₦airaland Forum

Governor Oluwarotimi of Ondo State has said those carrying out attacks such as the one on St Francis Xavier Catholic Church in the state, are foreigners from Mali trained in Libya.

While describing the attack as vile and satanic, Akeredolu promised that the [erpetraors would be arrested soon.

Gunmen had on Sunday morning attacked the church and opened fire on worshippers with many killed.

The Governor, who has departed Abuja for the state, urged residents to keep calm and not take the laws into their hands.

“What happened here is too tragic. It is the most tragic event. What is happening in America is a child’s play to what has happened here.

"To say the least, it is condemnable. I’m grieved. Let me let you know that we have a duty to protect you.

“Security services also lost about two men. The attack was sudden. How they carried out the attack and entered the church cannot be explained.

“No one thought that such incident could happen in Ondo State not to talk of People.

“Let us not retaliate because we will apprehend them. Don’t take laws into your hands. I want to express my condolences to the families of the victims.

"Security agencies in the state must take all steps necessary because this must not repeat itself.

“On our own part, we must be vigilant. We take responsibility for what has happened.

“Most of those that are carrying out this attacks are foreigners from Mali who were trained in Libya,” he said.

Kwanza:
https://thenationonlineng.net/breaking-court-picks-august-29-for-judgement-in-abba-kyaris-extradition-case/?utm_term=Autofeed&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1654250196

Presidential spokesperson, Femi Adesina, has faulted claims that the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), asked members of the Progressives Governors’ Forum to pick a consensus presidential candidate for the ruling All Progressives Congress.

He said that contrary to reports, the President only met with the governors and gave them his “expectation” for the forthcoming presidential primary of the party.

Adesina, who is the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, stated these in a piece titled, ‘Visit to Spain: Let’s Buga for Mr President’.

Making clarifications on what transpired during the meeting, the presidential spokesperson explained that Buhari never discussed issues bordering on zoning, consensus, or imposition of candidates during his conversation with the governors.




According to him, President Buhari told them of what he would like to see at the APC presidential primary to elect a presidential candidate early next week.

He said, “No word about zoning, consensus, or imposition of candidate. He just charged them to let their plans converge, so that the party would put its best foot forward. Shortly after the meeting, we headed for the airport.

“A short time into the about five hours flight, I went on social media, to see that all hell had broken loose. Trust some Nigerians. When there’s no controversy, they simply create one. They will die of boredom if they don’t have something to wail or ululate about.



“What were they bellyaching on? Oh, he used the words ‘my successor,’ instead of ‘APC candidate.’ That means he wants to rig the election. Otiose.

“Oh, he talked about Governors who performed well being given opportunity to get a second term, for continuity. That means he wants to impose someone from within the government to succeed him. Consensus is what he wants. Puerile.

“Is consensus not one of the acceptable ways of choosing candidates, according to the Electoral Act? So the party can jolly well decide on the method it wants.

“Oh, he didn’t talk about zoning. APC wants to give its ticket to the North. Really? Did you see anything like that in the speech?


Meanwhile, Buhari had while addressing the governors on Tuesday ahead of the party’s presidential primary taking place on Monday, stated, “The party has successfully established internal policies that promote continuity and smooth succession plans even at the state and local government levels.

“For example, first-term governors who have served credibly well have been encouraged to stand for re-election. Similarly, second-term governors have been accorded the privilege of promoting successors that are capable of driving their visions as well as the ideals of the party.”


Buhari said he would be seeking reciprocity from the governors ahead of the presidential primary which comes up in the next six days.

“In keeping with the established internal policies of the party and as we approach the convention in a few days, therefore, I wish to solicit the reciprocity and support of the governors and other stakeholders in picking my successor, who would fly the flag of our party for election into the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in 2023,” the President added.

He asked the governors to ensure that all interests ‘converge’ as regards the outcome of the presidential primary. The President added that the person who emerges as the presidential candidate must be one who could give Nigerians a sense of victory even before the polls.

Buhari stated, “As we approach the convention, I appeal to all of you to allow our interests to converge, our focus to remain on the changing dynamics of our environment, the expectations of our citizens, and the global community.

“Our objective must be the victory of our party and our choice of a candidate must be someone who would give the Nigerian masses a sense of victory and confidence even before the elections.”

The Japanese Government has explained why it could not supply any military equipment to Nigeria despite the Boko Haram insurgency, banditry and other forms of insecurity ravaging the country.

The Japanese Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Kazuyoshi Matsunaga, gave the explanation on Thursday in Abuja during a meeting with the management of the North East Development Commission (NEDC) led by its Managing Director Mr. Mohammad Alkali.

Tinubu knocks Abiodun, says ‘I made you Ogun gov’Atiku yet to pick running mate – Aide

According to him, the Japanese government could not have supplied any military equipment to Nigeria due to “the limitation of the military regulation.”

He, however, assured that the Japanese Government would continue to support the activity of the NEDC based on the North East Re-building master plan, and also sought for improved bilateral relations between both countries.

“In Japan, the Japanese media already read the news about Nigeria, not only the football, but also the Boko Haram or the terrorism in the North East. But many Japanese people misunderstand that there are many extremists in North East, but the reality is not true.

“The main reason is how we can get out of the poverty, how we can develop the economy. That is the most important part. They have called the Japanese government for support. Due to the limitation of the military regulation, we cannot supply any military equipment.

“The security is also another important area because currently major Japanese companies have been hesitant to invest in Nigeria due to the security reasons. So, as you may know that Japan is very conservative country, so we tend to avoid risk,” he said.

He said that the Japanese government and the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) are working together to transfer technology to Nigeria to solve social problems, and that Toyota and Yahamah auto companies are already training mechanics from the North East in Lagos to enable them repair cars and motorcycles in the region.

He regretted that persistent attacks in the Northeast had been a major problem towards investment in the region by the Japanese private sector.

He also revealed that the Japanese government was working with UNICEF to build more than 50,000 toilets in Nigeria to help reduce and prevent open defecation.

Responding, Alkali said the commission was the focal organization responsible for assessing, coordinating and harmonizing all the initiatives of development of North-East.

He said it was crucial for the Japanese Government to continue to support the commission’s activities based on the NEDC roadmap of the master plan.

Alkali said that the Embassy has been supporting recovery and reconstruction of North-East states by disbursing supplemental budget to United Nations agencies such as United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for capacity development of government officials and communities, building infrastructure and provision of equipment.

He also said that about $75m would be needed to carry out immediate recovery and resettlement activities and projects in the Northeast following the havoc inflicted on the region by insurgents.

He commended the Japanese delegation for visiting the commission, noting that over 5,059 key projects are already on the list to be implemented by the commission for the transformation of the socio-economic challenges in the North East.

The approach lights on the runway of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, have gone off, forcing pilots to depend solely on equipment onboard their aircraft to land, findings by The PUNCH have revealed.

An approach lighting system is a lighting system installed on the approach end of an airport runway and consisting of a series of light-bars, strobe lights, or a combination of the two that extends outward from the runway end, according to Wikipedia. It is a lighting system that assists the pilot/aircraft to come in and land safely.

Impeccable airport sources said the approach lights collapsed on Monday evening and pilots were subsequently forced to rely solely on their onboard equipment to land airplanes.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak on the matter, said it was sad that the relevant aviation authorities did not issue a Notice to Airmen on the development until later on Tuesday.

A copy of the NOTAM which was sighted by The PUNCH showed that the document was issued by the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency’s Aeronautical Information Services department.

The NOTAM, dated May 31, 2022, was signed by one Abah G.N, an official of the airspace agency.

As of 10:30pm on Tuesday, it was uncertain when the problem would be fixed.

The Acting General Manager, Public Affairs, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, Mrs Faithful Hope-Ivbaze, asked our correspondent to send a text message when she was contacted on the development.

A response to the text message sent by The PUNCH to her was still being expected as of the time of filing this report.

A pilot with one of the domestic airlines, who chose to speak on condition of anonymity on the matter, said the collapse of the approach light could inhibit pilots’ capability to land airplanes safely in bad weather.

According to him, the approach lights assist pilots in landing on the runway.

“It is sad that the relevant authorities are just issuing NOTAM on the development over 24 hours after the light collapsed. That is very dangerous. This is very annoying,” the pilot said.

A pilot and President, National Association of Private Aircraft Owners, Mr Alex Nwuba, said there was no reason to panick over the development but stressed that there an urgent need for the authorities to fix the lights as soon as possible.

Last year, some parts of the runway lights at the MMIA collapsed, forcing British Airways to divert its flight to the Abuja airport.


The development then forced the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, the aviation industry regulator, to downgrade the landing procedure at the Lagos airport from Category Two to Category One.

BA passengers whose flight was diverted to the Federal Capital Territory were forced to pass a night in Abuja before being flown back to Lagos.

The unserviceable state of the runway lights made it impossible for BA, which flies a large plane, to land at the Lagos airport at night. Other foreign airlines with relatively smaller planes can land.

Also, last week, the international wing of the MMIA was temporarily shut after the mangled body of a dead man was found on Runway 18R of the nation’s flagship airport.

During the temporary shutdown of the runway, international flights were prevented from landing and taking off from the airport’s international terminal.

Among the flights that could not land due to the shutdown was an Ethiopian Airlines flight 3907, a Boeing 77F aircraft with registration number ETAVN, which was coming from Lome, Togo to Lagos, Nigeria.

The flight was later diverted back to Lome after holding for a while.

Airport officials said the corpse was suddenly found on Runway 18R during a routine runway inspection by FAAN personnel.

As of the time of filing this report, FAAN had yet to confirm the identity of the corpse.

Coded081:
Congrats to them, I've not see them play before
Let see how far they will go next season

TheGiftedOne:
The University of Benin (UNIBEN) has been thrown into mourning as former Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof Osayuki Godwin Oshodin has been confirmed dead.

TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports the Public Relation Officer of UNIBEN Alumni, Kelvin Omokaro confirmed the death of Prof Oshodin on Sunday morning.

Recall that UNIBEN also lost its first female VC, Prof. Grace Alele-Williams to the cold hands of death only recently.

At the time of filing this report, the cause of Oshodin’s death is still unknown. However, reports had it that he had been sick.

Meanwhile, no official statement from the management of UNIBEN nor the family yet.

TNG reports the professor of health education was born on August 9, 1950. He died aged 71

Source:. https://www.google.com/amp/s/thenewsguru.com/news/breaking-ex-vc-of-uniben-osayuki-godwin-oshodin-is-dead/%3famp=1

ScamHunter:
Obi is the man. One year is enough to build massive movement and put modalities on ground for him to win. After all, the beneficiaries of his presidency would be all, especially the struggling youths who have resigned to life of fraud due to no jobs. We have youths in every location in this country, so the mobilization for Obi should be total.

Peter Obi presidency is realizable.
The cycle of mediocre leadership must be broken.

Today, Sunday, May 29, 2022, makes exactly seven years since the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), has been in power. With just one year to the end of his regime, OLADIMEJI RAMON, FEMI MORGAN and LEKE BAIYEWU write that Nigerians are still waiting to see the fulfilment of many of the promises he made to the nation in 2015

The political and socio-economic climate between 2011 and 2015 was perfect for a major change at the Aso Rock. Nigerians were dissatisfied with the government of the then President Goodluck Jonathan because of the perceived high level of corruption, the depressing economy, and the government’s inability to fight the Boko Haram insurgents, who were terrorising the North-East and holding the nation by the jugular.

Despite humongous investment in the power sector, Nigeria was in gross blackout; the roads were in deplorable states across the country and the rail services remained moribund. Despite earning good revenue from the sale of crude oil, which is the nation’s economic mainstay, there was almost nothing to show for it.

Many Nigerians wanted Jonathan out. So, the mood of the nation was perfect for the opposition political parties waiting in the fringes to displace Jonathan and his party, the Peoples Democratic Party.

The opposition parties knew it was not going to be an easy job to do individually, so they decided to team up and the alliance gave birth to another political party – the All Progressives Congress. In the APC mix were political parties such as the Action Congress of Nigeria, Congress for Progressive Change and the All Nigerian Peoples Party, as well as factions of the All Progressives Grand Alliance and the Peoples Democratic Party known as the ‘New PDP.’

Riding on the mood of the nation, the then newly-formed APC constantly criticised Jonathan’s government and told Nigerians to sack him and bring in his place the APC presidential candidate, Buhari, a former military dictator.

As an alternative to Jonathan, who was tagged grossly inept and “clueless,” the APC presented to Nigerians Buhari, whom it trumpeted as an incorruptible, disciplined, sincere and capable leader, who would easily bring solutions to the myriad of problems bedevilling the country under Jonathan’s watch.

Buhari was not unknown to Nigerians, having been a military dictator between 1983 and 1985. Most enduring of the memories of Buhari’s years as a military dictator was the regime’s propensity for human rights violations and disregard for the rule of law in its fight against indiscipline and corruption.

As pushback against APC’s campaign for Nigerians to replace Jonathan with Buhari in 2015, the PDP was quick to remind Nigerians of Buhari’s antecedents. But countering that, the APC told the nation that Buhari had converted to a true democrat and had purged himself of all dictatorial tendencies.

Perhaps to further reassure Nigerians, the APC put forward as Buhari’s running mate, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, a foremost lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, a university law lecturer, former Attorney General of Lagos State and a pastor. With Osinbajo beside Buhari in the Presidency, Nigerians were assured that there would be respect for the rule of law and the fear that the Buhari’s regime would cross the lines between legitimacy and tyranny was allayed. Not just that, the APC said with Osinbajo in the equation, the nation was in for economic buoyancy, as it was noted that Osinbajo as the Attorney General of Lagos State between 1999 and 2007 played a major role in how Lagos State’s economy was transformed by the then Lagos State Governor, Bola Tinubu, who had become a national leader of the APC in the build-up to the 2015 general elections.

Furthermore, in trying to sell Buhari to the electorate as economically-savvy and accountable, the APC told Nigerians about his stint as the Chairman, Petroleum Trust Fund in 1994, saying Buhari would revamp the nation’s petroleum sector, the mainstay of the Nigerian economy, thus ushering in prosperity for all. As opposed to Jonathan, whose government the opposition said was deeply corrupt, Buhari was presented as an incorruptible and disciplined alternative.

The widely-held view was that Nigeria needed a firm hand in controlling the levers of power at the centre and the answer was none other than Buhari. These Buhari’s unique selling points were summed up in the APC slogan: Change.

On the campaign podiums across the country, Buhari himself summed up his assignment under three headings. He said he would rid the country of corruption, end the reign of terror or insurgency in the North-East and revamp the economy.

Speaking in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital in January 2015, Buhari said, “The fundamental issue facing this country is insecurity and the problem of the economy, which was being made worse by corruption.

“I assure you that we are going to finally assemble a competent team of Nigerians to efficiently manage the country.

“I am appealing to you, the damage done to this country is great. The level of unemployment, level of insecurity is intolerable. The journey has begun. It will take time, it will take patience; it will take support from you to make sure that we succeed.”

Buhari’s acclaimed distaste for corruption was, perhaps, best captured in his declaration that, “If we don’t kill corruption, this corruption will kill us. If you make a mistake of voting for the PDP, I assure you, you will regret it.”

Capitalising on the nation’s poor economic outlook under Jonathan, Buhari declared that if elected as President to replace Jonathan, he would make Nigeria “one of the fastest-growing economies in the world,” promising that Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product growth index would improve by 10 to 12 per cent every year.

Berating Jonathan for poor handling of the economy, with naira’s value in decline, Buhari lamented: “It is sad that the value of naira has dropped to more than N230 to a dollar; this does not speak well for the nation’s economy.”

As part of the steps to right the wrongs of the Jonathan years, Buhari said he would provide five million new jobs, fund Small and Medium Scale Enterprises and invest in infrastructure, agriculture, information technology, entertainment, and manufacturing in the six geopolitical zones.

Other promises he made included the provision of four million homes through a flexible mortgage plan, affordable food supply through an agriculture programme, uninterrupted electricity supply through the deployment of renewable energy, and the improvement of the educational sector for primary, secondary, and tertiary, and children with special needs.

Based on these juicy promises, many Nigerians queued behind Buhari in the 2015 general elections and he defeated Jonathan. Buhari polled a total of 15,424,921 votes to defeat Jonathan, who got 12,853,162 votes.

The announcement of Buhari as the winner of the election was greeted by wild jubilations across the country. In his inaugural speech, after taking the oath of office on May 29, 2015, Buhari hailed Nigerians for making his dream of becoming President come to reality and promised to reciprocate the gesture with the fulfillment of his campaign promises.

He said, “At home, we face enormous challenges. Insecurity, pervasive corruption, the hitherto unending and seemingly impossible fuel and power shortages are the immediate concerns. We are going to tackle them head-on. Nigerians will not regret that they have entrusted national responsibility to us.”

Buhari’s scorecard

Today, Sunday, May 29, 2022, makes exactly seven years since Buhari has been in the saddle as the President.

Contrary to the high hope that greeted Buhari’s coming in 2015, many Nigerians have lamented that their hope had been dashed.

A chieftain of the ruling APC, Prof Olusola Adeyeye, could not but admit that Buhari’s promises to Nigerians remain largely unfulfilled seven years after.

Asked by Sunday PUNCH to appraise the performance of the APC government of Buhari, of which he is a ranking chieftain, Adeyeye said Buhari could have done better. He said even APC members were not impressed with the President’s performance, even though the President met an empty treasury.

Adeyeye said, “Yes, I do subscribe to it that Nigerians have been disappointed with the performance of the APC and of Buhari.”

According to him, Buhari was a victim of multiple circumstances, including ill health, which limited his performance.

When asked why the APC gave him a second term ticket if it was not satisfied with his performance in his first term, Adeyeye said, “In the first term, he spent considerable time attending to matters of his health. As we were approaching the second term, I met with him personally, and he looked better in good health, so people have expectations that things have turned around.

“But having said that, if you want to say the party didn’t turn him down, again, the party nominated him, but the citizens elected him. So, let’s not pound the head of the party too much. All we have to say now is that hopefully, we will get it right this time. That’s my prayer.”

Electricity supply

Provision of stable power supply was a major component of Buhari’s promise of economic prosperity.

In his inaugural speech, Buhari had said it was unjustified that Nigeria would be in gross blackout. He therefore vowed to change the narrative.

Buhari said, “No single cause can be identified to explain Nigeria’s poor economic performance over the years other than the power situation. It is a national shame that an economy of 180 million generates only 4,000MW, and distributes even less.

“Continuous tinkering with the structures of power supply and distribution and close to $20bn expended since 1999 have only brought darkness, frustration, misery and resignation among Nigerians. We will not allow this to go on. Careful studies are underway during this transition to identify the quickest, safest and most cost-effective way to bring light and relief to Nigerians.”

Seven years after, Buhari’s promise of stable power supply remains to be seen.

As of Friday, May 27, 2022, according to the National Electricity System Operator, Nigeria’s electricity generation stood at only 3,522.80MW, even lower than 4,000MW that Buhari decried in 2015.

Naira’s exchange rate

Buhari had berated Jonathan over the declining value of naira.

As of when Buhari took over in 2015, the exchange rate was N196 to $1. Today, seven years after, it is an average of N445 to $1 in the I&E window. In the parallel market, however, the dollar is about N600.

Unemployment rate

A major component of Buhari’s promises in 2015 was to tackle unemployment.

In his 2015 inaugural speech, the President affirmed that, “Unemployment, notably youth unemployment, features strongly in our party’s manifesto. We intend to attack the problem frontally through revival of agriculture, solid minerals, mining as well as credits to small and medium size businesses to kick–start these enterprises. We shall quickly examine the best way to revive major industries and accelerate the revival and development of our railways, roads and general infrastructure.”

Today, the unemployment rate in the country has seriously worsened.

According to Statistica, Nigeria’s unemployment rate in the second quarter of 2015 when Buhari took over from Jonathan was 8.19 per cent. At the moment, the country is faced with a frightening unemployment rate, which has in turn fuelled the crime rate.

The Nigeria Bureau of Statistics revealed that the unemployment rate increased from 10.4 per cent in the fourth quarter of the year 2015 to 14.2 in the fourth quarter of 2016. It also showed that unemployment rose unabatedly between 20.4 per (Q4 2017) and 33.3 per cent (Q4 2020).

This clearly explains that the Federal Government headed by Buhari failed to provide ample job opportunities for the teeming youth population while its MSME programmes failed to achieve the much-needed impact in creating jobs and fostering economic prosperity.

Prices of commodities have hit the roof with skyrocketing inflation rate. The NBS disclosed that inflation rose from 9.5 per cent in 2015 to 13.8 per cent in 2019 and 22.7 per cent in 2021. The Central Bank of Nigeria indicated on its website that as of April 2022, inflation rate was 16.82 per cent.

Indeed, under Buhari, many more Nigerians slipped into extreme poverty, with the World Poverty Clock designating Nigeria as the World Poverty Capital in 2018. It means Nigeria had 87 million people living in extreme poverty, compared with India’s 73 million. Meanwhile, India has a population of 1.38 billion people as of 2020.

The President’s promise of food affordability failed woefully over the years. The World Bank stated that Nigeria’s GDP plunged from 2.7 per cent in 2015 to 2.2 per cent in 2019 and 1.9 per cent in 2020. The promise made that Nigeria’s GDP would grow from 10 to 12 per cent annually was dashed annually. Nigeria’s per-capita growth did not receive the expected boost as it nosedived from 3.5 in 2015 to -4.2 per cent in 2016 and -4.6 per cent in 2020.

Statistics from the Federal Ministry of Finance also indicated that under the Buhari regime, 55 per cent of Nigeria’s revenue was used to service debt in 2018, growing to 87 per cent in 2020. The promise by the government to bring fiscal confidence into the economy and restore the naira into a competitive position has clearly hit the rocks, given the naira’s free fall.

Reviewing Buhari regime’s performance in terms of the economy, a Professor of Economics at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Kaduna State, Usman Muttaka, said the last seven years had been “a mixed grill.”

Speaking on the exchange rate, the economics lecturer noted, “The naira loses its value of about 70 per cent from their inception to date.”

He added, “The most difficult thing that the economy suffered within this period is the politicisation of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s operations. That alone destroyed most of the achievements that had been achieved within the economic sphere.

“The Governor of the Central Bank (Godwin Emefiele) is involved in politics and, therefore, it becomes obvious that any decision that the Central Bank takes is not based on professionalism but political patronage or interest.”

Similarly, a professor of Management and Entrepreneurship at the Elizade University, Ilara-Mokin, Ondo State, Ade-Turton Dayo, lamented that given the current socioeconomic realities in the country, all the economic programmes of the President had fallen flat on its face.

Ade-Turton said, “I won’t give him (Buhari) a fair rating; I won’t say poor, but not fair. I have not seen any change in the country. I think I will rate him as the poorest President (in terms of performance) that has ever been produced or been elected. Take a look at the happenings in the country, no jobs, nothing. Everywhere is ‘dry’; Buhari doesn’t deserve any good rating.

Three delegates meant to have voted during the gubernatorial primaries of the People Democratic party on Wednesday have been killed by bandits.

The delegates who are from Mariga Local Government Area of Niger State were killed when they were traveling back to their homes to get a means of identification to enable them to get accredited.

This was made known by the Chairman of the Electoral Committee and Deputy Governor of Bayelsa State, Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, on Thursday in Minna.

The delegates were forced to travel back to get a means of identification after a protest erupted by four of the five aspirants over the authenticity of the delegates’ list.




One of the delegates who was an eyewitness Shehu Haruna told journalists that their vehicle ran into the bandits who opened fire on them between Mariga and Tegina and four people lost their lives.

“We left Minna in the late hours when PDP postponed the governorship primaries to Thursday, and that we should go and bring our voter’s card or any means of identification.

“We were returning home to get our means of identification and on the road we ran into bandits who opened fire on our vehicle. Though we were able to escape since the driver was not hit, four people died instantly.”



The four aspirants who had protested the authenticity of the delegates list are Sani Idris Kutigi, Alhaji Sidi Abdul, Former Minister of Sports, Barrister Abdulrahman Gimba, and Engr Abubakar Isah Jankara.

sojiboy:
....UNFOLDS BIG IDEA FOR NIGERIA



https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=313220844335814&id=100069437032705

BigBashiru:
They should keep increasing the price na....are they tired??

Demand for Liquefied Natural Gas (LPG) popularly known as cooking has dropped to a record low across the country, The PUNCH findings have shown.

Market report gathered on Tuesday showed that consumers had lately either reduced consumption or ditched the commodity for cheaper alternatives such as coal and firewood.

President, Nigerian Gas Association, Ed Ubong, said during a downstream event in Lagos that national annual consumption was currently between 1.3mn and 1.5mn metric tons from the Federal Government’s annual target of 5mn metric tons.

This brings to fore, the achievement of President Buhari’s National Gas Expansion Programme which seeks to deepen local gas usage within the next decade.




Executive Secretary, Nigerian Association of Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketers, NALPGAM, Bassey Essien, confirmed to The PUNCH during a phone interview that the drop in consumption rate was due to increasing prices.

According to him, price of 20 metric tons of cooking gas as of Tuesday shot up from N12mn to N12.8mn.

“Prices have been volatile for a while, and it’s because the purchasing power has dropped. Gas is no longer affordable, and buyers are either regulating use or found alternatives. As at today, a 20-metric-ton of gas sells for about N12.8mn. Price has hovered around 10mn-12mn before now. Just imagine what we bought last for N12mn rising by N800, 000 for one truck,” he told The PUNCH.



While speaking during one of the technical sessions on the topic, ‘Gas as a catalyst for sustainable economic development- The role of Nigerian Content’, at ‘The Nigerian Content Midstream and Downstream Oil and Gas Summit 2022’ organised by the Nigerian Content and Development Monitoring Board, NCDMB in Lagos on Tuesday, gas stakeholders unanimously agreed that national gas consumption was currently very low. They expressed worry over the dwindling purchasing power of Nigerians. They, however, did not state what current actual consumption or demand was when compared to figures already quoted by Ubong.

The MD/CEO, TECNO Gas Ltd, Nkechi Obi, during the panel session, said gas pricing was one of the reasons for low demand across the country.

“Currently, gas demand is getting very, very low across the country, and this is due to high gas pricing”, she said, adding that lack of government policy to drive demand also formed part of the reason demand was abysmally low.

She urged the Federal Government to intervene in terms of formulation of policy and funding to drive up demand, adding that gas was a developmental commodity.

Findings showed that between 55-60 percent of gas utilised in Nigeria is currently being imported by independent marketers, while the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (NLNG) supplies just 40 percent.

Nigeria has been described as a gas country with approximately 207 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of proven gas reserves, ranking 9th in the world and accounting for about 3 per cent of the world’s total natural gas reserves of 6,923 Tcf. Nigeria has proven reserves equivalent to 306.3 times its annual consumption.

Natural gas is estimated as the fastest growing fossil fuel in the world, and is projected to overtake coal by 2030, as the second largest source of energy.


The Federal Government said in April,that the value of Nigeria’s proven gas reserves of about 206.53 trillion cubic feet was over $803.4tn.

Ubong said Nigeria needed to deepen domestic production of gas to bring down prices and increase local consumption, adding that affordability was being threatened.


“When gas is imported, then, international pricing will also apply because you will have to add freight charges and import duty to the price. All these added together will definitely push prices up. You will also need to factor in the issue of FOREX. Getting Forex to import products is also very scarce”, he said.

A March 2022 LPG, Propane and LNG supplies- its latest report obtained from the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) – puts local supplies for the month at approximately 67, 000 metric tons (MT), while total for both import and local was put at approximately 129, 000 metric tons. Local supply for February was put at 47, 000MT, but total local and import supply was put at 77,000MT.

The National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, said in its latest report that the average price for refilling a 5kg cylinder of cooking gas stood at N3800 in April 2022, from N3778 recorded in March 2022, showing an increase of 0.59 percent month-on-month.

However, on a year-on-year basis, the average retail price for the product increased by 83.67 percent from N2069 in April 2021.

According to state profile analysis, the highest average price for refilling a 5kg cylinder of cooking gas was recorded in Gombe with N4337.50, followed by Bayelsa with N4250.00 and Adamawa with N4220.00.



On the other hand, Yobe recorded the lowest average price with N2931.83. This was followed by Sokoto and Zamfara with N3000 and N3250 respectively.

In addition, prices analysed by zones showed that the average retail price for refilling a 5kg cylinder of cooking gas was highest in the South-East with N4041, followed by the South-South with N3896, and North-Central with N3836, while the North-West recorded the lowest average retail price of N3573.

The average price for refilling a 12.5kg cylinder of cooking gas increased to N8164 in April 2022, from N7617 in March 2022, representing a 7.18 percent month-on-month increase.

Similarly, on a year-on-year basis, the average retail price for refilling a 12.5kg cooking gas increased by 89 percent from N4318 in April 2021.

The state comparisons showed that the highest average retail price for the refilling of a 12.5kg cylinder of cooking gas was recorded in Oyo with N8931, followed by Bayelsa with N8917, and Ogun with N8767. Conversely, the lowest average price for the refilling of a 12.5kg cylinder of the product was recorded In Yobe with N6619, followed by Borno and Ebonyi with N6800 and N7711 respectively.

The average retail price of a 12.5kg cylinder of the product by zones showed that the average retail price was highest in the South-West with N8573, followed by the South-South and South-East with N8253 and N8240 respectively.

The North-East Zone recorded the lowest price with N7559.

Naijabad:
I tell people that South East is safer that anywhere in the North.

People are killed in tens in the north while those killed in SE are far less.

adenigga:
Source: https:///Just-In-Adelekes-Billboards-Set-Ablaze-As-Osun-PDP-Primaries-Witness-Violence

Kwanza:
https://www.channelstv.com/2022/05/23/2023-elections-seven-political-parties-merge-to-become-3rd-force-mega-party/

Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product grew by 3.11 per cent in the first quarter of 2022, the National Bureau of Statistics said.

In a tweet posted to its official Twitter page, @NBS_Nigeria, on Monday, the NBS wrote, “Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 3.11% (year-on-year) in real terms in the first quarter of 2022, showing a sustained positive growth for six consecutive quarters since the recession witnessed in 2020.”

The Nigeria’s statistical office also stated, in a statement on its website, that, “The first quarter 2022 growth rate further represents an improvement in economic performance.”

The statement noted that there had been a trend signalling a gradual economic stability since Q4 2020.

The statement partly read, “The observed trend since Q4 2020 is an indication of a gradual economic stability.

“The Q1 2022 growth rate was higher than the 0.51% growth rate recorded in Q1 2021 by 2.60% points and lower than 3.98% recorded in Q4 2021 by 0.88% points. Nevertheless, quarter-on-quarter, real GDP grew at -14.66% in Q1 2022 compared to Q4 2021, reflecting a lower economic activity than the preceding quarter. In the quarter under review, aggregate GDP stood at N45,317,823.33 million in nominal terms.

“This performance is higher when compared to the first quarter of 2021 which recorded aggregate GDP of N40,014,482.74 million, indicating a year-on-year nominal growth rate of 13.25%. The nominal GDP growth rate in Q1 2022 was higher relative to the 12.25% growth recorded in the first quarter of 2021 and higher compared to the 13.11% growth recorded in the preceding quarter.”

Insecurity:
Kano explosion: Police confirm it’s IED, arrest 2, impound vehicle with bombs




https://www.vanguardngr.com/2022/05/kano-explosion-police-confirm-its-ied-arrest-2-impound-vehicle-with-bombs/