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Tag: Nigeria

  • ‘North is ready for break up of Nigeria,’ says Northern elders spokesman

    ‘North is ready for break up of Nigeria,’ says Northern elders spokesman

    Spokesman of the Northern Elders Forum, NEF, Prof. Ango Abdullahi has stated that the north is ready to go their way if Nigeria decides to break up.

    He was reacting to accusation by the South East leaders that the Northern Elders were sabotaging efforts to restructure the country.

    Abdullahi said the North is not aware of any sabotage, adding that there is nothing wrong in Igbo people asking to have a country of theirs.

    He further stated that if Nigerians are tired of staying as an entity, they should be ready to go their separate ways.

    Abdullahi told The Sun, “You see the issue of restructuring is one of the fundamental issues that shape Nigerian history from 1914 up to 1960.

    “In fact, we are not aware of any sabotage, may be the South East leaders were working on assumption.

    “But if restructuring will save Nigeria, I think it is a matter that affects every Nigerian including those in the North and we are ready to engage in it to correct the anomalies in Nigeria starting from 1914.

    On the agitation by some Igbo groups for the creation of Biafra Republic, he added, “You see, the issue of Biafra is all part of the discussion of restructuring Nigeria.

    “Yes, if Biafra means negotiations, yes, it’s all a matter of discussion, if it means Igbo want to have a country of their own separate from Nigeria, it means a matter of discussion and we are prepared for the discussion.

    “This is all I have been saying that if Nigerians are tired of staying together, they should be prepared to accept divisions instead of remaining in agony and disappointment of one another.

    “You see, what I am saying is that every Nigerian should be able to speak his opinion about the state of the country, and the country has laws.

    “If it is discovered that the law of a country is violated, that some somebody has gone beyond his fundamental rights, the law is very clear on this.

    “What perhaps government is concerned about is that violence was part of Kanu’s agitation, to realize his dream by force, I think that is what government is trying to tackle to my understanding.

    “So if Kanu is talking about Biafra, he is free to talk about Biafra and everybody is free to talk about his understanding of the Nigerian state.

    “We are always talking that the Nigerian state is not working and how can we make it to work? And if the best option, is to call for separate countries, why not?

    “Well, if you read our communiqué in Kano recently, we categorically stated that the Northern Elders Forum is prepared to engage in any discussion with any group that is supporting restructuring of Nigeria, so, this means that we are fully supporting restructuring.”

  • Moji Olaiya’s burial moved to Nigeria

    Moji Olaiya’s burial moved to Nigeria

    The burial of deceased Nollywood actress, Moji Olaiya which was scheduled for 4pm on Friday, May 19th 2017, in Canada was aborted by Ekiti State Government.

    Encomium Ng reports that the remains of the 42 year old mother of two daughters who died of cardiac arrest following childbirth complications on Thursday, May 18, in Canada, will now be conveyed to Nigeria for burial.

    Insiders at the Magodo home of the actress revealed that the government of Ekiti volunteered to bankroll the conveying of the corpse to Nigeria.

    Recall that her family and colleagues had agreed that Moji Olaiya be buried in Canada according to Islamic injunctions, but the plans changed when the Ekiti government intervened

    Her new burial plans will be announced as soon as her body arrives Nigeria.

  • Nigeria to start assembling locomotive trains soon – NRC Chairman

    Nigeria to start assembling locomotive trains soon – NRC Chairman

    The Chairman of Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), Alhaji Usman Abubakar, has said the country will soon start assembling locomotive trains for the entire African region.

    Abubakar disclosed this to newsmen on Thursday in Zaria during a familiarisation tour to NRC Northern District in Zaria, Kaduna State.

    “Under the terms of that arrangement, locomotive engines will first start to be assembled in Zaria for Nigeria and subsequently for the whole African sub-region,” he said.

    He also disclosed that the nation’s railway tracks would be concession to consortium of four foreign firms led by General Electric.

    According to him, rail workers did not oppose concession of railways but only clamoured for payment of their severance package before concession.

    “If you notice, the workers are not opposing it but all they are after is to be paid-off by their old employer before the new employer takes over.

    “If you change employer, the previous employer must pay you your cumulative entitlements, then you can enter another agreement with the new employer,” Abubakar noted.

    Earlier in his address, Abubakar told the workers not to panic as the concession would last about two years before it is finally actualised.

    “It has been the tradition of people, whenever a new thing is introduced they will become apprehensive about it.”

    Dr Aminu Gusau, NRC Director, Administration and Human Resources, also assured the workers that management was doing everything possible to protect their interest.

    “The workers should hope for good because the Federal Government means good and once the concession is completed all railway staff will be smiling,” Gusau said.

    In his address, Mr Aliyu Mainasara, Chairman, Senior Staff Association of Railwaymen, identified concession as a major challenge for railway workers.

    Mainasara advised that the concession should not be done at the expense of the poor Nigerian workers.

    “We are in support of concession but pay us off before concession,” Mainasara said.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Abubakar inaugurated a Motorised/Manual Sleepers Straightening Machine during the visit.

     

     

    NAN

  • Nigerian launches new nanosatellite in May

    Nigerian launches new nanosatellite in May

    A new nanosatellite by Nigeria will be launched before the end of May, an official disclosed to the News agency of Nigeria (NAN) in New York on Thursday.

    Prof. Seidu Mohammed, Director General of the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) said the launch would be in conjunction with Japan, Ghana, Bangladesh and Nepal.

    Nanosatellite is applied to an artificial satellite with a wet mass between 1 and 10 kg.

    “We are happy to announce the fact that the Project Manager of these five countries is a Nigerian who used this as his PhD work.

    “So within the window of 23rd to 27th of May, the nanosatellite along with four other countries would be launched from the launch base in Miami, Florida.

    “It once again demystifies high-tech; the fact that our engineers and scientists designed and built this, give them further confidence, that is one.

    “Two, the fact that we built Nigerian Sat-X and we built this one is consolidating our know-how technology transfer already acquired by Nigerians from most of these studies embarked upon by the agency.

    “And in addition to that, is a scientific work; we need to understand our environment better because of space investment already made by Nigeria and some other countries.”

    According to him, Nigerian satellites are also contributing to image intelligence that is doing the analysis of problems towards solving them.

    He added that the satellites were helpful to addressing some of the security challenges in the country.

    “We are doing our best. We did our best in the past and we would continue to help the security agencies along this line,” he said.

  • US identifies measures for fighting corruption, others in Africa

    US identifies measures for fighting corruption, others in Africa

    Mr David Luna, a U.S. Senior Director for National Security and Diplomacy Anti-Crime Programmes, Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, has identified measures for fighting corruption and other crimes across Africa.

    Luna, who spoke at this year’s Senior Leaders’ Seminar hosted by the Africa Center for Strategic Studies (ACSS), called for a crackdown on corruption at all levels.

    According to him, illicit trafficking also remains the lifeblood of the numerous bad actors and networks, creating vulnerabilities for
    nations.

    “We must crackdown on corruption at all levels and cut off the ability of kleptocrats, criminals, and terrorists to enjoy the fruits of their illicit enterprise.

    “By combating corruption, we can also shut the door and keep violent extremists from exploiting their grievances to wage jihads. We must prevent narco-corruption from destroying countries like Guinea and
    Guinea-Bissau.

    “In addition to our law enforcement and security cooperation, we also need to address underlying causes that are contributing to today’s conflicts and insecurity in Africa,’’ he said.

    Luna said that it was imperative for Africa to address her current challenges of food and water security, poverty, economic integration and development, and other socio-economic issues.

    He said that with careful, targeted assistance, and smart diplomatic engagement, African countries and the U.S. could jointly advance their common objectives and strategic interests.

    “If we do not act decisively, the region will remain an exporter of terror and a provider of safe havens where terrorists from other areas of conflict all over the world find refuge.

    “We must continue to leverage all national economic intelligence and diplomatic powers to make it riskier, harder, and costlier for threat networks to do business within Africa, and externally.

    “We must stay connected and continue to harness our network of networks at every level – local, regional, and global, to win our fight against convergence crime,’’ Luna added.

  • Britain to support power sector reform in Nigeria

    British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr Paul Arkwright, said the British Government would support power sector reform in Nigeria.

    Arkwright stated this on Tuesday in Abuja in an interview with newsmen after visiting Mr Babatunde Fashola, the Minister of Power, Works and Housing.

    He said that the visit was to identify areas of collaboration with the Nigerian Government, especially in infrastructure and power sector.

    He said that the idea was to support President Muhammadu Buhari’s agenda on diversification, adding that no meaningful progress could be made without effective power sector.

    The envoy said that the meeting was also for British companies to take advantage of the opportunities available in Nigeria’s power sector.

    He said that rural electrification was another issue discussed at the meeting with a view to using UK expertise in solar energy to address rural electrification problem in the country.

    According to him, getting transmission line through hundreds of miles to rural communities is not really feasible, so our discussion centred on the use of solar energy for such communities.

  • Telecoms sector contributes N15 trn to GDP, says NCC

    Telecoms sector contributes N15 trn to GDP, says NCC

    Nigeria’s telecommunications sector contributed over N15 trillion to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) since the liberalisation of the sector, according to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

    The Executive Vice-Chairman of NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta, made the disclosure at an interactive session with newsmen in Lagos on Tuesday.

    Danbatta said the sector’s contribution to the GDP increased from eight per cent in the fourth quarter of 2016 to nine per cent in the first quarter of this year.

    He said that since his assumption of office about 18 months ago, the industry had been adding between N1.43 trillion and N1.45 trillion to the economy every quarter.

    Danbatta said that his administration had been implementing the eight-point agenda it set out for itself to achieve.

    He said that the quality of service offered by Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) had not been impressive but that there had been an improvement in the first quarter of this year.

    According to him, continuing drop in service quality has really created a huge gap between consumers and the MNOs.

    He argued that poor quality of service was a reason for drops in mobile subscriptions.

    “The commission will review the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) set for the operators to meet, with a resolve that any of the MNOs that failed to meet up will be adequately sanctioned,” Danbatta said.

    Speaking on the continuous drop in telephone subscriptions in the country, the NCC chief disclosed that the commission discovered that some subscribers were migrating from Third Generation (3G) to 4G/Long Term Evolution (LTE) networks.

    “So they would rather use WhatsApp to communicate and even make free calls.

    “Consumers are moving away from high tariff services to cheaper and free services,” he added.

    The Executive Commissioner, Stakeholders Management of the commission, Mr Sunday Dare, said that the commission had already read the riot act to service providers on poor services.

    Dare said that this year’s first quarter KPI result was under review.

    He said that there was no deadline on improving QoS on the part of the operators but that sanctions were on the cards.

    “NCC is not in the habit of giving deadlines but when we get to giving deadlines, then know that we had sounded it long enough for the operators to improve,” Dare said.

  • Nigeria to return to International Maritime Organisation Council soon

    Nigeria to return to International Maritime Organisation Council soon

    Nigeria’s Alternate Permanent Representative (APR) at the International Maritime Organisation, IMO, Alhaji Diko Balla has said the nation’s maritime sector will soon regain its leadership position in the global maritime community.

    Balla who stated this while speaking at the Nigerian IMO office in London, noted that the steps taken by the present NIMASA management, has led to a great improvement of the country’s relationship with the IMO as a body and other Maritime Administrations who are members of the international body. The move is in line with President Muhammadu Buhari drive to integrate the nation back into global affairs.

    In his words: “Nigeria was amongst the first ten (10) countries from the over 170 member nations of the IMO to submit itself for the IMO Member States Audit Scheme, IMSAS, this is seen as a show of direction of the current administration of maritime in Nigeria by the IMO, adding that the IMO Secretary General Mr Kitack Lim was pleased when the Minister of Transportation Honorable Rotimi Amaechi informed him that the findings and observations of the IMO Member States Audit Scheme of Nigeria was being studied with a view to preparing and implementing Corrective Action Plans (CAPs) within the stipulated time frame”.

    Speaking further, the APR noted that IMO considers the issue of Piracy as top priority and that the maritime community, particularly the IMO is pleased with Nigeria for taking the fight against Piracy and robbery at sea to new levels with the Anti-Piracy bill push parliament.

    “The achievements of the Dr. Dakuku Peterside led Management at NIMASA in the past one year is an indication that the nation’s maritime sector is heading in the right direction. And the fact that the IMO is collaborating with Nigeria much more in the area of trainings and technical support shows that the international body is satisfied with NIMASA operations in recent times. By November this year, I can assure you that Nigeria’s election into the Category “C” at IMO will be an overwhelming one,” Balla explained.

    Commenting on the implementation of the International Ships and Ports facility Security ISPS Code, Bala noted that the fact that Nigeria is now in the category of countries considered as most successful in its implementation is a welcome development to both the IMO and other stakeholders in the maritime sector.

    ” You will recall that when we lost our seat in Council in 2011, our implementation status was less than 13%. Today we have over 85% compliance level, so you can see that the international community is watching and appreciating our efforts” he said.

    Speaking further, the Nigerian APR said that the IMO is prepared to support Maritime Administrations in Africa in combating security challenges, and in building human capacity equipped to implement, monitor and enforce international instruments.

    Commenting on the recent conference of Association of African Maritime Administration AAMA, which was hosted by Nigeria, Bala noted that the IMO has restated her commitment to support, when possible, regular meetings of Heads of Maritime Administrations in Africa, at frequencies to be determined by the continental body.

    The Nigerian Alternate Permanent Representative to the IMO noted that the Body is satisfied with the decision of the continental body to encourage regional cooperation and coordination amongst member nations to enhance information sharing and regulatory governance among members which according to the IMO has the potentials to assist in combating the menace of piracy and other maritime crimes while maintaining a balance between security and the facilitation of global trade.

  • Soonest, Nigeria shall be great again – CAN

    Despite the enormous challenges facing the country in virtually every sphere, the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, has urged Nigerians to keep hope alive as the country is on its way to greatness.

    This was revealed by the Chairman of the Lagos State Chapter of CAN, Apostle Alexander Bamgbola on Sunday.

    Bamgbola spoke at the closing ceremony of the annual Greater Grace Conference of the Olivet Bible Church with the theme `Boundless’, at its headquarters in Festac Town, Lagos.

    He said that the current challenges Nigeria was facing would soon be over because God is interested in the country.

    “God will restore the lost glory and virtues of the country. This nation shall rise again; not too long, but very soon.

    “We must pray more, and we will have victory; it shall be recorded in the comity of nations that Nigeria has risen,’’ he said.

    The Senior Pastor of the Church, Pastor Owen Nlekwuwa, spoke in similar vein, saying the glory and dignity of Nigeria would soon be restored.

    “The dignity and honour that God has created this nation for will soon rise again and all its challenges shall be surmounted.

    “But you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He that gives you power to get wealth.

    “God is concerned about the well-being of the people of this nation; it is His will that we enjoy supernatural abundance,’’ he said.

    The cleric urged Nigerians to always pray for their leaders, with a view to building a great nation devoid of corruption and lawlessness.

    “No one has the sole capacity and ability to solve all the problems of this country; it is our collective and civic responsibility to work for the growth of our nation,’’ he said.

     

     

    NAN

     

  • Nigeria more secure under Buhari – Minister

    The Minister of Defence, Alhaji Mansur Dan-Ali has said the President Muhammadu Buhari led administration is committed to the safety of lives and property in the country.

    Dan-Ali disclosed this to newsmen on Friday in Minna during the wedding ceremony of the daughter of former president Ibrahim Babangida, Halima.

    “Nigeria is secure because the Federal Government is doing everything possible to secure lives and property in the country.

    “We are winning the war against insecurity because government is working with all Nigerians,’’ he said.

    The minister said that the kind of people who attended the marriage were an indication that the country was secured.

    “When you look at the people gathered here today, Nigerians and non-Nigerians that travelled from outside and within the country to rejoice with the family you will conclude that there is peace.

    “If the country is not secured you will not see this kind of people from all works of lives here,’’ he said.

    On the issue of insurgency in the North East, he said “we are doing our best to eliminate insurgency in the North East.

    “So far so good we are tackling all security issues in the country and not only insurgency in the North East,’’ Dan-Ali said.