₦airaland Forum

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The All Progressives Congress (APC) has advised Nigerians to be wary of those hiding under religion, politics,tribe and sundry groupings to turn them against one another. The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Malam Lanre Issa-Onilu, gave the advice yesterday in a statement issued to felicitate with Nigerians on the country’s 59th Independence Anniversary.

He said despite the “perceived differences, the nation’s strength and progress depends on the ability to harness our rich diversity”, adding that “as a nation, we are better together than we are apart.” He said in spite of the “inherited and current challenges”, President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration has made “commendable strides” on so many fronts, most significantly the fight against graft, diversifying and revamping the economy, as well as curbing insurgency and emerging crimes. He said the administration has also made gains by promoting positive values in national life, strengthening democratic institutions and processes as well as achieving a “respectable” international standing.

Read more: https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/engage-only-in-acts-that-heal-our-fault-lines-apc-advises.html

China is today celebrating its 70th anniversary as a People’s Republic. How has the journey been?

Well, we are very proud of what we have achieved in the past seven decades. You know, when the People’s Republic of China was founded on October 1st, 1949, China was one of the poorest and most backward countries in the world, but after 70 years of hard work, we Chinese have brought lots of changes to the country by creating an unprecedented, miraculous development in world history. Take the economic growth, for the first three decades, the annual GDP growth rate was 4.4 percent, but in the last four decades it averaged 9.5 percent. In 1978, China’s GDP, as a share of the world total, was a mere 1.8 percent but today it is around 16 percent. So China is now the second largest economy in the world. On people’s living standard, it also improved a lot. Life expectancy in 1949 was around 35 years but last year, 2018, it reached 77 years. These days, people are also talking about ‘Made in China,’ but in 1949, we couldn’t make even a tractor, a tank or an automobile.

Today, China is the top manufacturer of the world. So we really have achieved something in economic and social development. What about relationship with the rest of the world? On external relations, during the first year of the New Republic, there were 18 countries that entered relations with the People’s Republic of China, today we have diplomatic relations with 180 countries. China has been playing a more and more positive role in world affairs and global prosperity. That said, China still remains the biggest developing country in the world. We are still at the primary stage of socialism.

The economic aggregate is big, but when divided by 1.4 billion, it is still very modest. Even the per capita GDP, China has yet to reach the world average, the average of East Asia and the Pacific. In Africa, in terms of per capita GDP we are behind African countries like Mauritius, Seychelles, Equatorial Guinea. So for us, Chinese, to enable the 1.4 billion people to live a comfortable life, we still have a long way to go. So we have achieved something, but as we are taking stock of what we have achieved, the most important thing we think, is to have found the right path for the development of China. That’s socialism with China’s characteristics under the leadership of the communist party. Moving forward we will pursue the path that suits China’s national conditions and to face all the challenges to deliver even more outcome for the benefit of the Chinese people and contribute more to the world. How much should Africa expect from China in terms of investment and building human capacity, in the next 10 years, for instance? China and Africa have always been a community with a shared future.

We are good brothers, friends and partners. And we see each other as opportunities for development. Africa’s development has contributed a lot to China’s development in the past decades. And I believe China’s development is also good news and an opportunity for Africa’s development. Take investment as you just mentioned, 20 years ago, in 2000, China’s investment in Africa was less than $1 billion. Today, it is well over $110 billion. And trade, in 2000 was around $10 billion and last year it was well over $200 billion. And for 10 consecutive years, China has been the largest trade partner of Africa.

We see great potentials in the investment cooperation. Why? Because we understand that African countries like Nigeria are trying to attract more foreign direct investment. We appreciate that effort. According to Chinese own experience, we benefitted a lot from FDI to China. I should say, since China opened its doors, after the reform and open door in 1978, China has attracted more than $2 trillion FDI and that helped a lot in our economic development. So we think Africa’s pursuit in attracting more and more Foreign Direct Investment is good for both Africa and its international partners. And for China, the value chain is changing and more and more Chinese companies are now climbing up the value chain.

So nowadays, every year a huge sum of outbound investments are from China. And Chinese industries are relocating to the neighbouring countries, to African countries. Last year that number reached I think $130 billion. And since 2002, until last year, on average, every year $85 billion is from China investing in the world. So with more and more enabling environment in Africa, and in Nigeria in particular, and with more Chinese investors aware of these industries, I see great opportunities in this area.

I am very positive about cooperation in this area because we are working with African countries within the FOCAC (Forum on China-Africa Cooperation) framework to facilitate Africa’s industrialization through investment, cooperation and capacity building in human resource development. In China we always say, to build the nest to attract the phoenix. So the nest is becoming better and better. I believe more phoenix, including from China, will fly to Africa, including Nigeria.

How is the trade friction between the United States and China affecting your country in particular and the rest of the world in general?

You see, for the first half of the year, China’s GDP grew at the rate of 6.3 percent. It is still very strong and China’s trade with the world increased 3.9 percent and it is still increasing. China’s trade with Africa increased around 20 percent and with Nigeria I think it is around 22 percent. So China’s trade relations with the outside world is still very strong, and even the US investment to China during the first five months still increased 1.5 percent. It is still higher than the average of the last two years. The economic and trade friction is something we don’t want to see because it will benefit no one.

China and the US will suffer from it and now it is becoming more and more apparent that it is going to be a drag on the world economy. So what we want is multilateralism, not unilateralism, not protectionism. And I think on the 24th of this month President (Muhammadu) Buhari, during his UN speech, is also championing multilateralism. We believe there is a lot of things for countries in the world to work together for a win-win cooperation, win-win results not a zero sum game.

China is a big lender in Africa, with many projects ongoing. The media is already talking about debt traps? Should we be worried?

A lot of media reports are not correct; they are not based on facts. No country has suffered a debt problem with China. But I always see this talk on so-called debt trap in a broader context. I think every country – China or in Africa – has a right to development. But to develop the economy, we need some financial resources. So in China’s case, we are very proud of hard working, and day by day we accumulate some capital to develop ourselves.

As things stand we still borrow a lot from the world; we also want to attract FDI to China. So the thing is, where does the money go after you borrow the money?

For every lending arrangement or agreement with African or other countries, it is mutually agreed, that it has specific projects and should finish all the feasibility studies and the financial sustainability. So on the whole, I don’t see some major problem in China financing cooperation with African countries. I should even say, as far as African debt is concerned, China is not the biggest holder.

Take Nigeria, as the government has been making it clear and clear on many occasions that most of Nigeria’s foreign debt are multilateral arrangements. And among all the foreign debt China’s share was less than 10 percent. And all those financing arrangement are on a concessionary loan base, with low interest rate and long term period. I am not aware of any project where China took over owing to some debt problem.

Read more: https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/china-is-biggest-developing-country-in-the-world-ambassador.html

hmm

H

good

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hmmm

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chai

Good one from USA

Good

Sai baba

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State governors have spent billions of naira from public coffers to sponsor people on religious pilgrimages this year, investigations by Daily Trust have shown. Those sponsored with state resources to Makkah in Saudi Arabia and Jerusalem in Israel, included clerics, government officials, politicians, pilgrims’ officials, medical personnel, family and friends, as well as selected acquaintances.

Many of the states are still owing workers after receiving bailout funds from the Federal Government to offset outstanding salaries and pensions. Daily Trust investigations reveal that most of the states sponsoring pilgrims are grappling with abandoned and new projects that require serious attention.

The minimum cost of a seat for this year’s Hajj which was completed recently was N1.5m. A seat for the Christian pilgrimage starts from N710,000. Although some governors had openly declared that they had stopped sponsoring pilgrimages, findings show that many of them have indeed continued deploying state resources in that direction. Over 65,000 Muslim pilgrims performed this year’s Hajj in Saudi Arabia. There is no exact number of the total Christian pilgrims for this season. Different narratives in states Plateau Findings in Plateau show that the state government spent over N2bn in sponsoring Muslim and Christian pilgrims in the last two years.

The last batch of Muslim pilgrims returned from Saudi Arabia few days ago, while Christian pilgrims returned between December, 2018, and March, 2019. Daily Trust reports that 1,195 Muslim pilgrims travelled to Saudi Arabia for the 2019 Hajj, out of which 630 more than half the number were sponsored by the state government. Although the Chairman of the Plateau State Christian Pilgrims Board, Rev. Yakubu Pam, said the 2019 list for Christian pilgrims was not yet ready, it was gathered that 1,707 pilgrims had been penciled for the December, 2018, trip to Jerusalem which spilled into 2019. Gov. Simon Lalong had during a farewell service in December, 2018, announced that of the 1,707 intending Christian pilgrims, only seven were self-sponsored, saying the bills of 1,700 were shouldered by his administration.

The state government paid for 1,200 and the remaining 500 pilgrims were sponsored by the local government areas. The Executive Secretary of the Plateau State Christian Pilgrims Welfare Board, Rev. George Gorap, had during the farewell service for the intending pilgrims, revealed that each seat to Jerusalem cost the government N850,000. Based on that figure, it was estimated that at least N1.4bn was expended to sponsor the 1,700 pilgrims.

Although Gov. Lalong had received commendations after he lifted an embargo initially placed on government sponsorship of pilgrimages, critics believe that the over N2bn spent recently should have been used to initiate or complete major projects in the state. An observer said, “Most of those sponsored for the pilgrimages have the money to sponsor themselves. They were given the seats based on patronage, and nothing more. “

The Plateau State Multi-Purpose Sports Complex is yet to be completed and needs at least N1bn. The governor should have channeled the money there. The 2019 approved budget has N1bn earmarked for the stadium even though the House of Assembly had in 2018 approved a N1bn loan for its completion.”

Gombe

Daily Trust gathered that about N193,880m was spent by the state government to sponsor 131 pilgrims to Saudi Arabia for the just concluded Hajj. Pilgrims from the state paid N1,480,000 per seat.

The amount covered Basic Travelling Allowance (BTA), accommodation in both Makkah and Madinah, visa fee, uniform, two bags, feeding, among others. Among the 131 pilgrims sponsored by the state government, 12 were members of the Amirul Hajj (leader of delegation), four served as guides, four were preachers and three were journalists who covered the exercise.

The remaining 111 were political office holders, including the Speaker of the House of Assembly and eight members. Sources said the remaining 16 members of the state assembly, who were given a seat each, donated same to their relatives and friends. While in Saudi Arabia, Gov. Muhammad Inuwa Yahaya reportedly approved SR300 (equivalent of N30, 000) to each of the 1,447 pilgrims that participated in the Hajj.

Adamawa

About N148m was spent to sponsor 1,692 pilgrims for the 2019 Hajj in Saudi Arabia, according to Solomon Kumangar, who is the Director General, Media and Communication, Government House, Yola. According Kumangar, 1,692 pilgrims, including 50 officials, were sponsored for this year’s Hajj.

Although he could not give figures for the total number of Christian pilgrims to Jerusalem scheduled to hold this year, Kumangar noted that the administration of Gov. Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri realised that government could not sustain the expenditure in the face of growing need for infrastructure. He said, “The N148m spent on this year’s pilgrimage can build five schools. It has serious economic implication.

So, the governor feels that pilgrimage should not be bankrolled by government.” Cross River The Government of Cross River State expended over $40,000 (N14,480,000.00) on BTA to support 50 pilgrims who travelled to Saudi Arabia for this year’s pilgrimage. This was confirmed by Rev. Father Bob Etta, the Special Adviser on Religious Affairs to Governor Ben Ayade. Fr. Etta said each of the 50 pilgrims was given $800 (288,400.00) as BTA, noting that the governor had promised to give same support to the Christians who would be undertaking pilgrimage to Jerusalem in November.

Yobe

In Yobe, it was gathered that the state government sponsored 97 ulamas and officials to Saudi Arabia for the 2019 Hajj. The Executive Chairman of the Yobe State Pilgrims Commission, Alhaji Bukar Kime, said the ulamas were sponsored to pray for peace and tranquillity in Yobe and the country.

Ogun

In Ogun, over N120m was reportedly spent in sponsoring Muslim pilgrims to the just concluded Hajj in Saudi Arabia. Multiple sources told our correspondent that the government sponsored at least 80 pilgrims, excluding members of a 10-man ad hoc committee on Hajj, and some officials of the state Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board. Taraba The state government sponsored 184 persons out of the 983 people who performed this year’s Hajj from the state. Each pilgrim was said to have been paid N1.5m for the 2019 Hajj, and the state government paid N276m for the 184 pilgrims it sponsored.

Sokoto

Over N100m was spent by the state government on this year’s pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia, according to Aminu Abdullahi Abubakar, who is the director of press to the deputy governor. Abubakar explained that the pilgrims paid their fares, but that the state government took care of their feeding and medical expenses. He, however, said it was the state government that sponsored officials, guides and Islamic scholars who accompanied the pilgrims.

A total of 3,496 pilgrims performed this year’s Hajj from Sokoto. Kebbi More than 50 Muslim faithful were sponsored by the Kebbi State government for this year’s Hajj. The figure is twice the number of those sponsored last year. According to government sources, over N300m was expended on the sponsorship of the over 50 people.

Benue

In Benue, over 700 people preformed this year’s Christian pilgrimage, out of which at least 300 were reportedly sponsored by the state government. The heads of the Christian and Muslim pilgrims’ boards could not be reached for comments as several efforts to reach them did not yield results.

Zamfara

The state government sponsored 150 people for the 2019 Hajj, the Executive Chairman of the Zamfara State Hajj Commission, Alhaji Abubakar S. Pawa Dambo, told Daily Trust.

Alhaji Dambo who spoke with our correspondent on phone while he was in Saudi Arabia, said the sponsored pilgrims included 10 health personnel, 20 operational staff, 15 ulamas and many others. On what the government spent to sponsor the pilgrims, he said he could not give the total amount, but said N1,484,388. 55, was paid for each of the pilgrims, and added that estacode (which is higher than BTA) was paid to some highly placed officials.

Nasarawa

A source at the Nasarawa State Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board (NSMPWB) said the state sponsored 150 pilgrims to this year’s Hajj at the rate of N1,448.50. per pilgrim. The pilgrims included the leader of the delegation and his entourage, officials of the board, doctors, nurses, imams, guides and some politicians, the source said. He said the new administration had frowned at sponsoring many people with state funds, saying the new governor would not succumb to pressure to waste state resources on religious pilgrimages.

Read more: https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/governors-spend-billions-on-sponsoring-pilgrims.html

I regret being a Nigerian

Toh

waste of time and energy

Mr Fidet Okhiria, Managing Director, Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), says the Abuja-Kaduna Train Service (AKTS) generates an average of N100million monthly. Okhiria disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.

“It is quiet impressive. I can tell you as we speak we have over N100million a month on the Kaduna-Abuja. “I don’t have the figure off hand but all I know is that we are averaging over hundred million,” Okhiria said. The NRC boss expressed satisfaction with the increased turnout of passenger at the AKTS, adding that government was making efforts to address the passenger surge on the train line.

He said: “We are happy with the turnout of people and as I said earlier, once we have the coaches and we start rolling a train every hour, the pressure will come down. “Like I told the Minister, it is not just the number of coaches but the trips we run that will reduce the pressure because different people will have different times to board the train.

“For now, let’s just bear it till November when the new coaches will be available. “And as I tell people, now we are getting the attention and it’s another milestone. “Four years back, nobody was talking about railway; but now every body, the big, mighty and small are now talking about using the train.” (NAN)

Read more: https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/abuja-kaduna-train-service-generates-n100m-monthly.html

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Government plans are always in favor of big men....poor men are at mercy of God

Rest in Peace

No, maybe you are...

Iseloogunise:
A painful loss indeed!
FTC?

hmm

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has invited the Resident Electoral Commissioner of Zamfara state over alleged defrauding of ad-hoc staff to the tune of N80 million.

Daily Trust also gathered that some local government electoral officers were also invited for questioning. This was sequel to the petition brought to the Sokoto zonal office of the agency by one of the ad-hoc staff, alleging disparity in their allowances compared to what was given to their colleagues in other states.

A source told Daily Trust that there was shortfall to the tune of N80 million in what they were given adding that the anti-graft agency was investigating the matter. The Secretary of INEC in Zamfara state and some officials of the Commission were said to have been quizzed for hours last two weeks. EFCC Zonal Head, Abdullahi Lawal, who confirmed the development, said investigation was still ongoing.

Read more: https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/efcc-invites-zamfara-rec-eos-for-allegedly-defrauding-ad-hoc-staff.html

The House of Representatives has promised to ensure transparency and accountability in spending funds allocated for defence and fight against insecurity. In a statement on Sunday, the Chairman, House Committee on Defence, Babajimi Benson (APC Lagos), said security agencies in the country must live up to their constitutional responsibilities to meet the expectations of Nigerians to protect their lives and properties.

He said his committee will work to ensure accountability and prudence in government’s spending in the area of security. The chairman also assured all security agencies that his committee is ready to work with them and support them because of the enormous tasks before both the committee and the security agencies. He said the House has also called for the provision of a special fund to be approved by the National Assembly outside the national budget to continue the fight against insecurity.

According to him, the decision, followed the outcome of the security meeting between the leadership of the House and the service chiefs, held on Tuesday, September 23 2019. Benson said his committee will ensure robust engagements with security agencies in the next four years of the 9th House, which he said will result in achieving the set goals. “I want to call on the security agencies to be ready to cooperate with us as a committee. We are here to work for Nigerians, to ensure the protection of their lives and property.

Of course, the security of the people is paramount, that is why we call on the security agencies to cooperate with us. “On our part, we will work assiduously to ensure that all the operational needs of the security agencies are met through adequate budgetary provisions. This is a new era, and Nigerians will not accept anything less than good results from us all. “We will also ensure adequate and attentive oversight, especially of the 2019 budget so that we can evaluate the progress of work for ourselves and come up with the necessary ways of improving things as we prepare to receive the 2020 budget. “I therefore enjoin all the security agencies under the House Committee on Defence to be up and doing.

They should be as open as possible to us as parliamentarians, and we would do the same to them. “We are not unmindful of the enormous tasks ahead of us and the high expectations of Nigerians on us. We have no reason not to deliver. We must get things right as far as security is concerned in this country. “We acknowledge that the military needs the support of every sector of the society and we all, from traditional rulers, the media, and citizens, have a critical role to play in assisting the country achieve a secured society,” Hon. Benson said.

Read more: https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/reps-vows-to-ensure-accountability-in-defence-security-spending.html