Aso Villa Reads for 28/11/2019
Every day, we bring you the best stories that the Media is reporting about the Government of Nigeria
According to Business Day reports that The National Directorate of Employment (NDE) has commenced the training of another set of 50 unemployed youths under her Sustainable Agricultural Development Training Programme in Kogi state. The trainees under the three months skills acquisition program will undergo practical and theoretical training in poultry and crop production. Mallam Zakari Abubakar, Kogi State coordinator of NDE, in his address at the opening ceremony reiterated the desire of NDE to create a job by impacting marketable skills in the youths. He identified agriculture as one of those areas that have high potentials in job creation and urged the trainees to take their training with all the seriousness it deserved. Also, Nasir Laden Argungo, director-general of NDE, who was represented by Shade Uche in his keynote address hinted that the Federal Government is committed to reducing poverty through job creation, adding that various success recorded by NDE since he assumed office is aimed at curbing the negative vices prevailing among the youths.
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo said that there is the need to intensify the engagements of state governments across the country in order to deepen the advocacy to end violence against women. Osinbajo stated this while receiving Mrs Leymah Gbowee, the Liberian activist who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011 for non-violent struggle, safety and women’s rights. “Driving prosecution for sex offenders is best done at the state level, particularly strengthening the States to do so at the National Economic Council,” he said. Blueprint reported that the vice president emphasised the need for state governments to exercise political will in order to get the desired results, and provide the necessary funding to implement the campaign to end violence against women. With respect to the Sex Offenders Register, the vice president said: “It was something that needed a lot of attention, changing the orientation of men in particular, to understand it’s a campaign that must be championed by men.”
The Federal Government says it will rehabilitate the Warri, Port Harcourt and Kaduna Refineries to achieve local production of 360,000 MTPA of Liquefied Petroleum Gas, LPG, by 2023. The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the Minister of State for Petroleum, Mr Timipre Sylva, made the disclosure at Nigeria LPG Summit 2019 in Lagos on Wednesday. The summit, jointly organised by the Nigeria Liquefied Petroleum Gas Association, NLPGA and LPG Summit , based in Singapore has the theme, “LPG: Harmonising Development and Growth in Nigeria and Africa”. The minister, who was represented by his Technical Adviser on Gas Business and Policy Implementation, Mr Justice Derefaka, said the move was part of the National Gas Policy of the government. Sylva said the government was desirous of deepening LPG penetration in the country, noting that only about five per cent of its population were currently using LPG as energy source. As reported by Punch, he said other plans by the government include upgrading the Lagos-Apapa LPG Plant from 4,000MT to 8,000MT storage and increasing LPG allocation to the domestic market from Natural Gas Liquids, NGLs to reduce butane/propane exports.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, China Petroleum Pipeline Engineering Company Limited, CPPECL and Brantex Consortium, have concluded plans for the commencement of work on the Abuja-Kaduna-Kano Pipeline (AKK) project. As reported by Punch, the Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Malam Mele Kyari, disclosed this when he received the President of CPPECL, Sun Quanjun and the head of the Brantex Consortium at the NNPC Towers in Abuja, on Wednesday. Kyari said that the AKK project was key to resolving the power deficit challenge in the country, adding that the NNPC was ready to give all necessary support to CPPECL and BThe GMD said that the AKK project was very important to the nation and urged the China Pipeline Company to use it as a platform to access other bigger opportunities in the oil and gas industry pipeline projects. “We think you can deliver on the AKK project. If you execute the AKK project, we will also support your company to grow her imprint in Nigeria. “I assure you that this partnership will be beneficial to us all and deliver value for the Nigerian people,” he said.
According to Punch, the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, has said the Finance Bill will become effective on January 2, 2020. Ahmed, while speaking during a panel session at the PwC Executive Session on Finance Bill and Tax Strategy, said the bill would be reviewed annually as the Federal Government planned to grow the ratio of revenue to Gross Domestic Product from six per cent to 15 per cent by 2023, with a greater percentage of revenue coming from non-oil sources. She said the government would also engage stakeholders annually to include the outcome of the deliberations in the finance bill. Ahmed stated that though the components of the bill might not suit businesses in the short run, there were long-term benefits as the Federal Government was working on tax regime that would stabilise the economy.
The Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) in the month of November stood at 59.3 index points, indicating expansion in the manufacturing sector for the 32nd consecutive month. The index grew at a faster rate when compared to the index in October. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), disclosed this in its PMI Survey Report for November, obtained wednesday. In all, 13 of the 14 surveyed sub-sectors reported growth in the review month in the following order: transportation equipment; petroleum and coal products; furniture and related products; electrical equipment; plastics and rubber products; food, beverage and tobacco products; nonmetallic mineral products; printing and related support activities; cement; fabricated metal products; primary metal; chemical and pharmaceutical products; and textile, apparel, leather and footwear. This Day reports.
The federal government has set aside N36.565,012,899.66 for the rehabilitation of 123 roads across the 36 states of the federation under its post-rainy season programme designed to ease travel difficulties during the Christmas and New Year festivities, THIS DAY’s investigation has revealed. Details of the 123 roads are contained in a document prepared by the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, which forms the action plan to fix failed portions of federal highways and major arterial roads in view of the impending Yuletide. The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has also embarked on a road safety audit, which established the portions of federal roads that are to be fixed as Christmas and New Year festivities approach.
This is coming as the Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) has raised the alarm over the bad state of roads across the country. THISDAY investigations revealed that on a geopolitical basis, a breakdown of the 123 roads billed for rehabilitation or already undergoing repairs by the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) and contractors are North-west (11), North-east (15), North-central (16), South-east (14), South-south (16) and South-west (51). It was gathered that the failed portions of roads with subsisting contractors will be fixed by such contractors, while FERMA handles those which currently have no ongoing contracts. Various sums of money allocated to rehabilitate roads in each of the geopolitical zones, according to THISDAY’s findings, include: North-central, N6,817,528,88.53; North-east, N4,406,323,657.02; North-west, N3,889,851,676.22; South-east, N6,326,179,112.19; South-south, N5,963,783,102.40 and South-west, N9,161,347,463.30.
The Nigerian Ports Authority and the Port of Antwerp, Belgium, have signed a memorandum of understanding towards operational efficiency in line with the desire to deepen the mutual beneficial relationship existing between the two ports. According to the NPA, the MoU which now exists between the two ports, is also expected to strengthen the bilateral relations between the two organisations. The Managing Director, NPA, Hadiza Bala-Usman, who stated this in Lagos on Wednesday, noted that apart from boosting efficiency through expertise, development and digitalisation, the MoU would ensure simultaneous growth with new skills and new trends. Bala-Usman, who was represented by the Executive Director, Marine and Operations, Dr Sokonte Davies, disclosed that the agreement would last for five years as well as broaden technical skills and practical knowledge. A statement signed by the General Manager, Corporate and Strategic Communications, NPA, Mr Jatto Adams, indicated that the MoU covered vast areas which included infrastructure, stimulation of trade growth as well as concretising the enabling environment for the tenets of public private partnership to thrive among the two ports. Punch reported.
According to Business Day, the Nigerian Aviation Handling Company (NAHCO) PLC has said that it expects year to year growth and consolidation as it continues to implement its five-year transition plan. This is just as the handling company revealed some strategies it has employed to reduce, to its barest minimal, the airside incidents that may cost the company millions. Tokunbo Fagbemi, Group Managing Director of NAHCO PLC, who made these revelations at the Gateway Forum organized by the League of Airports and Aviation Correspondents (LAAC) said the five-year plan which began this year and is expected to run till 2023 will put the company in a better footing than it was met. According to her, as part of that growth plan, the company has invested at least two billion naira in the acquisition of ground handling equipment as part of the first phase of its investment plans. She further explained that company has commenced the second phase of the exercise and hoped to improve on its equipment acquisition to further cement its position as a leader in the sub-sector.
