Aso Villa Reads for 16/12/19
Every day, we bring you the best news the media is reporting about the government of Nigeria
Heralds reports that the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has neutralised some Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP) fighters at their hideout in Kollaram on the fringes of Lake Chad in the Northern part of Borno. NAF said the insurgents were obliterated as they assembled for a meeting at the same area. Air Commodore Ibikunle Daramola, NAF Director of Public Relations and Information made this known in a statement on Monday in Abuja. Daramola said the operation was conducted through the Air Task Force (ATF) of Operation LAFIYA DOLE on Saturday. ” The operation was executed on Dec. 14, following credible intelligence reports indicating that some of the ISWAP leaders had assembled for a meeting in one of two buildings at the centre of the settlement. ” The Nigerian Air Force jets dispatched by the ATF to attack the location scored accurate hits on the target building completely obliterating it and killing its terrorists’ occupants,” he said. Daramola said NAF, operating in concert with surface forces, would sustain its efforts to completely destroy all remnants of terrorists in the North East.
According to the Nation, the federal government has restated that it is currently working to integrate oral healthcare into the Primary Health Care (PHC) in order to scale up interventions to reach the undeserved, especially those in the grassroots areas of the country. The Director of Hospital Services of the Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH), Dr. Joseph Amedu, who disclosed this at the press briefing to commemorate this year’s National Oral Health Week, with theme: ‘promoting oral health at the grassroots level’, Monday in Abuja, explained that although oral health is very important, it is mostly taken for granted with several factors contributing to the problems of accessing dental care in Nigeria. According to him, “The National dental healthcare policy targets the integration of oral health care into Primary Health Care, which we aim to achieve by development collaborations with appropriate stakeholders like the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), World Health Organisation (WHO), as well as oral health product manufacturers like Unilever to address the risks involved in oral diseases such as malnutrition, poor oral hygiene, smoking, refined sugars, and to provide the basic package for oral health care in PHC centers nationwide.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) said it made ₦5.20billion trading surplus for the month of August, reflecting an increase of 22 per cent compared with the ₦4.26 billion surplus posted in July. The corporation disclosed this in its Monthly Financial and Operations Report (MFOR) for the month of August released in Abuja on Sunday. It attributed the appreciable increase of 22 per cent within the period under review to largely the improved surplus posted by the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC). It explained that the percentage increase in performance of the company evened out with the decline in the performance of Nigeria Gas Company (NGC) vis-à-vis July figures. It added that the increased surplus posted by Duke Oil and the reduced deficit by the Nigerian Pipelines and Storage Company (NPSC) equally bolstered the figures for the month, according to the report. A summary of NNPC’s Group Operating Revenue and Expenditure for the month under review indicated that it increased by 7.58 per cent at ₦540.60billion, reflecting an increase of ₦38.10billion compared with the previous month’s performance. It further added that the expenditure for the month followed a similar trend with increase of 7.46 per cent or ₦37.16billion, to reach ₦535.40billion during the month under review. Authority NGR reported.
As the count-down begins to next year’s Mandilas’ 70th anniversary of doing business and providing services in Nigeria, the Group has reiterated its commitment to the economy and its teeming customers in all parts of the country. The management has also affirmed that as part of the ongoing restructuring strides, efforts are being made to ensure that its products and services, especially in the Motors’ Division, are brought closer to the customers in order to ensure they enjoy motoring with ease. This came to the fore recently when Mandilas Group Ltd and the retail arm of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, (NNPC), NNPC Retail Limited, consummated a new partnership with the opening of an ultra-modern Quick-Service Centre in Abuja. The partnership which is set to transform the automotive aftermarket, will lead to the opening of more of such centres in parts of the country. During the inauguration of the very first in a nationwide network of Quick Service Centres at the NNPC Mega Petrol Station on Olusegun Obasanjo Way, Zone 1, Abuja, Mandilas pledged to provide the best of after-sales service and maintenance for vehicle owners in the Federal Capital Territory {FCT}. This is according to Sun News.
The federal government at the weekend said it had signed a memorandum of understating (MoU) with the Russian government towards reviving the multi- billion naira Ajaokuta Steel Company. This Day reports that the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Mines and Steel Development, Dr Abdulkadir Muazu, disclosed this in Ilorin, Kwara State, during a workshop on, ‘Stimulation and Promotion of Activities of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the metal sector, organised by the ministry. He said, “for the past two three months now, you will see the trend going on in the steel sector, the president and his entourage went to Russia two months ago for negotiation on how to bring Ajaokuta up for full optimum use. “The underground work is still ongoing, hopefully by January everything will be finalised by government of Russia and federal government of Nigeria on how to bring Ajaokuta steel company to streamline.” Represented at the event by the Director, Steel and Non-Ferrous Metals, Engr. Olasupo Kolawole said, “If you look at Ajaokuta, it is an integrated plant comprise about 43 industries in one particular place. If Ajaokuta should come up, I believe the steel market in the whole of West African, Ajaokuta will take over.
The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, Mr M. F. Istifanus, disclosed this yesterday while flagging off a two-day 2019 ICT Data Stakeholders Workshop, in Owerri. “The second-quarter report by the National Bureau of Statistics for 2019, showed that the ICT sector contributed an impressive 13.85 per cent, to the GDP of Nigeria”, Istifanus said. According to the Permanent Secretary, this clearly shows the importance and potential of the ICT sector to the country’s job creation and economic diversification agenda. “In the global economy, much of the economic value generated is based on data and other knowledge assets. According to Vanguard, Governments that fail to harness the potentials of the digital economy are severely handicapping their own economies, by depriving them of the new oil of today’s knowledge economy”, Istifanus said. He further opined that Nigeria needs to embrace and harness its ICT data resources for good ICT governance, planning, monitoring and reporting in this knowledge era. “More importantly, the world is experiencing the fourth industrial revolution and becoming a knowledge society grounded in the data economy. Nigeria cannot afford to be left behind”, the Permanent Secretary said.
According to Punch, the Minister for Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, said on Sunday that the refinery being built by Dangote refinery in Lagos would help the country save $10 billion foreign exchange when completed. Ahmed, who stated this during a visit to the site of the Dangote refinery, petrochemicals and fertiliser projects at Ibeju Lekki, Lagos, commended the company’s continued investment in the country. “This is a very important project — one of the largest refineries in the world today. Mr President is very proud of this project and we speak about it everywhere we go in terms of the number of jobs which it is creating and the good that it will be bringing to our economy,” she said. The minister said the refinery, when completed, would enable the country to stop importing petroleum products, adding, “And for us in government, that is a saving of at least $10bn that will be sitting in our reserves instead of flying out to pay for petroleum products.” She said, “In the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, we have had the opportunity to interface with your company (Dangote Group) at different times to provide you with some clearance you required as you bring in equipment and as you move from one step to another, and I used to be alarmed at some of the size of the requests. But now, I do understand that this is very big and it is very important for this country.”
Sun News reports that the Nigeria Incentive-based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL Plc) and Stanbic-IBTC bank have facilitated over N23 billion investments across the agricultural value chain in Nigeria under the Credit Risk Guarantee (CRG) programme. Farmers in Kaduna were also given a N6 billion loan to invest in strategic projects in the pre-upstream and midstream segments of the agricultural value chain. Speaking during a tour of the premises of the benefiting agriculture firms, NIRSAL’s Managing Director/CEO, Mr. Aliyu Abdulhameed noted that the agency has provided Stanbic-IBTC Bank with CRG cover on a credit facility worth N875 million to Hulhulde Nigeria Limited — a fertilizer Super Agro Dealer, as well as N3.6 billion and N1.72 billion facilities for LoryB & DP Ventures Limited and Nalmaco Nigeria Limited respectively — both grain processing companies in Kaduna State.
Nigeria LNG said on Friday it had signed a 20-year gas supply agreement with joint venture partners for the long-awaited Train 7 project to expand its liquefied natural gas plant on Bonny Island. NLNG, which produces liquefied natural gas (LNG) for export, is owned by state-run Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and foreign energy firms Royal Dutch Shell, Total and ENI, said it had signed a feed gas agreement for Train 7. The agreement is one of the key conditions for a final investment decision on Train 7, NLNG said in a statement, adding it needed a confirmed gas supply before building the plant. NLNG operates six LNG processing units, known as trains, on Bonny Island. The project, which is expected to increase Nigeria’s LNG production by 35% to 30 million tonnes per annum (mtpa), has been delayed for several years. A previous deadline for a Train 7 FID in the fourth quarter of 2018 was not met. Nigeria was fifth largest LNG producer in the world last year, with its production declining. It lost its fourth place to the United States in 2018, according to the International Group of Liquefied Natural Gas Importers. Reuters reports.
Insurer’s effort to raise funds in the ongoing recapitalisation exercise initiated by the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) has received the blessings of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), who have promised to offer assistance to underwriters who will take advantage of long term investment in the capital market. SEC has therefore advised them to take advantage of long term investment in the capital market. These highlights enumerated at a meeting held in Lagos by members of the reconstituted Insurers’ Committee. In a chat with journalists after the meeting, a member of the committee, Ebere Nwachukwu, revealed that not less than 10 companies had approached the capital market to seek assistance towards raising funds for the recapitalisation exercise. She assured that the commission had equally promised to render the necessary assistance within its regulatory power to support the companies, stressing that insurers should take advantage of the capital market long term investment fund to boost their finances. This is according to Business Day.
At N996.8 billion Nigeria’s manufactured goods exports recorded a significant increase in the third quarter of the year, which experts attribute to foreign exchange policies of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). According to a report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the increase was driven by export of Cable sheaths of Iron and steel valued at N750.3billion and floating and submersible drilling platforms valued at N117.4billion, both exported to Ghana. According to Business Day, the increase also came from Vessels and other floating structures for breaking up worth N41.7 billion was exported to Cameroon, it said. Figures indicate that the value of total exports in Q3, 2019 stood at N5.288trilion representing a 15.02 percent increase compared to the previous quarter. Crude oil component amounted to N3.7478 trillion (70.84%) of total exports during the period under review while non-crude oil export grew significantly in Q3, 2019 and was valued at N1.5407 trillion (29.13%). “Increase recorded was due to the re-exports of high value Cable Sheaths of Iron, as well as submersible drilling platform, Vessels and other floating structures, transportation equipment; petroleum & coal products; furniture & related products; electrical equipment; plastics & rubber products; food, beverage & tobacco products; nonmetallic mineral products; printing & related support activities; cement; fabricated metal products; primary metal; chemical & pharmaceutical products; and textile, apparel, leather & footwear,” NBS reported.
