₦airaland Forum

Sincere 9gerian: The Vanguard report appears to be a hatchet job (sponsored by big time rice importers) in disguise of investigative journalism. This is obvious from the conclusions of the report. Otherwise, if Vanguard did the report without pre-determined objectives, all the newspaper should have done after identifying the challenges or loopholes in the policy was to proffer solutions rather than calling for policy reversal. Policy reversal can NEVER be solution to the massive smuggling reported by Vanguard. That is defeatist.

Also I observed some contradictions in the report. On one hand the report exposed the massive smuggling of rice along the borders and on another it claims there will soon be scarcity of rice.

The claim that no locally milled rice was found in Lagos is curious. What then happen to the rice being milled at the Lagos rice milling centres?

Notwithstanding the above observations, the report clearly shows that smuggling is a potent threat to the rice self-sufficiency policy. I wonder why Vanguard was able to identify these smuggling routes while the customs are feigning ignorance or helplessness. The customs should sit up or its leadership should be shown the way out. But on no account should the policy be reversed because of smuggling. These are teething challenges that can be overcomed.

obailala: Planes landing in places other than airport runways.. that's the shiit I'm talking about

obailala: You guys should stop thinking like typical Nigerian political schemers. You have put up a question "Who shld I believe? Experts from ICAO Or Political opportunists from SW Nigeria"
No matter how highly ICAO rates our airspace, any Nigerian with common sense would only believe those ratings the day when we stop hearing of planes falling off the sky. Have you ever asked yourself why this shiit happens in Nigeria more than any other country in the world in recent times?? .. ICAO rating indeed

3ace: Boko boys have always been against Christians, non Hausas. They recently started turning against their people when the people joined the JTF to fight the insurgents. The current killings of their own people was a way to get back at them. So spare us your sermon.

blackpanda: You are very correct. Everyone is shouting ASUU as if the strike started on basis of mere frivolity. Nigerians are so blessed with short memories and are highly impatient. If ASUU backs down everytime, do you think FG will ever listen to them. People should reason with their brains not with sentiments. Its unfortunate that students have to stay home for this long, but that just goes to show you the level of priority that education has in this country. BTW have you ever heard that members of the NASS were ever owed any money, or that the President was unable to pack his cronies on frivolous leisure trips due to lack of funds?? Nigerians wake up abeg!

The National President of the Nigeria Union of Teachers, Mr. Michael Olukoye, while fielding questions from journalists reiterated his advice to the Federal Government to set up a team comprising the President, President of the Senate, Speaker of the House of Representatives and former presidents like Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and representatives of the Vice Chancellors to meet with ASUU and find a common ground to resolve the impasse.

Olukoye observed that members of ASUU refused to call off despite the government’s commitment because of lack of confidence in the government.

He said, “Immediately we gave that ultimatum the first person to invite us was the Minister of Labour and the Supervising Minister for Education, we met with them and they told us all that they have been able to do to put the matter behind us.

“We have not been able to meet with ASUU but we advised that if these people said they need about N400bn and you have been able to provide N130bn, well, to all intent and purposes, it is a good beginning.”

The cleric said that ASUU, by allowing the strike to linger and allowing students to stay at home for four months running, had exhibited utter insensitivity to the plight of Nigerian students and their future.

He said he regretted that the association had failed to yield to pleas from all quarters, including the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria, stressing that ASUU had shown that it was fighting for other causes other than the future of education in the country

The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) has listed Nigeria as one of African 14 countries that has achieved effective air safety implementation, scoring above the global average of 61 per cent.

This rating is contained in this year’s ICAO Safety Report, compiled by organisation’s auditors who investigated the compliance with stipulated International safety standards by individual countries across the world.

ICAO , the global aviation regulator, consists of 200 countries.

The Coordinating spokesman of aviation parastatals, Yakubu Dati, said the ICAO 2013 Safety Report lends credence to the Category One certification granted Nigeria in 2011 by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of the United States, for meeting stipulated international standards and practices on safety and security.

Dati explained that it signals the success of the Aviation Master Plan developed by the Minister of Aviation, Princess Stella Oduah.

He said: “The vision is to make Nigerian aviation sector a world-class provider of safe, secure and comfortable air transport sector that is self sustaining and pivotal to socio-economic growth.”

Meanwhile, the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) is sending 96 staff for training is part of on-going efforts to beef up capacity and manpower requirement preparatory to the imminent take-off of the Aeronautical Information Service (AIS) automation in November,

NAMA’s Managing Director, Mazi Nnamdi Udoh, said they will be trained in Basic Aeronautical Information Course at the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology ( NCAT), Zaria, adding that for effective deployment of logistics, the group shall run the course concurrently in four batches.

Udoh enjoined them to justify the agency’s huge investment in their training by taking their studies seriously.

ICAO has set November 15th 2013 as deadline for the implementation of AIS automation worldwide and the project have reached advanced stage of completion.

AIS automation when in operation, would enhance air safety with pilots sending their aeronautical messages on-line and this would reduce excessive telephone conversation between pilots and air traffic controllers.

bloggernaija: There is nothing special about this.
I am sure our theoretical and professional crammers aka modern nigerian based professor and PHDs know nothing about this.
This is something an ordinary 16 yr old kid with a garage and time to spare away from CALL OF DUTY,does over here as an hobby..
I doubt if there is even any mid-power astronomical telescope In the entire country.
Ordinary non degree holding hobbyist photographer can plot the location of the heavenly bodies at any time of the day and predict events like eclipse .
most graduate of astronomy have even seen one , not to talk of use one.

geeez: [b]Factories have continued to open since 2003, following the revolution of the telecoms industry, initiated by OBJ

The revolution has helped businesses in no small measure and have contributed to supporting infrastructure required for them to thrive

I wonder why anyone will attribute this to GEJ

I have been part of economic teams that have studied the telecoms revolution and its success. This has in no way influenced the consideration of Nigeria as an investment destination.

Among factors investors consider before signing the cheques include:

1. Security
2. The market
3. Literacy
4. Labour Costs
5. Infrastructure
6. Fiscal Policies & Economic Policies (Including tariff on imports, export policy etc)

No. 1 is negative under GEJ
No. 2 is positive (as proven by the telecoms revolution) and has nothing to do with GEJ
No. 3 is unchanged (as a matter of fact, the Education sector has been woeful under GEJ)
No. 4 is unchanged (the minimum wage has remained largely same and the lower it is, the more attractive)
No. 5 is positive (the rails cant move anything, the roads are horrible, electricity is unstable but the telecoms support is above average) This again has nothing to do with GEJ
No. 6 is stable although inflation is still high, directly influencing interest rates which the CBN has been artificially trying to force down by issuing TBs but corruption has been at its peak under GEJ which has a direct effect on inflation with excess money in circulation (apart from the automotive policy, there's been nothing significant)
[/b]

Rossikk: NIGERIA: Purchasing index indicates steady expansion in manufacturing

June 5, 2013 | Filed under: Markets |

http://businessdayonline.com/2013/06/purchasing-index-indicates-steady-expansion-in-manufacturing/

Nigeria’s purchasing managers index (PMI), an indicator for economic activity, has in the past five months, risen steadily, which indicates a good measure of expansion in the manufacturing sector, according to FBN Capital.

The FBN Capital PMI released Monday, showed a reading of 53.8 for May, falling from the 59.6 posted in April. However on aggregate note, the PMI’s for the first five months of the year were well above the 50 mark, which is the dividing line between growth and contraction.

The Purchasing Managers Index is released on the first day of the month, and it reflects percentage of purchasing in a month, while measuring five factors in business: new orders, inventory levels, production, supplier delivers, and employment conditions. Each of these five factors are adjusted and weighed according to time of year and other events.

A PMI over 50% means that manufacturing is growing and expanding. A PMI under 50% means that manufacturing is declining. A PMI of 42.7% or more over a long period of time means the economy as a whole is expanding. A PMI of 42.7% or below, over a long period of time means the economy as a whole is contracting.

“The readings in May for employment and stocks of purchases were broadly flat, while those for output, new orders and delivery times showed healthy improvement,” FBN capital analysts, led by Gregory Kronsten, said in a note released Monday.

“Manufacturing growth has been steadily picking up, to 8.4 percent year on year (y/y) in the first quarter of 2013 from 5.2 percent one year earlier.”

Manufacturing which accounts for about 10 percent of the Nigerian economy, has been finding support recently as the demographic growth and rising incomes spur demand for FMCG, cement , appliances and home-decor items.

Nigeria’s economy is anticipated by the IMF to grow at an average of 6.8 percent annually between 2012 and 2017.

Over the past decade, GDP per capita has risen from $379 to $1,452; driving a stronger demand for consumer goods and the capacity for increased local production is increasingly being put in place by companies to meet the growing demand.

Manufacturing stocks have mostly outperformed in 2013 as profits of blue-chip industrial companies at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) spiked in the fourth quarter of 2012, helping to boost full year profits.

The stock price of Dangote Cement, Nigerian Breweries, and Nestle Nigeria, which have all added increased manufacturing capacity or announced plans to do so, have risen by 57.6 percent , 19 percent and 44 percent year to date.

The wider NSE all share index is up 38 percent year to date, by comparison. The PMI index is based on the responses of a number of manufacturing companies to set questions on core variables in their businesses.

In the FBN capital model, purchasing managers are asked whether output, employment, new orders, suppliers’ delivery times and stocks of purchases have improved, are unchanged or have declined.

In the case of delivery times, the question is inverted and shorter times are a positive, while respondents are asked to take seasonal factors into account.

The sample is a representative blend of large, medium-sized and small companies in the sector, with the elevated volatility in the reading for May, compared to April, justified due to Nigeria’s less developed market status.

“We would expect much greater swings in frontier than developed markets, due to regular changes in the operating environment such as electricity provision and the tariff regime, and the climate of policy uncertainty,” Kronsten said.

CBN Governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi said on Monday the Central Bank may raise the benchmark interest rate if government spending increases before elections in 2015, which could put a brake on the expansion of the manufacturing sector.

Nigeria’s inflation rate accelerated to 9.1 percent in April from 8.6 percent in the previous month, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

The PMI is a familiar data release at the start of the calendar month in developed markets such as the US and Germany, as well as the larger emerging markets like China, Brazil and South Africa.

The steady and significant improvement of the business confidence level expressed by business leaders in Nigeria suggests that they are gearing towards expanding their investments and plant size in the months to come, the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), the premier chamber of commerce in Nigeria, has said.
The improvement in confidence level by businesses in Nigeria was revealed in the chamber’s third quarter 2013 aggregate Business Confidence Index (BCI), a leading economic indicator designed to measure the degree of optimism on the state of the economy that business leaders are expressing through their activities of investing and spending.
The 3rd quarter BCI index, which highlighted a sustained positive improvement of 24 per cent from the 16.5 per cent and 10.5 per cent it achieved in second and first quarters respectively, represents 13.5 per cent point movement of the index along a positive trajectory since the beginning of this year
The survey covered 15 sectors and 582 (top business executives) respondents over the period, 15th May to June 18th 2013. The chamber said the survey covered most sectors sufficiently, though it added that the solid mineral sector in particular was a concern.
The participation of top private players across all the sectors and sub-sectors were secured in a responsible fashion, according to the chamber, which has as objective, to promote, support or oppose legislative or other measures affecting trade, industry, commerce and agriculture as well as representing the opinion of the business community in particular, and the economy as a whole.
Apart from the recurrent factors such as poor access to credit, security situation and the dwindling public power supply, the index posted impressive confidence across most business and economic indicators.
Some of the factors that might have boosted the confidence level of business owners, according to the chamber, include the budget implementation, the federal government’s security intervention in some parts of the North, impressive corporate results, and the modest trends of exchange and inflation rate that tend to have supported the record rise of business confidence.
Indicators such as capacity of firms to produce, export prospects, deals closed, strength/patronage of domestic market, and the impact/size of non-performing credit consistently boosted the aggregate index over the last three surveys.
“[size=16]Interestingly, these indicators did not only post a positive confidence, but the levels of confidence achieved this time are trending in line with the global business confidence threshold of 50%,” the chamber said[/size]
“The 3nd quarter 2013 aggregate Business Confidence Index (BCI) sustained a significant positive improvement. This is supported by the take-off of budget implementation across the country, on-going security intervention in some parts of the North, impressive corporate results in most sectors and stable macroeconomic prices – exchange and inflation rate.
“This improvement suggests that business leaders are likely going to expand their investments in the months to come but we are not able to say by how much. Investors are still wary about the state of the economic in the medium term because the lingering limiting factors are yet to be addressed”.
Business confidence in sectors and regions
All the sectors recorded positive confidence, according to the survey. For the first time, the financial sector recorded the highest confidence of 35 per cent, closely followed by Hotel & Restaurant and Telecoms & Postal sectors 29 per cent and 27 per cent confidence levels respectively.
The agricultural sector was impressive at 18 per cent, but the manufacturing sector remains low at 5 per cent business confidence level.
“This implies that expansion and new investment in the Nigerian manufacturing sector remains largely held down by the lingering challenges confronting business environment in the country,” the chamber said.
The confidence level of businesses located in the South West Nigeria inched to a new high of 44 per cent from 38 per cent and 30 per cent in Q2 and Q1 respectively. This is followed by companies operating in the South East and South South with BCI score of 31 per cent and 21 per cent respectively.
The confidence level of businesses located in the North central which dropped to zero in Q2 improved dramatically with BCI score of 11 per cent. North East and North West continues to trail between the negative and neutral confidence trajectories.
“We look to see how far the on-going security operation in some Northern states will impact business confidence in our Q4-2013 BCI survey” the chamber said.
Key Findings
According to the survey, 49 per cent of business managers are making plans to increase their work force in Q3-2013. This assertion is consistent with turnover and investment expectation across the sectors and size of firm.
The survey also revealed that 60 per cent of business leaders expect increased turnover and plans to expand investment in Q3 of 2013. According to business managers, the sticky access to credit, challenging security situation and the dwindling public power supply are key factors that my derail their expectation and high business confidence at this time.
The survey highlighted that Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are the worst hit as they are mostly at the receiving end of arbitrary hike of public power price, sticky credit market and intimidation/extortion by government monitoring and regulatory agencies.
“Most SMEs stated that significant amount of their profit is lost through provision of alternative power, payment for public power that were never supplied and settlement of agents working directly and indirectly for government,” the chamber stated.
The LCCI is of the view that decreasing business confidence is often a pointer to slowing economic activities because business owners are likely to decrease their investment.
“The more confident entrepreneurs and managers feel about the business environment, the more likely they are to make new investments, create job and impact the economy,” he said.

[b]The United Nations Commission for Trade and Development’s figures just released by the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment indicate that Nigeria’s investment climate reform programme helped to attract $7.03billion foreign direct investment (FDI) in 2012. Other indices that indicated an improvement in the economic health of the nation are contained in the reports released by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN).

CBN’s economic report just released claims that there was a 952.4 per cent ($614.6 million) rise in receipts from export of manufactured products (including glass and glass products and plastics) and a 68.6 per cent increase in receipts from exports of industrial sector (particularly chemical).The report goes on to explain that Nigeria recorded an increase of N242.3billion or 4.8 per cent in external merchandise trade in the second quarter of 2013.The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) attributed the rise in external receipts to an increase of N290.8bn or 8.4 per cent in the value of exports from N3.4 trillion in the first quarter to N3.74 trillion in the second quarter.
[/b]
This are positive developments.[size=17] Even the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) affirms that industrial capacity utilisation rose from 46.44 per cent in 2010 to 48.24 per cent to date[/size]. Capacity utilisation in the textile, apparel and footwear sector also increased from 29.14 per cent to 52.01 per cent. These, coupled with the fact that the nation no longer imports cement as it has excess installed capacity in local production, point to an economy in rebound.

This optimism is based on the belief that an envisaged National Industrial Revolution Plan (NIRP) will reposition Nigeria’s industries as the bedrock of sustainable economic growth and development. The unique selling point of this policy, we learnt, is based on the fact that it intends to build on those sectors where the country has competitive and comparative advantage. The policy also assures that the holistic cluster concept and integrated nature of this industrial policy as well as the plan to integrate it with investment and export strategy of the federal government will make it yield the desired results. We are tempted to give this

policy thrust by the Ministry of Trade and Investment, which is spear-heading it, the benefit of the doubt, as it claims to be developing institutions that will drive the policy towards achieving set goals. But it should be pointed out that the nation has never lacked in well-articulated policy framework.

In recent times, the country has consistently improved its trade statistics with the holistic reform of the trade regime and the growth-enabling policies in the manufacturing sector. Ostensibly, this is based on the perceived effort by the government to diversify the economy away from oil and gas.

The creation of special windows of financing small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in collaboration with SME desks of commercial banks, however, hold the key to genuine industrial takeoff of the country. With access to fund under special conditions, at single-digit interest rates, SMEs which include artisans, women and young school leavers can really give the economy the kiss of life it urgently needs.

ballabriggs: Rubbish!!! Their opinion which is far from the reality on ground. What is the level of manufacturing capacity utilisation? What percentage of per capita GNP? What percentage of the labour force are employed in manufacturing? Give me these figures then I will take them serious. Till then this is an nkwobi seeking statement.

Rossikk: The intriguing thing is I've never known M.A.N. to admit that the manufacturing sector was doing well. They've always said it was terrible, as far back as I can remember. So these upbeat analyses of the sector by MAN which we see these days is something very new indeed.

rhythyson: Senator Smart Adeyemi in his speech said he was delighted at the huge progress recorded in the implementation of the rail project by the Bala Mohammed Administration principally because the project touches on critical needs of the ordinary people...


This is an FCT project not FG
FG promised Metro and your clueless, Fisherman, Jonathan and just to help you Odechukwu will not deliver all he does is fresh mess.

Erects Interferometer

IN its drive to join the ranks of nations conducting high-level astronomical research, Nigeria is constructing an extensive network of radio telescopes, called an “interferometer.”

Engineers at the Centre for Basic Space Science (CBSS), Nsukka, are building some of the smaller instruments themselves, using local materials.

Professor F.E. Opara, recently appointed director, noted that his centre’s parent body, the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA), is now laying heavy emphasis on radio astronomy.

“It is important, for both scientific and strategic reasons,” he averred, in an interview with The Guardian, at NASRDA’s Abuja headquarters, “that we quickly break into the ranks of nations conducting serious research. In fact, we want Nigeria and, indeed, West Africa to be a centre of excellence”.

Unlike optical viewing instruments, radio telescopes do not produce a visual image or “picture”. Instead, Opara explained, they create “a profile of the object, at radio wavelength, which yields various types of data, such as its velocity, chemistry, temperature, orientation and physical properties”.

The problem radio astronomers face though, he said, is that of comparatively poor resolution—the instrument doesn’t distinguish fine detail very well. Radio telescopes thus have large receiving dishes, because the more radiation they take in, the more detail they can resolve.

But not even the widest single receiving dish can match the resolving power of a large optical telescope. So, radio astronomers have had to use a bit of wit and technique. They’ve learned that two separate radio dishes act as a single receiver, whose diameter is the distance between them.

“This principle holds,” Opara explained, “whether the distance separating the telescopes is a few meters or thousands of kilometers—whether the system consists of two telescopes or two hundred. In fact, the more telescopes involved the better”.

Accordingly, CBSS is urging Nigerian universities to incorporate radio astronomy into their research and instructional programmes and, above all else, build a telescope. This would, Opara posited, uplift the institutions academically and, at the same time, provide Nigeria with a powerful interferometer.

NASRDA’s vision is that its interferometer will become the hub of an expansive network of radio telescopes, encompassing not only Nigerian institutions but also universities and space agencies in other African countries, particularly in the western sub-region.

Under the leadership of its former director, Professor P.N. Okeke, CBSS has, over the years, made several attempts to build and operate a radio telescope—most notably in the mid-1980s, when Okeke, working with Charles McGruder, an African American astronomer, had his effort torpedoed financially.

Presently, Opara noted, CBSS has a three-meter radio telescope in operation and one with a six-meter receiving dish in the works. “Our engineers,” he said, “are erecting the small telescopes. But some staff are being trained abroad, for the 25-meter instrument, which the Chinese are building”.

Opara, a former Dean in the Faculty of Science, University of Science and Technology (Port Harcourt), stressed that there would be no fundamental changes in the Centre’s programmes and priorities. “Continuity,” he averred, “is very important. We will continue with the work Professor Okeke started.

oyb: http://allafrica.com/stories/201306210559.html





you see these jokers

goal post already shifting in less than four months

photos of CCECC at work, while a different company [exim] is named


design and construction here, feasibility study there - federal executive clowns

small wonder that lout is resorting to personal attacks.

i should report you for calling me a paedophile but its more fun t humiliate your sorry arsse

theoctopus: You keep showing that your hatred has made you completely ignorant and real dolt!

Read the topic again slowly! It says "construction starts on 12 trains stations", not on rail tracks. The rail track pictures is just to show that that work is already on going. But you seem too daft to understand! Train stations dont need up to two years to be built. They can be completed in 1 year or a little over 1 year. You are trying so hard to be intelligent but you always keep coming on short. The topic says works starts on train stations so obviously, there are no serious pictures yet to post for the train station, so he posted the prototype. You call it lies but Lagos to Kano is already on. PH to Maiduguri will start december. Also Enugu to PH to Kaduna will also start. No one needs your opinion. You can keep on posting your hatred, it will not change anything. At the respective dates, each one will be launched and you will keep looking like the dolt you are. Maybe you will go to the trains and stations and annouce to the passengers inside that it is a lie and that the FG is fooling them as the trains they are sitting in does not exist in reality, only on paper!

The partnership was launched by world leaders in 2011 to ensure governments’ commitment to promote transparency, empower citizens, fight corruption and use new technologies to strengthen governance.
Its membership has grown from eight countries to 60 countries in just two years, and is now viewed as a mark of a country’s high transparency standard.
While Nigeria was spurned, six African countries have been admitted to the prestigious body. They are Ghana, Liberia, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi and South Africa.

Jack Mahoney, the partnership’s Program Associate, told PREMIUM TIMES in an email that despite showing an interest, Nigeria has failed to make the cut to be accepted as a member.
“Nigeria is very close to eligibility, but has not yet reached the necessary score. At last count performed in March 2013, the Nigerian Government scored an 11/16, and is therefore one point away from the 12/16 minimum score required for countries to be eligible to join,” he said.
Top on the list of the reasons given why Nigeria is still falling short is the blatant refusal of President Jonathan, alongside other public officials, to publicly declare their assets.
Last year, during a media chat, Mr Jonathan showed utter disregard for transparency when he declared he was not going to declare his assets publicly.
“The issue of asset declaration is a matter of principle. I don’t give a damn about it, if you want to criticise me from heaven. The issue of public declaration I think is playing to the gallery. You don’t need to publicly declare any assets.

If I am somebody who wants to hide it is what I tell you that you will even believe,” the president said.
Mr Mahoney also told PREMIUM TIMES that for country to be accepted as a member, it needs to publish its annual Audit Report measured by the Open Budget Index (OBI).
The OBI measures the state of budget transparency, participation, and oversight in countries around the world.
Last year, Nigeria’s budget scored a woeful 16 point out of 100 leaving the country at the 80th position out of the 100 countries surveyed. With 93 points, New Zealand was rated as the country with the most transparent budget followed by South Africa with 90 points.
Mr Mahoney said Nigeria needs to also improve its score in the Democracy Index (DI) to be considered for membership. The DI is compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit and it measures the state of democracy in 167 countries base on 60 indicators grouped in five different categories: electoral process and pluralism, civil liberties, functioning of government, political participation, and political culture. In 2012, DI Nigeria was ranked the 7th most terrorised country in the world.

shachris03: Dude, i would never descend to cheap name calling with the likes of you educated fo.ools. Had it been you had simple apprehension, you would have seen where i bolded the fact that obasanjo started and completed the phase one of the project in 2002, SINGLE HANDEDLY. And not only that, he layed the foundation for the second phase of 500MW that your Jonathan is claiming to have completed even when he had only a 30% responsibility in the deal, and even out of the 30%, he still had to borrow to finance it.

shachris03: Mind you, i said so because you guys where claiming that GEJ built it, which is a big fat lie.