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Tag: Nigerians

  • 37.5% of vessels operating in oil & gas industry owned by Nigerians– NCDMB

    37.5% of vessels operating in oil & gas industry owned by Nigerians– NCDMB

    The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has said that 37.5 per cent of vessels operating in the Nigerian Oil and Gas industry are owned by Nigerians.

    The Executive Secretary of NCDMB, Mr Simbi Wabote, disclosed this in an interview with the newsmen on Monday in Lagos.

    Wabote said that these was a marked improvement from what was obtained in 2010, when over 90 per cent of the expenditure of maritime segment of the oil and gas industry was lost to foreign economies.

    He attributed this to the preponderance of foreign-owned vessels.

    According to him, the 2016 3rd quarter Vessel Categorisation Report indicates that 2,258 vessels currently operate in Nigerian oil and gas industry and 235 of them were built in the country.

    He said that 848 of the vessels were Nigerian-owned, representing 37.56 per cent.

    Wabote said that many indigenous ship owners were motivated by these policies to construct quite new vessels, judging from growth of indigenous- owned marine vessel s in the oil and gas industry since 2010.

    The executive secretary said the Board had set a target to place at least 60 per cent of marine assets operations in the hands of Nigerians by 2015.

    Wabote said that the Board also conceived Marine Vessel Strategy in 2011 to encourage the construction and dry docking of vessels in Nigerian yards and to promote ownership of marine vessels by Nigerian entities.

    He said that the Board had also stimulated flagging and registration of vessels in Nigeria, deepened Nigerian manning of marine vessels and maximised the use of Nigerians.

    “The Board has also deepened Nigeria manning of marine vessels and maximised the use of Nigerian service providers for legal, insurance, catering, inspection and certification for transaction and utilization of vessels.

    “The Board has also deployed marine Vessel Categorisation programme as the key tool of the strategy, using indices as ownership of site of construction among others,’’ NAN quotes the executive secretary as saying.

    He said that the implication had ensured that “vessels owned by Nigerians and built in Nigeria get priority opportunity for engagement by industry operators’’.

    Wabote, however, said that reports were issued periodically and they formed the basis for pre-qualification of marine service vendors in the industry.

  • Nigerians will suffer if MMM collapses, Founder Mavrodi warns

    Nigerians will suffer if MMM collapses, Founder Mavrodi warns

    Sergey Mavrodi, founder of MMM has said the scheme is doing lots to help poor Nigerians make a living and warned that if the scheme collapses, Nigerians will suffer for it.

    In an open letter, MMM founder urged the government to look at the benefits of the scheme to over three million Nigerians in one year of its existence in the country, especially, where the scheme is the only source of livelihood for some Nigerians.

    The letter reads: ” So far MMM has come under a constant attack from you. In this regard, I would like to ask you a few simple questions. Since you are concerned with the interests of millions of your fellow citizens, I hope that you would be so kind to answer them.”

    “What are you trying to get? Do you want the MMM System to collapse and millions of people to suffer? Who will support them then if MMM is their only means of livelihood? Will you? You even don’t pay wages to people? Or might you not care about them? Might you be using a trendy topic to make a good name for yourselves? What will you say to a mother who will have no money to buy food for her child? Will you let her child die for the sake of the higher interests of the economy?

    “You say that MMM is a scam. What is the scam here, if all members are warned in advance about all the risks, the possible and impossible ones? They know there are no investments at all. The warning is a red text on a yellow background placed on most prominent place of the website.

    “You say that MMM is bad. Why? Yes, it produces nothing, but nothing gets out of the country either. The money is just redistributed among the citizens of Nigeria. It gets from those who are richer to poorer ones, in this way restoring social justice. What”s wrong with that?

    “You have repeatedly stated that “it should be investigated!.. researched!..” It means you know nothing about this System yet; you even haven’t understood how it works………

    “And finally. If you know what is right for people, why is the life so bad in the country?”

    The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had warned against participation in the scheme while the House of Representatives has ordered a probe into its activities in the country.

     

     

  • Nigerians going through tough time, APC admits

    Nigerians going through tough time, APC admits

    The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, John Oyegun, has admitted that the economy is tough and that Nigerians are going through hard times.

    Speaking in Abuja, on Wednesday, Oyegun said the party and government was working towards resolving the problems facing Nigerians.

    According to Oyegun, “The economy is tough, as a result, people are going through hard times and it is certainly not acceptable. The people who are looking up to us, want to find us concentrated, determined, focused on programmes that will ameliorate not just the economy but the condition of living of the ordinary Nigerian.

    “It is hoped that the public will begin to see a new party, of course focused governance of the people.

    On the issues between the National Assembly and the Executive, Oyegun said, “As far as the party is concerned, we commended the senate and the entire National Assembly for the way they have worked so far with the Executive.

    “We are determined and we concluded that we must work closely together to address some of the glitches that still exist, the relationship between the National Assembly and the executive.

    “It means that an end is in sight. We have started the process, but there are issues to be resolved and there is no question at all that we are a family and when things have gone wrong, we accept that things have gone wrong and we are determined to right those wrongs.”

     

     

     

  • Buhari on track to lead us out of recession, Osinbajo assures Nigerians

    Buhari on track to lead us out of recession, Osinbajo assures Nigerians

    Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, has assured Nigerians that President Muhammadu Buhari is on the right track to lead the nation out of the present economic crisis.

    Speaking during a Town Hall meeting in Kano on Monday, the Vice President said Nigerians need a man in the pedigree of President Muhammadu Buhari.

    The Vice President who called on Nigerians to exercise patience with Buhari that all will soon be well said, “I’m confident everyone of us would come out of this recession happy.”

    He added that, “let’s be patient, let’s work hard, and we are lucky with the kind of President we have, he is an honest man.”

    “This country needs honest leadership, we need somebody like Buhari who is not going to steal your money,” Osinbajo said.

     

  • 1.2 million Nigerians to get from single-digit loans – FG

    1.2 million Nigerians to get from single-digit loans – FG

    The Federal Government on Sunday said that 1.2 million Nigerians would be given soft loans at two or three per cent interest rate as part of efforts to create jobs under its social investment programme.

    Mr Laolu Akande, the Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Publicity, said this when he appeared on the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Forum in Abuja.

    He said that the Federal Government was synergizing with its enterprise agencies with the private sector to achieve the goal.

    He named the agencies as the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Bank of Industry (BOI), Bank of Agriculture, the National Directorate of Employment(NDE), among others.

    “About 1.2 million Nigerians are going to be given soft loans, may be at two or three per cent, loans of N20,000 to N50,000, N100,000, the traders, for people that have small businesses.

    “We are going to be using co-operatives, so all these groups mentioned will be working together because we believe small and medium enterprises are very critical to the recovery and rejuvenation of the economy.

    “So, we are working to design all kind of intervention financial facilities since we are not getting the kind of affordable loans in the main banking sector.

    “So, we are using the intervention funds to release money to small and medium scale enterprises so that they can trade with the money. with very little interest two or three or four per cent.’’

    He said that the Federal Government was hoping to do more for Nigerians using the intervention fund as part of its social investment programme.

    He said that the SMEDAN, BOI, Bank of Agriculture, NDE, others had been harnessed to provide such support.

    Akande said that government would continue to use resources from the agencies to actively boost social investment programmes.

    “We are working with these agencies to have that kind of glory of affordable loan to 1.2 million Nigerians to do trading of different kinds,’’ he added.