₦airaland Forum

The National Economic Council, NEC, has approved another $9billion (N1.4 trillion) loan package for State and Federal governments under the 2012 to 2014 borrowing plan. The borrowing plan had earlier been approved by the National Assembly.
This is even as it approved a bridging fund of $3.37 billion (N522 billion) for the development of the power sector from the federation account. The bridging fund will be used to support the sector pending the realization of the full proceeds from the sale of two subsidiaries of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria: generating companies, Gencos; and distribution companies, Discos.
The approval of the loan followed the reports made to the Council by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, on the current facilities made available by different international funding organizations including Islamic Development Bank, IDA; African Development Bank; French Development Agency; as well as Chinese and Indian Exim Banks totaling about $9 billion dollars for projects development.
The Minister of National Planning, Shamsudeen Usman, stated this while briefing journalists after a meeting of the National Economic Council at the Presidential Villa; alongside Governor Liyel Imoke of Cross River State, Peter Obi of Anambra State, Acting-Governor of Taraba State, Garba Umar; and the Minister of State for Power, Zainab Kuchi.
The loan facilities which have up to 10 years moratorium and 40 years repayment periods are available to both the Federal and State Governments to fund high impact projects towards improving infrastructure, agriculture and employment generation.
Mr. Usman said that the Council further urged the states to endeavor to meet the requirements for the loans and to ensure that the facilities are meant to fund meaningful state projects.
Electricity in Nigeria
The NEC Ad-Hoc Review Committee on the Re-Investment Plan in the Power Sector led by Liyel Imoke, Governor of Cross River State, also presented its report to NEC.
Briefing on the report, Mr. Imoke said the committee stated that investing in the needed transmission infrastructure would ensure, amongst other benefits, the needed return on investment, the maximization of proceeds from the sale of the generation assets, improved GDP growth rate as well as ensure effective distribution of generated power to the ultimate consumers.
He said his committee highlighted the over $4 billion National Integrated Power Project investment already made in power generation which has produced an additional 4,774MW generation capacity by NDPHC and would have raised the overall generation capacity in Nigeria to 9,582 MW in December 2013 in line with the nation’s updated generation capacity target of 20,000 by 2020.
The governor noted that as a way of solving the envisaged significant transmission constraint by the end of this year and bridging the gap for counterpart funding in hydro plants, “the report recommended the utilization of the proceeds from sale of generation assets for reinvestment in transmission and hydro projects.”
“It also recommended the disbursement of $1.65 billion to fund critical transmission infrastructure as well as $1.72 billion to fund hydro generation and the sourcing and immediate release of $3.37 billion bridge funding pending the realisation of proceeds from generation asset sale,” he added

Federal Government has approved the release of a total sum of N5. 7 billion to nine states for direct disbursement to assist those who suffered losses of property and whose means of livelihood and places of worship were destroyed in the post election violence of 2011.
It would be recalled that the President, following the post election violence and civil disturbances in some states after the April 2011 elections, set up a Panel of Enquiry headed by Ahmed Lemu to, among other things, identify the spread and extent of losses suffered across the country.
Briefing Journalists at the Presidential Villa, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Rueben Abati, who said the money was to be given as assistance to the victims, stated that following the submission of the Lemu Panel’s report and its adoption by the Federal Executive Council, the Federal Ministry of Lands and Housing was mandated to assess the reported losses and damage to property in all affected states.
He also said following the ministry’s report, the president gave the approval for the release of funds to assist nine out of the fourteen states.
Beneficiary states and amount allotted to them include:
Bauchi -N1,574,879,000.00,
Sokoto – N55,888,506.00,
Zamfara – N93,253,485.00,
Niger – N433,375,875.00
Jigawa – N208,667,634.00,
Katsina – N1,973,209,440.00
Kano – N944,827,000.00,
Adamawa – N420,089,840.00
Akwa Ibom – N43,504,000.00
This amounts to a total of N5,747,694,780.00
Mr. Abati also noted that families of victims who died during the crisis have been identified and will be taken care of.
Mr. Jonathan also directed that an Implementation Committee for the disbursement of the funds to beneficiaries in the nine states be constituted.
The committee comprises of the Governor or Deputy Governor of the respective states as chairmen, with representative of the State Government, the Secretary of the Lemu Panel, representative of the office of the SGF, representative of the Federal Ministry of Land, Housing and Urban Development, as members.
The presidential spokesman stated that inspection and assessment of damages and losses suffered are yet to be carried out in Borno, Yobe, Gombe, Kaduna and Nasarawa states as modalities and further instructions for the exercise are still being expected from the state governments.
“Funds to cover the losses sustained by victims of the post election violence in theses five states will be approved and released at the conclusion of the assessment exercise,” Mr. Abati said.


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The National Economic Council, NEC, on Thursday approved the conversion of one university in each of the six geo-political zones to a ‘Mega University.”
The recommendation for the conversion was part of those contained in the report of the Peter Obi-led Technical Committee on the recommendations of the Needs Assessment of Nigerian Universities, CNANU. All the recommendations were approved, Mr. Obi, Governor of Anambra State told journalists after the meeting.
The NEC is made up of the president , the vice president, state governors, ministers and others.
The Committee recommended the upgrading of one university in each of the six geo-political zones to the status of a Mega University to expand their intakes from the present number of students.
Mr. Obi stated that government wants to create universities that are capable of taking up to 200,000 students as against the less than 30,000 admitted by some of the biggest universities in Nigeria.
A decision has not been taken on which universities will be considered for selection.
The committee’s report, which followed an extensive review of the CNANU report presented to the Federal Executive Council on September 19, 2012, therefore made the following recommendations towards changing the fortunes of the universities:
“The Committee agreed with CNANU that funding was a big issue in tertiary education and recommended that both the Federal and State Governments should prioritise funding by raising budgetary allocation to schools and guaranteeing that funds for education are disbursed as appropriated to ensure that the necessary facilities are provided.
“It recommended the strengthening of the composition and character, especially of external members, of the Governing Councils of the Universities by populating the board with members who have a direct stake in academics to ensure better management of the universities.
The committee had noted that the Nigerian University system is grossly understaffed and recommended the introduction of attractive incentives towards promoting post-graduate education and upgrading the academic qualifications of all lecturers to PhD level within a given period.
“The Committee also recommended the designation of a focal Federal University per geo-political zone to be upgraded towards expanding its absorptive capacity to between 150,000 – 200,000 students in the medium term,” Mr. Obi said.

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There was an announcement made by the Abia State Government (ABSG) in July 2012. It told the world that it would partner with a German company on waste management project in the state. This announcement was made available both in the print and electronic media. The self-satisfied government even advertised it on its website. But that distinguished idea may be a ruse as the German company has rebuffed the claim of the ABSG, our investigations can authoritatively reveal.
The German company’s name is given as Hartung und Partner in Germany. Our international correspondents who met with the Managing Director Dipl. Eng. Michael Struve, said that Struve has confirmed that he was surprise to read how a mere “presentation with ABSG” turned out in the media to be a “deal” with the government on the project that was tagged “Waste management Project with Abia State Government”. Struve confirmed that no contracts were signed with the government as against the amplification the government gave the project, perhaps for cheap publicity in order to boost the perceived dampened image of the self-righteous government.
ABSG flooded all the papers and online portals with the titular project and is still having the article it was contained on its website. Our correspondents said that this is an overweening gesture of a pompous government, which claims that it “eyes profit from turning bottles into shirts”
The much touted proclamation by the Abia State government that it was going into partnership with a German-based company to safeguard the environment by setting up a recycling and waste management centre in the state has turned out to be the figment of the imagination of the government, as the German company has confirmed that it is hands-clean in the make-belief story that emanated from the government, as if there was any Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two parties.
In the presentation which the ABSG later coined a deal with the German company through its body language, it was the Chief of Staff to Governor Theodore Orji of Abia State, Cosmas Ndukwe, who met with the team from the German company. The government made the state to believe that the project would have a positive social and economic impact on the state.
On the other hand, our source said that the German consulting expert on environment, Struve, who was on the German team that had the meeting with the government, said the project would have generated huge income for the state as well as create job opportunities for the unemployed who are willing to learn, if the state government was serious with the project and had made it a deal.
It could however be brought to mind that while making a presentation at the reception organised by the ABSG in this regard, Struve had explained that “after the re-cycling process, 28 plastic drinking bottles become equivalent to one T-shirt, and 670 beverage cans will convert to a bicycle”.
The source further said that Struve had also revealed that “19,000 aluminum tins can be turned into steel for car production, just as an old worn-out tire can also be re-cycled to produce energy” and added that “the company will be in charge of collecting the waste and the running of the centre will be transferred to Abia State after a while”.
When the citizens of Abia State earlier heard about this, they threw in their support and appraised the government, but oblivious that the government was circulating information that may not meet the eyes. Conversely, critics said that such business idea if implemented the contract money was just meant to develop a foreign country. The citizens notwithstanding had prayed and believed that the project would come to pass and described it as a laudable effort by the government that should be supported and funded by progressive minds, but they did not know that their expectation might hit the rocks.
Our correspondents said that Struve is still shocked with the level of publicity the Abia State Government gave the project which he is suggesting was politically motivated than the expected guarantee of a successful take-off on the side of the government that would fast track the timely completion of the supposedly wonderful project. The fears of Struve now have further confirmed the mindset of many people when this rather elusive project was made publicly. People had described it as “Elephantiasis in Nature”. And others had asked, “Hope this will not be another abracadabra? The more we look the less we see”.
The prayers by many that a supernatural power should help the ABSG to achieve this “highly developmental project” may have been betrayed, as the once regarded as “great news for the God’s own state” might have turned out to be gored news from “goons’ own state”.
Abia State has a lot of environmental challenges that appear undefeatable. From the look of things, it has appeared that the government is not committed and sincere in tackling the problems of flooding and refuse disposal in the state. There are serious threats posed by these in the state to the health of people. Not even the Abia State Environment Protection Agency, ASEPA, designated to be carrying waste has helped matter. The street sweepers sweeping the roads are environmentally defeated.
It could be figured out that the same Abia State Government had engaged the services of Phoenix Environmental Service Limited, which they say, failed to live up to the hope that was expected of it in managing refuse in Aba, to be precise. After the agency engagement was terminated, the government engaged the services of ANCOLD Environmental to work in corporation with ASEPA, which was aimed at ensuring the clearing of waste disposal in Aba, yet the effort was mud-legged. This is not the least!
In spite of that, Hartung und Partner in Germany is rated as an adequate facilitator for hazardous waste management in medical waste, electronic waste, Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), investment in clean energy and low carbon technologies, remediation of oil impacted areas, management of end-of-life vehicles and can deliver a system that is not thorny for any country that contracted it to manage its waste. But the citizens still fear that the primary aim of the managers of wastes in the country, especially the so-called big companies, only focus on the revenue that may accrue out of their business, without being totally committed to the work they are assigned to do.



South East Reporters

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At the end all the criticisms against a former governor of Abia State Dr Orji Uzor (MON) Kalu for the statement he made concerning the Boko Haram and the involvement of our security agencies have been put to rest and those those critics put to shame by this recent exposure and revelation by an immigration officer.

Nigerians have consistently maintained that the dreaded sect Boko Haram must surely have sympathizers in government and security agencies, considering how effective their attacks have been which formed the basis of the statement by Orji Kalu. Finally, there is proof.


A high profile Boko Haram member, who is an officer of Nigeria’s Immigration Services, Ahmed Grema Mohammed, has named some security personnel among those carrying out terrorist attacks in the country. His confession came after he was arrested by the men of the Joint Task Force (JTF) in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.


Mohammed, who is an officer of the Nigerian Immigration Services (NIS) attached to the Nangere office of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in Yobe State, was apprehended at a checkpoint on the Maiduguri-Damaturu road while on his way to kill a former special adviser to the immediate past governor of the state.


Most of the personnel named by Mohammed have been arrested, while security agencies are on the trail of others.

The news of Mohammed’s arrest was contained in a JTF statement signed by the task force spokesman, Lt. Col Sagir Musa.


According to the statement, Mohammed had been on the wanted lists in the country and was arrested on August 17, this year for impersonating a lieutenant in the Nigerian Army.

“Mohammed confessed to be actively involved in the killings of some senior civil servants, security agents, and politicians in Damaturu who spoke against the activities of Boko Haram, particularly the former chairman of Damboa Council, Alhaji Lawal Kawu.


“He also took part in the attack on the old Police Headquarters in Damaturu, where some policemen were killed and large quantity of arms and ammunition carted away.


“In addition, he was among the terrorists that attacked Damaturu Prison, burnt some primary schools, the State CID office and the Police Safety Vehicle, among others.


“The suspect revealed to JTF that he and 15 other members of the organization were intensively trained for three months on G3 and AK 47 rifles, as well as in assassinations and special operations in Niger Republic.


“He also revealed names of some security personnel that participated in terrorists’ attacks in Borno and Yobe states.”




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