₦airaland Forum

Oando Plc, the largest integrated energy solutions group in Sub-Saharan Africa, is set to sell off a majority stake in its downstream business after sealing a $461.3 million deal with HV Investments (HVI), a joint venture owned by a fund advised by Helios Investment Partners (Helios) and The Vitol Group (Vitol). The joint venture entity will acquire 51 percent of the subsidiary’s voting rights and 60 percent of the economic rights.

Its downstream business consists of Oando Marketing, the group’s petroleum product distribution company; Oando Supply and Trading, a leading indigenous physical trader of petroleum products in the sub-Saharan region; Oando Trading limited, its crude trading company; Apapa SPM, its jetty and subsea pipeline system; and Ebony Oil and Gas, its Ghanaian supply and trading entity.

The total consideration of $461.3 million will be funded by a $276.8 million cash contribution from HVI and $184.5 million in preference shares issued to Oando Plc, subject to customary purchase price adjustments, including working capital and long-term debt. At closing, HVI will own 60 percent of the special purpose vehicle, while Oando Plc will hold a 40 percent stake.

A shift in focus?

On July 30, 2014, Oando announced the acquisition of the Nigerian assets of US-headquartered oil explorer, ConocoPhillips, for $1.5 billion (after months of delay in securing regulatory approval, which cost Oando $33 million in deferred consideration).

The acquisition offered Oando control of ConocoPhillips’ oil and gas business in Nigeria, which holds a 20 percent non-operating interest in Oil Mining Leases (OMLs) 60, 61, 62, and 63 as well as related infrastructure and facilities in the Nigerian Agip Oil Company Joint Venture (NAOC JV) Ltd. More importantly, it offered Oando a window to join the big league by venturing into the lucrative upstream segment of the Nigerian oil sector.

At the announcement of the acquisition last year, Wale Tinubu, the Group Chief Executive (GCE) of Oando, stated that the oil firm “…will continue to seek strategic opportunities that provide a platform for enhanced growth and value creation for our stakeholders.” Those opportunities, however, seemingly lie far away from Nigeria’s downstream sector.

Mr Tinubu told investors and journalists in a public statement this week that the divestment of Oando’s downstream business will enable it focus on its upstream and midstream businesses, though the growing uncertainties facing the sector may have hastened the company’s decision.

Eliminating the uncertainties

Companies operating within the Nigerian downstream sector are facing an uncertain future. The past two months have seen petrol stations across Nigeria’s larger cities clogged with jerry-can carrying black-marketers (who re-sell at five times the going rate of fuel to those who lack the patience to join the long queues of cars). The recent month-long scarcity, which threatened to ground economic activities in May, has been linked to independent petroleum marketer who are refusing to import fuel until the government pays subsidy claims, running into millions of dollars. Oando is one of the many marketers—with over 400 retail outlets and strategically located terminals in Nigeria, and its West African neighbours—seeking a lasting resolution on the issue from the new government.

The tussle between the government and oil marketers is likely to linger as Austin Avuru, the CEO of Seplat, told Nigerians to brace up for acute fuel scarcity this month. This was after he confirmed that the government did not have enough money to pay for fuel subsidy, which has hit N2 billion per day. “In three weeks, we will be back to scarcity because we simply don’t have the money to pay for the subsidy.”

Queues waned over the month of June, but are poised to reappear as marketers insist on halting further importation until they are certain of the new government’s direction. Many have called on the new administration to end the subsidy regime, which has been too expensive for an economy that has seen its annual revenue trimmed by the current global oil crisis. But that will require a complete deregulation of the market—a move that will triple the current N87 per litre price and hike the cost of goods and services. For now, the government has remained silent on its plans for the industry, and Oando may now be keen to focus less on a market with an uncertain future.

http://venturesafrica.com/oando-to-exit-nigerias-troubled-downstream-oil-sector/

disumusa:
so how many north,sw did gej send abroad to study or give i win programe.

So where is Nigeria's wealth coming from

seedgreen:
Following

Una No get work

[quote author=robinicule post=35353057][/quote]Why are u booking space

Naspers Ltd. is rewriting the ‘BRIC’ acronym to include Nigeria and Turkey among the world’s best emerging markets as China and Russia lose some luster with Africa’s most valuable company.
“India features high both in our development spend and our M&A spend, as well as Nigeria, South Africa, Brazil and Turkey,” the media company’s Chief Executive Officer Bob van Dijk said in an interview on Tuesday. “Those are markets that are very rapidly growing, particularly the online Internet population and we believe that provides opportunity.”
Naspers boosted development spending by about 33 percent to 10.7 billion rand ($870 billion) as it continues expanding its TV and online retail businesses in the year through March, Van Dijk said. Adjusted net income rose by 30 percent to 11.2 billion rand on growth from Tencent Holdings Ltd. and online retail, according to its full-year results on Monday.
The Cape Town-based company is scouring the globe for its next Internet bet as consumers shift to smart devices from computers. Naspers, which owns 34 percent of Chinese Internet operator Tencent, has online-service interests in about 40 countries and is Africa’s biggest seller of pay TV.
“We’ll invest significantly in e-commerce because we want to further grow our leadership there and we’ll also continue investment in digital terrestrial TV,” Van Dijk said. “If we see new models that are very encouraging we’ll put investment behind those.”
Ukraine Crisis
Revenue growth was driven by the investments in Tencent and Russian Internet company Mail.ru Group Ltd., while sales from its online retail unit rose 36 percent to 27.8 billion rand. Mail.ru, which is 29 percent-owned by Naspers, has fallen more than 40 percent since the start of the

Ukraine crisis.

“In local ruble terms, the company has performed reasonably well given the turmoil that it has in the market,” he said. “If you look at the ruble, there is obviously a very strong correlation to the oil price.”
Naspers added 727,000 satellite TV users, giving almost 8 million subscribers access to English Premier League soccer and dramas such as Game of Thrones. The company is producing more African content and more than doubled its digital terrestrial TV users to 2.2 million as African governments switch off analogue signals.
“We are increasing our investment in local content,” the CEO said. “There are several global players that definitely have ambition in every single continent, also in ours. What we’re trying to do is build the best local proposition.”
Naspers shares were up 1.5 percent to 1,868 rand at 12:26 p.m. in Johannesburg on Tuesday, boosting the year’s gain to 23 percent and valuing the company at 784 billion rand.


http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-06-30/africa-s-biggest-company-naspers-adds-nigeria-turkey-to-bric-?cmpid=yhoo&ref=yfp

omojeesu:
Mr. President please do what is right. Support the students. Let them complete their studies!

I agree

flyca:
It would have been better if he stopped further enrollment of entrants instead of cutting existing students' studies short.

I totally agree with you 100%

lygn19:
This ppl shud stop lieing and trying to rub dirt on Buharis govt, Fg didn't stop paying school fees of anybody, Fg stopped paying school fees of ppl who got back door scholarship simply because there brother was on seat.

and we should believe you because, u work for the president. Na wah for Nigerians sef

President, Ijaw Youth Council Worldwide, Mr. Udengs Eradiri, has raised the alarm over the plight of over 6,000 Niger Delta students on Federal Government’s scholarships in some foreign universities.

He said the authorities of the foreign universities had started delisting the students, majority of whom were Ijaws, due to the alleged Federal Government’s failure to pay the students’ fees.

Eradiri, who made the revelation at a news conference on Tuesday in Yenagoa, appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari and other well meaning Nigerians to wade into the matter to save the students.

He said the students’ plight was compounded by the vacuum in the Presidential Amnesty Programme because of absence of an administrator for the programme.

The IYC boss said the amnesty programme had of recent been beset with a lot of bureaucratic bottlenecks due to absence of an administrator.

He therefore urged President Buhari to appoint an administrator for the programme or do whatever he could with “the executive power he wields to ensure that somebody begins to take responsibility in that office.”

He said he had been under intense pressure in trying to maintain the peace in the region because stipends to ex-agitators had not been paid for the last two months.

Eradiri said he and other Ijaw leaders had been appealing for calm and for them not to take to the streets, nor go back to the creeks.

He stressed that they had been appealing to them to give President Buhari an opportunity to run government.

“I want to use this opportunity to call on the Niger Delta leaders, well meaning Nigerians and President Muhammadu Buhari to the fact that the cause of the vacuum in the presidential amnesty programme is as a result of the change in leadership.

“It has begun to tell on the lives of our young ones that are undergoing university training as a result of the amnesty programme in various countries – America, United Kingdom, London, South Africa and other African countries where we have young Nigerians.

“These young Nigerians who are undergoing education and training scattered round the world, because of the bureaucratic nature of the programme, the funding used to be month by month, most of the upkeep of the students is usually on a monthly basis.

But for two months now, the students have not been paid; the financial obligations to the institutions have not been met and so we heard the shocking news that some of the institutions have started delisting some of the students studying there.

“As for the UK, we know that rents are paid monthly and when the stipends are paid, these students also pay their rent. As I speak to you, a lot of them now are being thrown out of their accommodation; they are all on the streets.”

He said the matter was getting to a breaking point where they could no longer hold them (youths) back because “we have been doing that with just the word of mouth and the goodwill we enjoy as leaders. But when government fails to do their own part, then very unfortunately, we will not be able to maintain the peace as it was in the last few months.”



http://www.punchng.com/news/foreign-varsities-delisting-ndelta-students/

President Muhammadu Buhari’s ministers may come in two months at the earliest as the new administration seeks to come to grip with what its officials claim as the rot it inherited.
Insiders in the new government claim that this is due to the acute state of affairs of government finances and resources. It was also disclosed that President Buhari would in the next few days take very painful decisions akin to “pulling off the tooth” of a man without painkillers.
A source close to the president, who made these known to reporters at the weekend, spoke in reference to assertions of the president’s slow take-off as reflected in the failure to appoint key actors of government. The source dismissed suggestions that the activities of government had been crippled on account of the failure to appoint ministers as a blackmail by politicians keen to get into the pie.

Noting what it referred to as a clearly putrid inheritance, the source said Buhari was very determined not to build his government on a “very rotten foundation.”
“You cannot even begin to imagine the situation we have met on the ground,” the source who has unfettered access to the president and is one of those presently working with him behind the scenes said.
“Almost everything is in a state of decay. There is absolutely no way the new government can hope to achieve anything long-lasting without first building a new foundation.”
Drastic actions
Giving an indication of the likelihood of the president taking some very hard decisions to salvage the country, the source who briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity said:
“President Buhari’s plan of action will be likened to that of a doctor who first has to break a poorly set bone afresh, before resetting it to allow for smooth and proper growth.”
Responding to criticism that the president failed to make good use of the period after the election and even one month after his inauguration to put shape to his government, the source said it would be difficult to appoint personnel to offices that no one for now knows would exist or be scrapped.
President to cut down the number of ministries
“The president plans to cut down the number of ministries and parastatals. He wants to cut down the cost of running government. He wants to make sure that all the loopholes that enable corruption to thrive are blocked. All these are procedures that require time and careful planning. You cannot do it in a rush.”
The source noted that the president could not have initiated the reforms without recourse to the Ahmed Joda report which he received only on June 12, 2015.
“Remember that he has to make sure that all this is done without any job losses or mass retrenchments,” he said. “All this is not a day’s or one-month job.”
Rebuffing suggestions that the activities of government have been grounded by the failure to appoint ministers, the close associate of the president described it as an act of blackmail from politicians including those from the president’s All Progressives Congress, APC, who want to be fast-tracked into government.
“All these reports and agitations are being fuelled by politicians who want to put pressure on the President,” he said. “They have tried doing it other ways and those haven’t worked. Now, they are trying to use the media. They only want their cronies appointed to ministerial posts anyhow, and they are fuelling the agitation through newspapers.”
The source also noted the crisis in the National Assembly and the adjournment of the Senate till July 21 as another reason why ministers may not be appointed in the next few weeks.
“Look at how they are fighting among themselves. The Senate has now adjourned till July 21. That means no one to scrutinise or approve any ministerial list until the end of July”, he siad.
Tasked on the statement by the president of the Senate, Senator Bukola Saraki that the Senate would reconvene to screen ministerial nominees whenever called upon, the source gave the inclination that the president would soon intervene in the crisis that has split the APC caucus in the two chambers of the National Assembly.
“The President wants to walk his talk on stable politics and being a leader for all, he has a plan for the National Assembly .”
Asked to react to the assertions, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Public Affairs, Mallam Garba Shehu said the account of the president not being in a hurry to appoint ministers until he was set was very correct.


http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/06/buhari-to-appoint-ministers-in-2-months/

This is the condition of the army barracks in Effurun in Warri. A LIB reader who is a Corper doctor serving in the barracks sent in the photos. He says there's no drainage system so whenever it rains, the whole place is flooded.

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http://lindaikeji..com/2015/06/see-condition-of-3-battalion-nigerian.html

https://punch.cdn.ng/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Dzhokhar-Tsarnaev.jpg
Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has apologised to his victims in a federal court hearing where he was formally sentenced to death.

“I am sorry for the lives I have taken, for the suffering that I have caused you,” he told the injured and bereaved.

Earlier on Wednesday, he remained impassive as victims lined up in court to condemn his “cowardly” actions.

Tsarnaev and his brother killed four and injured 264 when they bombed the finish line of the marathon in 2013.

His older brother later died and Tsarnaev was sentenced to death last month but he was formally sentenced by the judge on Wednesday.

In his first statements since the start of the trial, the 21-year-old said he listened to all the victims’ testimony and noted survivors’ strength, patience and dignity.


http://www.punchng.com/news/boston-bomber-apologises-to-victims-gets-death-sentence/

On April 14, 2014, Islamist sect Boko Haram abducted some 276 girls from their high school in Chibok, Borno State, an incident that brought the terrorist group an extended global media attention. While more than 50 had escaped, leader of the group Abubakar Shekau said he had married off the remaining girls. However, recent events suggest that the Islamist militants might have kept the girls to carry out suicide attacks.

The group has stepped up its campaign of suicide bombing using girls, usually veiled, to blow up targets in Nigeria’s northeast. At other times, the militants storm villages on motorcycles and pick-up vans shooting indiscriminately at villagers and burning down homes.

An attack, on Monday, by two girls who blew themselves up at a fish market in Maiduguri, the birthplace of the Islamist sect, led to 30 deaths. Another followed in Yobe State, where a girl believed to be aged about 12 years blew herself up at a market. Although it could not be confirmed whether the suicide bombers wore veils, most women in the region wear veils for cultural and religious reasons. Boko Haram had exploited this, with several female suicide bombers to have perpetrated attacks in recent times using their veils to conceal bombs.

Buhari’s vow

During his electioneering campaign, Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari promised to stop Boko Haram if voted into office. But the country has only witnessed more attacks since his inauguration. More than 150 people have been killed in the last three weeks. As part of efforts to end the militant attacks, the president has met with leaders of Chad, Niger and Benin Republic and has an invitation to visit Cameroon to discuss how the neighbours can collaborate to end insurgency. He also moved the Command and Control Centre of Nigeria’s Defence to Maiduguri and directed all soldiers manning checkpoints across the country to return to the barracks to focus on the work they signed up for. But attacks have continued regardless of the efforts.

Ban the veil?

Boko Haram’s use of female suicide bombers raises two questions. Were they used so they could conceal bombs under their veils? Or is the sect playing on the emotions of Nigerians by using girls who may well be the abducted Chibok girls as the perceived age range suggests? Although these questions may never be answered, one thing is clear; Nigeria needs to end Boko Haram’s insurgency as soon as possible.

When suicide bombers wearing veils attacked Chad, Nigeria’s neighbour and partner in the fight against insurgency, the country banned the use of the burqa (the full body covering, head to toe) and tinted cars. After suffering series of attacks by veiled girls, maybe it is high time the country considered toeing Chad’s path. But it will be a tough call for President Buhari who may be seen as working against the tenets of Islam, especially by the northern Muslims who are one of those to have suffered attacks the most.

Although studies show that the burqa’s true origin is cultural, not religious, fears that such ban could stoke religious tension in the country may never make Nigerian authorities regard it as a possible way of fighting insurgency. There have been several riots between Christians and Muslims in the country since the 1950s, usually triggered by extreme leaders. Such leaders still exist in the country.

President Buhari, himself, does not think he is out of options yet. In fact, the president believes the current approach will end the insurgency. A ban on the burqa is thus unlikely, at least not anytime soon. But if female suicide bombings continue, should Nigeria ban the veil?




http://venturesafrica.com/if-female-suicide-bombings-continue-should-nigeria-ban-the-veil/

President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday accepted an invitation from President Paul Biya to visit Cameroon at his earliest convenience.

According to a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, talks during the visit would centre on the intensification of cooperation between Nigeria and neighbouring countries in the war against Boko Haram and terrorism.

Adesina said Buhari accepted the invitation while receiving the Cameroonian Minister of Territorial Administration and Decentralisation, Mr. Sadi Emmanuel, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

He further quoted the President as saying that he will visit Cameroon for the high-level talks soon after the end of the Ramadan fast.

He said Buhari told his guest that he was putting his experience as a former soldier to good use in the war against Boko Haram.

The President reportedly emphasized that greater regional and international cooperation was needed to end the atrocities of the terrorist group.

He commended the efforts of all regional governments, including Cameroon to support Nigeria in the war against Boko Haram, but called for even greater collaboration.

“I am happy that the President has sent you. As you must have observed, I was in Niger and Chad over this issue. I planned to be in Cameroon afterwards, but I received an invitation to attend the Group of Seven (G7) meeting in Germany.

“I had to attend the meeting because Boko Haram has been internationalized and it was part of the discussions there,” he told Mr. Emmanuel.

The Special Envoy assured President Buhari of Biya’s “fraternity, sympathy and brotherly commitment” to working with Nigeria to end the Boko Haram insurgency.

“Together, we will reinforce our efforts, eradicate the scourge of terrorism and look forward to better things,’’ he told the President.


http://www.punchng.com/news/boko-haram-buhari-to-visit-cameroon-after-ramadan-fast/

President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo are currently meeting behind closed-doors with all state governors.

The meeting, holding inside the Council Chambers of the Presidential Villa, Abuja, is the first of its kind since Buhari’s inauguration on May 29.

Issues such as the debts being owed state governments by the Federal Government and the lifeline being sought by state governors in order to meet their states’ demands are expected to dominate discussions at the meeting.

The meeting started at exactly 10.10am with the arrival of the President.

Among state governors in attendance when the meeting started were those of Rivers, Ogun, Imo, Gombe, Benue, Delta, Niger, Kano, Katsina, Zamfara, Kogi, Borno and Jigawa.

Others were governors of Kebbi, Kwara, Taraba, Ekiti, Ondo, Kaduna, Oyo, Osun, Edo, Anambra, Sokoto, Ebonyi, Lagos, Adamawa, Cross Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Yobe States.

Plateau and Bayelsa States were represented by their deputy governors.



http://www.punchng.com/news/buhari-in-first-meeting-with-state-governors/

A Lagos High Court in Ikeja, Lagos State, on Monday struck out the N25.7bn theft charges filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission against a former Managing Director of the defunct Bank PHB, Francis Atuche.

Also freed of the same charges were Atuche’s wife, Elizabeth, and a former Chief Financial Officer of Bank PHB, Ugo Anyanwu, who had been standing trial alongside Atuche.

Justice Lateef Lawal-Akapo, in a ruling on Monday, said the EFCC erred when it filed the case before the State High Court rather than the Federal High Court.

The judge said he was bound by the decisions of the Court of Appeal in the cases of a former Managing Director of Finbank Plc, Mr. Okey Nwosu, and a former Managing Director of the defunct Intercontinental Bank, Dr. Erastus Akingbola.

The judge held, “The allegation of purchase of shares and stocks is contained in 15 out of the 27 counts brought against the accused. The case falls squarely within the precinct of the decision of the Court of Appeal in Okey Nwosu as well as Erastus Akingbola’s case.

“The decision of the Court of Appeal becomes the extant law on the subject to the effect that any allegation of purchase of shares and stocks in any manner or colouration falls within the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court.

“The Federal High Court, as opposed to the State High Court, has juridiction pursuant to Section 211(d)(h) of the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended.

“However learned a lower court may consider itself to be, the lower court is bound by the decision of the higher court and this is based on the doctrine of stare decisis in the Nigerian legal system.

“Consequently, this court is bound by the decision of the Court of Appeal in the case of the Federal Republic of Nigeria versus Okey Nwosu and the case of the Federal Republic of Nigeria versus Erastus Akingbola.”

The judge also dismissed an application by the EFCC asking for indefinite adjournment in Atuche’s case pending the outcome of the EFCC’s appeal at the Supreme Court in the case of Nwosu.

The EFCC’s lawyer, Mr. Dele Adesina (SAN), had in the said application, urged the court to adjourn all proceedings sine die in Atuche’s trial pending the decision of the Supreme Court in the case of Nwosu.

Adesina said the anti-graft agency was not pleased with the decision of the Court of Appellate which freed Nwosu of the theft charges filed against him.

But Atuche’s lawyer, Chief Anthony Idigbe (SAN), said it would be unjust for the court to tie his client’s fate down to the pending decision of the Supreme Court in the EFCC’s appeal against Nwosu’s discharge.

According to Idigbe, granting such an application was tantamount to the court already assuming jurisdiction where it lacked any.



http://www.punchng.com/news/court-frees-atuche-of-n25-7bn-theft-charges/

ducii:
[img]http://2.bp..com/-DSE6SyeSlEs/VXqmZuxlnWI/AAAAAAAFh90/McHrEEwMdvQ/s1600/a.png[/img]

Is Prof Osinbajo not Nigeria's Vice President? Why is he sitting so far from President Buhari and other African presidents? The Nigerian president is pictured with President of Chad Idriss Deby, President of Niger republic Mahamadou Issoufou and President of Benin Republic, Thomas Boni Yayi at Aso Villa yesterday. Maybe that's where he's supposed to be seated?


http://lindaikeji..com/2015/06/photo-of-day-see-how-far-osinbajo-is.html

Na wah oo, see boy boy work

Dear VP U HAF SUFFERED

[img]http://2.bp..com/-DSE6SyeSlEs/VXqmZuxlnWI/AAAAAAAFh90/McHrEEwMdvQ/s1600/a.png[/img]

Is Prof Osinbajo not Nigeria's Vice President? Why is he sitting so far from President Buhari and other African presidents? The Nigerian president is pictured with President of Chad Idriss Deby, President of Niger republic Mahamadou Issoufou and President of Benin Republic, Thomas Boni Yayi at Aso Villa yesterday. Maybe that's where he's supposed to be seated?


http://lindaikeji..com/2015/06/photo-of-day-see-how-far-osinbajo-is.html

The National Bureau of Statistics on Thursday released the Consumer Price Index for the month of May, stating that inflation in the country rose by 0.3 percentage points from 8.7 per cent recorded in April to nine per cent.

The bureau, in the report made available to our correspondent, blamed the increase in inflation on the upward trend witnessed in the prices of fish, potatoes, yam and meats.

The report stated, “In May, the Consumer Price Index, which measures inflation, rose to 9.0 per cent (year-on-year), 0.3 percentage points from the 8.7 per cent rate recorded in April.

“Food prices edged higher in May as a result of the late onset of rains, which have pushed back the harvest season, coupled with higher transportation costs due to limited Premium Motor Spirit availability.

“The Food Sub-index rose to 9.8 per cent (year-on-year) in May, up by 0.3 percentage points from 9.5 per cent in April. All groups, which contribute to the Food Sub-index increased at a faster pace during the reporting period, with the highest year-on-year rise recorded in the fish, potatoes, yams and tubers, and meats groups.”

The report added that the pace of advances recorded by the “All Items less Farm Produce” or Core Sub-index increased for the fifth consecutive month in May.

The Core Sub-index, according to the report, increased by 8.3 per cent (year-on-year), 0.6 percentage points from the 7.7 per cent recorded in April, with the highest pressures observed in the housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels; alcoholic, tobacco and kola; and transportation divisions.


http://www.punchng.com/business/business-economy/inflation-rises-to-9-nbs/

Between January and March this year, 469,070 jobs were created in various sectors of the Nigerian economy, figures released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday indicated.

The 469,070 jobs created in the first quarter of the year were 99,485 jobs or 26.95 per cent higher than the 369,485 created in the fourth quarter of 2014.

The NBS, in the job creation report for the first quarter, a copy of which was made available to our correspondent on Wednesday, stated that the informal sector created 130,941 or 27.92 per cent of the total jobs created.

It stated, “In the formal sector, which is predominantly ‘white collar job’, 130,941 new jobs were generated, representing 27.92 per cent of the total jobs generated in the first quarter of 2015. This is a decline of 5.13 per cent (7,085) when compared to the fourth quarter of 2014.

“However, this decline in the formal sector jobs often sought after by graduates created in Q1 2015 represents the third straight quarter of consistent reduction in formal sector jobs.

“On the other hand, there was also a 30.5 per cent (1,339 jobs) increase in the number of jobs created in the public sector of the economy, making it 5,726 new jobs generated in the public sector in the first quarter of 2015; the jobs generated in the public sector represents 1.2 per cent of the total jobs generated during the reference period.”

For informal jobs, which typically consist of low skilled and often low-paying jobs generated by individuals or micro businesses, the report stated that 332,403 new openings were created in the first quarter of 2015, compared to 227,072 new jobs in the fourth quarter of 2014.

This, the report noted, signified a 46.39 per cent increase between the two periods and represented 71 per cent of the total jobs created in the first quarter of this year, the largest share of total jobs in any quarter since the bureau started tracking jobs since 2012.

The report added, “This sharp increase in informal sector jobs is very much expected, given the numerous informal economic activities that come on during election periods.

“Additionally, the declining availability of formal sector jobs relative to demand for them is resulting in unsuccessful job seekers establishing micro businesses and engaging in more informal, lower skilled and often lower paying economic activities to make ends meet.”


http://www.punchng.com/business/business-economy/economy-created-469070-jobs-in-q1-nbs/

Chosen1984:
Enemy of Jagaban, I believe you

Truth be told

Former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Olabode George, has hailed the emergence of Senator Bukola Saraki as Senate President.

George, who spoke in London, said Saraki’s emergence is an indication that the former governor of Lagos State and National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, “is five minutes to his political sunset”. To the PDP chieftain, Saraki’s election and that of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, “has proved that national politics is better than zonal politics.”

“Since 1999, the PDP is known for playing national politics and we will continue to do just that, whether we are in the opposition or not. “The APC is a congregation of strange bed fellows and Tinubu erroneously still thinks that his party will continue to play the type of politics of imposition he is playing in Lagos.

“As the ruling party at the national level, the game has changed. Tinubu is yet to wake from his politics of imposition. He should quickly realise now that it is five minutes to his political sunset.

“What happened in Abuja today (yesterday) is a welcome development for national and rational politics. Tinubu and his fellow dreamers have zoned themselves to total irrelevance. This is a sign of more things to come.”



http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/bode-george-with-saraki-s-emergence-tinubu-is-five-minutes-to-his-political-sunset/211648/

Indications have emerged on Tuesday that Professor Attahiru Jega would retire alongside seven National Commissioners and 16 Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) by the end of the month.

INEC’s REC in Lagos, Akin Orebiyi, dropped the hint yesterday in Lagos during the opening session of a two-day stakeholders’ review meeting on the role of media in the 2015 elections, organised by the UNDP – Democratic Governance for Development (DGD) Project II.

Orebiyi, who said the commission could not fulfill some of its promises to the electorate, expressed hope of a better electoral process ahead of the 2019 elections.

According to him, production and distribution of permanent voters’ cards (PVCs) could not be delivered to Nigerians as planned by the commission.

“We promised to do a number of things but we couldn’t deliver all, for instance, Only 60 per cent of PVCs were distributed in the whole of Ogun state, while 5.6 million eligible voters were able to redeem their PVCs in Lagos, out of about 5.8 million who registered, this means that around 200,000 eligible voters were disenfranchised,” he said.

However, the UNDP-DGD Project II Election Expert, Prof. Bolaji Eyinla, has suggested that the commission should retain some members of Jega advisory team for institutional memory and better planning of the 2019 elections.

Eyinla noted that Jega’s effective management of men and resources and his calmness in the face of opened provocation accounted for the success of 2015 elections.

“I am also aware that Jega was supported by a body of technical advisers, it is not out of place to suggest that some of these technical advisers are retained by the electoral management body for institutional memories and of course for designing electoral success in 2019, so some of the team members sould be kept.”

INEC spokesperson, Nick Dazang, was quoted to have said that Jega would be in office until the end of the month.

Meanwhile, the National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) has said it was restrained from imposing sanctions on broadcast stations which allegedly flaunted the code of conduct for broadcasting operations during the 2015 elections due to ongoing court cases.

Director in the office of the NBC’s Director General, Armstrong Idachaba, who spoke at the review meeting, said over 30 broadcast stations were sanctioned by the commission for their indiscretions, majorly on political broadcasts.

He explained that NBC could not act on certain cases due to ongoing litigations.

“When matters are in court, there is little or nothing a regulator can do, because it restrains the regulator from acting any further, since NBC is joined as a party in the court. Out of about 400 broadcast stations in Nigeria, just a few carried out content breaches under the cover of political advertising, we drew their attention to it and we ask them to respond. But some of these things take time, where there are allegations and counter allegations, we have to investigate,” he said.

Idachalla however denied that NBC hurriedly issued warning to certain broadcast stations upon the declaration of President Muhammadu Buhari as the president-elect, saying the commission meted out sanctions before and during the elections.


http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/jega-to-retire-with-seven-national-commissioners-16-recs/211649/

mercyville:
hmmmmmn

You no get wetin to talk

vayne:
.

You get time oo

Members of the Biafra Zionist Federation, a pro-Biafra secessionist group, who are facing treason charges before an Enugu Federal High Court, on Wednesday accused the presiding judge of bias.

The secessionists, who are insisting on their innocence, asked the judge, Justice Dorothy Agishi, to withdraw herself from the trial.

They also expressed an intention to forward a petition to the Chief Judge of the FHC to report the judge’s alleged bias.

Shortly before the activists made the accusation, Justice Agishi had granted an application in which the prosecution requested a ‘secret trial’ of the 11 pro-Biafra activists.

At the last adjourned date, the prosecution had made an application asking the court to bar members of the public, apart from accredited members of the press, from the courtroom during proceedings in the case.

But the defendants, through their counsel, Olu Omotayo, opposed the application, arguing that a secret trial would infringe on their fundamental human rights.

However, at Wednesday’s proceedings, Justice Agishi upheld the application, a development which infuriated the secessionists.

After obtaining the permission of the court to speak, the leader of the group, Benjamin Onwuka, a lawyer, accused the judge of bias, noting that all the rulings of the court had gone against the defendants, including the ruling on their bail application.

Onwuka said the judge was not ready to dispense justice.

Also expressing dissatisfaction with the ruling, the defence counsel, Omotayo, announced his intention to withdraw from the trial.

Justice Agishi, however, directed that he should file a written application stating his formal withdrawal from the matter.

Speaking to journalists after the court session, Omotayo described the ruling of the court as a miscarriage of justice.

“We cannot be party to secret trial of these people, the court said accredited members of the press would be allowed during the trial, but who will have the responsibility of accrediting them?

“So, you can see that the entire thing boils down to secret trial.

“We are going to comply with the ruling, so before the next adjourned date, we shall file a written application indicating our intention to withdraw from the matter.

“Before that time also, the accused persons will also write formally to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, praying him to transfer the matter to another judge,” he said.


http://www.punchng.com/news/biafra-secessionists-accuse-trial-judge-of-bias/

Senate President, Bukola Saraki, on Wednesday administered oath of office and allegiance on Ahmad Lawan and 27 other All Progressives Congress senators who were absent at the formal inauguration of the Eighth Senate.

The senators were gathered at the International Conference Centre, Abuja, waiting for President Muhammadu Buhari, who was billed to address them when the Clerk of the National Assembly, Alhaji Salisu Maikasuwa, proclaimed the Eighth Senate and subsequently conducted the election.

The election, which had 23 APC senators in attendance, produced Saraki as president of the Senate, while Senator Ike Ekweremadu was elected his deputy.

Saraki, after the election, administered oath of office and allegiance on 75 other senators.

However, the others, mainly members of the Senate Unity Forum, led by Senator Ahmad Lawan, mobilised themselves to the chamber as early as 8:30am on Wednesday, waiting for the Senate president, to formally swear them in as senators.

The senators, after the votes and proceedings of the previous legislative day were adopted, took turn to take their oaths by reading it out aloud and append signatures.

By protocol, each of the newly sworn-in senators was expected, after taking the oaths, to present a copy of their certificate to the Senate President and in turn, shake hands with him.

The protocol was duly followed by others except Senator Oluremi Tinubu (Lagos Central ), who refused to shake hands with Saraki, but merely showed him her certificate and walked out on the Senate President.


http://www.punchng.com/news/lawan-akume-gemade-others-take-senate-oath-of-office/

General Electric (GE), a 123-year old American Conglomerate with operations in 130 countries around the world, is gearing up to further exploit the economic potentials inherent in sub-Saharan African markets, especially Nigeria and Ethiopia. At the ongoing World Economic Forum (WEF) on Africa, GE said it would increase its capital outlay to $10 billion over the next half-decade.

The conglomerate will target power, health and locomotive opportunities in several African countries. Nigeria, its prime target, offers a ready market with the numerous gaps in infrastructure and a new government looking to drive “change.”

“We’re bullish on Nigeria. We met with a couple of the incoming leadership and they’ve put rail right behind power. They don’t have mines as much, so you’re going to look for more general freight,” remarked Thomas Konditi, GE’s Transportation Lead for Africa, in a recent interview.

According to Konditi, Nigeria transports only 0.1 percent of its freight by rail and could boost the number of locomotives to 500, a 1900 percent increase over the current 25 engines in the country. GE plans to reinitiate talks with the new Nigerian government on a previous agreement for 200 locomotives.

Over the past decade, GE has invested massively in Nigeria, the most significant being a $1 billion service and manufacturing facility in the tourist city of Calabar, Cross River State. It has also engaged partnerships with the likes of Dangote to solve the power challenges in the country.

Jeff Immelt, GE’s CEO, has identified Africa as one of the company’s most important growth areas, with plans to invest $2 billion in the region by 2018 as well as double its workforce on the continent. With these commitments to the continent, spanning the development of facilities, supply chains and workers, the company will be suitably positioned to tap a significant share of Africa’s goodies once they materialize.



http://venturesafrica.com/general-electric-to-splash-10bn-on-africa-targets-nigerias-rail-sector/

psucc:
How else do you expect China to react when its vested interest is not guaranteed with the change in power as Buhari is likely to work with the US, et al.

I think i agree with your analysis, that explains it all

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Nigeria has a lot to do to woo buyers following the decision of China to ignore crude from Nigeria. This is happening at a time when the country has become the biggest casualty of the rising United States shale oil production.
China is the second largest consumer of crude oil, and when it does not figure at all as one of your regular buyers, you know you have a problem. And Nigerian crude is suffering because of this. China likes crude oil that is heavy and sweet, as it fits the appetite of its refineries that produce a lot of fuel oil to keep its industrial and manufacturing economy running, according to a data from the US Energy Information Administration, EIA.
The EIA noted that China also has a lot of complex and sophisticated refineries that can still produce middle distillates by distilling heavy crude oil, making the refiners much better margins.
Consequently, China ignores Nigerian crude for now, as their demand for light sweet crude oil is very sparse. It is high time Nigeria found a way to attract its crude oil to China, it noted.
Crude exports
In 2014, about 45 percent of Nigerian crude exports went to Europe, according to the EIA data. But the issue for Nigeria is that it is so dependent on a region where crude demand is stagnant as a lot of economies are still stumbling and it needs to find demand in countries that are growing, particularly in Asia.
Nigeria’s condition is made worse by the fact that it has become the biggest casualty of rising United States shale oil production
Until about seven years ago, the US, which remains the largest oil consumer in the world, used to buy more than 1 million barrels per day of light sweet Nigerian crude oil, which was almost 50 percent of Nigerian oil exports at the time. In 2014, only three percent of Nigerian exports went to the US, according to the same data published by the US EIA.
Nigeria lost its biggest buyer, and the reason has been attributed to the dramatic rise in US shale oil production.
US shale oil is said to be extremely similar in quality to light sweet Nigerian crude oil, and as more and more shale basins were discovered in its own backyard, the US did not need any more oil from Nigeria.
Last year, there were six weeks in a row starting from early July during which the US did not import a single barrel of crude oil. This was the first time that the US had not imported any Nigerian crude oil for such a length of a time, since US EIA started compiling this data almost four decades ago.
The shale revolution has had a profound impact on the makeup of the US import market, which has, by extension, greatly altered the direction of crude flows both within Europe and to Asia. And Nigeria has been the biggest casualty of this, it noted.
However, India has the largest buyer of Nigerian crude, which has been one of the positives for the West African country in the last few years. But demand from India for Nigerian crudes is slightly on the wane as its demand for Latin American crudes is growing sharply.
India is also the largest buyer of Venezuelan crudes, and with refineries getting more and more complex in the sub-continent, their demand for light sweet crudes is expected to tail off.
The world’s largest refinery complex situated in Jamnagar in the western state of Gujarat in India, operated by Reliance, runs primarily on heavy crudes, dominated largely by crudes from the Middle East and Latin America.


http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/06/nigeria-looks-for-buyers-as-china-ignores-crude/

barcanista:
But seriously, how do these people get their statistics? Do they go by assumption or what? Unemployment rate @ 7.4% ? Smh

It simply means people who are totally un-emplyoed.

There is Un-Employed, and there is Under Employed