₦airaland Forum

Political uncertainty over Nigeria’s election on Saturday and economic turmoil from low oil prices have delivered a double blow that has slashed revenues and triggered layoffs for businesses across Africa’s biggest economy.

But while some, such as consumer goods firms, are less exposed to Abuja’s troubles, others like construction firms heavily dependent on government cash are facing frozen projects, unpaid bills and mass redundancies, putting badly needed infrastructure development on ice, industry sources say.

The situation is terrible and there is more … to come,” one construction industry source told Reuters.

“There is a desperate lack of funds.”

The fall in world oil prices to $55 a barrel, half what they were in June, could not have come at a worse time for Africa’s biggest producer. The run-up to an election is traditionally when government finances come under huge pressure from election spending on advertising and patronage.

Standard and Poor’s ratings agency downgraded Nigeria to B+ from BB- last week. The naira has fallen 20 percent since being devalued in November.

Because this vote is expected to be so closely fought, much more money has been needed to fight it. Capital spending in the budget has been slashed and a source in parliament said government contracts are massively in arrears because it is easier not to pay contractors than to hold back salaries.

The top 10 construction companies in Nigeria accounted for 70,000 jobs a year ago but since then their workforces have been cut by a third, industry sources said.

“Most of the companies tightened their belts because of no payments, while overheads are getting higher,” expatriate civil engineer Daniel Hazim said.

“That’s why the majority of construction companies are passing pink slips to their employees … expats and locals.”

DEVELOPMENT ON HOLD

Thousands of job losses are bad timing for President Goodluck Jonathan’s re-election bid, but they may do little to sway an electorate divided along regional and ethnic lines. Jonathan, a southern Christian, faces main opposition candidate Muhammadu Buhari, a former military ruler and a northern Muslim.

Yet the job losses are also a reminder that whoever leads Nigeria after the election will need to end its dependence on oil as the motor for the economy.

“We have neglected agriculture, solid minerals, we have neglected human empowerment, we simply sell oil,” political analyst and lawyer Onyebuchi Emenka told Reuters TV on Monday.

The country needs a candidate who will diversify the economy, he said.

In the meantime, contractors are suffering. A spokesman for the Ministry of Works said it had received only 44 billion naira out of 98 billion naira allocated last year.

The minister, Mike Onolememen, was quoted in local newspapers as saying that contractors were owed about 230 billion naira between 2011-2014 and that 177 projects lacked sufficient funding to move forward.

Leading construction firm Julius Berger and several other large firms have all stopped working on projects such as roads and bridges because the government is not paying them, industry sources say.

Firms with a smaller presence, such as Italy’s Salini Impregilo, which is building Abuja’s glitzy Millennium Tower, are in similar difficulties. Julius Berger declined to comment and Salini officials were not immediately available for comment.

Government infrastructure projects always moved slowly, but firms were forced to scale down to skeleton crews last year and several are not expecting to resume work in 2015 at all.

A project to rehabilitate the 340 km (200 miles) Itakpe-Ajaokuta-Warri railway to transport iron ore and coal, crucial to revamping an ageing steel mill, restarted work in August 2014 but was shut down again when funds dried up, a source close to the project said.

Now it will remain on hold until the government can fund it.

http://bioreports.net/news/financially-broke-nigeria-government-may-fall-back-on-pension-savings/

The Nigerian government is financially broke and barely able to pay its bills, an investigation by SaharaReporters has revealed. The portrait of the Nigerian government’s dismal financial situation is in sharp contrast to recent propaganda by Nigeria’s Finance Minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, and Central Bank governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi. Both officials have sought to depict the Nigerian economy as vibrant and robust.

http://saharareporters.com/2013/06/28/nigerian-government-broke-targets-pension-savings

About 30 out of 36 states across Nigeria appear to be broke and need urgent stimulus packages from the federal government. These were the words of the Delta State Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan at a book launch in Lagos over the weekend. Johnson Chukwu CEO, Cowry Asset Managers joins CNBC Africa to discuss this developing story.

Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, produces less grid electricity than the Republic of Ireland. South Africans consume 55 times more energy per head, and Americans 100 times more. Over 50% of Nigeria's 160 million people receive no electricity at all.

http://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/adam-smith-international-partner-zone/nigerian-power-breakthrough-global-development

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CORRUPTION IN THE ARMY: Nigerian Army In UN Peacekeeping Missions Reveal Army Leaders Have Stolen $43m Meant For Salary...The statement revealed that a staggering 3,950 soldiers are being owed and could stage a mutiny which would not be good for the image of the nation in these troubling insecurity problem

The statement went ahead and named “principal actors” involved, the names are as follows: Former Chief of Army Staff (Retired), Lieutenant General OA Ihejirika; Present Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lieutenant General KTJ Minimah; Director of Army Finance and Administration (DAFA), Major General AI Muraina; Former Director of Army Training and Operations (AHQ DATOPS), Major General JO Nwaogbo; and Present Director of Army Training and Operations (AHQ DATOPS), Major General JAH Ewansiha.


http://www.informationng.com/2014/07/corruption-in-the-army-nigerian-army-in-un-peacekeeping-missions-reveal-army-leaders-have-stolen-43m-meant-for-salary.html

Nigerian soldiers serving in the United Nations African Union Hybrid Missions in Darfur, Sudan have threatened to go on rampage if they are not paid their allowances and airlifted back to Nigeria on or before July 3, 2012.

Radio France International Hausa Service report monitored last night in Abuja said the soldiers handed the Federal Government an eight-day ultimatum to meet their demands or they "create a scenario in Sudan which will deter the on-going peace process in Darfur."

http://allafrica.com/stories/201206260968.html

Four Nigerian soldiers belonging to the United Nations-African Union peacekeeping mission in Darfur were killed in an ambush on Tuesday evening by unidentified attackers. Peacekeeping troops have been in Darfur since 2007. Some 16,000 troops, mostly from African nations, are currently based in the region; 78 have died. The soldiers killed on Tuesday were ambushed near a peacekeeping base in western Darfur. Eight soldiers were also injured. War broke out in Darfur in 2003, when rebel groups took up arms against the central government. According to the United Nations, 300,000 people have died because of the war. The Sudanese government says 10,000 have died. A peace agreement was signed between the government and one rebel group in 2011, but three other rebel groups have refused to sign.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/04/world/africa/nigerian-peacekeepers-killed-in-darfur-ambush.html

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Officials of the Nigerian Army on Monday took over the Ojodu Berger outlet of Capital Oil, buying petroleum products in drums, after scaring away thousands of consumers.

The armed personnel came in the guise of maintaining peace and order, but they soon abandoned their primary responsibility for fuel racket. They shoved, maltreated and sent away those who were on queue to be attended to, thereby gaining access to have their drums loaded with fuel.

As of press time, the unregistered white Isuzu truck they use for the ‘deal’ had visited the filling station for the fourth time.

The fourth truck was being loaded as of 8:50pm.

The vehicle, on each visit, left with at least 14 drums and dozens of gallons filled with fuel.

The helpless consumers, some of who slept at the filling station, suspected the soldiers were feeding the growing Lagos black market with the product.

The military officials who were fully dressed had taken over the only two pumps that dispensed the Premium Motor Spirit.

Those who protested the act were beaten and given scares on their bodies.

Meanwhile, consumers, who had spent the entire Monday at the filling station without getting the product to buy, had described the announcement by Ifeanyi Uba as a publicity stunt.

By 9pm on Monday, not more than a hundred cars left the station with fuel.

Besides the military, officials of the Nigeria Police Force and black market dealers took over the show while thousands of motorists who had crowded the place since 5am were abandoned.

http://www.punchng.com/news/soldiers-take-over-capital-oil-load-drums-with-fuel/

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Reports are that virtually all public and private institutions have shut down in the face of shortage of fuel to maintain normal businesses in Nigeria.

This development means that almost all other states of the federation are currently in total darkness, as the 15MW is a privileged preference given to Abuja as the nation's capital.

Last Thursday, the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Power, Ambassador Godknows Igali disclosed that power generation nationwide had dropped from 4,800MW to 1,327MW, leading to massive load shedding across the country.

Following that development, the management of AEDC issued text messages apologising to its customers in the FCT, Kogi, Nasarawa and Niger states.

Power allocation to the company from the national grid gradually dropped from about 450MW daily to less than 200MW in recent times.

By Friday May 22, 2015, allocation to the company was 145MW, which reduced to 115.6MW on Saturday and Sunday, May 23 and 24, 2015, respectively.

But yesterday's system collapse of Shiroro power plant has now reduced it to a meagre 15MW, it was learnt.

Airbus is briefing the South African Air Force (SAAF) on several of its aircraft, namely the A330MRTT, A400M and C295, to meet various potential requirements for surveillance, cargo and tanking/VIP transport.

An Airbus spokesperson told defenceWeb that the A330MRTT is actively being marketed as a tanker with a dual VIP capability while the C295 is aimed at meeting the SAAF’s maritime surveillance/patrol requirements and the A400M is being offered as a C-130 Hercules replacement. The spokesman emphasised that the company is not responding to specific requests for proposals (RFPs) but is keeping the SAAF up to date with product developments.

http://www.defenceweb.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=39173:airbus-talking-to-saaf-on-a400m-a330mrtt-and-c295&catid=35:Aerospace&Itemid=107

A restaurant in Nigeria has reportedly been shut down for serving customers human flesh. Locals contacted police after suspecting something was taking place in the kitchen and the hotel restaurant was raided. Officers discovered human heads still dripping with blood in plastic bags, the Daily Mail reports. Automatic weapons and mobile phones were also found.

"Every time I went to the market, I observed strange activities going on in the hotel," one local resident told the BBC. A local priest who ate at the restaurant said he was charged 700 Naira (around £2.20) for the food, where the daily average wage for millions of Nigerians is just 60p.

Speaking to BBC Swahili, he said: "The attendant noticed my reaction and told me it was the small piece of meat I had eaten that made the bill that high."I did not know I had been served with human meat, and that it was that expensive."In 2013, Chinese authorities revealed that a gang of traders were arrested for buying rat, fox and mink flesh and selling it as mutton. In a public statement, the Ministry of Public Security said 63 people were caught and accused of buying the meat and dousing it in gelatine, red pigment and nitrates to be sold as lamb in popular tourist spot Shanghai and Jiangsu Province.

The meat is said to have been sold for about £644,000 at markets in the areas. China's Prime Minister Li Keqiang has said that improving food safety is a priority.

SANDF

Within the next 18 months Denel will have a clear idea of whether it will restart Rooivalk production as it talks to possible partner nations/clients and engages with the Department of Defence. Both the South African and foreign militaries have expressed interest in restarting production.

Riaz Saloojee, Denel Group CEO pointed out to defenceWeb that defence minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula is on record saying that the Rooivalk needs to be re-established as a strategic sovereign capability for use in places like the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Saloojee told defenceWeb that Denel is establishing a roadmap for the Rooivalk which will include an upgrade of the current Rooivalk Mk 1 baseline that will form the building blocks to a Rooivalk Mk 2 variant which would be a new capability Rooivalk for both the SAAF and potential export market. This involves examining the feasibility of restarting production, looking at technology improvements and finding partners. He said that is will be “essential” to find an international partner and that Denel is in discussion with a number of countries in this regard.

http://www.defenceweb.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=38986&catid=74&Itemid=30

I HOPE THESE NIGERIAN MUMUS READ THE FOLLOWING ATTACHMENT

MTN Nigeria on Monday warned that should there be attacks on its facilities, it might be forced to close shop and 99 per cent of its over 6,000 workforce in the country, who are Nigerians, would be thrown into the labour market.

It also said that calls for the boycott of its services were unjustified as such an action would affect its support chain, which could cause another 500,000 Nigerians to lose their means of livelihood.

The company stated this in Lagos some hours after two groups protested in its Abuja and Benin offices against the killing of foreigners in its home country, South Africa.

According to the Corporate Service Executive, MTN Nigeria, Mr. Wale Goodluck, there are only 12 expatriates working for the company in the country, compared to a workforce of 6,000 Nigerians.

Goodluck said, “So, if people go ahead with their threats to attack our facilities, what that means is that we may be forced to close down the business in Nigeria and about 6,000 Nigerians that make up 99 per cent of our workforce will be unemployed.

“Then, when you look at our support chain, we have about 500,000 Nigerians gainfully employed. So, boycotting our services simply means destroying so many other Nigerian businesses and making over 500,000 other Nigerians to lose their jobs.

“This business supports a lot of businesses across the length and breadth of Nigeria. Many of the businesses that are affiliated to South Africa are in the retail space, supporting the growth of Nigeria and employing so many Nigerians.”

He noted that the company had spent in excess of $15bn on capital expenditure growing the telecommunications business in Nigeria.

“We see no revenge of Xenophobia and we commend the role the Nigerian High Commissioner in South Africa has played; at least there has been no fatality on the part of any Nigerian,” Goodluck added.

http://www.punchng.com/business/business-economy/xenophobia-mtn-nigeria-warns-of-6000-job-losses/

NIGERIA AND THE REST OF THE AFRICAN CONTINENT SHOULD STOP TRYING TO TELL SOUTH AFRICA HOW TO TACKLE ITS OWN PROBLEM....AS MOST OF WHAT'S HAPPENING ARE PROBLEMS THAT ORIGINATES FROM THE AFRICAN CONTINENT ITSELF. AFRICAN COUNTRIES HAVE OUTSOURCED THEIR INTERNAL CHALLENGES TO SOUTH AFRICA SUCH AS UNEMPLOYMENT, GOOD GOVERNANCE, HOUSING ETC.

THESE PROBLEMS ARE ALSO EXPERIANCED BY EUROPE....THOUSANDS OF AFRICAN IMMIGRANTS ARE DYING EVERY DAY IN THE MEDITEREAN SEA AND NOT A SINGLE AFRICAN COUNTRY HAS VOICED ITS CONCERN AND SO WHY SOUTH AFRICA....NOWAY IN THE WORLD HAS ANY COUNTRY EXPERIANCED SUCH A TOTAL DISREGARD OF ITS INTERNAL SECURITY AND BORDER INVASION WITHOUT AN OPPOSITION FROM ITS OWN CITIZENS....XENOPHOBIA IS BAD BUT NO PLACE HAS EVER WITNESS SUCH A TOTAL DISREGARD BY AFRICAN IMMIGRANTS OF ITS OWN SOVEREIGNTY........AFRICA SUPPORTED SOUTH AFRICA, ZIMBABWE, ANGOLA, MOZAMBIQUE AND NAMIBIA DURING THEIR LIBERATION AND THIS HOSPITALITY BY AFRICANS WAS NOT A LONG TERM INVESTMENT TO OUTSOURCED ITS OWN PROBLEMS ONLY TO SOUTH AFRICA.

NO COUNTRY CAN HANDLE THIS TOTAL INVASION BY AFRICA ALONE...EVEN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES ARE APPEALING TO THE EUROPEAN UNION FOR ASSISTANCE

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INSIDE THE SOUTH AFRICAN NAVY SUBMARINE

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SANDF DOES NOT NEED INTERVENTION FROM OTHER FOREIGN POWERS TO SUBJUE AN INTERNAL THREAT

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SANDF TRAINING

NO COMPARISON BETWEEN A GIANT AND THE MIDGET....PROOF IS ALL OVER

SOPHISTICATION FOR THE SANDF IS THE NAME OF THE GAME

SANDF NOT A BACKWARD FORCES

THE TRIED AND TESTED

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SANDF ARTILLERY UNIT