₦airaland Forum

Dear Lassa baby,


First of all, ur fada!
Now, when Bird flu came,
we were told to forsake chicken, we reluctantly obeyed.
When Sister Ebola came, we were told to forsake bushmeat, we obeyed. And now u, u jst came & without the fear of God in u, u said we shld forsake garri Garri ke? Iyalaya lassa!
Do u know how helpful Garri is to Nigerians especially Nigerian students? Honestly, if Nigerians student swear for u, ur tenure no go last reach anoda 1 week. Nonsense!


cc @Dominique, @sissy3

Here is IBB thought on PMB.


Source : https://twitter.com/General_IBB/status/689541215839227904

Funny message

Why can't the developer just borrow some part of the look and feel. Why copy the whole design?

End time Developers

Message to President Buhari from Metuh's Brothers

On most wedding days the guests' attention is focused on how beautiful the dress the bride is wearing is.

But in a hilarious video in India, it is the groom whose clothes, or lack of them, become the centre of attention.

The newlyweds are captured walking around a stage and being filmed by their guests when the bride steps on her husband's veshti wrap, ripping it clean away and leaving him scrambling to cover his modesty.

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3392708/Moment-Indian-groom-left-scrambling-cover-modesty-bride-steps-clothes-ripping-body-wedding.html?ito=social-twitter_mailonline

Mr. President, you will recall that I wrote you an open letter on December 28th, 2015 which I sincerely hope that you found most gratifying, illuminating and helpful.

That was two days before your Presidential media chat which took place on December 30th. I hereby humbly crave your indulgence to add an addendum to that open letter. That is what this contribution represents.
I hope and pray that this second letter, which will be the last, will further enlighten you and impart a little more wise counsel to you that will result in assisting you to properly appreciate the complexities of our times.
Mr. President it is pertinent to note that approximately two hundred and sixty five years ago one of the founding fathers of the United States of America, Mr. Benjamin Franklin, said "rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God". I am sure that you will agree with me when I say that he was absolutely right.

Just in case you do not know who Benjamin Franklin was permit me to point out the fact that he is a man that is revered by the American people and much of the civilised world up until today and he is the individual whose face appears on the one hundred U.S. dollar bills that are used till today.

He was a great statesman, diplomat, politician and intellectual and most important of all he was a deeply courageous man who was motivated by his deepest convictions and his christian values and who was prepared to risk life and liberty and stand up to tyranny.

I guess most Nigerian leaders have much to learn from him especially at times like this. Yet thankfully all is not lost and at least a few of our politicians are beginning to find their voice and speak out against the evil in the land. Permit me to share one example with you.

A few days ago Chief Olisa Metuh, the National Publicity Secretary of our great party the PDP, exposed the fact that there was an orchestrated attempt by your government to intimidate, silence and utterly decimate and crush the opposition.
In open defiance to what can best be described as this insidious and sinister agenda he told the world that ''President Buhari is not God and we will not worship him".

Whether he knows it or not Metuh has not only spoken for the PDP but also for the overwhelming majority of the Nigerian people.

Permit me to add the following words to his timely contribution. Woe unto those that tremble before men of power and that worship false gods.

Destruction and perdition awaits those who bow before Baal, who exalt the servants of Belial, who kiss the ring of the Baphomet, who say ''Buhari is God'' and who crawl at the feet of the Lord of the Flies.

Mr. President the point is simple and clear: you are not God and even though we respect your office we will never bow before you, we will never worship you, we will not relent in our efforts to oppose you and, regardless of your constant threats and wicked intentions, we have absolutely no fear of you.

This is because our fate and destiny and the future of our beloved country lies in the hands of the Living God and not in the hands of a misguided and tyrannical dictator like your good self. Injustice, persecution and tyranny last only for a season.

At the appointed time the Lord will step in and He will deliver and vindicate the falsely accused and the righteous captive. He will also avenge the spilling of innocent blood and He will fight the cause of the martyrs.
With this in mind and regardless of the dangerous counsel of the hardliners and extremists that surround you, I urge you to please take note of the following: Sheik Ibrahim El Zakzaky, Colonel Sambo Dasuki and Mr. Nnamdi Kanu, who are all political prisoners, must NOT die under mysterious circumstances whilst they are in your custody.

No matter what your advisers and those in your inner circle tell you if, God forbid, this were to happen the fall-out and consequences for your reputation and your administration would be too much to bear.
This brings me to another issue which is a cause for grave concern. Your stated resolve not to obey court orders and to deny Nigerians their right to bail after the courts have given it to them is not only an affront and gratuitous insult to the Judiciary but it is also a violation of the constitution.

I say this because, unlike military dictatorships, democracy enjoys and derives its power and legitimacy from the inviolable and sacred principle of ''separation of powers''.

What this means is that the Executive arm of Government, which by the grace of God you head today, is distinct and separate from the Legislature and the Judiciary.

As head of the Executive and President of the Federal Republic, you have absolutely no power or right to interfere in the processes of the Legislature (which is the National Assembly) or the Judiciary.

Both have their own rules, regulations and leadership and the constitution guides them and guarantees them total and complete independence from you.

As a matter of fact they are charged by the laws of our land and the constitution to act as a check and balance on you as President and to ensure that you do not abuse your power or subject your people to tyranny.
Mr. President I watched you on your media chat the other day and I am constrained to tell you that you not only abused your power but that you also crossed the line with some of the things that you said.

For example you have no right to tell the courts how to administer justice and who and who not to grant bail. Again you have no business to tell the legislature which laws to pass and how to run their affairs.

Again you have no right and neither do you have the power to pronounce any Nigerian citizen guilty of any crime unless and until a duly constituted court of law has done so.
You cannot be the prosecutor, judge and jury in any criminal proceeding and this is especially so when you initiated those proceedings and you are the accuser. To attempt to do so is not only unacceptable and irresponsible but it is also heartless and unkind.

The fact that most of our senior and respected lawyers have refused to tell you this simply because they are scared of you or because they are looking for patronage from your government does not mean that what you are doing is lawful or acceptable. What you are doing is morally and legally reprehensible and it is unacceptable in any democratic and civilized society.

In the same vein you have no right to try to stop members of the opposition or the general public from criticizing you or condemning your obvious failings. Mr. President criticism, opposition and dissent are the lifeblood of democracy and without accommodating and tolerating them you cannot claim to be a democrat.

You have no right to attempt to cower or intimidate the fourth estate of the realm, which is the media, or attempt to pervert and corrupt the Nigerian public with daily doses of lies, falsehood, deceit and propaganda which is being duly and dutifully administered by your Minister of Information and your numerous media aides.

All these things give me and millions of your other subjects concern yet it doesn't stop there. Perhaps the most disturbing example of your sheer insensitivity was your reaction to the question about Igbo marginalization during the media chat.

In response to that question you asked "who is marginalizing who" and went further to ask "what do the Igbo want?"

Mr. President I wish to remind you that it is an incontrovertible fact that in just seven months your government has succeeded in marginalizing the Igbo more than any other Federal Government in living memory and certainly since the civil war.

This is a record that you ought not to be proud of. What the Igbo want is fairness, equal rights, equal representation, equity and respect. They also believe that they have the right to determine their own future and make their own choices.

Mr. President I do not believe that this is this too much for them to ask given the fact that they have contributed, perhaps more than most, to national development and integration in the last forty five years.

It is not too much to ask given the fact that no less than three million of their people, including one million innocent children, were slaughtered during our civil war in the name of keeping Nigeria one.

I have no doubt that you will remember this very well Mr. President given the fact that you were one of those that prosecuted that war and fought in it.

You will also remember the brutal mass murder and the war crimes and crimes against humanity that were perpetrated against the unarmed and defenseless Igbo civilian population of Asaba in 1968 when over one thousand of them were rounded up, taken to the town square and shot to death for no just cause.

The soldiers that carried out that unspeakable act of cowardice, brutality and barbarity were under the command of your professional colleague, the late Head of State, General Murtala Mohammed.
Mr. President that was a dark, shameful and ignoble chapter in our history which still cries out for justice and reparations.
Needless to say the pain of such horrendous events and numerous others that the Igbo have been subjected to by the Nigerian state and those that control it over the last fifty five years still haunts them.
The truth is that regardless of the obvious contempt that you have for them the Igbo will continue to insist on justice, fairness and on having their rights respected in our country.

If you refuse to address their numerous and legitimate grievances and you refuse to treat them with the understanding, sensitivity and compassion that they deserve, the agitation for self-determination, secession and the yearning for the establishment of a new nation called Biafra will wax stronger and stronger until it reaches dangerous and irresistible proportions.

That is what you are toying with Mr. President and if that were to happen be rest assured that the Yoruba would take a cue from it and so would the people of the Niger Delta. It would effectively signify the beginning of the balkanisation of Nigeria.
Whether you and those with your world view like to hear it or not, that is the bitter truth. May the Ancient of Days grant you the wisdom, knowledge and understanding to accept it and to do something about it.
May the Lord of the Universe give you the foresight and the insight to appreciate the fact that Nigeria cannot survive a second civil war.

Mr. President I sincerely hope that you do not take offence at my admonitions and counsel. I speak only out of concern for the fortunes of your administration, your reputation and out of love for my country. God bless Nigeria.


Source https://mobile.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10204823127087429&id=1516216357

What do you think about this?

Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode today signed the 2016 budget of N662.588 billion into law. The budget according to the governor would enable government focus on present challenges of security, traffic gridlock, empowerment, among others. That’s the Governor’s summary of the budget, for the sake of you our readers, INFORMATION NIGERIA highlighted the 7 things everyone should know about the budget…



– The budget would be financed mostly through Internally Generated Revenue.

– The Recurrent Expenditure stood at N278,909 billion while Capital Expenditure stood at N383,678bn.

– The total revenue estimate for 2016 fiscal year stood at N542.873Billion.

– The balance of N119.714billion would be funded through deficit financing constituting 0.41 percent of the state GDP based on 2016 budget alone and a cumulative debt to GDP ratio of about 3 percent.

– N120.508 billion was earmarked for General Public Services representing 18.19 per cent, N28,559,021,841 to Public Order and Safety, representing 4.31 per cent, while a large share of N211,043,408,183 went to Economic Affairs representing 31.85 per cent.

– N53,043,599,505 went to Environment that is 8.1 percent of the budget, Housing and Community Amenities, got N62,713,091,867 representing 9.46 percent; Health got N64,677,679,096 representing 9.76 per cent; while Recreation, Culture and Religion got N4,636,917,054 which is 0.70 percent of the budget.

– N113,379,337,664 went to Education, representing 17.11 percent of the budget, while Social Protection got N4,025,980,116, which is 0.61 of the budget.

Source : http://www.informationng.com/2016/01/lagos-2016-budget-7-things-you-need-to-know-about-it.html

What do you think about this?

Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode today signed the 2016 budget of N662.588 billion into law. The budget according to the governor would enable government focus on present challenges of security, traffic gridlock, empowerment, among others. That’s the Governor’s summary of the budget, for the sake of you our readers, INFORMATION NIGERIA highlighted the 7 things everyone should know about the budget…



– The budget would be financed mostly through Internally Generated Revenue.

– The Recurrent Expenditure stood at N278,909 billion while Capital Expenditure stood at N383,678bn.

– The total revenue estimate for 2016 fiscal year stood at N542.873Billion.

– The balance of N119.714billion would be funded through deficit financing constituting 0.41 percent of the state GDP based on 2016 budget alone and a cumulative debt to GDP ratio of about 3 percent.

– N120.508 billion was earmarked for General Public Services representing 18.19 per cent, N28,559,021,841 to Public Order and Safety, representing 4.31 per cent, while a large share of N211,043,408,183 went to Economic Affairs representing 31.85 per cent.

– N53,043,599,505 went to Environment that is 8.1 percent of the budget, Housing and Community Amenities, got N62,713,091,867 representing 9.46 percent; Health got N64,677,679,096 representing 9.76 per cent; while Recreation, Culture and Religion got N4,636,917,054 which is 0.70 percent of the budget.

– N113,379,337,664 went to Education, representing 17.11 percent of the budget, while Social Protection got N4,025,980,116, which is 0.61 of the budget.

Source : http://www.informationng.com/2016/01/lagos-2016-budget-7-things-you-need-to-know-about-it.html

Effective from last week Friday, January 1, 2016, Nigerian banks are expected to charge nothing as Commission on Turnover (CoT) according to the gradual phase-out plan of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The CBN in April 2013 had revised the guidelines on bank charges, introducing the gradual phasing out of commission on turnover.
The revised guideline had introduced a gradual reduction of CoT from N5 per mile (per N1000) in early 2013 to N3 per mille or N1000, N2 per N1000 in 2014 and is to be N1 per N1000 in 2015 and finally phased out effective January 1, 2016

Although some banks had stopped charging CoT, some others still charge and in some cases above the stipulated N1 per mille which it was last year. Also for some banks, the amount charged as CoT depends on the customers’ relationship and ability to haggle with the bank.
Last year, the apex bank had ordered deposit money banks to refund illegal fees charged customers over a period of one year, giving them 30 days to refund the excess charges or face severe penalties.

Specifically, the central bank said some banks had been overcharging customers on the Commission on Turnover while some lenders had also imposed illegal maintenance fees on the CoT-free accounts.

Source: https://www.today.ng/business/61068/all-nigerian-banks-to-commence-zero-cot?utm_source=&utm_medium=twitter

Former Aviation Minister Olufemi Olu-Kayode tweeted this this evening.

https://mobile.twitter.com/realFFK/status/683366128748511232

Gayigaskia:
What he can't sit straight on that chair? As if he needs Preparation H or someone put a stick in his rectum.

Is this what you call a joke. SMH

Gayigaskia:
What he can't sit straight on that chair? As if he needs Preparation H or someone put a stick in his rectum.

What are you saying? Must you be vulgar ?

Our Common Sense Senator advocates for the President. He can sometimes not be in support with Metuh

The national chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, John Odigie-Oyegun, has disclosed that fuel subsidy will eventually be removed.

Oyegun said the emerging and current realities in the country had necessitated the gradual removal of subsidy.

He disclosed this yesterday at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja when a delegation of the party’s National Coalition for Peace and Mobilization paid him a courtesy visit.


According to Oyegun, the current administration inherited an “infected system of subsidy run by corrupt cartels”.

He said, “In one way or the other, subsidy must go.”

The APC Chairman described as unacceptable a situation where the government expends about a trillion naira yearly on the corruption clouded subsidy, adding that such a system could no longer be continued.

Oyegun stated that oil cartels and their cronies resisting change had continued to blackmail and sabotage government on the issue of subsidy, a development that had resulted in the return of long queues to filling stations across the nation.

He described the fuel scarcity that the country was currently grappling with as a “national disgrace”.

Oyegun observed that there was need for the oil and gas sector, which had been ridden with corruption and inefficiency, to be restructured.

Source: http://dailypost.ng/2015/12/23/fuel-subsidy-will-be-removed-oyegun/?utm_source=&utm_medium=twitter

See what a caterer want to present for a wedding.
Does she want to kill people even though naija's are hungry

Next Steps: Some Short Term Actions

 

Before wrapping up today’s prepared remarks, I also want to talk about what my team and the entire Ministry will be doing in the next few months. Our immediate priority now is to accelerate investor confidence in the mining markets, and get the sector growing and jobs created.  To do that within the context of the overall emerging strategy, we will be taking the following actions:


Finalize Market and Technical Diagnostic: We are working on creating one consistent view of Nigeria’s mining industry, drawing on a range of internal and external data; this will help inform our strategy as well as investor decisions.

 

Revenue Generation: Upgrading of the Mining Cadastre Office and the Mines Inspectorate Directorate – automation, efficient review of overlapping and inactive titles, guaranteeing the integrity of mining licenses, external audit of revenue receipts in the past years would be undertaken and the establishment of Mines Police

 

Formalising Artisanal and Small Scale Miners: Strengthen the institutional support to artisanal and small-scale miners for integrating them into the formal economy.

 

Finalise Privatisation Exercise: Based on the recent update provided by the Bureau of Public Enterprises to the Ministry, an audit of privatised assets would be undertaken.

 

Geosciences: Review and conclude all open contracts for collecting geosciences data; for projects that have been contracted and the collection flights flown, finalize payments and make these and other data available to investors.

 

Capacity Building:  We will invest in capacity building for the technical and operational staff in the Ministry and organise the Ministry for optimal delivery of the goals outlined.

 

Non-State Actor Engagement: We will encourage and work in partnership with non-state actors especially Community Development Associations and Civil Society Organisations to promote participation and inclusion and ensure community development and safer/environmentally sustainable mining practices.

 

Regulation: We will work with stakeholders to review existing licenses and bring them up to date where there are issues; our goal is to get licensees who are sitting on the fence to have sufficient confidence to start investing real capital. That said, starting March 1, 2016, we will start enforcing the “use it or lose it” doctrine enshrined in the Nigerian Minerals and Mining Act, 2007. The period from today to 1st March 2016 should be considered an amnesty period to allow regularization of papers.

 

Formation of Investment and Business Support Team: There will be some low hanging fruits e.g. providing support to miners who are close to production but facing one or two administrative issues. We are setting up a new investment team that will help get such companies “over the line” and into production mode.  We will also engage rapidly with key Nigerian companies that are today importing raw materials that can be supplied domestically e.g. coal for cement kilns. That import substitution push will be a quick to medium term win.  The team will also start working closely with foreign investors who need guidance to launch operations in Nigeria.

 

Launch Stakeholder Communications: We will launch a series of targeted sessions with investors, communities and other parties in the next few weeks to continue the consultations we have begun since taking office. Our focus would be on ensuring that we are listening and acting as well in the best interests of committed partners.  As much as possible, these sessions will be used to refine our thinking, as well as solve problems.

 

Conclusion

 

It is fair to say that we have a great deal of work ahead of us. That said, we are building on a hard fought legacy and it is important that we continue to refine that structure until it gives us the type of industry all Nigerians and our international investor friends will be proud of.

 

We ask for your patience but we also recognize our responsibility to boost confidence. As Solid Mineral’s share of GDP grows over the coming years, we will continually review what we have done well and what can be improved. One thing we can guarantee is that this Administration will make choices that will ensure that Nigeria and her partners, domestic and foreign, create a profitable, safe and sustainable solid minerals growth story. Hold us to account and challenge us.

 

Thank you for your kind attention.

Source : http://www.ekekeee.com/kayode-fayemi-state-of-the-solid-minerals-sector-and-the-way-forward/?utm_source=&utm_medium=twitter.com

STATE OF THE SOLID MINERALS SECTOR AND WAY FORWARD

Presented by

Dr. ‘Kayode Fayemi, CON

Minister of Solid Minerals Development

at the Inaugural Media Briefing of the Ministry

on Monday, December 21, 2015

 

 

Protocols and Introduction

 

Good morning ladies and gentlemen. The core purpose of our gathering today is acquaint you with some of the emerging strategic priorities and plans of the Federal Ministry of Solid Minerals Development for accelerating and scaling up the role of solid minerals in Nigeria’s economy. I speak today on behalf of the core leadership of this ministry and duly acknowledge the support and contributions of my brother and colleague Hon. Abubakar Bawa Bwari, Minister of State and the Permanent Secretary, Mr. Istifanus Fuktur.

 

We will also like to thank President Muhammadu Buhari for the opportunity to serve our republic and her citizens. In the short period that we have been here, we must acknowlesdge the enriching support of staff of the Ministry and its key departments and agencies for their warm welcome, insights, support and frankness.

 

Our Point of Departure: A Partially Leveraged Asset

 

Ladies and gentlemen, it is no news to anyone that Nigeria has tremendous mining endowments. Today, we have at least 44 known mineral assets that include precious minerals, base metals, bulk minerals and what are known as rare earth minerals. More specifically, our most promising mineral assets include gold, iron ore, baryte, bitumen, lead, zinc, tin and coal.

 

We have reasons to believe that available data of our reserves understates what the almighty God has blessed our country with in many cases. We have barely updated some of the geosciences data collected 50 years ago or earlier; so we are cautiously optimistic that our mining endowments actually exceed what is currently stated.

That said, based on current data, Nigeria’s solid minerals sector makes up about 0.34% of gross domestic product (GDP). That means that based on current official exchange rates, the mining sector contributes N400billion in value to the economy. While that is a significant role, it is smaller than its true potential as the vast majority of our mining assets have yet to be exploited. In fact, what has been happening is the the sector has more or less been operating sharply below capacity, with many mining operations manned by small scale artisanal miners, as opposed to the large scale players.

Mining is not new to Nigeria. As a nation, mining of our resources began in 1902 in key mining towns such as Jos and Enugu. From these early operations led by the then British Colonial government, we went on to a more private sector focused model, and then moved to companies controlled by government such as the National Steel Company and the National Coal Corporation.  The policy shift created too much uncertainty which occasioned many private investors leaving Nigeria and the sector suffering sharply as a result.  The government at the time unfortunately did not do a good job of running mining companies and as a result, the sector’s progress grounded to a halt. Needless to say, little attention paid to the sector over the years compounded by, in some cases, poor policy judgements of previous administrations are some of the factors that have stunted the sector’s growth.

Today, following extensive reforms started in 1999, which essentially crystallized around the Nigerian Minerals and Mining Act of 2007, Nigeria is once again on the path to providing a transparent and workable regulatory and policy environment for private sector led mining. And companies have started responding to all the efforts made by my predecessors.  Today we have companies such as Tongyi Allied Mining, Dangote Group, Segilola Gold, Kogi Iron Mines, Multiverse Resources, and Australian Mines Ltd etc. blazing the trail in the mining sector. We also look forward to welcoming more companies into the sector.

 

Challenges and Constraints

 

That said, even for our pioneer miners, the road to mining prosperity has not been easy.  Many companies who have kept faith with Nigeria have struggled due to challenges in the solid minerals sector.  Today, the Nigerian mining industry faces two (2) sets of challenges: external and internal.

External Challenges

 

The global mining market is in turmoil as key sources of demand that supported prices over the past two decades have declined. As you all may be aware, there is continuous global decline in prices of mining products which has put mines and mining houses under tremendous pressure.  We see this reflected in the sharp declines in the share prices of Glencore, BHP-Biliton, Anglo American and Rio Tinto for example.

 

Naturally, as a result of falling metal and asset prices, many of the top mining houses are pulling back from investment planning, shutting down mines and optimizing current operations. All mining now has to be cost and process efficient.

For Nigeria, it creates a challenge to attract the large houses in the current time frame but therein also lies a great opportunity. We have therefore adjusted our go to market strategy to reflect a need to jump start market growth using a mix of domestic mining houses, junior mining companies and large global miners.  The good news for Nigeria is that we have tremendous domestic demand for industrial minerals and metals – in the construction industry for example, so we will be focusing on working with other key MDAs to ensure that demand is met by Nigerian miners and processors.

 

Internal Challenges

 

Our internal challenges are of a different nature, and not a supply-demand balance issue. Internally, we need more of the support structure that will enable industry growth.  At present, there are eight key internal challenges we face:

 

Limited Infrastructure: This is a key issue; the absence of appropriate infrastructure e.g. water, railroads and port handling facilities for base and bulk minerals makes it difficult for Nigeria to export iron ore for example. We need to improve energy, transport and market links to mines.
 

Insufficient Geological Data: While we have some geosciences data, we are still heavily reliant on work done 30 to 50 years ago to estimate our reserve potential. We need to provide more detailed, investment grade data to support investors. Mining licenses issued by the Cadastre Office should be able to serve as collateral for loans, if supported by reliable information on the quality and grade of deposits.
 

Limited Cooperative Federalism: Absence of incentives for states to become involved in mining is a key constraint i.e. royalties and taxes not directly accessible to states; need to review this arrangement. States have also not taken full advantage by setting up mining joint ventures, limiting their capacity to generate IGR.
 

Low Productivity: Nigeria’s mining techniques and processes need to be upgraded in order to reduce mine site waste, and boost productivity of output. Ditto some of our older steel plants.  Even in a labour intensive mining sector, it is important that miners have access to the most efficient supporting technology.
 

Illegal Artisanal Mining and Community Challenges: Much of Nigeria’s mining is conducted informally at levels as high as 80% of activity in some regions of the country, not necessarily of Naira earnings. We need to bring these miners into a legalized framework, making them real start-up miners and ensuring they pay government the right set of taxes and royalties. I want to be clear: there will no longer be a free lunch, as the Mining Act will be firmly enforced.
 

Weak Institutional Capacity: The Ministry has undergone significant changes since 2007 but still remains constrained with respect to enforcing existing laws and policies, supervising mines, and leading the provision of geo-sciences data. The Ministry will therefore need to add more technical staff and also upgrade the skill set of the Mining Inspectorate staff as well as other staff in the Ministry and its agencies.
 

Insufficient Funding: Funding has been a challenge partially because the sector had not been a focus area for both government and financial institutions. Thus, a number of projects have drawn funding from offshore sources, while others have sought capital from a few Nigerian banks. We have commenced constructive engagement with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and with commercial lenders to help them create the teams to sharpen commercial options for Nigerian miners.
 

Weak Ease of Doing Business and Perception Issues: Nigeria still remains a challenging place to do business based on data from the World Bank’s survey over the past decade; while we have improved, that has had a negative impact on mining. Mining specific data such as the Fraser Institute survey puts Nigeria nesr the bottom of investor friendly destinations, even if that is more perception than reality, it shapes investor decision making process.
 

For Nigeria, the continued presence of these issues will hold back market development.  Therefore, we must resolve these set of issues as they impact how we choose to compete in the market.  While external markets create opportunities we can exploit, improving ease of doing business or reducing transport costs will enable us to attack market opportunities as a lower cost competitor for example.  Indeed, the global mining party is ours to attend, but we must dress appropriately and come with a competitive edge. My team and I will be spending more time on building collaborative links with other key ministries to enable us build a cost competitive industry.

 

The President’s Agenda and Promise

 

Beyond the challenges, the key question is if all goes well, what do we want to achieve in the Solid Minerals sector? You must have heard Mr. President oft repeated views that he wants the sector to be a key source of economic growth and diversified revenue base for Nigeria. In fact, Mr. President has stated clearly that our goal is to build a more diversified economy in which oil remains important, but its share of the overall portfolio of revenue sources declines as the whole pie grows bigger. The recently approved Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and the Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP) emphasizes the place of solid minerals in thr economic growth strategy of the country.

 

Based on that presidential promise, to build a more diversified economy, our task as a Ministry is therefore to remove any and all obstacles to such growth. From working with the National Assembly to receive the right budgetary provisions to ensuring expansion in bulk handling terminals at multiple river and ocean ports, our role is to ensure that things work as intended.

 

Our Emerging Vision – A Safe, Sustainable and Profitable Sector

 

The trajectory of Nigeria’s extractive industry has not been without controversy.  We are all witnesses to the challenges in the oil industry over the past few decades.  More recently, we have seen significant challenges in the gold, lead and zinc mines of Zamfara where illegal mining without a clear understanding of how to handle poisonous material such as lead has had incredibly devastating consequences. We will continue to work with all stakeholders on the remediation of the health challenges arising from poor mining activities.

 

Given where we are and the early stages of the industry in Nigeria, we believe it is important that we set the right tone and create a structure for long term success. Therefore our core philosophical beliefs that will guide our decisions are as follows:

Jobs Creation – We want to build a sector that is a jobs and growth machine, capable of working alongside other sectors to create a range of career options for our citizens.
 

Revenue Generation – We want to build a sector that blocks all forms of leakages in the revenue accruals with a view to ensuring prompt and comprehensive collection of revenues.
 

Industrialisation – We want to build an industry that will support Nigeria’s industrialization, expansion of low cost coal generated power, earn foreign exchange and generate tax revenues for government at all levels.
 

Sustainability – We want to build an industry that is sustainable, and will balance profit maximization with sustained economic options
 

Transparency – We want to build a transparent industry that broadcasts what it pays to government and other partners.
 

Environmental Justice – We want to build an industry that values environmental equity and fairness for any and all.
 

Cooperation – We also want to build an industry that integrates states, communities and existing artisanal miners where possible into the mining ecosystem.
 

If we deliver on this vision, then we can build a mining sector that Nigerians can be proud of 30 years or more from now.  This sector should deliver double digit growth over the next decade, with important direct and indirect economic impacts on households.  To improve our likelihood of building such an outcome, the Ministry also sought to extensively understand the entire operations in the sector.  Therefore, we continue to review lessons from some of the best mining industries to see what lessons we can draw from their experiences, balancing some of the objectives outlined above.

 

Our Emerging Federal Mining Strategy

 

Given all the opportunities and challenges outlined, as well as the global market outlook for mining, the Ministry has developed a framework strategy to drive growth. Let me outline the key elements of the strategy along 3 dimensions: what our aspirations are; where Nigeria should focus on; and how we intend to win.

Aspiration: First, our strategic aspiration is to build a sustainable, globally competitive mining sector, and related supporting sectors that will prudently use the finite resources available to improve the quality of life for Nigerians

 

Where to Focus: [/b]We will focus on supporting and growing Nigeria’s position in mineral assets with commercially proven reserves.  Our assets will then be used to serve 2 key markets: a domestic industrialization market that is more beneficiation focused; and an export market that is more focused initially on the export of ores and raw materials.  The mix of investors that will target Nigeria will reflect that preference of serving both the domestic and export markets.  We anticipate that as we expand our geosciences databases and insights, we will also expand what minerals we compete in.

 

[b]How to Win: Nigeria will focus on going to market as a quality and cost leader, rather than a scale based operation, pending further understanding of our reserves position. Be that as it may, we are interested in building a profitable solid minerals industry, not the largest in the world, hence we will always make shrewd decisions with our partners, communities and other stakeholders.  For example, we will rather be the most competitive gold producer in the world and serve only a fraction of supply, than be the biggest producer and have equity investors generating losses.

 

Given the aspiration, the where to play and how to win choices, the role of government would be to invest in activities and levers that reduce the cost of doing business, and improve Nigeria’s perception as a high quality mining destination.  Over the next few months, we will conduct additional analysis to refine our strategies and the policy regimes that will emerge to support and accelerate the execution of the strategy.

 

Ensuring Successful Execution of Emerging Strategy

 

To ensure a successful implementation of our strategy, we have also invested significant time in brainstorming key drivers of success.  We have identified 8 key drivers of success which we will now review briefly.

 

First, we will always work off an integrated plan that emerges from a broad consultation process; once the plan is finalized, we will actively communicate it to key stakeholders. Based on what we have shared today, much of it will not be a surprise.
 

Second, we will build an investor friendly regulatory environment; today we have a very strong system but it can always be further improved; for now, our focus will be on enforcing its key elements including its “use it or lose it” license provisions and automating its operations.
 

Third, we will champion and only use a partnership model with investors, communities, artisanal miners and states to create the right incentives for all parties. A good example is the Northern Numero Resources Ltd which is a partnership of an Australian group, the Federal Government and Kebbi State Government and the Community.
 

Fourth, we will build a more widely available geosciences database; as we create more accurate geological maps, investors can become more confident and precise in their decision making
 

Fifth, we will work closely with our colleagues in the Federal Executive Council particularly Environment, Finance, Industries, Trade and Investment, Interior, Transportation, Power, Works and Housing, Defence/ONSA, Customs and the BPE with a view to strengthening inter-agency collaboration and coordination.
 

Sixth, we will work closely with banks, and other financial institutions, public and private to improve access to capital for solid minerals sector operators, large and small; we want Nigerian financiers to understand this industry again, and build teams to help drive its growth.
 

Seventh, we will also look inward and rebuild the Ministry’s personnel, offices and teams to ensure we are streamlined, and investing appropriately to support growth; for example, we will add more technical and commercial persons, even as we consolidate certain functions to create efficiencies.
 

Eight and finally, we intend to use solid minerals as a growth catalyst for communities. We will engage closely with multiple MDAs to ensure that communities we work in are treated with respect and professionalism to ensure that they can build a diversified economy over the years.
 

We have made varying levels of progress across each of these elements.  Most would be classified as work in progress, while a few such as using solid minerals to drive growth and wealth in communities can be considered very early stage or not started.  Over the next 12 to 36 months, we will periodically report back on progress against these 8 categories.

First to comment as a woman. I will buy pacifier

This is what I saw

Governor Adams Oshiomhole has explained why he removed the immediate past Head of Service of the State, Jerry Obazele. The Governor said, Obazele was removed over gross negligence tending towards fraud. The Governor explained this in details while speaking during the swearing-in of the New Head of Service of State, Gladys Idahor at the Government House in Benin City yesterday. And we must say what led to Obazele’s removal is somewhat embarrassing. Really embarrassing, lol. Read from the Governor right after the cut.

“He was appointed according to my judgment and I accept responsibility for my poor sense of judgment but I also have the courage to correct my mistakes once I discovered it was a mistake.

“The responsibility of a Head of Service is to be a superintendent over the Civil service. There are many of our senior citizens who had retired from service from as far back as 1999, some even under the military and by the time I assumed office, many of these senior citizens had not received their gratuity for over a period of 12, 13 years.

The situation was compounded by the thousands of workers that were retrenched by a former PDP government between 2000 and 2001 and all of those people were not paid their gratuity.

“There is no worst crime to a working man or woman than to deny him his deferred wage which we call gratuity which is meant to be paid at the point of disengagement so he can use the money to establish and face the rigors and reality of retirement.

“We tried to deal with this problem from inception. First, I gave a standing instruction to the Accountant General that pensioners must be paid exactly the same day as the current Civil Servants. It is not that we pay them if there is something left because at the end of the day, nothing will be left when you pay for every other thing. You must give priority accordingly.



“Two months ago, I called the Head of Service and I said, I am looking forward to the end of my tenure. When I say I want to finish strong and finish well, it is not only in the area of physical infrastructure, but I also want to deal with the social sector. I want to look for money and pay a chunk of money to these pensioners so that we can reduce the waiting time.

“So I asked him, do you have the numbers and the cost and he said yes and I told him, let me have the documents. He produced a document which detailed the number of pensioners year-by-year and the amount required year by year.

“No more gratuity based on who you know, it is batch by batch depending on when you retired. So I saw from the records that Obazele gave me that we have paid up to 2010. We have paid many people who retired in 2010 and according to the document, we had 130 persons who retired in 2010 who have not been paid and we had some other persons in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014.

“These numbers were stated clearly and he also stated clearly to me how much we required to pay for each year. For 2010, the figure was N175 million to settle the 130 persons. I said, OK, you let me have the names of these 130 persons for 2010 and the names of those who retired in 2011 through 2014 and the amount. The date of the retirement, the day of employment, the total number of years served which is the basis of calculating gratuity.

“One week passed, two weeks and by the 3rd week, I was watching news and I saw pensioners protesting but I had given instructions three weeks earlier that I want to pay these pensioners but I needed the details to do it.

“I told my secretary to call the Head of Service to submit all the details by 11am the next day since he already has the summary so we could start the process of payment. He should come also with the Pension Board Members and all the documents that have to do with pension payments.

“At 11am, they were in my office and they gave me a voluminous document. Just looking at it straight, I tried to look at 2010. Whereas the first document that was given says 130 pensioners have gratuity pending, the total value of which was N175 million, the new document shows 2010 that we have 377 people and we now need N490 million to pay them. For 2011, 2012, 2013, all the figures had changed.

“So I said, I don’t know all the details but 2010, I remember asking you, and you said many have been paid and that only 130 is the number left. So how has this number increased by 300% to 377? Obazele you are an Accountant, you have been Auditor-General, you have been Accountant-General, Permanent Secretary and now Head of Service. You more than me should be at home with figures, how do you explain this?

“The first thing he said was that, you know maybe they changed the mode of calculations. Maybe they are looking at when the papers were prepared rather than when people retired so I said, whatever formula you used, the number must remain the same. The total cost will not change. The only possibility of the numbers changing is if you have doctored the documents.

“In any case, the first document was given to me by you, prepared by ICT and this one you are giving me is also prepared by the same unit. Why should differences occur? If two people use different formula, I can understand.
This is the same source and then he said, ‘oh, I didn’t actually look at the documents’. I said, you didn’t look at the documents you brought to me?

“The document, four persons signed: Accountant and DFA Pension Board signed, Secretary Pension Board signed, Director, ICT Software signed, Permanent Secretary, ICT signed, four signatories .Now, if I hadn’t remembered what they gave me before, seeing four signatories, I would have approved it and the numbers had changed radically.

“Now, the simple thing was that in the past, when they bring this document, I normally minute it to the ICT to crosscheck. So now, they got ICT person to sign so that I have no escape route but trust, there was an escape route and I could see through it. So I called the Director of SSS to send me security officers to the pensions board to retrieve all the files so we could prepare fresh documents that would form the basis to pay those pensioners.

“As a result, my hope and determination to pay those pensioners before my 7th year anniversary was dashed. You see, I had the will, I had looked for the money but somebody in the Civil service compromised my intention by falsifying numbers. That is Civil Servants inhumanity to Civil Servants.

“We had to appoint a new audit firm and they have shown something that will shock you that in the Pensions Board, they prepared for 1 person, 2 pensions with 2 original documents. Same date of birth, same salary, everything same, but two original vouchers. So whereas the real man is old and dying, those that the government has put in place to prepare their pension are busy feasting on the lives of these senior citizens.

“We are disbanding the Pensions Board because they have lived on fraud. Now we are reviewing and re organizing even the ICT, clean it up and ensure we have responsible and competent people with character to man it.

“I believe and I am determined that before Christmas, not later than next week, we will do everything possible to commence the process of paying many of these pensioners whose records have been cleaned up.

“This is the reason I had to take the painful decision of relieving the former Head of Service of his job and in searching for replacement. I know a lady who had managed, easily the most difficult ministry and under whom we have sanitized the ministry of education.

“So I believe that Mrs. Idahor possesses not just the qualification and experience but also the boldness and I know that the service will be in very good hands.”

The governor explained that his decision was taken to protect the interest of the Pensioners and Edo taxpayers and does not have any ethnic or religious colouration.

Source : http://www.ladunliadinews.com/2015/12/he-was-trying-to-be-dubious-oshiomhole.html?m=1

tpiar:
Let me guess, the op is looking for husband and she prefers married men as single men are not available.

How does the topic relates to marriage

Details of how former co-ordinating minister of the economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo Iweala, approved the sharing of Abacha loot by former National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd) have emerged.

The details were brought to the fore by an online news platform Premium Times.

In a letter to former President Goodluck Jonathan dated January 20th, the then minister  intimated him of a request from the National Security Adviser for the disbursement of funds to acquire weapons to combat Boko Haram. The Minister knew that this request was outside the scope of the law and she disavowed her ministry from having anything to do with the further monitoring of the requested funds upon approval.


“Please find a request by the National Security Adviser (NSA) for the transfer of $300 million and £5.5 million of the recovered Abacha funds to an ONSA [Office of the National Security Adviser] operations account,” the letter read.

“The NSA has explained that this is to enable the purchase of ammunition, security, and other intelligence equipment for the security agencies in order to enable them fully confront the ongoing Boko Haram threat.

“His request is sequel to the meeting you chaired with the committee on the use of recovered funds where the decision was made that recovered Abacha funds would be split 50-50 between urgent security needs to confront Boko Haram and development need (including a portion for the Future Generations window of the Sovereign Wealth Fund).”

“This letter is to seek your approval to borrow these funds, for now, to disburse to the NSA. These funds form part of the projected Federal Government Independent Revenue, to be appropriated, in the light and for accountability, given the peculiar nature of security and intelligence transactions, we would expect the NSA to account to Your Excellency for the utilisation of the funds

Late General Sani Abacha is estimated to have stolen $5 billion from Nigeria during his brutal military regime in the mid to late 90’s. Some of the money the ex-dictator stashed abroad was returned after intense lobbying and legal action which commenced during the Obasanjo administration.

Under the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2007, the President is not allowed to unilaterally approve such expenditure without input from the National Assembly.



Source : http://www.theheraldng.com/full-text-okonjo-iwealas-letter-approving-sharing-abacha-loot-dasuki/?utm_source=&utm_medium=twitter

Senate President Bukola Saraki on Wednesday urged the Senate Joint Committee on Finance, Banking, Insurance and other Final Institutions to do a thorough job as it begins hearing on the purported “Abuse and Mismanagement of Single Treasury Account (TSA) Regime”.

He said this would go a long way in clearing the air over the matter as well as allow all parties involved explain their sides of the story.

His full speech below.


The commitment and resolve of the 8th Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, to work with and support the Executive arm in its effort to improve the life of our people is not negotiable. We are together with the executive on the need to curb waste and plug all loopholes in our revenue and expenditure streams.

We are equally concerned and are exploring ways of shoring up the national revenues in spite of the persistent fall in the oil price in the international market. We embrace these challenges as we believe that it will more than anything enable us to think outside of the box to draw up innovative solutions that would strengthen our institutions and the economy at large.

We gladly note the steps already taken by Mr. President to move the country towards efficiency and away from the business as usual mindset through reduction in wasteful expenditures. One of such bold steps is the full pursuit and implementation of the Economic Reform Governance Project (ERGP), which has as its core objective the modernization of Public Finance Management (PFM).


The wholesome adoption of the PFM is in line with the globally accepted Government Integrated Financial Management Information Systems (GIFMIS) which is aimed at plugging revenue wastes. All these are supportive of the introduction and the enforcement of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) which has been fully authorised by the President.

[b]However, it has been brought to the attention of the National Assembly that these laudable goals of TSA could be threatened by the mismanagement and non compliance of extant laws leading to massive abuse such that demand the necessary intervention of the Senate.

The Senate has a critical public role to play to ensure that no such abuse is allowed to fester, hence this public hearing to investigate the purported “Abuse and Mismanagement of Single Treasury Account (TSA) Regime”. This is highly critical and relevant at this stage when we are desirous of entrenching efficiency as a hallmark of the APC government.

Distinguished colleagues, I need not reiterate that the assignment before this joint committee is indeed vital to the success or failure of TSA project. This Senate will like to remind you to act without fear or favour, let or hindrance but to do your utmost to ensure that this investigation is thorough and just.

Your mandate is simple, to investigate and report the entire process culminating in the adoption, remuneration and otherwise of TSA including determining the cost of such project. I expect you to roll up your sleeves and work diligently to unravel the facts and make your recommendations. I urge all who will be attending as witnesses to please furnish the Joint Committee with verifiable facts and documents that will assist in resolving this investigation.

Finally let me reiterate that our goal is in tandem with that of the Executive; to stamp out corruption and expose mismanagement of public resources. We are not going to treat matters bordering on the wellbeing of our economy with kid gloves we simply cannot afford it.[/b]

I wish you all a successful outcome on this deliberation.

I hereby declare the investigative Public Hearing open

Source: http://dailypost.ng/2015/12/09/full-text-of-bukola-sarakis-speech-at-tsa-hearing/?utm_source=&utm_medium=twitter

arresa:
Facts-
Ekiti's budget is N67 billion.
The monthly wage bill is N2.6 billion/month.
N2.6 X 12 months = N31.2 billion
That's half of the entire state's budget.
Imagine a state with just 2 million entire population paying out N2.6 billion wage bill every month.
Exactly how many people do they have in their workforce? The entire state including children?
What do you have left after paying out half of your entire budget as salary payment?
They still have to pay vendors and suppliers, vendors, utilities, loan payments and so on.
No wonder the joker spends more time roaming around the street buying kponmo instead of building and commission projects. No money left to build ordinary house for gate man..
Lagos state on the other hand with 20 million people and the second largest workforce in Nigeria pays out 6.2 billion/month.
Lagos state's entire budget is 489 billion
Wage bill is 6.2 billion
6.2 x 12 = 74
489 - 74 = 415 billion
Ekiti state like many states in Nigeria is definitely is garri and epa state.

Out of 415billion, 100 million is for stomach infrastructure, have not really seen him commission a lot of projects though apart from going to food market

If he is going to be paying 5000 to the unemployed, what is the source of revenue for the Ekiti?

The Ekiti State governor, Ayodele Fayose, on Tuesday presented a budget proposal of N67billion to the State House of Assembly for the 2016 fiscal year.
Presenting the budget, Mr. Fayose said the figure represents a 17 percent reduction in the 2015 appropriation, which was N80billion.
According to him, the cut was informed by his government’s decision to live within its means and avoid proposing unrealizable projects.
The governor clarified that he decided to involve the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission to monitor the implementation in order to prevent “political petitioners” from peddling lies against his government.
The governor appropriated N100 million to his “stomach infrastructure” programme, and also restored the scrapped Social Security Scheme for the indigent, which was initiated by the Kayode Fayemi-led government.
Mr. Fayose said 10,000 persons would continue to receive the sum of N5, 000 monthly from January, 2016.
Giving the details of the budget tagged Budget of Purposeful and Strategic Transformation, Mr. Fayose said N24billion and N44billion were earmarked for capital and recurrent expenditures respectively.
Under the capital expenditure, Mr. Fayose said the proposed airport, Oja Oba Market and the Flyover would become realities in 2016, being part of his efforts to give Ekiti a befitting facelift.
He expressed dissatisfaction with the huge recurrent figure of N43 billion, saying it was to enable him cater for workers’ welfare, which is a priority of his government.
He reiterated his position against the plan by the Nigeria Governors’ Forum to either retrench or cut the N18, 000 minimum wage, saying his government won’t associate with any anti-people policy.
Mr. Fayose said he recorded a 70 per cent budget performance in 2015, despite the dwindling revenues caused by slump in oil prices in the international market.

Source: http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/194836-fayose-presents-n67bn-budget-assigns-n100million-to-stomach-infrastructure.html

studio14:
Have you forgotten there's law against false publication? Go to 2yrs imprisonment.lol. joke apart the caption should have been pictures of executive boko haram members

Lol

Pictures of alleged looters of funds meant for fighting Boko haram

When the shadow and the body does not match

Nice one.

I hope it will yield positive result.

W are tired of your going and coming every week.