₦airaland Forum

nerodenero: I'm not against constructive criticism at all but when it comes from individuals of questionable characters, that is where I have problem. Nobody is happy with the government of the day but I don't think Akande is in the right position to criticise.

sheyie2007: Mcheeew

blink182: The minister of aviation has really done well in administering funds assigned to her ministry.

Siga: ....I believe the owner and the car details should be attached to every plates.... if and when u change ur car... it should be updated accordingly....

Rossikk: MM2 was commissioned over 4 years ago and still looks fantastic. Stick your pessimism up your asss, PIG.

skyfall: Elrufai is absolutely correct. Jonathan just wants to retain power for the sake of it - his so-called transformation is a ruse. He pays billions to those criminals to protect pipelines but oil theft has subsequently reached unprecedented levels. Let's see how they'll do the magic again in 2015.

Maxymilliano: Beautiful pictures I must say, but while celebrating the massive construction of the Abuja Airport Road, there's need to spare a thought for the eyesore which the MMIA roads in Lagos has become.

To anyone visiting Nigeria, coming in through the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos still remain the top choice ahead of Abuja and Port-Harcourt.

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* Nigerian farmers happy over increased price of cassava- farmers’ leader


The price of cassava has more than doubled.

The increase in the price of cassava tubers has impacted positively on farmers, David Ogunsade, the Chairman of Cassava Growers Association in Osun, has said.

Mr. Ogunsade, who is also the Southwest Chairman of the association, said at Imesi-Ile in Obokun Local Government Area on Thursday, that the development had paved way for growers of the product to make impressive gains in six months.

He said the development had changed the fortunes of cassava farmers and allowed them access funds for the expansion of their farms; acquire inputs and other incentives for farm management. He said that farmers in the state sold no fewer than 35,000 tonnes of cassava tubers from January to date, adding that one tone of cassava tuber now goes for N25, 000 compared to N10, 000 in 2012.

“The greater demand for cassava tubers by local industries coupled with high demand for cassava chips outside the country is responsible for the price increase.

“What is happening now is an opportunity for able-bodied Nigerians, irrespective of status, to invest in the sector so as to increase production and meet both national and international demand.

“Investment in the sector is lucrative with no risk,” he said.

He further said that farmers had started receiving fertilisers at subsidised rate under the Growth Enhancement Scheme (GES) of the Federal Government.

“Also, each of the registered farmers across the state has received 20 kg of treated maize and rice for planting freely under the scheme,” he said.

He appealed to beneficiaries to plant and maintain their farms properly, so as to have bumper harvest at the end of the season.

The federal government appears dogged in its determination to make the woes of the Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC) an absolute history. SAMSON ECHENIM looks at the strategic plans by the current management of the NRC to rehabilitate and fund the construction of new railway infrastructures round the country.

In May 2011, the Minister of Transport, Senator Idris Umar was in Lagos, the country’s commercial capital on a two-day visit to familiarise with the rail and marine transport infrastructure and their various stakeholders. At the Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC) headquarters and premises, rail engines, locomotives, wagons and other heavy equipment and rail facilities lay wasting.

Infrastructural decay and utter state of comatose best described the once celebrated national glory called NRC, leading hearts to weep for dear Nigeria. At the headquarters where the minister inaugurated two rail road recovery vehicles for emergencies on the railway, NRC’s Managing Director, Engr. Adeseyi Sijuade said, “We ordered for five and we have just received two for now. We have trained workers to handle them.”

In one of the large engine rooms, there were rail engines such as the one named after the then second-in-command in the Abacha regime, General Oladipo Diya (Rtd), lying waste for decades. One could observe that it was never moved through the rail lines. The NRC managing director talked of bringing them back to standards so that they could be used. “We will rehabilitate and modernise them for use,” he said, but added, “No plans for them for now.”

At that event, the Minister said, “without the railway, this country is doomed,” adding that he had begun moves to have the Railway Act amended to involve the private sector in funding the infrastructure as budgetary allocations alone were not enough to drive the NRC. “If a facility has been moribund for 40 years and there is a man who is able to rebuild it for 25 years, he definitely deserves applause. But this is a plan. We are competing with other critical infrastructure which equally demand funds, such as the power sector on which we also depend for success in this sector (rail),” the minister explained.

Interestingly, less than two years later, the words of the minister have come to fruition. The days of glory in Nigeria’s railway are now here. The current management of NRC led by Engr. Adeseyi Sijuwade is recording feats after feats in the transformation of the hitherto moribund critical socio-economic infrastructure. It is now one of the government’s major areas of transformation. It is indeed, important that Nigerians are regularly updated with current happenings in Nigeria Railway Corporation.



The Lagos-Kano Railway and other Services

[b]Passenger and freight services on the Lagos-Kano railway line covering 1,126 kilometres on the western corridor were flagged off on December 22 last year. Since then, the services have been unbroken, moving 2,500 passengers weekly. The service now patronised by Nigerian long distance travellers’ demands more from the NRC to increase frequency on the route.

Speaking on the services of the corporation currently running, the corporation’s Director, Operations, Mr Niyi Ali said, “Our operations have increased. We have inter-city mass transit; Lagos mass transit service in which 16 trains move 16,000 passengers on a daily basis and the Kaduna mass transit with 10 trains moving 10,000 passengers daily. There are the intercity passenger services in which about 2,500 passengers are moved weekly from Lagos to Kano. Over 80,000 passengers have been lifted by the Lagos-Kano Train since commencement of operation in December 2012.”

Figures from the corporation show that the Lagos-Ilorin-Lagos train moves 6,200 passengers weekly, while about 2,000 passengers also travel from Offa to Kano and back to Offa every week. There is also the Minna-Kaduna-Minna train which moves some 3,500 people weekly and the Kano-Nguru train going twice a week and moving about 1,000 passengers, 200 tons of luggage and parcels.

“We also have freight services going on currently. Under this service we are moving products for Lafarge Cement from Lagos to Kano carrying about 3,000 tons monthly; the Flour Mills wheat traffic from Lagos to Kano also delivering 500 tons monthly. We move track materials for contractors up to 3000 tons monthly; sand traffic from Oturkpo to Makurdi about 4,000 tons monthly; movement of NRC’s petroleum products from Lagos to Kano and other traffic reaching some 1000 tons on a monthly basis,” Ali said.

In preparation for fuel haulage by rail, the NRC had in February this year imported 20 units of pressurized fuel tanker wagons with a capacity of 40 tons and said it had planned to import additional 50 when the project firms up. With such capacity, the 20 tank wagons have now taken off about 30 trailers from the roads through Lagos-Kano axis as the system began operation December 2012.

With more tanker wagons, the fuel haulage service would be dedicated to major oil marketers, Oando, Agip, Total and a few others, to lift fuel from the seaports to Kano, Kaduna, Zaria and as far as Kafanchan and Maiduguri in the north east Nigeria. Available statistics also show that the railway now render excursion train services, which are highly patronised during festivities.

According the operations director, upcoming train services will include Port-Harcourt - Aba passenger train, Kano MTT service, inland container traffic Nigerian Breweries traffic, CRCC ballast traffic, CCECC ballast and Total Petroleum traffic.

“We are doing a lot more than reaches the awareness of people. We want to make rail major mover of freight in this country and link all international airports, seaports and inland container depots to the rail network,” he said.

[/b]

Public Private Partnership In Railway Service

The railway in Nigeria began with private organisational efforts. But in other to make its services accessible to the ordinary man, the government in its good intentions took over the service which was finally established by the 1955 Railway Act, reserving ownership to the government only. Now it is desirable that the private sector has to come in to make the dream come true.

The corporation has a 25-year strategic plan of system transition, modernisation and stabilisation. With the plan it expects the railway to stabilise by 2017 with standard gauge systems in place for faster movement. But stakeholders said for the country to pull the plan through successfully, laws establishing the NRC and its mandate to manage the railway infrastructure must be revisited and amended to incorporate private investment.

“Government has a lot of goals and a lot of infrastructural development seeking attention and the railway is just one of them. Right now, wise government ministries, agencies and corporations are those who channel their energy towards private sector participation and so for me, we are ripe enough for that. So, in the next few months you are going to be seeing quite a lot of private sector participation in moving the Nigeria Railway Corporation forward.

“Our strategic direction as at now is about public private partnership as the way forward. I say this because we have reached a point where it has become so glaring that government’s primarily funding alone cannot take us to where we need to be. Under this step therefore, we have forwarded the Railway Bill which has been approved by the National Council on Privatisation and will shortly be presented to the National Assembly for consideration and approval,” the NRC boss explained.

According to a transport sector expert, Mr Simon Anakwe, the future of the country’s railway lies with successful installation of the standard gauge and the rapid rail system, which according to him should now be the main focus. He said, “I am aware that the ministry of transport has taken steps to have the railway laws amended in order to involve private sector investors in the railway transport, but this has to be pursued with great spirit.

“The lawmakers themselves who are now the determinants in this case should not deny Nigerians the opportunities that come with a robust and effective railway transport. In Brazil and China, the railway is a major employer of labour, employing up to 25 million and 75 million in the countries respectively, both directly and indirectly. The same thing can be achieved here and our youths will have jobs. So government, especially the legislature in this case, must learn from these countries,” Anakwe added.

However, the corporation has three steps of the public private partnership (PPP) initiative. Step 1 involves outsourcing to enhance operational efficiency. This include on-board cleaning of passenger trains, cleaning of major train stations, on-board catering and outsourcing plans include facilities management of all major stations, ticketing service and car parks. Under Step 2, the federal government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with General Electric for setting up a locomotive assembly plant in Nigeria. A transaction advisor for that is being selected. Under this step, it has also commenced procurement process for selecting potential logistics service providers to partner with it in the area of design, build, maintain, operate and transfer (DBMOT) of warehouses for storage of goods, services for loading and off-loading of goods supply of coaches and wagons for freight services. Under Step 3, the corporation has finalised the presentation of the OBC for the Western and Eastern lines concessions. It is now moving to the next stage of selecting a transaction advisor.


[b]
The Many Projects Ongoing, Standard Gauge And The Role Of SURE-P

The NRC has awarded quite a lot of projects which are now at various levels of completion. The rehabilitation of the Lagos-Kano Line under Contract 1 & 2 has been completed and the line has become operational since December last year after the corporation spent about N24.4 billion to rehabilitate the 1,126km railway line.

According to the corporation’s managing director, several contracts have been awarded, including for the building of standard gauge facilities on both the western and eastern corridors. According to him, Contract 3, which comprises Port-Harcourt to Makurdi on the Eastern axis is now in progress. The project comprises the Aba gully control, Bridge 18, Bridge 15, which have been done and track works.

He said skeletal train service has begun between Utobe and Makurdi. Contract 4 is the Makurdi to Kuru and Contract 5 involves upgrading of the Eastern Line signaling and telecoms system now in progress. The design has been completed and next stage will be physical installation and configuration starting with four stations. The contract on telecoms and signaling on the Eastern Corridor from Port-Harcourt to Maiduguri, a distance of 1,657km and awarded to Ansaldo A3 and O Ltd at N5.6 billion has reached 18 per cent completion.

Contract 6 is Zaria to Kaura Namoda, where the rate of work on Zaria to Funtua and Funtua to Karazua sections is high, with bridge repairs in progress. Level crossings are almost completed. And of course, we have Contract 7 comprising Kuru to Maiduguri, where serious works are currently in progress. The track contract of the Eastern Line was awarded to two firms, CGGC and Lingo at N48.2 billion.

“We also have the modernisation programme, which for now has in it the completion of Ajaokuta/Itakpe to Warri standard gauge in progress, nearing 70 per cent completion; the construction of Abuja to Kaduna standard gauge now 40 per cent completed; construction of Lagos to Ibadan standard gauge has just been awarded and of course, a number of feasibility studies are on-going for new lines,” said Sijuade.

In the area of rehabilitation and procurement of rolling stock, the corporation has refurbished about 350 wagons, 120 coaches, procured 20 oil tank wagons in 2012 and 20 more to arrive in July (this year); two 100 tons telescopic cranes—one has been fully installed and the other awaiting clearance at the port. It has also procured four 60 tons overhead cranes and they have been fully installed; three rail inspection vehicles and five rail recovery vehicles. Four locomotives are expected to arrive in July, six 68-seater modern coaches to be delivered by December, while two sets of diesel multiple units are also to be delivered in December[/b].



Challenges And The Future

With a determined management of the corporation and personnel with a new orientation on board, the obvious challenges remain those of funding and successful transformation to standard gauge, which are basically NRC’s modernisation projects as well as the challenge with amendment of the Railway Act of 1955 to bring in full private sector participation.

But for now, the NRC boss said, “We have to complete the rehabilitation of the western and eastern lines and continue our modernisation projects. These are project challenges. We also have such challenges with addendum for sidings and loop lines on the Western line, procurement and rehabilitation of locomotives and rolling stock, maintenance equipment and construction of links to sea, river and air ports.

“In the area of operational challenges, we have insufficient locomotives’ coaches and wagon leading to congestion. We also face the challenge of porosity of rail corridors and level crossing. At the moment, we have access to only two seaports and none to any airport. We also need more staff and to create staff incentives.

Undoubtedly, in addition to the power sector, the successful resuscitation of the railway is now considered by Nigerians as another parameter for measuring the success of the present administration and its transformation agenda. Nigerians are least concerned about whom the owners of NRC may be, provided that effective and affordable railway services return to the citizens.

- See more at: http://leadership.ng/news/300613/assessing-nrc-s-new-strategies-towards-making-railway-system-more-efficient#sthash.RHpLi2zH.dpuf

solomon111: Still very small when compared to nations like china and s.korea.
The FG should solve electricity problem and security issues as soon as possible.
We should be aiming for investments quota the scale of china and the asian tigers,given our huge population.
We should stop comparing ourselves with all these small african countries that don't have half our investment potential.

For the second time in two years, Nigeria has retained its position as Africa’s number one destination for Foreign Direct Investment, according to the global FDI report released by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development on Wednesday.

This, however, is despite the fact that FDI inflows into the country actually fell from $8.9bn in 2011 to $7bn last year.

Specifically, the UNCTAD World Investment Report 2013 subtitled: ‘Global value chains: Investment and trade for development, disclosed that Nigeria recorded FDI inflows of $7.03bn in 2012 to beat other African countries.

FDI into South Africa stood at $4.572bn; Ghana, $3.295bn; Egypt, $2.798bn; and Angola, $-6.898bn, among others.

A breakdown of the report showed that FDI flows to African countries increased by five per cent to $50bn in 2012, even as global FDI fell by 18 per cent.

UNCTAD’s annual survey of investment trends revealed that global FDI fell by 18 per cent to $1.35tn, while it was expected to increase to $1.45tn in 2013, $1.6tn in 2014 and $1.8tn in 2015.

Most of the FDIs into Africa were driven largely by the extractive industry, but there was an increase in investments in consumer-oriented manufacturing and services, the report said.

UNCTAD said “Global foreign direct investment fell by 18 per cent to $1.35tn in 2012. This sharp decline was in stark contrast to other key economic indicators such as GDP, international trade and employment, which all registered positive growth at the global level. Economic fragility and policy uncertainty in a number of major economies gave rise to caution among investors.

“The road to FDI recovery is thus proving bumpy and may take longer than expected. UNCTAD forecasts FDI in 2013 to remain close to the 2012 level, with an upper range of $1.45tn – a level comparable to the pre-crisis average of 2005–2007.”

It added, “Developing countries take the lead in 2012 – for the first time ever – developing economies absorbed more FDI than developed countries, accounting for 52 per cent of global FDI flows.

“This is partly because the biggest fall in FDI inflows occurred in developed countries, which now account for only 42 per cent of global flows.”

Nigeria emerged Africa’s biggest destination for FDI in 2011, with total inflows of $8.92bn. South Africa was ranked next with total FDI inflows of $5.81bn, while other African countries such as Ghana received $3.22bn; Congo, $2.93bn; and Algeria, $2.57bn, respectively.

There has been an increase in investment inflow into the country in the last two years. For instance, President Goodluck Jonathan, last Tuesday, inaugurated the General Electric’s $1bn service and manufacturing facility in Calabar.

The ground breaking ceremony followed the Memorandum of Understanding signed by the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr. Olusegun Aganga; and the Global Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of GE, Mr. Jeff Emmelt, in January.

Similarly, Gulf Warehousing Company, Qatar, plans to invest $300m in warehousing and logistic infrastructure in the country, while Procter & Gamble has also commenced an investment worth $250m in Nigeria.

The National Identify Management Commission has said the ongoing registration exercise will check cases of bank fraud in the country.

The commission expressed optimism that the new identity numbers would tackle the problem of insecurity.

The Director-General, NIMC, Mr. Chris Onyemenam, who stated this in an interview with journalists in Abuja on Saturday, also displayed equipment already installed to facilitate the registration exercise.

According to him, more than 500,000 Nigerians have so far been registered, adding that the issuance of the new identity cards would begin in September.

Onyemenam said, “The new identification numbers will stem the tide of crimes and corrupt practices in both the public and private sectors. The new identity card will checkmate bank frauds. That is the reason why the Bankers’ Committee is interested in developing a database.

“No matter the amount of money they have, it will take them a long time to get to where we are. We need to work on that. When we streamline, it will be easy to identify fraud cases.

“The registration is a continuous process and has no timeline. Compare it with the case of opening a new branch of a bank. They operate everyday without any timeframe. Right now, the enrolment centres we have are not enough.

“In each state, there are 10 enrolment units and are capable of enrolling 500 people a day. We hope to open local government enrolment centres before the year ends. We are currently discussing with government agencies on how we can open registration centres in their offices. This is pending when the private sector will fully get involved.”

Sincere 9gerian: Those idiotic clowns have no shame. Telling lies has become a hobby for them. And these are the people that parade themselves as 'change agents'? I guess they are satanic 'change agents'.

taharqa2: Both this Abuja Rail project and d longer Abuja-Kaduna Rail project are supposed to be completed in 2014. The Abuja-Kaduna Rail project is actuali meant to hv be completed EARLY 2014, but at almost 70% Completion rate, one is not very sure it wud happen early nx year; maybe d later part of d yr.

Thnks again for d explanation and Pics; plz, if you hv others post them cos I need them for smtin

emmysenior: The frustrated company is looking for an escape route. Well, since it's geared towards power improvement here, then, it's a welcomed development.

On the other hand, why did he decline to name the Nigerian partner? I bet the partner is a thieving politician.

Well, anyhow is a how, somehow or however. As far as we end up having stable electricity supplies, no qualms.

Fit-again Nigeria striker Emmanuel Emenike is targeting a return to the Super Eagles’ side in their crucial World Cup qualifier against Malawi in September.

Emenike has only just come back from injury following six weeks out with a knee problem. Now he is hoping he can pick up where he left off for club and country.


Super Eagles striker, Emmanuel Emenike writhing in pains
“I suffered that terrible injury while my confidence was high and luckily I have returned to training after six weeks out,” he told BBC Sport.

“I am not at 100 per cent yet, I still need match rhythm with my club and get back to rewarding them for the support, and honour our loyal fans and everyone who stood by me.

“After five very difficult months, I also hope to play for my country again in September.”

With the African Champions struggling at the ongoing Fifa Confederations Cup, his absence has further denied them a key threat up front.

“At the moment we have capable strikers in the squad and it is very important this team and fans come together because these players represent our country.”

Back in March the African Cup of Nations top scorer had criticised the country’s coach Stephen Keshi and officials for ignoring him after he suffered an injury at the Nations Cup.

But after speaking at length with both the coach and president of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Aminu Maigari, the Spartak Moscow striker insists he has put the past behind.

“I felt a bit bad back then, but all that is behind me now because everyone must have learned greatly from that situation,” Emenike said on Saturday.

“I was not happy and when I am not happy, I do not have the power to hide my deep disappointments and feelings.

“When I finally spoke with the coach [twice], and the NFF president, everything was discussed and sorted. It was a great step forward.”

Photo: Mint
New Delhi: Frustrated with its inability to obtain the gas needed to run power plants, Sravanthi Group plans to relocate one of its two 225 megawatts (MW) units in Uttarakhand all the way to distant Africa—Nigeria to be precise.
With its Rs.1,800 crore, 450MW gas-based power project getting stalled, the company has signed an in-principle agreement with a Nigeria-based Indian developer for a joint venture to set up the plant in that country.
While the company will lose Rs.100 crore as part of civil and structural construction costs, it hopes to recover this through electricity sales to power-starved Nigeria, said D.V. Rao, chairman and managing director of Sravanthi Group. He declined to name the Nigerian partner.
Of India’s installed power generation capacity of 225,133MW, 9% or 20,359.85MW is gas-based. The plant load factor of this capacity is just 24% because of lack of fuel. An additional capacity of 8,600MW is ready, but can’t be commissioned for the same reason.
This situation has come to pass due to declining production from Reliance Industries Ltd’s D6 block in the Krishna-Godavari basin, the country’s largest reservoir of the fuel.
Mint reported on 28 October about the restricted availability of gas in India forcing developers of stalled gas-based power projects to scout for locations in Africa where they could shift their plants. Since capital investment has already been made in setting up the projects, the developers are looking at ways and means to service the loans.
Despite being rich in energy resources, Africa suffers from a chronic power shortage. Nigeria, which has an electricity shortage, has implemented several measures to improve its power sector.
To attract investors to a privatization drive, it has offered an internal rate of return of 20% on a regulated tariff structure. The country has an installed generation capacity of 8,644MW, of which 6,905MW is government-owned.
Sravanthi Group invested Rs.1,800 crore towards setting up the Uttarakhand project, of which Rs.1,350 crore was the debt component. Of this debt component, Rs.1,100 crore was released by the banks, due to which the equity portion was increased from Rs.435 crore to Rs.685 crore.
[b]“The plant is ready, but there is no gas. We have an in-principle agreement. They (the Nigerian partner) are in the process of getting a licence to set up a 225MW power station. We have agreed to invest a part of the equity. They will hold the majority stake. They also have the option of us doing the engineering, procurement and construction of the project,” said Rao.
“It will take six months for the transaction to be completed. We will retain the second unit here,” he said.
[/b]India, the world’s fourth largest energy-consuming nation, imports 80% of its crude oil and 25% of its natural gas requirements. The country accounts for 4.4% of global energy consumption after the US, China and Russia. India’s energy demand is expected to more than double by 2035, from less than 700 million tonnes of oil equivalent (mtoe) to around 1,500 mtoe, according to the oil ministry’s estimates.
According to energy experts, gas will remain a preferred fuel globally.
“Natural gas will continue to increase its share of the global energy mix, growing at 2.4% per year between now and 2018,” the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in its medium-term gas market report released on Thursday.
“Even though we have revised our growth estimates downwards,

The Federal Government yesterday opened three road project, totalling N12.6bn in Gombe State.

Some of the projects include rehabilitation of Gombe-Numa- Yola road section 2, emergency reinstatement of collapsed section of Gombe Potiskum road and Gombe Bye-Pass road.

Speaking while commissioning the projects in Gombe, Minister of Works, Arc Mike Onolememen urged the people to ensure sustainable use of the roads.

Apart from the commissioned roads, he also promised to work with the state government with a view to dualising the airport road, maintaining that doing so would not only enhance business activities, but also reduce carnage on the road.

While lauding Gombe State Government for providing the needed conducive environment for the speedy completion of the road projects, the minister added that Federal Government would continue to give its other projects in the state ultimate priority.

He said,” “The commissioning of the three road projects is consistent with the Federal Government’s determination to open up Nigerian roads to boost economic activities. Road construction and rehabilitation are the integral part of the present administration’s transformation agenda and government will not shy away in its responsibility to bequeath to the nation, motorable roads.”

Lagos, Nigeria - Seven tertiary hospitals in Nigeria have been equipped with state-of-the-art facilities and personnel to undertake kidney transplant, the local VANGUARD newspaper quoted the Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, as saying Thursday in Abuja, the Nigerian capital city.


It also quoted the minister, who was speaking at the 2013 Ministerial Platform, as also saying that the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital had the capacity to undertake open heart surgery.

The minister said: “With this achievements and improvement in the health sector, there is no need for anyone to leave Nigeria to other countries for medical treatment, apart from cases where we do not have expertise in Nigeria because no country in the world can provide all the health needs of its people”.

He noted that in an effort to ensure that Nigerians imbibed healthy lifestyle, his ministry was intensifying efforts and collaborating with members of the National Assembly to ensure that the tobacco bill became law.

This, according to him, will moderate the smoking habit of the people and prevent them from contracting deadly diseases, such as cancer, lungs diseases and many others.

“In the same vein, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, is also reviewing its laws to provide stiffer penalty for fake drug manufacturers and importers,” he stressed.

The minister also revealed that, “very soon, herbal medicine will soon be introduced in our medical schools. This is because before you treat any disease, you must have the ability to diagnose it and administer the needed treatment. Herbal medicine practitioners will be given the needed training to perform optimally. ”

He charged Nigerians to embrace the various health insurance programmes introduced by the National Health Insurance Scheme, NHIS, stressing that for Nigerians to have access to affordable, effective and efficient healthcare services, health insurance was the way to go.

Also speaking at the platform, the Minister of State for Health, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate, said that between 2009 to 2012, Nigeria had been able to reduce maternal mortality rate by 47 per cent.

He assured that with the current efforts of the President Jonathan-led government, polio would soon be a thing of the past in the country.

“Since the beginning of this year, we have had only 25 polio cases in the country which are mainly from the states like Borno and Yobe which are bedeviled with security challenges,” he noted.

Pate reiterated that the effort of the federal government had led to the successes recorded in the total eradication of guinea worm diseases, for which the World Health Organisation (WHO) will give Nigeria guinea worm free certification this month.

“Meningitis outbreak has also become a thing of the past in this country,” he stressed