Aso Villa Reads for 14/09/2020
Every day, we bring you the best stories that the Media is reporting about the Government of Nigeria
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, says the Federal Government will from October begin converting the cars and generators of Nigerians to run on gas. Sylva said this will be done free of charge for all Nigerians to cushion the effect of the hike in pump price of petrol. The minister said this on NTA’s ‘Good Morning Nigeria’ on Monday which was monitored by Punch reporter. According to him, cars are capable of running on both gas and petrol. The minister said the move would reduce carbon emissions as well as the demand for Premium Motor Spirit otherwise known as petrol. Sylva stated, “The alternative we are now introducing is gas, which is definitely going to be cheaper than the subsidised rate of PMS. So, what we are trying to encourage Nigerians to do now is to convert their cars to dual fuel.” Sylva also said the Federal Government launched a similar pilot scheme with commercial tricycles in Port Harcourt which they converted to gas and it was successful. The former Governor of Bayelsa State stated that filling stations owned by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation would be the first to begin selling gas to vehicles. Sylva said the use of gas is cleaner and climate friendly, adding that once this is achieved, Nigeria would receive funding from foreign donors.
The Presidency yesterday challenged former President Olusegun Obasanjo to help in proffering solutions to the problems plaguing the country instead of being Nigeria’s divider-in-chief. This is even as the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said yesterday that President Muhammadu Buhari’s assumption of office in 2015 prevented Nigeria from becoming a failed state. Reacting to the recent statement by Obasanjo that Nigeria was becoming a failed state, the Presidency in a statement, called on him to quit critiquing President Muhammadu Buhari’s government. “In his most recent statement, former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s attempts to divide the nation, while President Muhammadu Buhari continues to promote nation-building and the unity of Nigeria. “The difference is clear. From the lofty heights of Commander-in-Chief, General Obasanjo has descended to the lowly level of divider-in-chief (to adapt the coinage of Time),’’ the Presidency stated. Obasanjo, according to the Presidency, should “once again sheathe the sword and rest the pretentiousness about the Messiah that has (mis)led him to pronounce often wrongly, as he disastrously did in the 2019 elections, about the life and death of Nigerian governments.” The Presidency noted that Buhari’s comments on West African leaders sticking to their constitutionally-allowed terms is for the good of the region. While accusing Obasanjo of a failed attempt at elongating his tenure, the Presidency called on him to stop the “mushrooming of a poisonous atmosphere of ethnic and religious nationalism.”[Vanguard]
The Development Bank of Nigeria and the Central Bank of Nigeria have urged microfinance banks and other participating financial institutions to improve their sustainability efforts and become more responsive to their social and ecological environment. The banks said this was important as Nigeria and the global communities continued to grapple with the effects of climate depletion and economic uncertainties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. According to a statement on Friday entitled ‘DBN advocates sustainability banking for MFBs,’ the banks said this during a webinar organised by DBN for MfBs and PFIs. The initiative was focused on deepening DBN’s efforts to increase awareness on sustainability issues, and also positively influence its PFIs Sustainable Development Goals focused initiatives and operations.[Punch]
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation has pledged to support ongoing initiatives by the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources to provide alternate energy source to Nigerians. It said this would be through aggressive activation of Compressed Natural Gas refill stations for motorists across the country. The Group Managing Director, NNPC, Mele Kyari, disclosed this in a statement issued in Abuja on Sunday by the corporation’s spokesperson, Kennie Obatetu. Kyari said the NNPC had already keyed into the gas penetration agenda as championed by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva. He said the corporation would continue to work with other stakeholders in the industry to provide viable alternatives to petrol, which would ultimately lead to reduction in demand for the product and eventual drop in price. The NNPC boss reiterated the commitment of the corporation towards openness and greater transparency in its operations. He stated that in the months ahead, the NNPC would make public its 2019 Audited Financial Statements as a sequel to the 2018 AFS released in June this year. Kyari also shed more light on the status of the nation’s refineries, noting that the plants were deliberately shut down to allow for a diagnosis of the issues.[Punch]
The Federal Government through the ministry of youth and sports development, partnering with the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) have started a campaign towards boosting youth employment in Nigeria. The campaign which is being managed by the Nigeria Youth SDGs Network, a coalition of youth-led civil society organisations will help develop a roadmap that will ensure that young Nigerians are adequately prepared to get and create jobs. Minister of youth and sports development, Sunday Dare, in a statement last Tuesday, the campaign is part of the implementation of the Nigerian Youth Employment Action Plan (NIYEAP), a four-year detailed plan to address the youth employment challenge in a comprehensive and coordinated manner. According to him, the NIYEAP has been developed to complement and operate in the context of existing policies, frameworks, and strategies such as the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan; the National Youth Policy, the National Employment Policy, the United Nations Development Partnership Framework, and the Call for Action. [Business Day]
The Federal Government on Sunday advised state governments to take proactive measures to mitigate the impending floods expected across the country based on forecasts on heavy rainfalls and consequential flooding. Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar-Farouq, gave the warning in a statement issued in Abuja by her Special Assistant on Media, Nneka Anibeze. She urged states with highly probable flood risk areas to identify high grounds for use as camps for the evacuation of possible internally displaced persons and to shelter evacuated communities. The minister sympathised with the people of Kebbi, Bauchi and Jigawa states over the heavy flooding in some areas in the states which led to the loss of lives and farmlands. Umar-Farouq urged states to organise humanitarian coordination fora to prepare all stakeholders for mitigation and response as well as request relief materials for prompt response after the flood.[Punch]
