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http://premiumtimesng.com/news/124876-premium-times-train-trip-lagos-kano-live-blog.html


Premium Times Train Trip Lagos – Kano (Live Blog)

LAST Saturday, James had travelled from Port Harcourt to Enugu. He had expressed surprise on alighting at the Gariki Park in Enugu and had exclaimed, “You mean we are already in Enugu? This is unbelievable!” The last time he travelled on the road (seven months ago), it took the vehicle about six hours to wade through the muddy road to Port Harcourt.

Overwhelmed with joy over the short time it took him to get to Enugu, he declared that the rehabilitation on the road has given much relief to travelers, urging that it should be sustained on all roads across the country.

According to him, what used to be Enugu-Port Harcourt highway and others like that in the South-East had been nightmares to travellers.

This is as a result of ugly scars on the dual carriage roads caused by deterioration of the road that hindered free movement of goods and people. The situation of the road became so deplorable that much harsh and horrendous words were used to describe it, all in an attempt to call attention of federal authorities to the suffering of the masses.

Transporters, who resorted to making detour in villages around the deplorable road to either get to Umuahia, Aba or Portharcourt had threatened action against the government should it fail to rehabilitate the road before December of last year.

On several occasions, men of the underworld laid siege on the highway dispossessing commuters of money and other valuables, especially at the Lokpanta Junction near Abia State, where Hausa Cattle traders now use as parking lot for trailers.

[b]Perhaps, it was in response to this cry by residents and road users that the Minister of State for Works, Bashir Yuguda, toured the road and other federal roads in the zone on September 2, last year, where he stated the desire of the Federal Government to repair them using the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency [FERMA].

He had said that immediate repairs would begin as soon as the rains eased, stressing that the same level of repair would be carried out in other failed roads in the zone with December 2012 as completion deadline.

Yaguda who inspected the Enugu-Onitsha highway, the Ekulu River Bridge, Emene along Enugu-Abakaliki highway and the Enugu-Port Harcourt road, added that the Federal Government had as at then paid N7 billion to the construction company handling the rehabilitation of the Enugu-Onitsha highway and reassured the people of the South East zone of its determination to complete all ongoing road rehabilitation projects in the area.

Travelling through some of the roads last week, especially the Enugu-Port Harcourt, through Abakaliki and Onitsha, it was observed that considerable rescue work had been carried out on the roads, making them motorable again.

It was further observed that the double lanes on the Enugu-Port Harcourt highway had been restored save for an area near Ihube where one of the contractors, Setraco, was still battling to fix[/b].

A traveler, Ndubuisi Ene told The Guardian that the prompt response of government to complaints of the people over the state of the road commendable.

He urged constant monitoring of the roads so that other areas that might give way after the rehabilitation exercise could be taken care of before the total rehabilitation as promised by the Minister.

Early in February, Executive Director, Operations in FERMA, Francis Ikpenwa, was on routine inspection of the 93 kilometer Enugu-Otukpa road. He stated that the agency had introduced a new programme, termed “Preventive and Maintenance” for any road that was recovered to stop it from deterioration and attend to any identified failure immediately.

He said, “We have surveillance unit that ply the roads and makes sure that any identified pothole is attended to on time and in that way, it will reduce much stress. We watch our contractors very closely and we don’t wait until they finish. As they work, they are rated. So if a contractor is not doing very well, we will check him. There are many of them we have dropped while others have done very well. The contractors we have now are working very well.”

Managing Director of one of the companies working on the roads, Chief Festus Onuh gave kudos to the leadership at the Senate, especially the senate committee on works and FERMA for organising the rehabilitation, supervising the activities of the contractors and ensuring the contractors were paid for the jobs that they did.

He however suggested constant maintenance work on the roads, adding that serious retainership should be put in place for the maintenance of the road.

While praises are being showered on the rescue mission that had restored the Enugu-Port Harcourt highway, efforts should be made to hurry contractors, the CCC and RCC handling various areas of the Abakaliki-Onitsha highway to speed up efforts so as to complete the road before the rainy season peaks.

Till now, users of the highway are still being restricted to one lane of the road, the other lane having been closed completely awaiting rehabilitation.

Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mister Ibrahim Lamorde said the Commission had secured a restraining order on the United Kingdom accounts of some fuel subsidy fraudsters.

Speaking when the British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Doctor Andrew Pocock paid him a courtesy visit, Mister Lamorde explained that the EFCC was formalising ways of getting the funds forfeited and repatriated to Nigeria.

The EFCC chairman said the restraining order secured by the Commission in the UK was as a result of the wonderful relationship the Commission had enjoyed and is still enjoying from the UK in recent times.

Earlier, Doctor Pocock had observed that owing to corruption in allocation and delivery process, cost of infrastructure in Nigeria has been three times higher than it ought to be.

He, however, expressed optimism that if Nigeria got it right in the power sector privatisation, the country would be on the verge of an industrial revolution.

Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, has commended Federal Government’s plan to build dry and perishable cargo terminal in Kano, adding that viable airports would contribute to the growth of the nation’s economy.

Mallam Sanusi said this, weekend, during the commissioning of the newly-remodelled international terminal at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano.

[b]He said such a terminal would give farmers a direct link to both domestic and international market, where they would maximise earnings for their produce.

He said: “For me, as an economist and as the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, dry and perishable cargo terminal is the most important and visionary step that the Aviation Minister has taken.

“Airports are not just to carry human beings from Lagos to Kano. It is not just there to make travel easy and comfortable experience for individuals.

“Kano is an agricultural state. It used to contribute 60 percent of the total revenue of the northern region. The only way agriculture is going to come back is for farmers to be linked to the markets.

“I have had the benefit of looking through some tomato survey, feasibility study. There was somebody that I consulted and he said to me, ‘do you know that tomato actually costs more in Lagos and Port Harcourt than in London?’

“In other words, if a farmer can produce tomato in Kadawa and put it on a plane every morning in Kano to get to Lagos or Port Harcourt, he should earn more than you will get it in the supermarket in the UK.”

Sanusi commended the efforts of the Minister of Aviation, Stella Oduah, adding that if other Ministers had been working with the same commitment as Oduah, Nigeria would have been transformed.

“Many people have asked me, how come the Central Bank of Nigeria seems to be always constantly supporting aviation. The reason is that Central Bank of Nigeria supports public servants that are doing something. And the advantage of doing something is that people can like you or not like you; they may agree with you or not agree with you; they cannot take away from you what you have achieved. There is no one that can go to Kano airport or Kaduna airport or Enugu airport or Port Harcourt airport or Lagos airport and claim that things are not happening. ”

Sanusi described the planned cargo terminals as great opportunity for opening up entire population and linking them up to the markets, adding that the idea of dry and perishable cargo terminal recognises that airports are parts of the economic development of a nation.[/b]

“I will like to congratulate the Minister for having that vision. This is something that I am sure the people of Kano will welcome and would like to see actualised as quickly as possible.”

“For those who may believe that the Ministry of Aviation does not want international airlines to come to Kano, the question is, if the Ministry didn’t want international airlines to come to Kano, why would they be building an international terminal? So, building an international terminal will take as evidence of a commitment to encourage the airlines to come.”
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/03/sanusi-lauds-fg-over-dry-terminal-for-aminu-kano-airport/

Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, has commended Federal Government’s plan to build dry and perishable cargo terminal in Kano, adding that viable airports would contribute to the growth of the nation’s economy.

Mallam Sanusi said this, weekend, during the commissioning of the newly-remodelled international terminal at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano.

He said such a terminal would give farmers a direct link to both domestic and international market, where they would maximise earnings for their produce.

[b]He said: “For me, as an economist and as the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, dry and perishable cargo terminal is the most important and visionary step that the Aviation Minister has taken.

“Airports are not just to carry human beings from Lagos to Kano. It is not just there to make travel easy and comfortable experience for individuals.

“Kano is an agricultural state. It used to contribute 60 percent of the total revenue of the northern region. The only way agriculture is going to come back is for farmers to be linked to the markets.

“I have had the benefit of looking through some tomato survey, feasibility study. There was somebody that I consulted and he said to me, ‘do you know that tomato actually costs more in Lagos and Port Harcourt than in London?’

“In other words, if a farmer can produce tomato in Kadawa and put it on a plane every morning in Kano to get to Lagos or Port Harcourt, he should earn more than you will get it in the supermarket in the UK.”

Sanusi commended the efforts of the Minister of Aviation, Stella Oduah, adding that if other Ministers had been working with the same commitment as Oduah, Nigeria would have been transformed.

“Many people have asked me, how come the Central Bank of Nigeria seems to be always constantly supporting aviation. The reason is that Central Bank of Nigeria supports public servants that are doing something. And the advantage of doing something is that people can like you or not like you; they may agree with you or not agree with you; they cannot take away from you what you have achieved. There is no one that can go to Kano airport or Kaduna airport or Enugu airport or Port Harcourt airport or Lagos airport and claim that things are not happening. ”

Sanusi described the planned cargo terminals as great opportunity for opening up entire population and linking them up to the markets, adding that the idea of dry and perishable cargo terminal recognises that airports are parts of the economic development of a nation.[/b]

“I will like to congratulate the Minister for having that vision. This is something that I am sure the people of Kano will welcome and would like to see actualised as quickly as possible.”

“For those who may believe that the Ministry of Aviation does not want international airlines to come to Kano, the question is, if the Ministry didn’t want international airlines to come to Kano, why would they be building an international terminal? So, building an international terminal will take as evidence of a commitment to encourage the airlines to come.”

The newly introduced sugar policy, comparable to the backward integration policy in the cement industry, has been attracting applause from stakeholders in the sugar industry. The backward integration for the cement industry introduced in 2002 boosted local production of cement from 2.0 million metric tons per annum in 2003 to 18.5 million metric tons per annum in 2012. Additional 12 million metric tons are yet being expected from the expansion, while new plants are currently under construction across the country by the manufacturers.

The policy changed the country’s position from a leading importer of cement to that of being self-sufficient as well as a potential net exporter of the product. It is based on this success story that news of the new fiscal policy measure for the sugar sector recently introduced by the government, through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has started generating excitement among stakeholders in the sugar industry.

The new policy, which came into effect January this year, was convened through a circular signed by the CBN’s Director of Trade and Exchange Department, W.D Gotring.

The policy stated, “Any importation of equipment that will be used for the manufacturing of sugar is duty-free and there is a tax holiday for five years. Raw sugar (H.S Codes 1701.1100.00-1701.1200.00) shall attract an import duty rate of 10 per cent plus levy of 50 per cent, while refined sugar (H.S Codes 1701.9110.0-1701.9990.0) shall attract an import duty of 20 per cent plus a levy of 60 per cent.”

Reacting to this development, Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) lauded the policy and described it as a bold step which if well implemented might have numerous multiplier effect on the sugar sector.

“If we don’t want to move backward, we should take our destiny in our own hands to reduce importation, save the naira and the exchange rate and give jobs to our people,” said Mr. John Isemede, Director General, NACCIMA.

According to him, the private sector strongly believes that with these incentives, new investors will come into the sector, while the existing ones might expand their operations and many people will be employed. “Those who are service providers, those who are into agro chemical and implements will have jobs,” he emphasized.

However, he cautioned that priority should be given to Nigerian companies and individuals, especially the five years tax holiday, so that “We do not leave our gate open for people to come in only to invest and after four, five years because you have given them pioneer status, they will relocate to neighbouring countries.

“There should be a road map and it should be properly monitored so that we do not solve one problem and create multiple other problems. So, the position of NACCIMA or the OPS is that it is a welcome development because it will create jobs, it will reduce the price of sugar, the agro-chemical, and even those that are providing the implements will have jobs. In addition, it will help the country to move from this present level of granulated sugar to cube and brown sugar, the one used for cake-making and things like that. So, it is a welcome development”.

He noted that existing companies in the sector, like Dangote Sugar Refinery and BUA Sugar Refinery are into pack sizes now, and they have big sugar cane farms already. “Dangote has a big farm in Numa, Adamawa State, which is the Savannah Sugar Company. So, they can now continue to invest more. You heard of Bacita Sugar, there is one in Hadejia and there is another one in Kwara. So, these are opportunities that we have to tap into to develop our economy,” he said.

Sameer Vaswani, Managing Director, A &P Foods Limited, manufacturers of HAANSBRO brand of biscuits, chewing gums and sweets, also hailed the policy.

Vaswani noted “The three main raw materials required for biscuit production are flour, sugar and palm oil. The long-term policy of encouraging local sugar cane plantations and growing of sugar cane locally is a fantastic policy but it needs time. Sugarcane planting and harvesting cannot just start overnight.”

In order to ensure availability of sugar cane, Dr. Latif Busari, Executive Secretary, National Sugar Development Council, Abuja, disclosed that plans are being concluded for the citing of 236,000 land banks in seventeen states for sugarcane production.

He identified the states to include Zamafara, Katsina, Kwara, Kogi, Jigawa, Imo, Edo, Cross River and Benue. Other states are Taraba, Ogun, Plateau, Ondo , Anambra and Adamawa.

According to him, the sugar industry is a promoter of investment, job and wealth creation and a tool for rapid rural development as it creates communities that are self- sufficient.

As an example, he said that in India, the sugar industry employs one million people directly and six million indirectly, stressing that it is what it will do for Nigeria.

He also said that the Federal Government should discuss with the state governments to make land available to existing and prospective investors for the project. He noted that the expected cost of implementing the project is about $3.1 billion, with the objective of raising local sugar production to attain self -sufficiency as in the cement sector, and stem the tide of importation of raw sugar as well as contribute to the production of ethanol and generation of electricity.

Minister of Trade and Investment, Mr. Olusegun Aganga, noted that compared to other West African countries, Nigeria produces two per cent of the 2.5 million metric tons of sugar required for its 165 million populations while over 75 per cent of raw sugar is imported and granulated by few investors in the nation’s sugar sector. This makes the county the lowest sugar producer in the region; this is in spite of the availability of abundant raw materials for sugar production across the country.

For instance, Benin Republic produces 25.6 per cent of its sugar requirement; Burkina Faso, 47 per cent; Cote d’Ivoire 54 per cent; Senegal, 48 per cent and Mali, 28 per cent.
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/03/new-sugar-policy-spurs-local-investors-to-action-set-to-reduce-importation/

President Goodluck Jonathan has ordered the restructuring of the Office of the Head of Service of the Federation to enable it fast track the development of the country.

He made this known in Abuja on Friday at a formal send-off ceremony for two past Heads of Service of the Federation, Mr Stephen Oronsaye and Prof. Oladapo Afolabi.
The president was represented by Vice President Namadi Sambo.

He said his administration was committed to the transformation of the service into an enviable and modern institution capable of supporting the political leadership in its effort to fast track the development of Nigeria.

``It is in line with this thinking that I have recently approved the restructuring of the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation to enable it drive the transformation of the service. It is envisaged that at the end of the restructuring, the present five office structure would be reduced to three.

``It will lead to slimmer, more efficient and fit-for-purpose organisation devoid of overlaps, duplications and fragmentation, more responsive and better able to provide quality management, direction and guidance to the Federal Civil Service,” he added.

He, therefore, urged the Head of Civil Service of the Federation to ensure that the implementation of the restructuring of his office was carried out to the letter.

Jonathan said that ``this is to enable our quest for a responsible civil service and one that takes cognisance of the need to deliver is achieved.
http://dailytimes.com.ng/article/jonathan-orders-restructuring-office-head-service

Secretary to the Government of the Federation Anyim Pius Anyim said yesterday that the federal government would in two weeks conclude the privatization and handing over the nation’s power sector to private firms for management.
Anyim, who was speaking to newsmen in Lagos on the proposed Nigeria’s centenary celebration said the federal government is on the final stage of the agreement with the new owners and that they at the concluding stage and would formally hand over the generation and distribution companies to the new investors.
“The hand-over will be done in two weeks and we expect to see stable power supply soon,” he said.
The Bureau for Public Enterprises (BPE) said last year that it received of $335.85 million from 16 preferred bidders for both distribution and generation companies.
The preferred bidders for the Discos submitted bank guarantees worth about $188.48 million, while the preferred bidders for the Gencos submitted bank guarantees of about $147.38 million.
The breakdown of the guarantees is as follows:
Discos include; Abuja Disco: Kann Consortium Utility Company Ltd - $24,600,000.00; Benin Disco: Vigeo Power Consortium - $19,350,000.00; Eko Disco: West Power and Gas - $20,250,000.00; Enugu Disco: Interstate Electrics Ltd - $18,900,000.00; Ibadan Disco: Integrated Energy Distribution and Marketing Ltd - $25,350,000.00; Ikeja Disco: NEDC/KEPCO Consortium - $19,650,000.00; Jos Disco: Aura Energy Ltd - $12,300,000.00; Kano Disco: Sahelian Power Ltd -$20,550,000.00; Port Harcourt Disco: 4Power Consortium - $18,636,306.00; and Yola Disco: Integrated Energy Distribution and Marketing Ltd - $8,890,000.00.
GENCOs are Shiroro Hydro Power Plc: North-South Power Ltd - $16,748,180.00; Kainji Hydro Power Plc: Mainstream Energy Solutions - $35,680,500; Sapele Power Plc: CMEC/EURAFRIC Energy Ltd - $30,150,000.00; Geregu Power Plc: Amperion Power Distribution Limited - $19,800,000.15; Ughelli Power Plc: Transcorp/Woodrock/Sumbion/Medea/PSL/ Thomassen -$45,000,000.00

A strong feeling of appreciation and re-awakening ran through the historic city of Benin in Edo State yesterday as Minister of Petroleum Resources Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke re-commissioned the strategic Benin Depot of the Pipelines and Products Marketing Company (PPMC) which has been out of operation since 2005.

Governor Adams Oshiomhole said with the re-activation of the Benin Depot by the minister, the Federal Government has demonstrated its resolve to sustain the ongoing reforms in the oil and gas industry.

“The minister has demonstrated that indeed good things can come from the Petroleum industry as well as the NNPC,” he said.

Oshiomole recalled how he had to embark on what he termed a ‘pilgrimage’ to the Warri Refinery at the inception of his administration, to solicit for the supply of petroleum products to the state. “I thank God that I don’t have to make such long walk to Warri again because the Benin depot is back to service.” he said.

The governor pledged to mobilise the resources as well as the people of Edo State to combat the issue of pipeline vandalism which he described as a national menace.

Declaring the depot open for operation, Mrs. Alison-Madueke noted that the revamping of the Benin depot is a single item in a long list of practical measures designed by the President Jonathan’s administration to sanitise the downstream sector of the oil and gas industry.

She said: “As an industry, we are extremely satisfied that the transformation agenda of the President in the oil and gas industry is coming to fruition. We are grateful to the Joint Task force for the level of support they have given the petroleum sector especially in the area of pipeline vandalism. It clearly shows how successful we can be as a people if we come together to combat a scourge.”

Group Managing Director of the NNPC Andrew Yakubu said in the months ahead, the drive to revitalise the nation’s petroleum products depot will be sustained with the re-opening of the Gombe and Jos depots. “We have re-commissioned Mosimi, Aba and now Benin. But the good news is that we are not going to stop here, very soon we shall be in Gombe, Jos and other depots. In fact, we are not going to stop until the 21 depots become fully operational,” he said.

Describing the depot revamping project as NNPC’s contribution to the transformation agenda of the Federal Government, Yakubu urged stakeholders to support the corporation in its quest to combat the incidence of pipeline vandalism.

Similar commendations came from the leadership of the Edo State chapters of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association (IPMAN) and the Petroleum Products Tanker Drivers Association.

Constructed in 1978 and inaugurated on August 30,1979, the Benin depot has 17 storage tanks with a combined design capacity to store 121, 720,000 litres of petroleum products including premium motor spirit, household kerosene and automotive gas oil. The facility has nine loading arms. The depot serves as a link for products evacuation from the Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company through a 16-inch pipeline traversing 89.9km.

50 year old yam hawker from Jalingo, Taraba state who allegedly acts as a motivational preacher for members of the Boko Haram Sect in Kaduna state has been paraded by the SSS.

Addressing a news conference in Abuja, the Deputy Director, Public Relations of the SSS, Marilyn Ogar, explained that the suspect, Mohammed Idris also conducts surveillance on selected targets using the cover of a yam hawker.

“Following the incident, a thorough investigation was initiated by this service and the military which led to the arrest of some suspected masterminds of the attack,” spokeswoman for Nigeria’s secret service” Mrs Ogar said.

15 lives were lost in the twin attack on the Saint Andrew military protestant church located within the premises of the Armed Forces Command and Staff College.

Also paraded is 18 year old Ibrahim Mohammed from Osun state who confessed to actively participating in several attacks in Kaduna state including the suicide bomb attack on St Rita’s Catholic Church in Badarawa area of the state.

“Mohammed and Idris will be handed over to the military for further investigation. However, other suspects apprehended in the same vein are still being … (questioned).”