowy interest group angling to hijack the ALSCON sale.”

The group is said to have consistently advised the federal government to explore other ways of resolving the ownership impasse in ALSCON outside the rulings of the Supreme Court which ordered that the plant be handed over to BFIG.

The outcome of the failed deal, which the official said was part of the scheming, was expected to be presented by Mr. Fayemi at the NCP meeting scheduled for Tuesday ostensibly as a way of resolving the lingering ALSCON sale logjam.

All the officials linked to the failed deal refused to respond to calls by PREMIUM TIMES on Friday seeking their reactions.

Mr. Dantata of Danba Associates did not pick calls to his telephones lines, while a text message was not responded to. Equally, an email to the firm’s official email addressinfo@danbanigeria.com returned undelivered.

An email to Elena Morenko, Head of International Communications, UC RUSAL, seeking confirmation to the deal and the appointment of Mr. Dantata as the company’s representative, was not responded to at the time of publishing this report.

Besides, Mr. Okoh of BPE neither answered calls to his telephone, nor responded to a text message and email sent to him.

The NCP meeting would be coinciding with the date the Federal High Court, Abuja is also scheduled to deliver judgment in a $2.8 billion suit filed in 2013 by BFIG against UC RUSAL for its undue interference and conspiracy to frustrate its acquisition of ALSCON.

 

BFIG REACTS

When PREMIUM TIMES sought BFIG’s reaction on why it rejected the $35 million offer by UC RUSAL, Mr. Jaja said, apart from its illegality, acting otherwise would have portrayed the consortium as “a bunch of greedy, unserious and hungry people who do not know what they want.”

“How would anybody in his right senses think BFIG would invest billions of dollars of private resources in an attempt to acquire ALSCON and use to contribute to the development of the impoverished Niger Delta people, only for it to be subjected to over 13 years of legal battles traversing all levels of courts in Nigeria and abroad, then accept to trade all that off for a mess of $35 million?” Mr. Jaja asked.

Apart from the inherent corruption and travesty of justice, Mr. Jaja said, by refusing to uphold the two pending Supreme Court rulings on ALSCON, the federal government and some of its officials have given themselves away as economic saboteurs and “part of the grand conspiracy with foreign collaborators against the interest of the Niger Delta people.”

A 2011 financial report on ALSCON prepared by KPMG had revealed massive asset strippingof the plant allegedly perpetrated by UC RUSAL since 2006 when the plant was handed over to it by BPE.

The report showed how the $3.2 billion plant, valued at over $1.1 billion in 2004 when the bid was held, and $1.03 billion when UC RUSAL took over in 2006, dropped in asset value to less than $73 million by 2012 when the Supreme Court sacked the Russians from the plant.

The first meeting of the National Council on Niger Delta was held at the Le Meridien Hotel, Uyo, Akwa Ibom state from 23rd-26th April, 2013. The second Regular Meeting of the Council, which commenced on 7th September,2017, at the International Centre for Culture and Events (The Dome), Igbatoro Road, Akure, with the theme : 'Fast -Tracking The Development of The Niger Delta; Options And Prospects' will end on 14th September, 2017.

The National Council on Niger Delta is the coordinating platform for all development efforts in the Niger Delta. Today, at the opening of the Technical Session, Ondo State Governor, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, SAN, and the host Governor requested for an approval of licence for the establishment of a Deep Sea Mining Port in Ilaje Free Trade Zone.

Governor Akeredolu added that the development of the Deep Sea Mining Port possesses the veritable potential to turn the Niger Delta areas of Ondo State into a hub of investment opportunities.

Earlier the Minister for Niger Delta Affairs, Usani Uguru Usani, said that the working of a renewed vision has shifted from personal goals to corporate survival. Urging development agencies in the region to work together for the overall goal of development of infrastructure that will enhance the diversification of the economy from Oil alone.

At Igbokoda, the headquarters of Ilaje Local Government Areas, Governor Akeredolu lamented the level of infrastructural deficit, poverty and neglect of the proverbial 'birds that laid the golden eggs'.

In his words, " The current agitations which which appear intractable are traceable to the long years of socio -economic dislocation experienced by the people of the Niger Delta Region. The long suffering masses have been left despondent and confused for quite some time now.

"The peasants have simply lost their peasantry. The whole society has been reduced to a pitiable beggarly existence. Fishermen have since abandoned that vocation, the fishes are gone and farmers can no longer depend on the sweat of their brows.

The land has been laid waste by the exploratory and exploitative activities of those whose sole concern lies in the treasures beneath the land and not the people

Many of the stakeholders who spoke at the Town Hall Meeting regretted the high level of projects abandonment and diversification of projects to non mandate areas of the intervention agencies of government.

The Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, who represented the President, Mohammadu Buhari assured that the Buhari Administration was more focused and determined to bring the Niger Delta out of its economic quagmire urging youths to give peace a chance.

Operatives of the Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) Victory of the Nigerian Navy in Calabar have arrested six Bangladesh nationals and 16 Nigerians for allegedly diverting 22 metric tonnes of diesel in an illegal Ship to Ship (STS) transfer along the Calabar water channel.

Commander NNS Victory, Commodore Salihu Ibn Danhu Jibril, the vessel, NV Princess Oge, which brought the product from offshore Lome to deliver to a tank farm in Calabar was discovered carrying out the illegal activity and immediately arrested.

Addressing reporters on board the vessel along the Calabar Channel before handing over the suspects and vessel to the Nigerian Police yesterday, Jibril said the Princess Oge was a bunkering ship given permission to deliver and discharge cargo in Calabar.

“Along the way, she was found to have found transfer to ship transfer illegally to another ship and consequently we arrested the ship.

“She was arrested and brought here and having conducted our investigation and found their operation in line with our harmonised standard procedures for illegal activities in the marine environment, we are formally handing over the ship, crew and cargo to the Nigerian Police for further investigation and prosecution.

“The suspects include 22 persons of different nationalities. We have six from Bangladesh and 16 Nigerians.

“The vessel was given permission to move AGO cargo to Calabar. In line with extant regulations, we are handing them over to the police.

“The quantity that was diverted illegally was 22 metric tonnes missing from the initial cargo that she was supposed to deliver from what she took at the port of intake.

“The port of intake was offshore Lome, and is supposed to one of the tank farms in Calabar.”

Operation Python Dance ll na di code name Nigeria Army don give di latest military operation for South-East Nigeria.

Nigeria military don talk say di Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) na terrorist group because dem dey do violence.

But why Operation Python Dance II? Python dey dance? E don dance before?

Why this kain code name?

Ok, Make we put am for reverse gear together and enter history small.

https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/960/cpsprodpb/14D9B/production/_97830458_gettyimages-102165893.jpg
Na former Great British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, do di rule wey military suppose follow to give operations name.

First of all, code name for military operations na something generals all over di world dey use when dem don ready to mobilise soldiers go battle.

Na for World War One di thing first start but na for World War Two e come popular well-well.

One of di reasons na because e go quick and easy for soldiers, media and ordinary civilians to remember and use.

https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/960/cpsprodpb/1268B/production/_97830457_gettyimages-670304244.jpg
Nigeria Navy sailors dey patrol for Niger Delta creeks

Military code names suppose get these rules:

1. Di name no suppose expose di work di operation wan do.

2. Di name suppose sharp so people go remember am.

3. Code names wey get Roman and Greek names good well-well.

https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/960/cpsprodpb/174AB/production/_97830459_gettyimages-475121258-1.jpgNigeria Army launch Operation Python II after President Muhammadu Buhari return from London where im go treat himself

Nigeria Army launch Operation Python II after President Muhammadu Buhari return from London where im go treat himself

Since Nigeria President, Muhammadu Buhari enter government for 2015, some of the code names di military don use for their operations be this:

1. Operation Iron Fence

This na di operation di military start for South-East to fight armed robbers, hooligans and kidnappers.

2. Crocodile Smile I

This na South-South operation wey military use for August 2015 to stop things like oil bunkering and Niger Delta militants.

https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/960/cpsprodpb/1903/production/_97830460_gettyimages-671827598.jpg
Nigeria sailor dey investigate illegal refineries for creek for Niger Delta

3. Python Dance I

Python don dance before for South-East. That time, di operation na for Anambra state. Dem do am to fight robbery, kidnapping, cultism and di operation last for one month.

4. Operation Crackdown

This na North-East operation wey Nigeria Army use to clear Boko Haram fighters for Sambisa Forest.

https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/960/cpsprodpb/4013/production/_97830461_gettyimages-674039506.jpg
Nigeria Army camp for North-East Nigeria

5. Operation Tsare Teku

This Nigerian Navy operation happen for Niger-Delta region, South-South Nigeria to fight pirates wey be thief for sea.

By Dayo Johnson

THE wife of President Muhammadu Buhari, Aisha, has warned politicians in the country against politicizing the issue of women empowerment.

Aisha spoke in Akure, Ondo State capital during the first national workshop organised by the National Council for Women Societies (NCWS) on economic diversification programmes of government.

She also accused politicians in the different political parties of paying lip service to matters that had to do with women empowerment.

Buhari’s wife, who was represented by the NCWS President, Mrs. Gloria Laraba Shoda, said whenever people speak about empowering women in a political dispensation, it appears to those in power as if asking them to throw away the keys of the offices they were already occupying.

Speaking on the seminar titled; “Nigeria Women in Agriculture Development, Participation and Empowerment in a Practicing Democracy’, she said since women are talking about agricultural empowerment, those in power should be delighted by their suggestions..

In a paper at the occasion, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh ,noted that the mainstreaming of women in agriculture will contribute greatly to the sustainability of the nation’s agricultural production.

According to Ogbeh, women have enormous amounts of potential that must be tapped to grow an agricultural sector that is the envy of Africa.

The National President of the NCWS, Shoda, explained that women form nearly half of Nigeria’s population with millions working in the agricultural sector in our rural communities, but that due to gender inequalities that pervade the society, they do not get the recognition and inclusiveness they deserved.

Shoda, who said women were not blaming any government, noted that they were only saying that in alignment with current global thinking on good governance, government should create and promote an inclusive gender-friendly society.

She urged government at all levels to carry women along in terms of planning and implementation of policies, projects programmes across the different social and economic sectors such as outlined in their development agenda.

Mekus68:
Op after all the story, no pictures of the crafts?

ImperialYoruba:
Because that road is an entitlement. It is the artery into the center of commerce. What commercial significance does Enugu-Ekwulobia federal road have?

The Nigerian Navy has received two FPB 72 patrol vessels from France's Ocea shipyard, and has ordered another three.

The two vessels were seen undergoing tests at St Nazaire at the end of August prior to delivery and were subsequently loaded onto a cargo vessel for transport to Nigeria, reports Meret Marine. They are named NNS Shiroro and NNS Ose (P185 and P186). 

The FPB 72s are 24 metres long and 5.8 metres wide. They can reach a speed of up to 35 knots and have a range of 600 miles at 12 knots. Crew is ten. They are equipped with a rigid-hulled inflatable boat on the aft deck. 

News of the contract emerged in February this year, when it was revealed that Nigeria had ordered the two FPB 72s as well as two FPB 110 Mk II coastal patrol vessels. The latter are currently under construction. Similar to the vessels delivered to Kuwait, they have conventional propellers rather than water jets. They are 35 metres long and have a maximum speed of 30 knots. They can be fitted with machineguns or a 20/30 mm cannon and a rigid-hulled inflatable boat. Up to 17 people can be carried. 

Meret Marine reports that Nigeria has now ordered another three FPB 72s, which will be delivered along with the two FPB 110s by 2018. 

Ocea has delivered a number of vessels to Nigeria, including three FPB 72s in 2012 and a 32 metre FPB 98 Mk II in 2013, which were ordered by the Nigerian Port Authority for use by the Nigerian Navy.

They are used to combat maritime crime, oil theft and militant groups that have staged disruptive attacks on oil platforms and pipeline infrastructure. Kidnapping, maritime robbery, human trafficking and drug smuggling are also rampant along the West African coast with over-stretched and poorly equipped regional security forces struggling to control the situation.