₦airaland Forum

Disclaimer Notice

1. The attention of Headquarters 6 Division Nigerian Army has been drawn to some rumours making the rounds that some Nigerian Army Personnel are going round schools in Rivers State dressed in Military Camouflage uniforms with the intention of forcefully vaccinating students with an unknown substance. The callous and unpatriotic rumours spread by these enemies of State are, to say the least, despicable, deplorable and highly condemnable by all well meaning Nigerians as they are intended to cause pandemonium among the general public.

2. The authorities of 6 Division Nigerian Army wishes to inform the general public that while the Nigerian Army plans to undertake such gestures like free medical outreaches, sanitation exercises in host communities and distribution of educational materials as part of our community relations activities during the ongoing Operation CROCODILE SMILE II, these activities are yet to be conducted and will eventually be conducted with the consent of relevant authorities of designated communities and at venues and dates that will be duly communicated to the general public through future press releases and relevant posters.

3. For the purpose of emphasis, the Nigerian Army does not and will never carry out its medical outreaches or vaccination exercises for that matter in Schools. We can therefore categorically inform the public that the ongoing rumours about Nigerian Army Personnel going round schools in military camouflage to forcefully immunize school children are not true and should therefore be discountenanced with.
Additionally, members of the public are please requested to call 09072509436-8 to report any case of any impostor(s) that may be seen actually trying to commit such atrocities.

4. You are kindly requested to disseminate this information to the general public through your medium. Thank you for your usual cooperation.


Aminu Iliyasu
Colonel
Deputy Director
Army Public Relations

DISCLAIMER NOTICE

1. The attention of Headquarters 6 Division Nigerian Army has been drawn to some rumours making the rounds that some Nigerian Army Personnel are going round schools in Rivers State dressed in Military Camouflage uniforms with the intention of forcefully vaccinating students with an unknown substance. The callous and unpatriotic rumours spread by these enemies of State are, to say the least, despicable, deplorable and highly condemnable by all well meaning Nigerians as they are intended to cause pandemonium among the general public.

2. The authorities of 6 Division Nigerian Army wishes to inform the general public that while the Nigerian Army plans to undertake such gestures like free medical outreaches, sanitation exercises in host communities and distribution of educational materials as part of our community relations activities during the ongoing Operation CROCODILE SMILE II, these activities are yet to be conducted and will eventually be conducted with the consent of relevant authorities of designated communities and at venues and dates that will be duly communicated to the general public through future press releases and relevant posters.

3. For the purpose of emphasis, the Nigerian Army does not and will never carry out its medical outreaches or vaccination exercises for that matter in Schools. We can therefore categorically inform the public that the ongoing rumours about Nigerian Army Personnel going round schools in military camouflage to forcefully immunize school children are not true and should therefore be discountenanced with.
Additionally, members of the public are please requested to call 09072509436-8 to report any case of any impostor(s) that may be seen actually trying to commit such atrocities.

4. You are kindly requested to disseminate this information to the general public through your medium. Thank you for your usual cooperation.

AMINU ILIYASU
Colonel
Deputy Director
Army Public Relations

President Buhari To Attend D-8 Summit In Istanbul, Visit Ankara

President Muhammadu Buhari will Wednesday depart for Istanbul, Turkey to participate in the ninth Summit of the Developing 8 (D- on Friday, October 20, 2017.

Prior to the D-8 Summit, President Buhari, at the invitation of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, will participate in an official working visit to Ankara, the capital city.

In Ankara, the President will have a tete-a-tete with his Turkish counterpart while delegations from both countries will hold discussions in various fields including defence cooperation, security, educational and migration issues.
The Nigerian leader will also visit the Grand National Assembly of the Republic of Turkey in Ankara where he will meet with the Speaker, Ismail Kahraman.

While in Istanbul, the Turkish commercial centre, President Buhari will use the occasion of the D-8 Summit to bolster warm and growing ties across a broad range of areas of cooperation with leaders of the D8-member countries, namely Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Pakistan and Turkey.

The Summit with the theme, ‘‘Expanding Opportunities through Cooperation’’, will among other things, focus on cooperation in the areas of agriculture, trade, transport, energy and increased private sector participation among member-countries.

During the ninth Summit of the D-8, which will also mark the 20th anniversary of the organisation established to improve the developing countries’ positions in the world economy, the President will highlight the significant show of confidence in Nigeria’s business environment and economy.

He will also affirm Nigeria’s resolve to work with D-8 member-countries on many key areas, including peace and security, economy and trade.

At the end of the Summit, the Heads of State and Government will adopt a Communiqué, also known as the 'Istanbul Declaration'.

The President will be accompanied on the trip by ministers, top government officials, including the Comptroller-General of the Nigerian Customs Service, Hameed Ali.


Femi Adesina
Special Adviser to the President
(Media & Publicity)
October 17, 2017.

It is only those that are permanently fixated on finding faults with everything the president and the present regime do that will try to build a noxious ethnic or tribal slant to the charge of the president, given that apart from the World Bank, almost every other international development attention has been focused on rescuing the bizarre damage Boko Haram inflicted on the North before the coming of President Buhari.

Only an entrenched and implacable Buhariphobic will work himself into unnecessary ecstasy over the comments of the President of the World Bank that President Muhammadu Buhari urged the World Bank to focus its efforts in the North, in the wake of the calamitous wreckage by the Boko Haram terrorist group. It is only those that are permanently fixated on finding faults with everything the president and the present regime do that will try to build a noxious ethnic or tribal slant to the charge of the president, given that apart from the World Bank, almost every other international development attention has been focused on rescuing the bizarre damage Boko Haram inflicted on the North before the coming of President Buhari. The task of rehabilitating and rescuing the North-East had been a huge humanitarian case that had even drawn extra governmental attention before President Buhari came, so what is the problem with President Buhari requesting focus on the wasteland which Boko Haram reduced the North, especially the North-East, to?

Let us get some facts clear. Before President Buhari came, Boko Haram was ravaging unhindered and ceaselessly in various parts of the North. While it captured and levied sovereignty over an area The Economist magazine said was bigger than Belgium, it was pushing frantically to other parts of the country and was fiercely challenging for the control of the Federal Capital, Abuja, where it made numerous deadly and unfettered raids. What more, Boko Haram was able to bomb the headquarters of the Nigerian police, the United Nations office in Abuja as well as markets, schools and motor parks where hundreds were killed. The entire North-East was a devastated and vanquished region as Boko Haram took effective control of a bigger chunk of the region and maintained constant fearful presence in the rest part. As a result of this egregious calamity, millions of citizens of the region fled and became refugees in various parts of the country where they were holed in makeshift camps. Buildings, churches, mosques, markets, schools, hospitals and other public and private infrastructures were razed down. Being a largely agrarian zone, agricultural activities were halted which led to a huge crisis that attracted worldwide attention. Hunger and famine so ravaged the internally displaced peoples that spewed from Boko Haram war in the zone. Even the government that preceded Buhari’s under which watch, the Boko Haram menace flowered had to launch a special intervention fund to ameliorate the worsening plight of the region.

So with this humanitarian crisis, which leader would not charge any interested developmental organization or agency to concentrate on the ravaged zone, even if to ensure the other less affected zones are spared of the spillover of the crisis? Which leader worth his salt would ignore this massive humanitarian tragedy which spilled millions of homeless Nigerians to other parts of the country? Which leader, wherever he comes from, will play deaf to the need to recapture and rehabilitate the war-ravaged North-East which was a burgeoning disaster when President Buhari came to power? Which leader would, in a bid to appease hate-filled coyotes, veteran ethnic chance-takers and displaced power hustlers, refuse to tap into any available opportunity to restore and recover a region that had been totally laid bare by insurgency and terrorism? Which leader would feign ignorance of the total disaster in the North-East, which was one of the biggest liabilities President Buhari inherited from the past regime? Was former President Yar’Adua a tribalist when he started the Niger Delta amnesty program that became feeding trough for all manners of rogues from the region rather than attend to the developmental needs of the area? Why was former President Jonathan not tagged 'tribal' when he diverted trillions of Naira in state resources to criminal warlords in the Niger Delta in the guise of dealing with the Niger Delta insurgency? Why has the Nigerian leadership, which makes a dedicated provision of 13% of its budget as oil producing allocation and marks out hundreds of billions of Naira in its yearly budget for programs to deal with the Niger Delta interests and indeed carved out a ministry for the Niger Delta, not perceived as sectional?

We have gotten further explanations from the video and audio recordings of President Buhari’s request to the World Bank to put more efforts to restore the North-East to what it was before Boko Haram came. The Presidency has come out to clarify what the President said and has provided further proof that the President, like every other Nigerian and every other international agency, was concerned about restoring the North-East in his charge to the World Bank. Even the President has got an unlikely defender in one of his critics, Oby Ezekwesili, who herself was a former Vice President of the World Bank who emphatically explained that the North-East and its gargantuan humanitarian crisis fit very well into the core programs of the World Bank the world over and rightly merits the focus the President demanded of the World Bank President. She has even gone further to chastise those acute Buhariphobics who want to twist the President’s request for political reasons. That should mark the end of the story.

But because they are petty and obviously pursuing very notorious agendas, the Buhariphobics whose lives now revolve around nit-picking every word or action from President Buhari and his government, scavenging same for faults to ply their jaded wares, are not consoled by the obvious intents of President Buhari in making this patriotic request. They ask why the World Bank President never said that President Buhari requested them to focus on the North but on the North-East. Can you imagine such silliness? Can you imagine such pettiness? Can you imagine such mischief? Can you imagine such avarice?

Because they are fixated on finding faults to bolster their political permutations, they forget that the North-East is a subset of the North. Because they are condemned to the frustrating project of nailing Buhari and his government at all costs, these nihilists have refused to submit to simple common sense. We should not forget that this was the same arrow the erstwhile PDP and its sympathizers who are fanning the present sectional embers, used to shoot itself on the foot during the last election when, in a desperate bid to win election, they criminalized and tagged the entire North as Boko Haramists who wanted to remove their Southern/Christian candidate. Not knowing which battle to take or leave, these bristling Buhariphobics have plunged themselves into this as they have done to other collapsible straws that have failed them in the desperate and deadly project to nail Buhari and his government by every means. These bitter Buhariphobics which is an amalgam of various interests that are threatened by the present government’s reform process, do not know that such weapon they are using is a double-edged sword and the aftermaths may rebound n due season.

Strangely, the purveyors of this bigoted mischief against Buhari and who trash and twirl to hurl ethnic, tribal and sectional label on him were disciples, lackeys, cronies, beneficiaries and sympathizers of the previous regime which diverted trillions of Naira from the Nigerian treasury to sundry criminals in the Niger Delta as amnesty payout and other illicit patronages. They are the same people that benefited from the egregious acts of corruption that saw trillions of Naira stolen in the guise of rebuilding the Niger Delta region while the Niger Delta remains a scrambled sore point today. They remain the same disciples of the erstwhile regime that excelled in allowing gargantuan purloining of state resources by all manners of militants, ethnic and religious leaders that happened under Jonathan’s watch. This was even so bad the former President, Olusegun Obasanjo had to write an open letter to Jonathan complaining against this, among all other malfeasances. By then, Jonathan was not a sectional leader but Buhari has become a sectional leader just by appealing to the World Bank to focus its activities on the humanitarian crisis in the North-East! What bland hypocrisy! What deliberate mischief!

But even if we stretch the argument further, lets us assume President Buhari meant that the World Bank should focus on the North and leave the rest of the country, as the Buhariphobics are trying to twist, did he also order the World Bank to do his bidding? Is President Buhari in control of the World Bank and its decision-making process? Is President Buhari in a position to decide what project the World Bank decides to embark on or not embark on? Does President Buhari’s request carry the force of command or authority on the World Bank? Does President Buhari have any instrument to coerce World Bank to do his personal biddings? Do we agree that the World Bank has a prerogative to carry out its projects in line with its policies and objectives? Most importantly, have the Buhariphobics tried to do an analysis of the concentration and spread of World Bank project in the period the World Bank President spoke of to know whether they reflect the humanitarian sore in the North-East or tilted to favor the North over the rest of the country because President Buhari wished so?

Let us be reasonable. The whole hoopla is a mish-mash of ethnic cum partisan project to blackmail and demonize the President. It fits into an extensive project by those that feel aggrieved by the actions of the present government to run it down and the project is nearing the point of fatal addiction. I know that Buhariphobics are immune to such little inquest that will unravel their mischief but they should know when best to stop playing mischievous politics with every issue because they want to get at Buhari. That they continue failing in this nefarious intent should inform them that Nigerians are not the dummies they take them to be. I think 2019 has still more lessons to teach, if 2015 never taught the Buhariphobics the folly of playing silly politics with every issue.


By Peter Claver Oparah
Source---http://saharareporters.com/2017/10/16/president-buhari-buhariphobics-and-world-bank-hoopla-peter-claver-oparah

Factsheet: Update on Exercise Crocodile Smile II in the South West and Niger Delta

On Friday October 13, 2017, the Nigerian Army commenced Exercise Crocodile Smile II in the following South-west and Niger Delta States: Lagos, Ondo, Edo, Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers, and Cross River.

The Exercise will span 3 Divisions of the Nigerian Army (2, 6 and 81 Divisions) and is in line with the 2017 Training Directives which aims at training troops in the conduct of Internal Security Operations in aid of Civil Authorities across the various formations’ areas of responsibilities, based on Constitutional provisions.

Why is Exercise Crocodile Smile II necessary?

1. Exercise Crocodile Smile II is designed to further the gains and consolidate on the successes of Exercise Crocodile Smile I.

2. Exercise Crocodile Smile II is also designed to leverage on real time intelligence to curtail insecurity, thereby fulfilling the Army’s training and
operational objectives.

3. Exercise Crocodile Smile II is necessary to tackle and curtail security challenges in the South West and Niger Delta, such as illegal oil bunkering,
pipeline vandalism, cultism, kidnapping, and militancy.

4. Exercise Crocodile Smile II provides an opportunity for Nigerian troops to sharpen their skills to cope with these security challenges within the
2, 6 and 81 Divisions’ Area of Responsibilities.

5. Exercise Crocodile Smile II is designed to complement Operation Python Dance II in the Southeast.

How long will Exercise Crocodile Smile II last?

The Exercise started on Friday October 13, 2017 and will last until Saturday October 28, 2017.

What Security Agencies are involved in Exercise Crocodile Smile II:
· Nigerian Army (NA)
· Nigeria Police Force (NPF)
· Department of State Services (DSS)
· Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC)
· Nigeria Customs Service (NCS)
· National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA)

How can citizens contact Exercise Crocodile Smile II to make reports or complaints?

Contact phone numbers of all Brigade Commanders in the exercise areas will be made public, in addition to the Nigerian Army’s Information and Call Centre Number: 193.

Twitter: @HQNigerianArmy

Facebook: @NigerianArmy

Background on Exercise Crocodile Smile I

Exercise Crocodile Smile I was conducted within the Niger Delta States (Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Delta, Rivers, Ondo) and Ogun, in late 2016.

Office Of The Vice President Press Release

"The fact remains that other regions play as a bloc, but Africa is still slightly splintered into several different economies, and the ease of doing business across the region remains a significant challenge.’’

Address By His Excellency Professor Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, GCON, Vice President Of The Federal Republic Of Nigeria, At The Inaugural Meeting Of The Afrochampions Initiative At Eko Hotel And Suites On Saturday October 14, 2017

Let me say how honoured I am to join this distinguished company to witness the presentation of the Afrochampions Initiative, and I must say that any idea that has managed to attract the interests of two of Africa’s most far-sighted leaders, President Olusegun Obasanjo and Thabo Mbeki and Africa’s foremost entrepreneur and richest man, Alhaji Aliko Dangote must be a good idea indeed. Who am I to say that such is not a good idea? Even if it is not a good idea, they will make sure that it becomes one.

In the last few years, it has become obvious to many African countries that both momentum and common sense are in favour of the private sector leading our economies and championing initiatives that will drive in traffic, trade and commerce. The role of the public sector is to catalyse, umpire and to incentivize.

But whether we like it or not, the private sector in Africa is already building world class brands and trading everywhere and I think that was obvious from the last but one presentation.

In manufacturing, the Dangote group is already manufacturing cement in several African countries; in banking, Ecobank, UBA, GTB, Access bank are all doing incredible things across the African continent. In Telecoms - MTN, broadband infrastructure – MainOne, are doing business everywhere on the continent.

Despite the rhetoric of African governments since the days of OAU and now the AU, our governments appear to be late starters in concrete action. Regional integration is a key requirement for the region’s development but it remains at very low levels. And I think the commissioner has already mentioned some of the reasons why.

We still have one of the lowest trade integration levels at under 20% while Asia is in the 40th percentile and European integration is much further ahead at about 60%.

The fact remains that other regions play as a bloc, but Africa is still slightly splintered into several different economies, and the ease of doing business across the region remains a significant challenge.

But I am pleased to say though that all of that is changing, flowing from the agenda 2063 of the African Union, the continental future era initiative which we have just heard about, the launch of the African passport and other initiatives on the free movement of persons; it is becoming clearer and clearer on how we intend to go in regional integration and it is becoming clearer and clearer how quickly we can move.

The summit of the heads of state of the African Union in July, again focused on some of these initiatives, and I am convinced that we are on the threshold of seeing a deeper and more integrated African market.

On our part in Nigeria, it is clearly for us, a strategic priority that we have a single integrated African market that is deep enough to do all of what we can do and our potential.

Already African goods are all over Africa but as you know, mostly though informal channels, a formalized market is therefore important to us such that we can benefit maximally.

But these public sector initiatives need the sense of urgency that the private sector will bring, this is why we certainly believe in the Afrochampions initiative because we think it is the private sector that will do what is required to bring the urgency and sense of mission to all that we have been trying to do in the African Union.

We would like to see greater synergy and collaboration between the Afrochampions and all the organs of the AU involved in economic integration issues, their enthusiasm and energy is perhaps to shorten the arm that the AU needs at this time.

I would like to congratulate the chairperson and the other visionaries of the Afrochampions initiatives on this very visionary initiative. I want to say that we are well and truly behind you. Well done indeed.

Thank you very much.


Released by
Laolu Akande
Senior Special Assistant to the President (Media & Publicity)
Office of the Vice President
16th October, 2017
Boost Post

There is no $25B NNPC Contracts Anywhere — Presidency

It Is Important to Set the Records Straight

Claims on social and traditional media that $25BN worth of oil contracts were awarded by the NNPC or that $25BN in NNPC funds is missing are both false.

According to Mr. Laolu Akande, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Office of the Vice President, no contracts were procured by the NNPC based on the leaked memo of the Petroleum Resources Minister of State, even though such impressions have been maliciously created in the past few weeks.

While responding to media inquiries Sunday on the matter, Akande disclosed that a closer look at each of the said projects indicate clearly that "these are not procurement contracts.”

According to him, "when I tweeted on Thursday morning last week, I had indicated that the Vice President, while acting as President approved Joint Venture Financing arrangements. But for some curious reasons, a few media reports used that tweet to report that I said the then Acting President approved N640 Billion worth of oil contracts. Such reporting is both false and misleading and therefore ought to be completely ignored by all seekers of truth.”

What is more important, Akande submitted, is that "when you look diligently at the referenced projects/transactions one by one, you will see, as NNPC has shown, that none of them was actually a procurement contract.”

"Take both the Crude Term Contract and the Direct Sale, Direct Purchase (DSDP) agreements for instance, these are not procurement contracts involving the expenditure of public funds. Both transactions are simply a shortlisting process, in which prospective off-takers of crude oil and suppliers of petroleum are selected under agreed terms, and in accordance with due process. It is therefore wrong and misleading to refer to them as though they’re contracts involving the expenditure of NNPC funds, or public funds of any sort. As you now know, the Honorable Minister of Petroleum Resources himself has in fact clarified that he meant to focus on administrative and governance issues, not red-flag any fraud – because no fraud exists in this matter.”

For both transactions, Akande said it is not true and also inaccurate to attach $10B and $5B values on them. "Attaching monetary values to these contracts is an arbitrary act that completely distorts understanding of the situation.”

According to him, Nigerians ought to be informed clearly that "whenever there is a monetary value on any consignment of crude oil lifted in this country by any firm, the proceeds go directly to the Federation Account and not to any company. In fact, the Buhari administration in the implementation of the TSA has closed down multiple NNPC accounts in order to promote transparency and probity.”

Akande also explained that even in compiling the shortlisting for the prospective off-takers of crude oil and suppliers of petroleum under agreed terms, "there were public placements of advert in the mass media seeking Expressions of Interest (EoI). Bids were publicly opened in the presence of NEITI, DPR, BPP, Civil Society groups and the press. In some cases even, these events were televised live.”

"For the sake of emphasis let me state clearly that both the Crude Term Contract and the Direct Sale and Direct Purchase agreements are not contracts for any procurement of goods, works or services, and therefore do not involve the use of public funds. Instead, they are simply a shortlisting of off-takers. And unlike what has been reported in the media so far, it is important to set the records straight that the list of approved off-takers does not carry any financial values but simply states the terms and conditions for the lifting and supply of petroleum products.”

He also disclosed that the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) Gas Pipeline Contract "is a contractor-financed contract which has not yet been finalized or awarded; it is still making its way to the Federal Executive Council, FEC.”

There were also three presidential approvals given on Joint Venture financing arrangements, meaning loans to cater for cash call obligations. One of these was okayed by the President in 2015, and two by the then Acting President in 2017, Akande noted.

Lastly, on the NPDC, he said there is no contract in the $3BN to $4BN range as reported in the media.
"You can then see from the foregoing that the $25BN being bandied in the media does not exist. There is no $25BN missing," Akande concluded.


15th October, 2017

Office Of The Vice President Press Release

***Our future is not determined by history or the past unless we allow it. The history of Africa does not determine its future. The days you live here are much greater and better than the past.

Remarks By His Excellency Professor Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, GCON, Vice President of The Federal Republic of Nigeria, to the 2017 Class of the Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Forum 2017 At Law School, Victoria Island Lagos, on Saturday October 14, 2017.

Protocol

First, let me say to the 2017 cohorts of the Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship programme, that it is a very special pleasure to meet you guys. By all predictions, you will be the wealthiest and most successful people in a few short years. I would like to ask that you don’t forget me when the good time comes!

But seriously, I have always known that this group of individuals, this generation of young people will do the exceptional.

Earlier this week, I spoke at the Financial Times Africa Summit, on the theme ‘What Makes Africa Work’. Here in this room are seated the answers to that question. Indeed, you are right here with us – a thousand reasons why Africa will work.

Across Agriculture, ICT, Hospitality, Fashion, Energy, Manufacturing, Entertainment, and many other fields, the breadth and depth of talent and innovation on display in the current and previous Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship cohorts have shown there is indeed hope.

In the 2016 set, we have Osakwe Chukwunonso who is building vehicles that will run on clean energy; Soji Megbowon is creating educational products that will simplify STEM subjects; Sierra Leonean Edmond Nonie from the 2015 set built a tracking tool that proved useful following the devastating flood that hit his country, Sierra Leone; Frank Mugarura of Rwanda is the proprietor of a branding and marketing agency that is set to conquer the continent.

These are merely a handful of the inspiring stories that have preceded you, and we know now that indeed Africa is set for incredible progress in the next few years.

When I considered what to talk to you about I realised that you would have learnt practically all you need to know for now about entrepreneurship. But I thought I should share with you some of my thoughts on a subject that has always fascinated me; the subject of history, especially the tyranny of history. And so I chose the theme – the tyranny of history or the tyranny of the past.

History defined is simply the past, the past of individuals like you and I and the past of nations and people. The power of history is to present the past, sometimes so compellingly in the present. History in its best form is known especially as time, where time is a healer. But perhaps the tyranny of history, the way that history seems to want to control us and control the present, it always seems to be the most interesting and at the same time most challenging.

Our history can tie us down, compelling us to look backwards until sometimes we trip. It compels us to look at the present with fear and apprehension. Our history, our past, especially past failures, individually or collectively, can become a barrier for achievements or freedom.
Our political history in Africa would appear dominated by wars, famine, coups d’etat, corrupt governments, dictators and failed or failing states. Our economic history would also largely be of large scale poverty, infant mortality, maternal mortality, mortality in literacy, disease and misery.
So our history may seek to define our future in Africa, especially our expectations of the coming years. History of this bleak sort, has a way of subduing our faith and conscripting our vision for our nation and our society and indeed for ourselves.

In the same way, a history of personal failure can cripple our hope and limit our vision, it can frighten us to having a small perspective of life. Our family history, the misery and degradations of our beginnings, the shame sometimes and the disgrace of the past, the spectacular failures of the past are the tyrannical weapons of history.

These weapons whip us in line when we are thinking big, cutting us down to size as our self-esteem rises. Our past sometimes is always yelling at us: “unworthy, unworthy, unworthy” as we struggle to do right, live right and to live with dignity.

But history, we must remember, is not merely a record of the past, but it is the past. It is gone! Our future is not determined by history or the past unless we allow it. The history of Africa does not determine its future. The days you live here are much greater and better than the past.

Thirty years ago, mobile phones didn’t exist. To speak to people in another country, you would queue up for hours for a public telephone waiting for your turn, if it ever came. Today, we can’t imagine life without our smartphones, and Facetime, and Skype. Today we can collaborate across continents in seconds from anywhere in the world.

Researches that took us months, (and I can tell you because I am a professor - I spent many years researching), are only a Google search away within seconds. Education that required us to leave towns and villages to schools far away and abroad, are now available online. So when you leave here, you can continue whatever conversation you were having on WhatsApp, Instagram or iMessage or whatever other form there is without a break.

We are today nearer defeating hunger and famine than ever before in human history. We will improve seedlings and inputs and new farming practices. Farmers can produce multiples of what they produced years ago.
We are closer than ever before in discovering cures to practically any disease. We can be more diligent in Africa, diligent in immunization, eradicate most of the issues of infant mortality.

Already, we are living longer and more healthily than any time in human history. All the IQ tests, when you look at progression over the years, show that the current generation are smarter than the past. So you guys are smarter than us!

As President Obama said, “we must always be suspicious of those who are always talking about the good old days”. Today the great days have come.
As for our personal failures and shortcomings of the past, you are in good company, everyone who has ever succeeded must have their own stories of failure. Their own personal failings and their shortcoming.

Indeed success is only success because you can compare it with failure.

Permit me as I close to make a few, in some cases controversial statements;

I would like you to remember this, even if only a few years from now, you may find out that it is not true.

The first is that dreams pursued with single mindedness are more powerful than facts.

Courage and persistence can triumph even over experience; no matter whose experience it is.

The third is that hope and imagination are more potent than history. Because your history is not necessarily your destiny.

So let me wish that in the years to come through, your vision, can bring you, your nations and our continent prosperity.

Thank you very much.


Released by
Laolu Akande
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Publicity
Office of the Vice President
15th October, 2017

President Buhari Receives Young Admirers, Nicole, Maya and Aisha

President Muhammadu Buhari Monday in Abuja received three young admirers in the State House, who have demonstrated high interest in his administration, and prayed for his recovery during ill-health.

Three-year old Maya Jammal became an internet sensation when her videoed prayer for the President’s recovery went viral, while 10 year-old Aisha Aliyu Gebbi penned a personal letter to President Buhari describing herself as his “biggest fan’’.

Nicole Benson, 12 years old, had contributed N5,785 to the President’s campaign in 2015, which was all saved up from her lunch allowance and pocket money.

“I am very impressed by what the children have been able to do,’’ President Buhari said, “I can see the little Maya is shy. I watched her video where she was praying for my recovery when I was ill.’’

The President attributed his victory at the polls to the contributions of good hearted Nigerians, like young Nicole, who is from Lagos State, and showed her support by sending her personal savings.

"Nicole, I congratulate you, and myself for being here today. Your contribution made a great impact. As you can see, I am here in the Presidential Villa. Thank you,’’ he said.

President Buhari told Aisha that her letter was heart-warming, noting that he felt re-assured knowing he had fans amongst the children.

“Thank you very much for the letter,’’ he said.

The President said he looked forward to more visits from the children. “I am hoping that it will not be the first and last time we will be meeting while I am here. We will continue to meet even after I have left here.’’

Speaking on behalf of the parents, Hon. Aliyu Ibrahim Gebbi, said the President’s gesture of inviting the children to the Presidential Villa was a dream come true.

Gebbi said the invitation also added to the President’s long standing record of good heartedness and fairness.

“In a nation with few legends and accuracy of truth, we look up to you, Mr. President, and our children are looking up to you,’’ he added.

Maya lives in the FCT, while Aisha came in from Bauchi State.


Femi Adesina
Special Adviser to the President
(Media & Publicity)
October 16, 2017

VIDEO: Impact of the Presidential Fertilizer Initiative (PFI), so far. It kicked off February 2017.

Click to watch: https://web.facebook.com/TheAsoVilla/videos/697898137067585/

Details here: http:///PFING

What ‘Ag. President’ Approved For NNPC Were Not Contracts

Our attention has been drawn to some misleading reports suggesting that the Vice President approved certain procurement contracts for the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). This is totally false, as the approvals referred to were actually for financing arrangements in replacement of the traditional Joint Venture Cash Call obligations.

In the statement of NNPC recently released in response to allegations made by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, reference was made to various financing arrangements with NNPC’s Joint Venture Partners, which were approved by the Presidency under the current administration.

There were three such loan financing arrangements made for:
(i) NNPC/Chevron Joint Venture Project
(ii) NNPC/Chevron Accelerated Upstream Production Project
(iii) NNPC/Shell/Total/Agip Joint Venture Accelerated Upstream
Production Project

While the first was approved by the President in person, the second and third were approved by the Vice President as Acting President.

The NNPC Act, Cap. N. 123, Laws of the Federation, (updated to 2010), authorises the Corporation to borrow such sums as it may require in the exercise of its functions.

Sub section (2) goes further to specify the only precondition:
“The Corporation shall not, without the approval of the President, borrow any sum of money whereby the amount in aggregate outstanding on any loan or loans at any time exceeds such amounts as is for the time being specified by the President.”

Furthermore, subsection (4) provides that
“Where any sum required aforesaid –
a. is to be in currency other than Naira; and
b. is to be borrowed by the Corporation otherwise than temporarily,
the Corporation shall not borrow the sum without the prior approval of the President.

These financings are purely commercial loans obtained by NNPC and its Joint Venture partners, mainly from local and foreign banks, to perform their exploration and production activities. Repayments are also made out of revenues from the crude oil produced directly by the funded project. Unfortunately, they are being confused with contracts for goods and services.

The alternative financing arrangements became necessary as inability of Government to meet its cash call obligations had stalled further investments in the petroleum sector and reduced the country’s production capacity.


Laolu Akande
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Publicity
Office of the Vice President
12 October, 2017

What ‘Ag. President’ Approved For NNPC Were Not Contracts

Our attention has been drawn to some misleading reports suggesting that the Vice President approved certain procurement contracts for the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). This is totally false, as the approvals referred to were actually for financing arrangements in replacement of the traditional Joint Venture Cash Call obligations.

In the statement of NNPC recently released in response to allegations made by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, reference was made to various financing arrangements with NNPC’s Joint Venture Partners, which were approved by the Presidency under the current administration.

There were three such loan financing arrangements made for:
(i) NNPC/Chevron Joint Venture Project
(ii) NNPC/Chevron Accelerated Upstream Production Project
(iii) NNPC/Shell/Total/Agip Joint Venture Accelerated Upstream
Production Project

While the first was approved by the President in person, the second and third were approved by the Vice President as Acting President.

The NNPC Act, Cap. N. 123, Laws of the Federation, (updated to 2010), authorises the Corporation to borrow such sums as it may require in the exercise of its functions.

Sub section (2) goes further to specify the only precondition:
“The Corporation shall not, without the approval of the President, borrow any sum of money whereby the amount in aggregate outstanding on any loan or loans at any time exceeds such amounts as is for the time being specified by the President.”

Furthermore, subsection (4) provides that
“Where any sum required aforesaid –
a. is to be in currency other than Naira; and
b. is to be borrowed by the Corporation otherwise than temporarily,
the Corporation shall not borrow the sum without the prior approval of the President.

These financings are purely commercial loans obtained by NNPC and its Joint Venture partners, mainly from local and foreign banks, to perform their exploration and production activities. Repayments are also made out of revenues from the crude oil produced directly by the funded project. Unfortunately, they are being confused with contracts for goods and services.

The alternative financing arrangements became necessary as inability of Government to meet its cash call obligations had stalled further investments in the petroleum sector and reduced the country’s production capacity.


Laolu Akande
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Publicity
Office of the Vice President
12 October, 2017

Bonny-Bodo Road Project: A Promise Kept By President Buhari To Transform The Niger Delta, Says Osinbajo

*FG keeping faith with Niger Delta New Vision to bring prosperity to the region

*“The Federal Government welcomes the private sector to take the lead, proceeding with the assurance that we will be there every step of the way as enablers and catalysts.”

Address By His Excellency, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, GCON, Vice President, Federal Republic Of Nigeria, At The Groundbreaking Ceremony Of The Bonny-Bodo Bridge/Road Project, Held At Bonny Island, Rivers State, On Thursday, October 12, 2017.

Protocol

I rejoice with the people of Rivers State on this significant day, marking the flag-off of the Bonny-Bodo Road/Bridges project, which will link the Island of Bonny to the Mainland of Bodo.

The idea behind the Bonny-Bodo Bridge is about 40 years old; but until now, it has remained merely an idea.

It is no secret that at one time in our very recent past, Nigeria earned in excess of $100 for every barrel of crude oil sold, yet significant projects like the Bonny-Bodo Bridge remained undone.

Today, we are earning probably 60% less than in the past five years, but we are spending the highest ever amount on capital projects so that projects like the Bonny-Bodo Bridge are being done.

The Buhari administration is proving that the clear advantage of good governance is that you can do more with less.

In his inaugural speech on May 29, 2015, President Buhari promised to invest heavily in the Niger Delta, and to ensure peace and prosperity. Today is, therefore, not only for the flag-off of an important road project, it is also for the commemoration of a promise kept.

The Bonny-Bodo bridge and road project is a Public Private Partnership arrangement, in which the Federal Government and the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Company Limited (NLNG) will each bear 50 per cent of the N120.6 billion that it will cost to complete the bridge. It is only the latest in a series of similarly transformational infrastructure partnerships ongoing across the country.

Government’s gratitude goes to the NLNG for their enthusiasm and their cooperation, for putting their money towards this landmark project. I hope that other companies and corporations will emulate them in this regard.

This administration is a firm believer in the power and potential of the private sector to deliver the infrastructure that Nigeria urgently requires. It is clear that government cannot, on its own, plug Nigeria’s intimidating infrastructure deficit – nor should it even try to. The Federal Government welcomes the private sector to take the lead, proceeding with the assurance that we will be there every step of the way as enablers and catalysts.

It is the Federal Government’s firm belief that the greatest proof that democracy works ought to be found in the tangible improvements that citizens experience in their lives and communities.

This road, during construction, will create jobs directly for engineers, artisans, and labourers, and indirectly for food vendors and suppliers, transporters, quarry operators and so many others in the construction value chain.

Upon completion, the project will permanently transform the lives of tens of thousands of Nigerian citizens in and around Bonny Island. It will alleviate the hardship faced by commuters along the Bonny-Bodo axis; facilitate the operations of the NLNG, and bring significant benefit to the lives of farmers, traders, schoolchildren and travellers.

The Bonny-Bodo Bridge project is a dividend of the blossoming peace in the Niger Delta. For this, government’s gratitude goes to all the Stakeholders: Governors, Traditional Rulers, Community Leaders, Civil Society Groups, Women, Youths and all those who have accepted our hand of fellowship and demonstrated faith in our New Vision for the Niger Delta.

The first of November will make it one year since the meeting of Niger Delta elders under the aegis of the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) with President Muhammadu Buhari, which set in motion a chain of events that delivered that new vision.

The new vision for the Niger Delta is a new way of thinking and of doing, aimed at ensuring that the people of the Delta benefit maximally from the wealth of their land. It is the embodiment of our commitment to achieving a clean break from the neglect and the failed promises that defined the past.

Since the beginning of the year, I have visited all the states of the Niger Delta and a number of the oil bearing communities, sharing the message of the new vision, and even more importantly, listening and engaging with citizens and communities.

Every part of Nigeria matters to us as a government. We will continue to demonstrate this in ways small and large,

Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, on behalf of the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, and on behalf of the Federal Government of Nigeria, I have the distinct honour and pleasure of flagging-off the Bonny-Bodo Bridge, as a symbol of change, of hope, of renewal, and of our commitment to investing in what truly matters the most – the welfare of our people.

Long live our democracy. Thank you and God bless the Niger Delta, and Nigeria.


Released by
Laolu Akande
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Publicity
Office of the Vice President
12th October, 2017.

Africans' Ingenuity, Resilience & Incredible Opportunities Make The Continent Work, Says Osinbajo At London FT Africa Summit

*FG Will Raise Capital Expenditure Further In 2018 Budget - VP

Being The Full Text Of The Keynote Address Delivered By His Excellency, The Vice President, Federal Republic Of Nigeria, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, At The Financial Times Africa Summit, Held At Claridge's Hotel In Mayfair, London, On Monday, 9 October, 2017.

Good morning everyone.

Let me begin by saying, it is a special pleasure and privilege to be here with you this morning. And I think the Financial Times deserves every commendation for providing this platform, for discussing the region's investment climate with a global audience. I am also grateful for the invitation to deliver this Keynote Address.

I am told that this year's summit seeks to focus our attention on what is working in Africa in the hope of drawing broader lessons that could benefit the continent as a whole. I have also been asked to speak very briefly on our ease of doing business efforts in Nigeria.

Regarding the question that FT asks, What makes Africa work?, I am pleased to say that searching for answers is not as exasperating as it might have been even a decade ago. Today we can demonstrate with clear examples that what makes Africa work are the ingenuity and resilience of the people, especially its 70% youth population, leadership and good governance, allowing the private sector and markets to function, focusing on infrastructural development, and the incredible opportunities that abound. Somehow everyone has a hunch that if you are not around when Africa truly gets going, it would be much like the skeptics who stood on the side-lines in the 1990s convinced that China was going nowhere. How wrong they were!

Strong visionary leadership committed to good governance has proved to be critical where our economies have recorded successes.

Nigeria earning 60% less revenue than 5 years ago, last year still invested N1.3T in infrastructure , the largest capital spend in its history and will increase that in the 2018 budget . Good governance, prudent management of resources, means that you can do more with far less. Ethiopia delivered its light rail and within Addis Ababa ahead of schedule, and Ethiopia/Djibouti rail with no cost overruns. Rwanda has shrugged off the tragedy of genocide of barely 20 years ago, delivering on infrastructure and earned its place as the second easiest place to do business in Africa. Ghana is galloping away with GDP growth figures this year of in excess of 8%.

Across the entire continent there is a commitment to providing much needed infrastructure in the form of power stations, ports, rail networks, roads, that not only bring down the cost of doing business but also actively engage the private sector in funding, in operation and or ownership. And I would come back to this point.

Nigeria recently announced the commencement of the process of concessioning its major airports with a view to attracting world class investors and, of course, world class operators.

But, perhaps, most importantly, Africa now recognizes the limitations of governments, in cash and capacity, to run businesses. The wisdom today is in letting the private sector invest wherever it can, and in practically any sector of the economy even in those that once carried the halo of national security assets such as telecoms and power. Consequently we have seen the emergence of dynamic pan-African investors, who on account of their track records are even able to borrow commercially cheaper than Governments.

Aliko Dangote, is, of course, an excellent example with investments in cement manufacturing in 10 African countries and is about to complete a 650,000 barrels per day Refinery in Lagos, Nigeria, the largest single line Refinery in the world and larger than all four of government-owned refineries put together; a dedicated 550 kilometre subsea pipeline passing through major gas processing hubs across the country bringing crude to that refinery. He is also investing in a 3 million Metric Tonnes fertilizer plant in the location, the largest single line in the world.

Although the sizes of investments differ, the subtext is the same: the confidence of local African investors in the opportunities available on the continent.

In broadband infrastructure for example, Funke Opeke, the Nigerian-born broadband entrepreneur's MAIN ONE company launched West Africa's first privately owned submarine cable. The cable was built over a 2-year period and the initial investment of $240 million was financed entirely by African investors and the project broke even just over 2 years after launch. Even during the economic turbulence, in 2016, private capital recognized the potential in infrastructure investments. General Electric (GE) infused $186M of investment in Phase 1 of the Nigerian Fast Power Program, and entered into an MOU with seven States in the North of Nigeria where radiation is highest, to supply 1000 MW of solar power across the states. GE is also finalizing the documentation for the concession of our Lagos-Kano narrow gauge rail line, which will focus on cargo transportation from the Apapa Port northwards passing through several economically strategic cities Northwards to Kano. This involves a total investment of USD2.2B.

And the opportunities are enormous indeed. Let me tell you another quick story. Nigeria's 180 million people, over 50 million have no access to power. As part of our diversifying power sources to improve access we started a programme of providing solar power in several thousand homes in rural villages. We started in Wuna a village just outside Abuja. Wuna is an agrarian community. It is not on the grid, and had no other source of power. To charge their phones, an entrepreneur with a small generator runs a service in the village. So you take your phone to his shop once a day or so, and you pay a small fee for charging. Life in Wuna shuts down at about 7pm until daylight. But working with a PPP model, the government owned NDPHC partnered with Azuri technology, a private solar company, to provide a domestic solar solution.

Azuri had provided the same end to end service in East Africa. A solar home system, including a payment system. The system costs N1,900 a month ( about 7 dollars a month) . For the first time in its existence, the village now has running water that is solar-powered and the school has power. The school hall is now used as a community hall in the evenings. Each home has 4 points of light. Children can now stay up and do some studying at night. Many of Wuna's women can process their millet and yams at night now. New jobs have been created, solar installers, maintenance, payment systems. One guy has lost his business in Wuna, the phone charger. Every household can now charge their phones. The point is that there are millions of homes waiting for solar power. There are opportunities for very many Azuris.

The opportunities in our power sector are immense, especially as we open up the sector further. Nigeria's National Electricity Regulatory Commission in August issued the eligible customer directives and will this month issue directives on independent metering. The eligible customer regime allows a willing seller willing buyer arrangements in the sale of power, which effectively breaks the monopoly of the distribution company; supplier-buyer exclusively. While the independent metering directive allows independent entities aside from registered power distribution companies to sell and install meters to customers and be paid directly as collections are made from metered customers. This deepening of the privatization of the power sector is bound to create a fresh bounce in investment activity.

The story of investors in agriculture in Nigeria is also worth hearing. Carlos, is a Mexican farmer and proprietor of San Carlos farms, possibly the largest banana and pineapples farm in Mexico. He partnered with local investors to replicate his hugely successful fruit and vegetable farms in Mexico in Nigeria. The idea was to grow for export. He currently farms close to 5000 hectares across 6 States. After his first harvest, he exported nothing but turned in a decent profit . His partners asked him what the magic was. His answer, 'we cannot even satisfy the local demand,'

Besides, according to him it was even more lucrative to sell locally than to export. Agricultural production, or manufacture of fast moving goods in a market the size of Nigeria and the adjoining ECOWAS market is quite frankly a no- brainer.

Fahad Awadh, a 29-year old entrepreneur from Tanzania who set up a cashew processing facility in Tanzania also underscores the immense opportunities in the agriculture value chain. The factory brings international standards and traceability to the cashew nuts. The company's flagship processing facility in Zanzibar has an installed capacity of 2,500 Tons per annum, and recently raised a $500,000 investment from the Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund to establish another processing facility in Mtwara, south-eastern Tanzania.

But If I were a betting man I would surely put my money on African businesses that demonstrate an awareness of how technology will be an exponential catalyst for business. All over Africa telephony and technology are unearthing literally riches that were hitherto unknown. Kenya's M-pesa has become the largest mobile telephony payment solution in the world. The story of how MTN in Nigeria became the largest mobile network in Africa in less than a decade is still the stuff of legendary investment stories. But the point to note is that those who missed that pioneer telecoms opportunity typically assumed that the Nigerian market was large but not rich enough to translate the numbers to cash. How wrong they were.

Today, companies such as Flutterwave a payment solutions company, Andela a software development engineering company, Jobberman, an on-line human resource company, and Konga, an on line mall , are poignant examples of how young African entrepreneurs are using technology disruptively to create profit in various business lines. And evidently, smart money all over the world is paying attention.

For example, Flutterwave, saw an investment of 10 million USD, and Konga an impressive 25 million USD, the second biggest amount raised by an African start-up business on the continent. And Andela attracted equity investment from Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg.

Over the last few decades, the global perception of Africa has evolved from a “Hopeless Continent” to the “Africa Rising” rhetoric, to a pride of “Lions on the Move”. But, however one chooses to slice it, the African growth story is real. Major global analysts appear united in the view that Africa has the highest number of economies projected to grow above 5% by 2030 .

Although in the last few years we have seen a number of African economies experience major economic challenges including Nigeria due to the crash in resource prices on the global market, and as a result, Africa's real GDP grew at an average of 3 percent a year between 2010 and 2015, considerably slower than the 5.4 percent from 2000 to 2010. And although FDIs and other capital flows to Africa have slowed and accessing global markets is tough. Yet, this overall picture is misleading.

When you unpack the average growth rate of the African region, you find a good number of outlier growth stories, such as Ghana, which as mentioned recently recorded a 9% year-on-year growth in GDP for the second quarter of 2017 - I believe that is about the highest in the world. In 2016, many other African economies maintained high growth rates - for example, Ethiopia and Cote d'Ivoire grew by approximately 7%; while Kenya, Mauritius, Rwanda and Senegal grew by about 6% on average. The rest of Africa posted accelerating growth at an average annual rate of 4.4 percent in 2010 to 2015, compared with 4.1 percent in 2000 to 2010.

All told despite the obvious fact that other human development indices have not advanced apace with growth figures, I think it Is evident that the continent's fundamentals are genuinely strong.

Permit me then to speak briefly about some of the specific efforts that we are making in Nigeria to enable the private sector thrive. Specifically and in addition to on-going investments in production and infrastructure some which I have referred to, we are undertaking extensive 'ease of doing business' reforms. To start with, we have worked assiduously to improve macroeconomic conditions. After a continuous slide in growth since 2014, the trend of growth in GDP has turned around with a modest growth of 0.55% in the second quarter of this year while inflation, though still somewhat high, has declined from its peak of 15.7% in January 2017 to about 16% today.

The outlook going forward is quite positive based on improvements in oil prices and production and the trend of leading indicators such as positive purchasing managers indices, a revived stock exchange and increasing foreign exchange reserves. Moreover, the uncertainties in the foreign exchange market have abated with the introduction of a new window for investors and exporters (NIFEX) which gives more transparency and guarantees repatriation of funds. NIFEX relies entirely on market, on greater transparency and on guarantee of availability of funds. The results have been encouraging as the inflows of capital in the second quarter of 2017 of about $1.8 billion were almost double the amount of $908 million imported in the first quarter of the year.

Indeed, investor interest remains undoubtedly strong with announced investments of $22.42 billion from January to August 2017 in 41 projects across 22 states. And I would like to emphasize this, that Nigeria is a large economy and several of the states are huge economies of their own. And going by the investments that are going directly to the states, it is evident that investors are recognizing that dealing with some of the states in Nigeria, they simply have the capacity to be able to do whatever forms of business they have.

Importantly, for the first time, coordinated efforts are underway to make it easier to do business in Nigeria. Through systemic changes, we are repositioning regulators as facilitators of business, and are steadily improving transparency and efficiency of service delivery by the public sector.

In the first stage, reforms were introduced under a 60-day national action plan focused on eight areas that make it easier to register businesses, obtain construction permits, get credit, pay taxes, get electricity, trade across borders, facilitate entry and exit of people and register property.

Practical examples of success include leveraging the use of technology to fast track business registration and payment of taxes, a functioning tried and tested 48 hour electronic visa procedure, and an Executive Order mandating greater transparency and efficiency across all government agencies. The reforms have led to reduction in cost and time, as well as greater transparency for small and medium sized enterprises in particular.

These reforms are complemented by a welcoming attitude to investment. To properly guide investors and make it easier for them to access required information, the National Investment Promotion Commission will be releasing a Compendium of Investment Incentives in Nigeria by the end of this month. Similarly, we have recently reviewed and revised our pioneer status programme which gives five year tax holidays across eligible sectors. And of course in some cases, tax holidays can also be negotiated in excess of the five year period.

Following the 70% success rate achieved in the first phase of the ease of doing business reforms, we recently embarked on a second national action plan which will have 11 areas of focus and will run for 60 days from October 2017.

The Nigerian government is intent on bringing about rapid, sustainable and inclusive growth in order to improve the lot of our dynamic and hardworking people of Nigeria. We realise that the scale of the challenge is huge given our large and rapidly growing population and the relentless march of progress in other parts of the world. We are nevertheless determined and optimistic that Nigeria will along with the rest of the continent will bring about an Africa that works for all its people and contributes to global growth and prosperity.

The lessons that Africa has learnt in the past few years, is simple, there is no African exceptionalism , what makes Africa work, is what makes economies work any where, honest visionary leadership and good governance, letting the private sector and markets lead, diversification from resource based revenues and developing the potential of the Human Resources available within the continent.

And I am convinced that what makes Africa works, is what will work anywhere else and I think that we have tried to demonstrate that in so many African economies especially in the past few years.

Thank you very much.


Released by
Laolu Akande
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Publicity
Office of the Vice President
10th October, 2019

Ten Specific Actions Buhari Administration Took In Response To Issues & Questions Raised During Last Year's National Economic Summit, By VP Osinbajo.

*Says At National Economic Summit: FG Will Enable Nigeria's Private Sector, It's The Bigger Contributor To The National Economy.

Speech Delivered By His Excellency, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, SAN GCON, Vice President, Federal Republic Of Nigeria, Titled “Opportunities, Productivity, and Employment: Actualizing the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan’’ At The Opening Session Of The 23rd Nigerian Economic Summit Held at The Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja On Tuesday Oct. 10, 2017.

Protocol

It is a pleasure to be here at this year’s National Economic Summit. I bring you the warm greetings of President Muhammadu Buhari who sends his best wishes for successful deliberations at this meeting.

The annual Economic Summit occupies a special place in our national economic dialogue. It is at once a statement of the priority that we attach as a government to close collaboration between the government and the private sector and at the same time an opportunity for us all to engage in meaningful discussions on the economy.

Our policy of partnering with the private sector is also borne out of reality. While the Federal Government on its part is determined to build a modern economy, its ability to do so is limited by the fact that its annual budgeted expenditure of seven trillion naira is only a small part of a multi trillion naira economy.

The private sector is clearly the bigger contributor to the economy. It thus follows that the private sector must be enabled and encouraged to play its decisive role if our development efforts are to succeed.

In the period since the last summit, the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan was articulated and adopted. This dynamic document which was developed through extensive consultations with stakeholders lays out national economic priorities over the next three years with a short term focus on getting the economy out of recession and placing it on a trajectory of sustained inclusive growth in the long term.

Several issues were raised at last year’s economic summit and in keeping with our commitment to keep faith with the work of the summit, several significant actions have been taken by the Federal Government in response to the issues raised.

Let me now speak to some of them.

1. Out Of Recession
First, the economy has now returned to the path of growth after a continuous slide from 2014. As is now well known, we exited recession in the second quarter of 2017 with a GDP growth rate of 0.55% while inflation has similarly declined continuously from its peak of about 18% in January 2017 to about 16% today.

2. Forex Availability
Second, last year there were concerns about the availability of foreign exchange and a rapidly deteriorating exchange rate. The situation has been turned around and stabilised.

Foreign exchange reserves have risen to about $33 billion and end users have increased access to foreign exchange partly due to increased export earnings and remittances as well as the introduction of a dedicated transparent window for Investors and Exporters (NIFEX).

The results have been encouraging as the inflows of capital in the second quarter of 2017 of about $1.8 billion were almost double the amount of $908 million imported in the first quarter of the year.

3. Oil Production Ramped Up
Third, another issue of great concern last year that has been resolved was the loss of a significant amount of oil production. At some stage last year, we were losing up to one million barrels a day of crude oil production but thanks to the series of engagements we had with stakeholders in the Niger Delta on the New Vision for that region, production has been restored to nearly 2 million barrels per day.

At the same time, the debt overhang preventing required additional investments in the oil sector has been addressed through the plan to pay off Joint Venture cash call arrears. There is renewed confidence in the sector and we are already seeing significant investments.

4. New Power Sector Initiatives
Fourth, for a variety of reasons including shortage of gas, limitations in transmission capacity and financing constraints, power supply was in the region of about 3000MW. We tackled these issues and although still vastly inadequate, power supply has moved up to 7000MW. We are at the moment dealing with the constraints in distribution, with two notable policy interventions.

The National Electricity Regulatory Commission in August issued the eligible customer directives and will this month issue directives on independent metering.

The eligible customer regime allows a willing-seller/willing-buyer arrangement in the sale of power. While the independent metering directive allows independent entities aside from registered power distribution companies to sell and install meters to customers and be paid directly as collections are made from metered customers.

This will break the distribution gridlock and there is good cause to believe that we will achieve the 10,000MW envisaged in the ERGP.

5. Take-Off Of The Agricultural Diversification Of The Economy & It's Many Benefits
Fifth, we undertook to begin the process of diversifying the economy leading with the agricultural sector. Agriculture has created a large number of jobs and is an important source of raw materials and means of generating foreign exchange.

The Anchor Borrowers Programme launched by the President in 2015 has benefitted up to 200,000 small scale farmers and attracted investments of up to N43.92 billion from participating institutions.

What is particularly encouraging is that we are moving steadily towards self-sufficiency in rice and also scaling up in eight other commodities and produce that are vital for food security but which can also be exported.

The Presidential Fertilizer Initiative has resuscitated 11 blending plants with a capacity of 2.1 million metric tons with the product being sold to farmers at N5,500 without subsidy and far less than prevailing market prices.

But the best news is the enthusiastic response of the private sector. Wacot opened its 120,000 metric tons parboiled rice plant in Kebbi in August. Indorama opened its 1.5 million metric tons fertilizer plant, while Dangote announced its investments in 1 million metric tons of rice mills.

6. Revitalisation Of The Railway Sector
Sixth, this time last year we had promised to take steps to revitalize the railway sector. The now concessioned narrow gauge railway will soon come into full operation and help to redress the high cost of freight especially of food items.

I also had the distinct pleasure of kicking-off the construction of the Lagos-Ibadan segment of the Lagos-Kano standard gauge railway line earlier this year.

7. Closer Government And Business Consultations
The seventh issue is the complaint made at last year’s National Economic Summit about lack of consultations with the private sector. We refuted this then but of course it can certainly no longer be said to be the case.

The Industrial Policy and Competitiveness Advisory Council which I chair and consisting, as it does, of leaders of the public and private sector is an excellent example of government-business cooperation and is contributing through various recommendations to addressing the challenges facing the manufacturing sector.

Moreover, we have now had several sessions of the Presidential Quarterly Business Forum which enable an exchange of views between the Federal Government and the organised private sector.
The last meeting had a very useful interaction between the private sector and heads of regulatory agencies on how to improve the business environment.

8. Ease Of Doing Business Reforms
This leads me to the eight area which is our efforts to improve the business environment. The Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council, PEBEC introduced reforms under a 60-day national action plan focused on eight areas that make it easier to register businesses, obtain construction permits, get credit, pay taxes, get electricity, trade across borders, facilitate entry and exit of people and register property.

The evidence coming from the business community itself is that these changes are becoming manifest such as the electronic visa on arrival process and faster business registration.

The second national action plan which will bring about similar results was launched at the beginning of this month.

9. Implementation Progress In Social Investment Programmes
Ninth, this time last year most of our social investment programmes were framed around promises. This has of course since changed.

The N-Power programme for unemployed graduates has employed 200,000 young people with another 300,000 set to be recruited. With regard to the Home Grown School Feeding Programme about 3 million children across 14 States are participating in the programme with the numbers expected to ramp up as it begins to cover 21 States in this new academic session. The GEEP programme which gives credit to MSME’s is also growing quite rapidly.

10. MSMES Clinics In 10 States
The challenges and obstacles facing MSMEs is the tenth area in which progress has been made since the last National Economic Summit. We have addressed the regulatory and financial challenges facing this crucial set of actors through a number of actions.

The National MSME Clinics taking place across some states in a systematic manner has helped several thousand MSMEs to engage with regulators regarding processes such as business and product registration, access to finance and export requirements amongst others.

In addition, an Executive Order promoting local content in government procurement has been issued intended to give preference to Nigerian small businesses in specific sectors.

One of the critical things that the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria has proposed to us in support of the local content initiative is what they described as 'margins of preference' for local content goods. In order words, what they are saying is that if you prefer locally made goods then you must take care of the problems that local content goods have, in order words, they are usually more expensive than the imported goods, so you have to take care of that by what they call 'margins of preference.'

So, we are looking at that proposal and we are looking at the percentage for procurement purposes. But we do agree with the principle that if we are going to promote local content goods then we must find ways of preferring them to imported ones and we think that the margins of preference is a sensible way to do so.

These ten issues are not the complete picture of what has been done but rather an indication of responses to issues raised here last year. The Buhari Administration remains focused on implementing the ERGP and our actions thus far are just the beginning of changes required to turn the economy around.

The key thing is that issues of concern raised in this forum have been systematically addressed and we are committed in doing so and we want to continue to work on some of the other lingering concerns.

We are concerned as most of you are, with the very high interest rates and of course most of that have to do with government borrowing. Since the evidence points to a crowding out of the private sector, the Federal Government is reducing its demand for domestic paper and will seek to refinance maturing domestic debt with longer tenor and cheaper external borrowing.

Meanwhile, intervention funds will continue to be made available through the Bank of Industry, and repositioned NEXIM & Bank of Agriculture and the newly established Development Bank of Nigeria.

Going forward, the Federal Government will continue to sustain the dialogue with the private sector most notably through this National Economic Summit but also through the Presidential Quarterly Business Forum, and various sectoral bodies.

We count on the continued engagement of the private sector to support the economic policies of this administration and I look forward with anticipation to receiving the outcomes of this 23rd National Economic Summit.

It is now my pleasure to formally declare open the 23rd Session of the National Economic Summit.

Thank you.


Released by
Laolu Akande
Senior Special Assistant to the President (Media & Publicity)
Office of the Vice President
10th October, 2017

Troops Ambush Boko Haram Terrorists Recover Weapons And Motorcycle

The Troops of 151 and 202 Battalions of 21 Brigade Nigerian Army, under Operation LAFIYA DOLE in furtherance of clearance and blockade Operation DEEP PUNCH II in separate but well-coordinated attacks simultaneously on Wednesday, 4th October 2017 at about 10:00am laid ambush on unsuspecting Boko Haram Terrorists (BHTs) along Firgi-Pulka road in Bama Local Government Area of Borno State.

The Troops engaged the terrorists with a heavy fire causing the terrorists to abandon their weapons and flee in disarray with Gun Shot wounds.

In the first instance upon exploitation, troops recovered from the ambush site one General Multi-Purpose Machine Gun (GPMG) and one motorcycle.

They also successfully discovered and safely detonated an unexploded ordnance. However, the troops followed with a hot pursuit, neutralized one terrorist and recovered 6 bundles of zinc.

In the same vein, crack troops of 22 Brigade of Operation LAFIYA DOLE displayed gallantry on 4th October at about 6:05pm by intercepting 3 Boko Haram terrorists disguised as Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and trying to infiltrate a barrier. The vigilant troops engaged the suicide bombers forcing them to hastily detonate their suicide vest.

The troops recovered 2 AK-47 rifles, 2 magazines with several rounds of ammunition and amongst other items. The troops’ action saved what would have been another evil machination of BHTs ploy to utilize suicide bombing to inflict heavy casualties on soft targets.

You are please requested to disseminate this information to the public through your medium.

Thank you for your kind cooperation.


Brigadier General Sani Kukasheka Usman
Director Army Public Relations
October 5, 2017.

Buhari Administration Kicks Off Ease Of Doing Business Action Plan 2

*Nigeria climbs two steps in the World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Index

As part of the Buhari administration’s medium term Economic Growth & Recovery Plan (EGRP) to build a globally competitive economy, the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) on Tuesday kicked off the National Action Plan (NAP) 2.0.

The new action plan, which will run from 3rd October to 1st December 2017, is expected to further reduce the challenges faced by SMEs when getting credit, paying taxes, or moving goods across the country, amongst others, by removing critical bottlenecks and bureaucratic constraints to doing business in Nigeria.

It will be recalled that PEBEC, which is chaired by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, had, on 26th September, 2017, approved a second 60-day National Action Plan (NAP 2.0) to drive reforms aimed at making Nigeria a progressively easier place to do business.

The NAP 2.0 marks the beginning of another reform cycle 2017/2018 which aims to deepen the ease of doing business reforms implemented across the various Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) in the last 12 months and will in turn increase productivity through industrialization, enhanced exports and foreign exchange earnings, while creating jobs and reducing poverty.

A previous 60-day National Action Plan on Ease of Doing Business was approved on February 21, 2017. The National Action Plan contained initiatives and actions implemented by responsible Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), the National Assembly, the Governments of Lagos and Kano states, as well as some private sector stakeholders.

Some of the reforms to be implemented to ease the process of starting a business include eliminating the manual registration process at Corporate Affairs Commission in 10 additional states, increase access to credit for SMEs by registering at least 300 micro-finance banks on the collateral registry, and enforce the elimination of illegal roadblocks on major trading routes across the country.

MDAs have been charged by the Council to treat the Ease of Doing Business initiatives with a sense of urgency and deliver impactful results by implementing the Executive Order 001 on transparency and efficiency. The Executive Order E01, which was signed Prof. Osinbajo on 18th May, 2017, ensures that citizens have complete clarity on all government requirements and processes, better cooperation and improved information sharing among MDAs, as well as requiring proper communication of approval or rejection of applications to Nigerians within the stipulated timeframe.

The reforms will also improve the country’s ranking in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Index 2019. Recently, Nigeria rose two ranks up from its previous 127th to 125th position in the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) for 2017-2018. The country moved up marginally by one step from 170 to 169 in the 2017 World Bank Doing Business Report.

PEBEC, which was inaugurated in July 2016 by President Muhammadu Buhari, to remove critical bottlenecks and bureaucratic constraints to doing business in Nigeria, comprises 10 Honourable Ministers, with the Honourable Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Okey Enelamah, as Vice Chair, along with the Head of Service, the Central Bank Governor, representatives of the National Assembly, Lagos and Kano state governments, and the private sector.

The Ease of Doing Business reforms will be implemented over the next 60 days by the Enabling Business Environment Secretariat (EBES), which became fully operational in October 2016. It would be recalled that the EBES implemented PEBEC’s inaugural National Action Plan (NAP 60) from February to April 2017. The EBES is coordinated by Dr. Jumoke Oduwole, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Industry, Trade and Investment (OVP).


Laolu Akande
Senior Special Assistant, Media and Publicity
Office of the Vice President
4, October 2017

We Will Deliver On Ease Of Doing Business Reforms, Says Vice President Osinbajo

*More Initiatives Expected In Second Round National Action Plan

In an expanded meeting of the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council, a new National Action Plan intended to drive the ease of doing business reforms in the country have been approved.

"We restate our commitment to ensuring that we deliver on the ease of doing business reforms," Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, Council Chairman said at the expanded meeting which included the Chief Justice of the Federation, Justice Walter Onnoghen, Deputy Governor of Kano State, Prof. Hafiz Abubakar, a member of the National Assembly, Senator Bala N'Allah, representative of Lagos State government, several ministers and representatives of the private sector at the Presidential Villa.

The new National Action Plan NAP 2.0 has over 60 priority initiatives targeted to be attained by November this year.

The initiatives cover such areas including Starting a business, Construction Permits, Registering Property, Getting Electricity, Getting Credit, Paying Taxes, Trading Across Boders, Enforcing Contracts, Simplifying the Procurement Process, Entry and Exit of People, and Trading Within Nigeria.

It is hoped that a successful implementation of the NAP 2.0 would deliver significant benefits especially for SMEs including the fact that it would make 1.3 MSMEs eligible to do business with government, bring about 75% reduction in average clearance time for foreign travelers, 60% reduction in time to get electricity, 75% reduction in time to register business premises and 50% reduction in time for filing corporate income taxes.

While the initial NAP had a 70% performance rate, the final results of NAP 2.0 will be announced in December by the PEBEC Secretariat.

Welcoming the participation of the Chief Justice, Kano and Lagos State government representatives, the representative of the Senate President at the meeting, Vice President Osinbajo highlited the importance of the reform initiatives especially those around the Nigerian airports as an example.

"Improvements in the airport has a way of defining the change we are talking about, it will show we are serious," the VP told members of PEBEC.

The meeting was also attended by the Industry, Trade & Investment Minister, who is the Vice Chairman of PEBEC, the Attorney-General of the Federation/Minister of Justice, Ministers of Finance, Power, Works & Housing, Interior, Transportation and also the Minister of State for Industry, Trade & Investment and the Minister of State for Budget & National Planning. The Acting Secretary to the Government of the Federation was also at the meeting.

Earlier today at the Presidential Villa, the Vice President presided over the National Council on Privatization, NCP. He also spoke at the international conference of the African Tax Administrators Forum, ATAF held in Abuja.


Laolu Akande
Senior Special Assistant on Media & Publicity to the President
Office of the Vice President
26 Sept. 2017

African Countries Tax Losses Triple Annual Foreign Aid - Vice President Osinbajo

*How some multinationals dodge taxes in Africa

"Enforcement is, of course, another major issue that practically all tax authorities, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, have to deal with. Again surveys show increasing innovation and creativity by administrators in this regard."

"The elephant in the room in most discussions on tax in developing countries remains the problems of domestic resource mobilization. Addressing the tax gap, or the difference between what we collect and what we could collect."

Keynote Address By His Excellency, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, GCON, Vice President, Federal Republic Of Nigeria, At The African Tax Administrators Forum (ATAF) 3rd International Conference On Tax In Africa, Held At Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, On Tuesday, 26th September, 2017

Protocols

The African Tax administrators Forum deserves our commendation for this timely conference and its important theme, Building Strong Domestic Tax Regimes in Africa: Strengthening VAT, Personal Income Tax and Companies Income Tax’’.

The forum had committed to this cause since August 2008. After the international conference in 2008 on a somewhat similar theme: Taxation, State building and Capacity development in Africa, senior tax administrators and policy makers from 39 African countries agreed to work towards the “establishment of the forum as a platform for sharing best practices in taxation matters in the region”.

It is remarkable indeed that the forum has through the years been unwavering on its founding mission and ideals. But it is worth noting also that the tax problems of African states have remained much the same in complexity and character since.

The elephant in the room in most discussions on tax in developing countries remains the problems of domestic resource mobilization, addressing the tax gap, or the difference between what we collect and what we could collect.

The constraints are similar though in varying degrees across the continent. They include, a large informal sector, including large subsistence agricultural sectors, tax evasion and avoidance, tax exemptions, and inequitable and opaque rent-sharing arrangements in the extractive sector.

Significantly also, by the use of aggressive and often suspicious tax planning and transfer mis-pricing multinationals minimize their tax payments or, to put more graphically, dodge taxes.

The Thabo Mbeki report on illicit financial flows discloses shocking details of tax losses to African economies by these practices of multinationals and their local collaborators. Paradoxically the report shows that these practices lead to an estimated revenue loss for developing countries that is three times greater than the amount they receive in foreign aid each year.

However, the trend of the international debate on global tax issues is favourable to African economies and most African tax administrators must be following them closely.

There are two main items; the first is increasing transparency and information exchange, while the second is Base Erosion and Profit-Shifting (BEPS).

The former involves establishing automatic information exchange as the new global standard for cooperation in tax matters and ending legal secrecy of ownership of companies and trusts, especially those based in tax havens.

On Base Erosion and Profit Shifting, which has also done significant damage to domestic resource mobilization in Africa, a range of potential actions are planned by OECD countries. These include checking transfer mis-pricing, country-by-country reporting by transnational companies, international tax law, standards for international tax treaties, limits on tax planning activities and the tax treatment of the digital economy. These agendas have been endorsed by the G8 and the G20, thus giving them high- level support and momentum.

Although the immediate outcomes will benefit the OECD, EU and BRICs countries more African tax administrators must see the great opportunities in these initiatives and take advantage in developing domestic tax policies and regulations.

As an example of taking advantage of these initiatives we recently in Nigeria launched a Voluntary Assets & Income Declaration Scheme, backed by an executive order to provide an opportunity for taxpayers who are in default under all relevant statutes, to within 90 days, voluntarily declare their assets and income, and pay taxes on them while being forgiven payments of interests and penalties.

Although the scheme targets local tax evasion, we are also interested in the large number of Nigerians who own property abroad and have not been paying taxes on incomes from these assets. The British government's initiative on transparency in beneficial ownership of properties will greatly assist this drive.

I think it is important to emphasize that almost across Africa, tax administrators are actively engaged in extensive reforms and battling the resource difficulties that hamper those reforms. The issues of cost of collection and the appropriate technologies that could bring down these costs, developing relevant skills and management needed to effectively create and run efficient and transparent tax administrations, issues around institutional structure, the wisdom of ensuring autonomy of institutions of tax administration have stretched the creativity and resourcefulness of tax administrators across the continent.

Enforcement is, of course, another major issue that practically all tax authorities, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, have to deal with. Again, surveys show increasing innovation and creativity by administrators in this regard.

Permit me to say though that perhaps the equivalent of the invention of electricity for tax administration in Africa is inventing the solution to effectively collect taxes from our huge informal economies.

The easy argument is to suggest that we should wait until economic growth and development brings them into the formal systems. This is unhelpful. It has kept us on the same spot for decades. It seems to me that we must find a way of fixing this car while the engine is running.

I would urge that this conference consider some solutions to this problem along with the so many huge issues that will occupy your attention in the next few days.

Let me again commend ATAF for this most relevant knowledge exchange opportunity and our local host, the FIRS, who have proved to be one of the most innovative and forward-looking tax administrators in Africa.

On behalf of President Muhammadu Buhari and the government and people of Nigeria, I welcome you all most heartily and wish you exciting and useful deliberations.

It is on this note that I declare this 3rd African Tax administrators Forum conference open.


Released by
Laolu Akande
Senior Special Assistant to the President (Media & Publicity)
Office of the Vice President
26th September, 2017

Buhari Administration Engages National Assembly, Chief Justice In New Ease Of Doing Business Action Plan

In furtherance of the Buhari administration’s ease of doing business reforms, the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC), which is chaired by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, will, on Tuesday, consider new and specific initiatives to be implemented over a 60-day period in the National Action Plan 2.0.

It will be recalled that a previous 60-day National Action Plan on Ease of Doing Business was approved on February 21, 2017. The National Action Plan contained initiatives and actions implemented by responsible Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), the National Assembly, the Governments of Lagos and Kano states, as well as some private sector stakeholders.

The expanded PEBEC meeting will be attended by the Senate President, Senator Bukola Saraki, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, and the Chief Justice of the Federation, Justice Walter Onnoghen.

Also expected at the meeting are Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, and Kano State Governor, Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, as well as the Acting Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration Control, who was invited to the session, based on stakeholder feedback.

PEBEC, which was inaugurated in 2016 by President Muhammadu Buhari, comprises 10 Honourable Ministers, with the Honourable Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Okey Enelamah, as Vice Chair, along with the Head of Service, the Central Bank Governor, representatives of the National Assembly, Lagos and Kano states, and the private sector.

Recently, the Enabling Business Environment Secretariat (EBES) of the PEBEC released the 2016/2017 Reform Update document at the 5th Presidential Quarterly Business Forum held in Abuja on September 11, where the role of regulators as business facilitators was further discussed. This event was chaired by Prof. Osinbajo, and attended by ministers and Heads of Agencies, as well as leading companies in the private sector.


Laolu Akande
Senior Special Assistant on Media & Publicity to the President
Office of the Vice President
25 Sept. 2017

Over 19,000 Schools In 14 States Benefit From Federal Government School Feeding Programme

*5.5 million schoolchildren to be fed by end of 2017

Over 19,000 schools have so far been covered under the National Home Grown School Feeding Programme.

In total, 2,918,842 schoolchildren from 19,881 schools in the 14 pilot states of the federation have so far benefitted from the school feeding programme, which is part of President Muhammadu Buhari administration’s N500 billion Social Investment Programmes, SIPs.

A total of N6,643,432,789 billion have been disbursed by the Federal Government since the school feeding programme kicked off late last year.

With 3,325 schools, Kaduna State has the highest number of schools so far covered under the programme, as well as the highest number of schoolchildren (835,508) who have been fed.

It is closely followed by Benue State where 2,220 schools have been covered and 240,827 schoolchildren have been fed.

Zamfara State also recorded a high number, with 1,952 schools covered and 198,788 pupils fed under the programme.

Similarly, Bauchi State recorded impressive figures with 1,904 schools already covered, while 307,013 schoolchildren in the state have so far benefitted from the programme.

Also, a total of 1,850 schools have been covered and 151,438 pupils have been fed in Osun State.

In the same vein, 1,479 schools have been covered and 171,835 pupils fed so far in Taraba State; while a total of 1,403 schools have been covered in Oyo State, where 107,983 pupils have been fed.

In Anambra State, 807 schools have been covered and 103,742 schoolchildren have been fed so far, while in Enugu State, 108,898 pupils in 622 schools have been fed.

In Ebonyi State, the school feeding programme has so far covered 1,050 schools and 163,137 schoolchildren have been fed.

In Ogun State, 903 schools have so far been covered with 231,660 pupils fed. Also, a total of 95,134 schoolchildren in 882 schools have been fed in Plateau State.

Delta and Abia states recorded 742 schools each, with 141,663 and 61,316 schoolchildren fed respectively.

With the commencement of a new academic session in September, it is expected that more schools will benefit from the programme, as more states would be added to the list, in line with the Federal Government target that 5.5 million schoolchildren would be fed by the end of 2017.


Laolu Akande
Senior Special Assistant on Media & Publicity to the President
Office of the Vice President
25 Sept. 2017

Nigeria Is Very Proud Of Its Arts & Entertainment Talents, Says Vice President Osinbajo

ONE of the areas where Nigeria can be very proud is in the arts and entertainment industry, where talented Nigerians continue to show and exceed world-class performance standards, according to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN.

Prof. Osinbajo while receiving the cast of Wakaa:The Musical earlier today at the Presidential Villa noted that the industry has indeed proved clearly that “without anybody, even government coming to their aid, they can hold their own.”

But he also added that the Buhari administration would lend its support in “whatever way we are able.”

Recalling that he had seen some of the performances of the group, the Vice President noted that “it’s absolutely amazing, extremely professional.”

Commending the work of Nigerian actors, artists and performance especially in the creative industry, he stated that “we don't even need to compare ourselves. The Nigerian entertainment industry is in a class by itself. Absolutely incredible, real talent. There is no real comparison what our people are doing.”

Speaking earlier, the Information and Culture Minister, Alhaji Lai Mohammed who was also at the meeting said the Wakaa Musical performance which has been staged in several places including London, “is writing the name of Nigeria in gold, all over the world.”

The Wakaa cast was led by Bolanle Austen-Peters, Producer and Director and Bimbo Manuel, an actor.

In her remarks, Austen-Peters commended the Vice President for receiving the group in the Presidential Villa, noting that such a gesture at short notice was very encouraging, “it shows we are doing something.”

Vice President Osinbajo has been invited as Special Guest of Honour at a Command Performance of Wakaa on October 2, 2017, during the grand finale of the 9-day performance of the musical in Abuja.

Wakaa: The Musical is a play about the trials, successes and experiences of 6 young graduates with varied backgrounds, revealing the struggles and challenges of young Nigerians at home and abroad. It is a production of BAPS Productions.


Laolu Akande
Senior Special Assistant on Media & Publicity to the President
Office of the Vice President
22 Sept. 2017

President Muhammadu Buhari joined other African Leaders at a lunch hosted by President Donald Trump of the United States of America, on sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York on 20th September, 2017.

SDGs: Home Grown Solutions, Global Partnership Will Help Us Achieve Goals, Says Osinbajo

*Failure to achieve the SDGs will have existential implications for our generation and for those yet unborn – Vice President

Speech By His Excellency, Vice President, Federal Republic Of Nigeria, Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, GCON, During The Inauguration Of The Presidential Council On The Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs), At The Presidential Villa, Abuja, On Friday, September 15, 2017.

Protocols

At the United Nations General Assembly in September of 2015, President Muhammadu Buhari joined other Heads of State and Government to adopt the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity.

Audaciously ambitious as the goals may appear, they capture the urgency and range of the major challenges that confront humanity, especially developing nations. They underscore the reality that only a global partnership supporting home grown and inclusive solutions stands a chance of achieving the goals.

Building on the millennium development goals, the SDGS open up new priorities such as climate change, economic inequality, innovation, sustainable consumption, peace and justice. The goals are interconnected. Succeeding in one will involve dealing with issues fundamentally associated with another.

With a number of time-bound targets and indicators against which national progress will be measured till 2030, the SDGs have begun to galvanize development planning and execution globally.

Our government has taken the firm view that the implementation of the SDGs Agenda has and will have decisive implications for Nigeria’s development; which explains why the SDGs occupy a prominent place in our Economic Recovery and Growth Plan, which the President launched in April to guide Nigeria along the path of inclusive and sustainable economic growth. Progress on the Goals will have a positive effect on our poverty and unemployment numbers. It will reduce the number of mothers who die during childbirth and our children who are unable to mark their fifth birthday, and, of course, the figures also of out-of-school children.

It will empower our girls and women, and bridge the gender inequality gap. Success with the implementation of the SDGs will have an impact on our cities, and on the quality of the lives of those who live within them.

It is, therefore, clear that the achievement of the goals equals a quantum socio-economic leap for Nigeria. Failure to achieve the SDGs will have existential implications for our generation and for those yet unborn.

We are, therefore, in a real sense, a generation at the threshold of history, saddled with the responsibility of bringing about the change that will alter our development trajectory for the benefit of our people and planet.

The Presidential Council on SDGs will provide policy direction for the implementation of the SDGs in Nigeria, and ensure that there is coherence at the national and sub-national levels. This council’s work will be crucial for resource mobilization, prioritization of interventions, periodic assessment, as well as the overall oversight of SDGs implementation.

Permit me to take this opportunity to extend our appreciation to all of our international development partners, members of the Diplomatic Corps, the private sector, Civil Society Organizations, and all stakeholders gathered here today for their unwavering commitment to Nigeria’s development. I certainly look forward to working with you for the attainment of the SDGs in Nigeria.

It is, therefore, my special pleasure and privilege to inaugurate the Presidential Council on Sustainable Development Goals for the benefit of our people and to the glory of God.

I thank you.


Released by
Laolu Akande
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Publicity
Office of the Vice President
15th September, 2017

At NDA Combined Passing Out Parade, Vice President Osinbajo Says Armed Forces Must Continue To Evolve, Contain Contemporary Threats And Challenges Of Nation-Building.

*Commends the military’s commitment and support for democracy
*Attends reception for Nigerian-born Lutheran World Federation President in Yola

Given the nature of contemporary warfare and the changing roles of militaries across the world, the Armed Forces of Nigeria must evolve with speed and urgency in dealing with emerging threats and challenges of nation-building especially asymmetric warfare, according to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

Prof Osinbajo at the combined Nigeria Defense Academy Passing Out Parade of the cadets of the 64 Regular Course of the Army, Navy and Air Force, the 65 Regular Course of the Navy and Air Force, and the Short Service Course 44 of the Army, in Kaduna where he represented President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday.

He said: "the world has changed a great deal, today we speak of non-State Actors and of asymmetric warfare, and are confronted by enemies whose identities are as nebulous as their motivations.’’

According to him, "this swift evolution in suicide bombings is a perfect illustration of the nature of the threats that nations face today – unpredictable, asymmetric, constantly adapting to changing conditions, driven by a compulsive need to inflict maximum damage with minimal effort.’’

Prof. Osinbajo added that the entirety of the military’s mode of operation and training modules would require reviews "especially with evolving rules of engagement in asymmetric warfare situations’’.
The Vice President further stressed that the military’s changing roles transcends defence of territories as solving society’s other socio-economic issues has been a challenge other militaries have been engaged in.

According to him, "just as important as these issues around conflict are, the issues around how the military can in the process of innovating or thinking through use science and technology to add real value to the society is important’’.

He said "generally, the relationship between the military and scientific innovation are intertwined with both known to have historically shaped and influenced each other.’’

Prof. Osinbajo urged the military in Nigeria "to collaborate more extensively with the private sector, for research and innovation, ’’stressing that "all around the country technology hubs are springing up that are attracting our Nigeria’s brightest talent, and breaking new technological ground. I am convinced that the military should make its presence felt in this area.’’

He commended the management of the NDA for its efforts in adapting the school’s curriculum and programmes to contemporary realities.
For the military’s relationship with civil authority, Prof. Osinbajo commended the Armed Forces for keeping faith with the current democratic dispensation for the past eighteen years, and noted that "the subordination of the military to civil authority has been a cherished age-long practice that has promoted military professionalism in all parts of the world.’’

He commended the governments of Liberia, Togo, Sierra Leone, Niger, Central African Republic, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Burkina Faso and Chad for sustaining the spirit of true African brotherhood and cooperation, and sending students to the institution for training.

In another development, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo hailed the election of Archbishop Musa Panti Filibus as the new President of the Lutheran World Federation, describing the feat as not only important to the nation but important to the black race.
The Vice President who was at the grand reception in Yola to commemorate the Archbishop's election on Saturday said the elevation of Filibus was an attestation to his character and leadership qualities, stressing that "character plays important role in identifying one in the crowd.’’

According to him, "It is no mean thing to be elected to head a great body such as Lutheran World Federation and it is true indeed that to do so one obviously must have accepted attributes and characteristics that make one particularly favoured by such a large number of distinguished people across the world".

While in Yola, the Vice President also paid a courtesy visit to the Lamido Adamawa, His Royal Highness, Mohammadu Aliyu Bakindo Mustapha in his palace, and thanked the traditional ruler for maintaining peace in his domain.


Laolu Akande
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Publicity
Office of the Vice President
Aso Rock, Abuja
17th September, 2017

Vice President Osinbajo Visits Benue State Flood Victims
Click to watch video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Axj_zywJ-Ys&utm_source=Aso+Villa+Newsletter+-+Government+At+Work&utm_campaign=56ca798e11-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_09_11&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_c7d9702208-56ca798e11-165673361

Nigeria is witnessing a revolution in agriculture, propelled by President Buhari's vision of a country that "grows what it eats." This vision has led to the implementation of policies like the Anchor Borrowers Programme, and the Presidential Fertilizer Initiative. (The Photo above shows the President at the launch of the Anchor Borrowers Programme in Kebbi State in November 2015). It is worth noting that throughout the five quarters of recession, Agriculture maintained a steady growth.

On August 1, 2017, there was the commissioning of the 120,000 MT per annum WACOT Rice Mill in Argungu, Kebbi State, by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo. It was the first Rice Mill to be conceived, completed and commissioned under the Buhari Administration. Five weeks later the Rice Mill has already delivered more than 10,000 bags of rice to the Lagos-Kebbi (LAKE) Rice Project.

The WACOT Rice Mill inauguration was followed by the commissioning, on August 29, of the 60,000 MT per annum Edo State Fertilizer Company Limited (also managed by WACOT, in a Public Private Partnership with the Edo State Government), by the Vice President. The Fertilizer company was originally commissioned in 2003, but never went into production, until it was revived in 2017 by WACOT Limited in partnership with the Edo State Government, under the enabling push of the Presidential Fertilizer Initiative (PFI). The Edo Fertilizer Company is the 12th Fertilizer Blending Plant to be revived under the PFI.

This week, on September 12, OLAM will be inaugurating its 750,000 MT per annum Integrated Poultry Facility (consisting of Feed Mill, Hatchery and Breeder Farms) in Kaduna State.

"I will stand my ground and maintain my position that under my watch, that old Nigeria is slowly but surely disappearing and a new era is rising in which we grow what we eat and consume what we make." President Muhammadu Buhari, in his Speech presenting the 2017 Budget to the National Assembly, December 14, 2016

"Across the country, our farmers, traders and transporters are seeing a shift in their fortunes. Nigerians who preferred imported products are now consuming made in Nigeria products. From Argungu in Kebbi to Abakalaki in Ebonyi, rice farmers and millers are seeing their products move. We must replicate such success in other staples like wheat, sugar, soya, tomato and dairy products." President Muhammadu Buhari, in his Speech presenting the 2017 Budget to the National Assembly, December 14, 2016

"This state-owned fertilizer plant has been recently rehabilitated, as a Public-Private Partnership. The clear objective of establishing the plant is to boost farming activities and the agric value chain nationwide. This investment is a direct response to the Federal Government's strategy of growing the Nigerian economy on a zero oil assumption." Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the Commissioning of the Edo State Fertilizer and Chemical Company Limited NPK Fertilizer Plant, Auchi, Edo State Tuesday, August 29, 2017

"The way to go is to energize agriculture and lift Nigerians to new levels of productivity. The commissioning of the rice mill in Argungu is proof of the growth in agriculture." Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the Commissioning of the WACOT Rice Mill in Argungu, Kebbi State, on Tuesday, August 1, 2017

1) Good news from the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS). Figures just released by the Bureau for the second quarter of 2017 show that the economy grew in Q2 2017 by 0.55%, up from -0.91% in Q1 2017, and -1.49% in Q2 2016. This in effect means that the Nigerian economy has exited recession after five successive quarters of contraction.

2) The Buhari administration welcomes the news with cautious optimism and will continue to drive Nigeria’s economic growth by vigorously implementing the Economic Recovery & Growth Plan launched earlier this year by President Muhammadu Buhari.

3) The overall economic plan and direction of the administration has resulted, among others, in sustained restoration of oil production levels, (occasioned by the enhanced security and stability in the Niger Delta) sustained growth in agriculture, mining and the first growth recorded in industry as a whole in the last nine quarters since Q4 2014.

4) Add to the news of the exit from recession the following:
-- that Headline inflation has now fallen for the sixth successive month (February to July);
-- the Naira has since stabilised against the dollar (with the margin between the Interbank and parallel market rates having narrowed considerably):
-- and the Nigerian Stock Exchange All Share Index (NSEASI) has seen dramatic gains in recent months (now about 35% higher than beginning of 2017 value; the surge being largely attributable to the new Investors and Exporters Window (NAFEX) introduced by the Central Bank in April).

We Are Making Progress In Niger Delta - Osinbajo

* VP in media chat after town-hall meeting in Ilaje LGA, Ondo State

Que: What is the purpose of your visit to this place?

Ans: As you know, this is the last of the oil producing communities that I have been visiting in the last few months.

Igbokoda in Ilaje Local Government, the oil producing community in this state have also, naturally, demanded a visit, so we are completing the round of visits to the oil producing communities with this particular visit, so it is one of the consultations with the oil producing communities.

Que: Sir, how soon will all these things demanded by the people be implemented?

Ans: Every one of them is being implemented and they are being implemented incrementally. For example we said we were going to open the Maritime University and we are opening in October. We have said we are going to do modular refineries; we have released the guidelines and licenses are being issued. We are engaging with the communities, we are engaging with the state governments.

We have talked about getting power to Ilaje Local Government, the contract has been awarded, N600 million has been paid. This is a project that has been abandoned for over 10 years but we are doing it and ensuring that power comes to this Local Government Area and to this community.

So, everything is being done, it is incremental but we are taking them step by step. The Ogoni clean up as you know, has already started.


Laolu Akande
Senior Special Assistant on Media & Publicity to the President
Office of the Vice President
12 September 2017

[b]President Muhammadu Buhari today in Kaduna commissioned the $150million Olam Integrated Feed Mill and Poultry #GovtAtWorkNG