Aso Villa Reads for 09/11/2018

Every day, we bring you the best stories that the media is reporting about the Government of Nigeria

This Day reported that “the Federal Government on Thursday explained that the national carrier which was earlier billed to kick off in December was suspended temporarily because the process to actualize it was delayed. The Minister of State for Aviation, Hadi Sirika, has also also stated that Aviation Security (AVSEC) personnel of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) will start bearing arms within the next three months. The government said the transaction advisers did not complete the process on modalities on the ownership of the new airline in time. Sirika who made this known yesterday, hinted that, in recent months, several misinformation, factual errors, insinuations and fabrications have been peddled in both social and print media on the project. He informed that, Lufthansa, which was the first approved transaction adviser, was rejected due to its outrageous demands which included opening an escrow account, refusal to pay tax and demand for 75 percent upfront payment.”

“The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, says the Federal Government has retrieved 690 containers of power equipment, out of the over 800 containers allegedly abandoned at various ports by the previous administration. The minister disclosed this on Thursday in Abuja when he featured on a Radio Nigeria programme, Politics Nationwide. “You will remember that about 800 containers of power equipment were abandoned at the ports, because the previous administration did not pay the contractors and they abandoned the equipment there. As of today, we have been able to retrieve 690 of the containers,’’ he said. “Punch reported that “the minister said that despite the shoddy privatization process of the Power Generation Companies and Power Distribution Companies by the previous government, the President Muhammadu Buhari administration had taken proactive measures to improve on electricity. “When we came in 2015, we found out that many of the beneficiary companies of the privatization process were undercapitalized, unequipped and lacked the necessary expertise. “We, however, resisted the temptation of cancelling the privatization of the GenCos and DisCos in order not to send wrong signal to the investing world. “What we met on ground was very chaotic because the gas suppliers said they would not supply the GenCos with gas because GenCos were not paying. “The GenCos said they would have loved to pay but the DisCos were not paying them.’”

“The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has received another batch of 121 stranded Nigerians from Libya. Mr Segun Afolayan, Acting Zonal Coordinator, NEMA, South West Zone, who confirmed this to newsmen on Friday in Lagos, urged the returnees to make good use of the second chance offered to them by God by forging ahead and making positive contributions to the development of the nation. Afolayan said the Nigerians arrived at the Cargo Wing of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos at 9.15 p.m. on Thursday aboard a chartered Al-Buraq aircraft and were received by NEMA and other government agencies. He said the returnees were assisted back home by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) under its Assisted Voluntary Return Programme. Afolayan said the returnees are made up of 29 females, five children and four infants.” Guardian reports that the returnees “included 75 male adults, two male children and six male infants, adding that the returnees were brought back from three volatile cities in Libya- Sabha, Bram Alshati and Oubari. One of the returnees, Miss Chisom Johnson, told newsmen that she was a professional hair stylist before she was lured to Libya by her trafficker who promised to take her to Europe in 2014.”

“President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday declared a state of emergency on Nigeria’s water supply, sanitation and hygiene sector. According to a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, the President made the declaration while inaugurating the National Action Plan for Revitalisation of Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. Buhari said the declaration had become imperative to reduce the high prevalence of water-borne diseases in different parts of the country. The situation, he noted, had caused preventable deaths. Buhari told the gathering that he was aware that Nigeria did not meet the MDG targets for water supply and sanitation that ended in 2015. He said, “It is on this premise that I fully endorse the decision taken at the meeting of the Federal Executive Council in April this year to declare ‘a state of emergency on our WASH Sector.’” This is according to Punch.

Guardian reports that “the Nigerian government said it has disbursed over N120 billion to about 800,000 farmers in the country since the commencement of Anchor Borrowers Programme (ABP). Minister of Economic planning and budget, Udoma Udo Udoma, made the disclosure at the 42nd Annual Conference of Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators of Nigeria (ICSAN) in Lagos on Thursday. ABP was introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in 2015 to reduce food importation bill and improve local food production. He said the funds were meant for the cultivation of rice, wheat, cotton, soya beans, cassava, and groundnuts for local consumption. “To date, 11 Fertilizer Blending Plants with the capacity to produce 2.1 million metric tonnes have been revitalized,” Udoma said. He said the government has also been working consistently to deliver diversification of the economy through the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP). “There is no doubt that we are making good progress in our efforts to revive and diversify the economy. However, is the economy sufficiently diversified? My answer is not yet,” he added.”

“MTN Group Ltd. Is close to securing a deal with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) over an order to repay $8.1 billion it is alleged to have illegally taken out of the Country, confirming Business Day’s report of last month. A settlement is expected by Monday but could come as early as today, according to report by Bloomberg. Sources close to both MTN and CBN earlier told Business Day that results of a meeting held in October between both parties were positive, despite the fact that the outcome of the meeting was not made public.” Business Day (Friday 9th 2018 page 1, 34) reports that “the CBN is said to have received new documents in relation to the case and is looking at resolving it with all parties amicably. Another source close to the CBN, however, told Business Day that even though the apex bank is looking at resolving the issue amicably, the decision by MTN to go to court was a ‘mistake’.

According to Business Day (Friday 9th 2018 page 2, 34) “Nigerian officials will go on a roadshow to London next week ahead of a planned $2.8 billion Eurobond sale this month, two banking sources told Reuters on Thursday. The roadshow, which is being organized by Citi and Standard Chartered, will run from November 12 for three days and be attended by Nigerian Finance Minister Zainab Ahmed. Nigeria’s upper house of parliament last month approved the Eurobond issue but advised the government to limit foreign borrowing and boost revenue. Last year Nigeria sold $3 billion in Eurobonds, part of which it used to fund its 2017 budget. It then followed with a $2.5 billion Eurobond sale in February to refinance local currency bonds at lower cost. Lawmakers said the new bond issue will raise foreign borrowing to 32 percent of Nigeria’s total debt, up from 30 percent at June 2018.”

“Federal Government has pledged to collaborate with relevant stakeholders in the aviation industry in a bid to ensure the continuous safety and seamlessness of air navigation in the country. Hadi Sirika, Minister of State, Aviation, who made this remark Monday while declaring open the 29th International Federation of Air Traffic Controllers Association (IFATCA) Africa and Middle East Regional Meeting in Abuja, said government was prepared to partner the international body for air traffic controllers in a bid to ensure safe skies both in Nigeria and globally “given that the job of an air traffic controller is both crucial and critical to the overall safety of air travel.”Siriki noted that in that in its determination to ensure that air traffic controllers are proficient in their job, there has been a deliberate and aggressive effort by government in the area of operational manpower training and retraining stressing that a total number of 86 air traffic controllers have been trained and employed under his watch while 46 are currently undergoing training at the Nigeria College of Aviation Technology (NCAT).” Business Day (Friday 9th 2018 page 6) reported this.

“Nigeria’s information and communication (ICT) sector has recorded 11.81 per cent growth in the second quarter of 2018. President Mohammadu Buhari this signifies a positive growth curve in the Economy, as ICT continues to grow despite challenges. According to Business Day (Friday 9th 2018 page 8), the Minister was “speaking at the 2018 eNigeria Conference and Exhibition organised by the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) the president said the issuance of Executive Order No. , which boots patronage of local content, and Executive Oder No5, which strengthens the role of science, technology and innovation in the country, were deliberate efforts by the Federal Government to enable the growth of ICT to boost Nigeria’s socio-economic development. “You may recall that in my address at last year’s event, I raised a number of issue relating to ICT’s role in fostering the digital economy in Nigeria, including the sector’s contribution of about 10percent of the nations Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and the need for the effort to be made in enhancing this, especially in our effort of diversifying the Economy”.

Business Day (Friday 9th 2018 page 19) reports that “a comprehensive insurance product for the agriculture sector is being prepared for public launch by the Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System Agriculture Lending (NIRSAL), in addressing the peculiar risks associated with agriculture in Nigeria. NIRSAL in document exclusively made available to Businessday, stated that with its technical partner, it has collaborated with NAICOM and NAIC (who led a consortium of four (4 underwriters) to provide innovation and index based insurance to protect investment in the agriculture Insurance underwriters to strategically transition their product focus from indemnity-based insurance to Area Yield Index, Revenue Index, Hybrid Index and finally to the NIRSAL Comprehensive Index Insurance product this suit of innovative products does not only provide compensation to farmers on the basis of cost incurred but also covers projected earnings.”

“Nigeria has recommitted $150 million annually to the Global Financing Facility to improve the well- being of malnourished women, children and adolescents. This is in association with world leaders looking to raise $1 billion for the GFF. Ten new investors, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Denmark, the European Commission, Germany, Japan, Laerdal Global Health, the Netherlands, Quarter and an anonymous donor have joined since the launch of the Global Financing Facility replenishment.” Business Day (Friday 9th 2018 page 20) reports that “they join existing funders of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Canada, MSD for mothers, Norway, and the United Kingdom to fund the GFF to improve the health and nutrition of women, children and adolescent. US$ 1billion pledge to the GFF trust fund in Oslo is expected to link to an additional US$7.5 billion in international Development Association (IDA) /International Bank for women, children and adolescents’ health and nutrition.”

The Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) says it would ensure that up to 3,000 Nigerian business women benefit from the International Trade Centre (ITC) projects funded by the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID). The executive director and chief executive of NEPC, Olusegun Awolowo, in a keynote address at a sensitization workshop on the SheTrades in the Commonwealth Projects (STCP) would be implemented by the itc for two years. According to him the projects were aimed at increasing the economic growth and job creation in commonwealth countries participation of women-owned business international trade.” This is according to Business Day (Friday 9th 2018 page 23).