Newspater Review 12th Sept

7/27/2019 Newspater Review 12th Sept

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the nation. He quoted Mark as saying, The Church should continue to use her weapons of prayer and

fasting ; divine and human resources to actualize transformation both in our hearts and our society .

Nigeria needs moral and spiritual revolution. And this is the time . The Senate President, according to

the statement, noted that the present challenges and expectations were high, but promised to do our best

to live up to the challenges.Mumeh said, Senator Mark canvassed that everything humanly possible

should be done within the ambits of the Law to nurture our democracy in order to yield the needed

dividend for the citizenry. He cautioned against yielding to the pressures of unpatriotic bodies who are

determined to destroy the peace and unity of Nigeria, the statement added. In their Separate remarks

President of CBCN Ignatius Kaigama and Archbishop of Abuja diocese John Cardinal Onaiyekan harped

on peace and harmonious relationship between and among various religious groups saying that all

Nigerians should have the right to practice his or her faith without fear of intimidation or molestation. The

duo asked government at all levels to do more to protect lives and property of citizens even as they

pledged to continue to pray for Nigeria and her people, the statement added. www.pointblanknews.com

TRADERS SHUT DOWN ONITSHA OVER BAN ON DRUGS SALE INOPEN MARKET

No fewer than 10,000 traders at the Bridge-Head Drug Market, Onitsha took over the Onitsha-Enugu

Expressway yesterday to protest the proposed Federal Governments ban on sale of drugs in open market

next year. The protesters, who were chanting anti-Federal Government songs, also carried placards with

inscriptions such as South-East governors help us; If drug market is closed, it will lead to more crime;

Over 10,000 eke-out their livelihood from drug market and Action Governor Peter Obi, help us, among

others. Speaking on behalf of the traders, the Caretaker Committee Chairman of Onitsha Patent and

Proprietary Medicine Dealers Union (OPPMDU), Mr. Kenneth Nwosu said the planned policy of

government would affect the livelihood of over 10, 000 drug traders, their families and extended family

members. Nwosu appealed to government to look at the economic implication of the policy especially for

thousands of youths who were learning drug trading in Anambra and other states. We are appealing to

the South-East governors through the South-East Governors Forum to call on the Federal Government to

rescind its decision in the interest of security and economic well-being of the South-East and the country.

Moreover, we have over 5,000 shops at this Bridge-Head Drug Market and over 10,000 traders doing

business here. What happens to them and their direct dependents and extended family members? The

proposed complex the government wants to use for its State and Mega Drug Distribution Centres

(SMDDCs) in Onitsha only have 124 shops. We all know that there is a dearth of pharmacists to

effectively cover these shops and administer drugs to our people, he said.The Sun Online


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low budgetary allocation. He revealed that for the 2013 fiscal plan, the office was allocated N1.540

billion made up of N892.523 million overheads and N647.620 million capital votes. He noted that out of

this, N595.015 million of the overheads and N203.877 million of capital had been released to the office

which had equally expended N547.385 million, representing 66 per cent of overhead implementation and

N203.877 million of capital releases. He listed lack of administrative and financial autonomy; inadequate

capacity in information and communication technologies as part of challenges being faced by the office.

He said: It is ironic to note that while the national budget is increasing astronomically the allocation to

the office is reducing at a geometrical rate. Ukura then told the team that one way of checking this was

the quick passage of the pending Audit Bill which is aimed at granting financial autonomy and

improvement in the budgetary allocation to the office. Aji explained that the peer review initiative was

aimed at sharing notes on work environment among the top echelon of the service aimed at improving

performance. Guardian, Front Page

FG ADOPTS NATIONAL POLICY ON CHILD LABOUR

The federal government rose from its weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) yesterday with the

adoption of a draft policy on child labour to address the challenges of over six million Nigerian children

involved in hazardous labour. The council also approved the sum of N2.4 billion for the establishment of

Command Control Communication and Intelligence Centre for seaports at the Nigerian Ports Authority

(NPA), which is expected to be completed within 14 months. The Minister of Labour and Productivity,

Chukwuemeka Wogu, who along with the Ministers of Information and Transport, Mr. Labaran Maku

and Senator Idris Umar, told journalists that the draft policy was presented to the council by his ministry

to address the prevalence of child labour, which undermined national development and provides a

reservoir of children for easy recruitment into violent act. The policy, Wogu said, was adopted after a

wide consultation with different tiers of government, labour union, employers associations, civil society

and faith-based groups. The National Policy on Child Labour will provide the needed coordinated and

comprehensive framework for multi-sectoral action against the worst forms of child labour in Nigeria,

he said. The council also approved the ratification of the Constitution and Cooperation Agreement

establishing the West African Science Service Centre on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use

(WASCAL). WASCAL, which works in partnership with local experts and institutions in Africa, Maku,

explained is a German government initiative for the pursuit of research on climate change and sustainable

land management. Under the initiative, the Federal Universities of Technology, Akure, Ondo State and

Minna, Niger State were selected as competent centres to run PhD and M.sc programmes respectively

under the initiative. Because Nigeria stands to benefit scientifically and socio-economically, in the

WASCAL programme, council approves that Nigeria ratifies the cooperation agreement and the


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constitution establishing WASCAL. The council directed that other necessary processes be initiated by

the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice towards the ratification of this treaty and

its domestication, Maku said. ThisDay, p.9

FG ESTABLISHES PENSION TRANSITION ARRANGEMENTDEPARTMENT

President Goodluck Jonathan has approved the establishment of a Pension Transition Arrangement

Department (PTAD), with the appointment of Ms. Nellie Mayshak, as its Director-General. This was

disclosed in a circular signed by the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (HoSCF), Alhaji Bukar

Goni-Aji, Wednesday and sent to all the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the federal

government. According to the circular confirming the new development in the administration of pension,

PTAD will take over the management of three offices in the old pension scheme. In the circular, Goni-Aji

explained that the establishment of the new pension department was in line with Section 30, Sub Section

(2a) of the amended Pension Reform Act, 2004, and it would take over the management of three of the

offices presently running the old pension scheme. These are the Civil Service Pension Department, the

Police Pension Office and the Customs, Immigration and Prisons Pension Office (CIPPO), he said.

According to him, the Director-General was expected to spearhead the smooth transition of the three

offices into a single pension administration and management under the supervision of the National

Pension Commission (PENCOM), which would directly report to the Office of the Coordinating Minister

for the Economy and Minister of Finance for coordination and control. ThisDay, p.9

LAGOS-IBADAN EXPRESSWAY RECONSTRUCTION SET TO BEGIN

Three months after President Goodluck Jonathan inaugurated the reconstruction of the Lagos-Ibadan

Expressway, physical work on the road is set to commence immediately. This follows the signing of

agreement on Monday by the Federal Government and the two companies that will work on the road,

Julius Berger Nigeria Plc and RCC. While responding to a question on the delay in the commencement of

the project after its inauguration in July, the Deputy Director, Federal Ministry of Works, Mr. Umunna

Ekenna, told our correspondent that after the cancellation of the concession of the road to Bi-Courtney

Highway Services Limited by the Federal Government last year, it was important to agree on a tidy

contract with the contractors. Ekenna spoke with our correspondent in Ibadan on Wednesday on the

sidelines of an event organised by National Orientation Agency. He said although the major work did not

start immediately after the July inauguration by the President, a lot had happened prior to the final signing

of the agreement. Ekenna said, The physical work may not have started after the inauguration of the


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project by the President in July, but that was because the agreement was just signed between the Federal

Government and the two companies this week. Now that the agreement has been signed, the companies

can begin physical work immediately. Their equipment will be moved to the site and hopefully, full

work will begin this month. Before now, the companies had studied the road and came up with permanent

solutions to the problems encountered on the road. Julius Berger will work on the Lagos-Sagamu part of

the road, while RCC will work on the Sagamu-Ibadan part of it. He also said the government entered

into the concession agreement because of lack of funds to work on all the roads across the country, stating

that it was unfortunate that the concessionaire did not fulfil its own part of the agreement. Ekenna said,

Our annual budget (for the ministry) is N100bn but the Federal Government gave us additional N85.5bn

through the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme. It is helpful but not adequate. So, what

we decided to do was to spend the money on major roads that were of national benefit. The federal roads

shoulder a lot of heavy duty and it is important to constantly work on them. We also decided to engage in

Public-Private Partnership, but before you can do that, you must assure the partners that they are going to

get a return on their investment. Unfortunately, the company, Bi-Courtney Highway Services Limited,

which got the job, did not act on the project. It was difficult for the government to quickly come in, but

after due process was followed, the concession was withdrawn. The Managing Director, Infrastructure

Bank Plc, Mr. Adekunle Oyinloye, had said in a statement on Tuesday that Federal Government had

mandated the bank to raise N167bn for the reconstruction of the 127-kilometre road. Punch, p.29

GOVT APPROVES N278BN EQUIPMENT TO CLEAR WATER WEEDS

The Federal Executive Council on Wednesday approved the procurement of one water weed clearing

multi-purpose equipment for N278.1bn. The cost includes payable taxes, $1.3bn and additional N73.6bn.

The Minister of Transport, Senator Idris Umar, who stated this while briefing State House

Correspondents after the FEC meeting, said the procurement was aimed at improving safety on the inland

waterways. He added that the equipment would aid navigation and boost economic activities in the

various riverside communities across the country. The minister said it would also rid the waterways of

hyacinth and other aquatic weeds. The project will increase economic activities within the coastal areas

and prevent boat mishaps. The project will create job opportunities for 15 skilled and nine unskilled

Nigerians during the period of its execution, he said. Umar added that the council also approved the

establishment of the Command Control Communication and Intelligence Centre for Sea Ports at the

Nigerian Ports Authority. He said FEC approved the project at the cost of N2.3bn with a completion

period of 14 months. Umar said the project would help in providing a secure environment for ports

operations within the Nigerian territorial waters and in curtailing the threat of terrorist activities at the

ports. The project, according to him, will also create 145 job opportunities, including 33 for professionals


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and 77 for non-professionals during its execution as well as 35 more job opportunities as it progressed.

Punch, p.32

BANKING & FINANCE

50% CRR: CBN EXEMPTS AMCON, BOI, OTHERS

Barely one month after the Central Bank of Nigeria ordered the Deposit Money Banks to keep 50 per cent

of public sector funds with it, the apex bank has granted exemption to some government institutions,

including the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria and Bank of Industry. Others affected by the

exemption are the Bank of Agriculture, Bank of Infrastructure, Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria and

pension board funds. This was contained in a circular on the banks website posted on Wednesday. The

CBN had in August applied the 50 per cent Cash Reserves Requirement to all governments deposits with

commercial banks. The CRR is the amount of cash that banks have to keep with the central bank and it is

used to drain out excessive money from the system. The waiver, contained in a circular addressed to the

DMBs was titled, Review of Cash Reserve Requirement for Deposit Money Banks. The circular, signed

by the CBN Director, Banking Supervision, Mrs. Tokunbo Martins, stated, Deposits from the following

government institutions are excluded from the reporting of public sector deposits in line with our circular:

Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria; Bank of Industry; Nigerian Export-Import Bank; Federal

Mortgage Bank of Nigeria; Bank of Agriculture; Bank of Infrastructure; closed pension funds belonging

to government institutions; state pension boards; governments staff associations and cooperative

societies. The CBN, however, stressed that public sector deposits should involve all other departments,

agencies and companies of government at all levels. The circular further directed banks to regard deposits

from certain institutions as public sector. It listed the institutions as the Nigerian National Petroleum

Corporation Joint Venture accounts; sovereign investment funds; and government MDAs/companies

collection accounts such as the Nigeria Customs Service and the Federal Inland Revenue Service. Others

are the Pilgrim Welfare Board accounts and all accounts belonging to government universities. The CBN

Governor, Mr. Lamido Sanusi, had said the introduction of the 50 per cent CRR to public sector funds

became imperative in order to further tighten liquidity owing to the increased spending in preparation for

the 2015 elections. He had expressed concern about the excess liquidity in the balance sheets of the

DMBs. Punch, p.33

CBN TO PUNISH BANKS OVER NON-DISCLOSURE OF LOANS TO BOARDMEMBERS


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The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Wednesday said it would severely sanction banks that do not report

credit facilities of N1 million and above availed to their board members and staff members. The central

bank gave the warning in a letter titled: Reporting of all Credit Facilities of N1 million and above in the

Credit Risk Management System (CRMS), addressed to all banks. The letter, dated September 10, 2013,

signed the Director of Banking Supervision, CBN, Mrs. Tokunbo Martins, was posted on the apex banks

website. It expressed dismay that banks do not report credit facilities availed to their board and staff

members in the CRMS. According to the central bank, the CRMS, which is a central database for credit

information on borrowers, established by the CBN Act No. 24 of 1991 (Sections 28 and 52) as amended,

made it mandatory for all banks to render returns to the CRMS in respect of all credit facilities of N1

million and above. Therefore, it stressed that the credit facilities availed to board members and staff of

banks are not exempted. Please note that the provisions of Sections 3.4 and 3.5 of the Prudential

Guideline for Deposit Money Banks in Nigeria, July 2010, does not preclude banks from reporting credit

facilities availed to its board members and staff in the CRMS. Banks are therefore required to report all

credit facilities (principal plus interest) of N1 million and above availed to their board and staff members

in the CRMS as well as regularly update these credit facilities on monthly basis. This Circular serves as a

reminder and warning to all banks as any observed breach will attract severe sanctions, it explained.

ThisDay (Online)

ENERGY

FG HANDS OVER POWER FIRMS OCTOBER 1The Federal Government will begin the handover of the privatised power firms to private sector investors

on October 1, the Bureau of Public Enterprises has said. The Director-General, BPE, Mr. Benjamin Dikki,

made this revelation in a paper presented at a breakfast meeting at the Lagos Business School on

Wednesday. A statement issued by Head of Public Communication, BPE, Mr. Chigbo Anichebe, in Abuja

on Wednesday, said Dikki was represented at the event by Acting Director, Electric Power, BPE, Mr.

Ibrahim Babagana. Dikki regretted that the country did not have the capacity to supply enough gas to

support the envisaged increased capacity now that the private sector was about to take over power

generation and distribution in the country. The BPE boss, therefore, called for strong incentives and

support from the government to encourage private sector investments in gas infrastructure in order to

boost power supply in the country. He noted that the bulk of electricity generated in the country was

through gas-fired plants, but regretted that at present, Nigeria could not supply the gas required to fire the

plants. In a paper titled, Power privatisation: Objectives, current status, prospects and challenges, Dikki

said the country was blessed with the largest reserves of natural gas in the world, adding that necessary


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investments needed to be made to access the gas to produce power. Announcing that the Power Holding

Company of Nigerias successor companies would be handed over to their new owners as from October

1, Dikki stressed that with the power sector in private hands, the nation would benefit from increased

electricity supply and a boost in agricultural and industrial development. The Nigerian electricity industry

had been unbundled into generation and distribution companies and a single transmission company with a

view to encouraging private sector participation and attracting foreign and local investments so as to

ensure economic and reliable electricity supply. The preferred bidders for the 15 PHCN successor

companies had met the deadline for the payment of the mandatory 25 per cent of the offer values of their

bids. However, one of them, Interstate, failed to meet the August 21 deadline for the payment of the

balance of 75 per cent. The tacit extension of the deadline for Interstate is a subject of controversy,

pitching the Chairman, Technical Committee, National Council on Privatisation, Mr. Atedo Peterside,

against Dikki. Punch, p.32

INTERNATIONAL

UNESCO OPENS REGIONAL OFFICE IN ABUJA THURSDAY

Today, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) will open its

regional office in Abuja, the Director-General, Mrs. Irina Bokova, disclosed Wednesday. Speaking during

her visit to the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Prof. Viola Onwuliri, in Abuja, Bokova said the

office would serve West African countries. She noted that, this has been proposed to implement very

concrete action in our priority in Africa. So we hope that this will be a very strong office, and we can

work closely with Nigeria in the area of education, quality education. Corroborating Bokovas statement,

Onwuliri said the opening of the regional office in Abuja would further help to strengthen the

organisations programmes in the country. Bokova stressed the organisations commitment to ensuring

access to quality education for all children in Nigeria. She stressed: I think I will put strong emphasis on

education - the ambitious programme at 20:20 in order to make education one of the drivers of our

programmes and of transformation of the country.She added: Its the training of teachers, working on

their curricular, aiding new technology, using it in education. And also, I will say linking education with

professional likes of young people, its technical vocational training, giving them the skill to prepare them

also for economic activities. Guardian, p.5


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WORLD BANK SUPPORTS NEMA ON DISASTER MANAGEMENT

A World Bank team has visited the National Emergency Management Agency to identify areas of support

and boost the agencys efforts against disasters in the country. The leader of t he World Bank team, Mr.

Raffaelle Cervigni, said the bank would like to contribute to NEMAs disaster management efforts to

prevent a reoccurrence of the 2012 flood, which claimed many lives and property. A statement by

NEMAs Press Officer, Manzo Ezekiel, in Abuja on Wednesday stated that the Director-General,

Muhammad Sani-Sidi, requested state governments and other stakeholders to match action with their

commitment in order to address the challenges of flood, now that some communities were being

devastated by the rains. He said since the release of the 2013 Seasonal Rainfall Predictions by the

Nigerian Meteorological Agency, which indicated the likelihood of flooding in some parts of the country,

NEMA had undertaken series of activities on awareness and also secured commitment of the stakeholders

to build community resilience against the disaster. Some of these are early warning alerts, media

campaigns, training of community-based organisations and consultative meeting with the stakeholders,

mapping of the communities at risk and evacuation plan among others, Sani-sidi said. The DG explained

that a high-powered team had also embarked on advocacy visits to state governors while official camps

were already erected in safe grounds in identified flood-prone areas to accommodate individuals that

might be displaced by the disaster. He said the camps were provided with basic facilities such as security,

water and sanitation services and food, thus preventing the use of public schools by Internally Displaced

Persons. Punch, p.33

NB: The article below is beautifully crafted. Its not a summary but the full text.

A PLEA FOR CAUTION FROM RUSSIABy VLADIMIR V. PUTIN

September 11, 2013MOSCOW RECENT events surrounding Syria have prompted me to speak directly to the

American people and their political leaders. It is important to do so at a time of insufficientcommunication between our societies. Relations between us have passed through differentstages. We stood against each other during the cold war. But we were also allies once, anddefeated the Nazis together. The universal international organization the United Nations was then established to prevent such devastation from ever happening again. The UnitedNations founders understood that decisions affecting warand peace should happen only byconsensus, and with Americas consent the veto by Security Council permanent members wasenshrined in the United Nations Charter. The profound wisdom of this has underpinned thestability of international relations for decades. No one wants the United Nations to suffer the fateof the League of Nations, which collapsed because it lacked real leverage. This is possible ifinfluential countries bypass the United Nations and take military action without Security Councilauthorization.


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OLIVER MUNDAYThe potential strike by the United States against Syria, despite strong opposition from manycountries and major political and religious leaders, including the pope, will result in moreinnocent victims and escalation, potentially spreading the conflict far beyond Syrias borders. A

strike would increase violence and unleash a new wave of terrorism. It could underminemultilateral efforts to resolve the Iranian nuclear problem and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict andfurther destabilize the Middle East and North Africa. It could throw the entire system ofinternational law and order out of balance.

Syria is not witnessing a battle for democracy, but an armed conflict between government andopposition in a multireligious country. There are few champions of democracy in Syria. But thereare more than enough Qaeda fighters and extremists of all stripes battling the government. TheUnited States State Department has designated Al Nusra Front and the Islamic State of Iraqand the Levant, fighting with the opposition, as terrorist organizations. This internal conflict,fueled by foreign weapons supplied to the opposition, is one of the bloodiest in the world.Mercenaries from Arab countries fighting there, and hundreds of militants from Western

countries and even Russia, are an issue of our deep concern. Might they not return to ourcountries with experience acquired in Syria? After all, after fighting in Libya, extremists movedon to Mali. This threatens us all.

From the outset, Russia has advocated peaceful dialogue enabling Syrians to develop acompromise plan for their own future. We are not protecting the Syrian government, butinternational law. We need to use the United Nations Security Council and believe thatpreserving law and order in todays complex and turbulent world is one of the few ways to keepinternational relations from sliding into chaos. The law is still the law, and we must follow itwhether we like it or not. Under current international law, force is permitted only in self-defenseor by the decision of the Security Council. Anything else is unacceptable under the UnitedNations Charter and would constitute an act of aggression. No one doubts that poison gas was

used in Syria. But there is every reason to believe it was used not by the Syrian Army, but byopposition forces, to provoke intervention by their powerful foreign patrons, who would be sidingwith the fundamentalists. Reports that militants are preparing another attack this time againstIsrael cannot be ignored.

It is alarming that military intervention in internal conflicts in foreign countries has becomecommonplace for the United States. Is it in Americas long -term interest? I doubt it. Millionsaround the world increasingly see America not as a model of democracy but as relying solely onbrute force, cobbling coalitions together under the slogan youre either with us or against us. But force has proved ineffective and pointless. Afghanistan is reeling, and no one can say whatwill happen after international forces withdraw. Libya is divided into tribes and clans. In Iraq thecivil war continues, with dozens killed each day. In the United States, many draw an analogy

between Iraq and Syria, and ask why their government would want to repeat recent mistakes.No matter how targeted the strikes or how sophisticated the weapons, civilian casualties areinevitable, including the elderly and children, whom the strikes are meant to protect. The worldreacts by asking: if you cannot count on international law, then you must find other ways toensure your security. Thus a growing number of countries seek to acquire weapons of massdestruction. This is logical: if you have the bomb, no one will touch you. We are left with talk ofthe need to strengthen nonproliferation, when in reality this is being eroded. We must stopusing the language of force and return to the path of civ i l ized diplom atic and poli t ical

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A new opportunity to avoid military action has emerged in the past few days. The United States,Russia and all members of the international community must take advantage of the Syriangovernments willingness to place its chemical arsenal under international control forsubsequent destruction. Judging by the statements of President Obama, the United States seesthis as an alternative to military action. I welcome the presidents interest in continuing the

dialogue with Russia on Syria. We must work together to keep this hope alive, as we agreed toat the Group of 8 meeting in Lough Erne in Northern Ireland in June, and steer the discussionback toward negotiations. If we can avoid force against Syria, this will improve the atmospherein international affairs and strengthen mutual trust. It will be our shared success and open thedoor to cooperation on other critical issues.

My working and personal relationship with President Obama is marked by growing trust. Iappreciate this. I careful ly stud ied his address to th e nation on Tuesday. And I wouldrather disagree with a case he made on American exceptional ism, stat ing th at the United

States policy is what makes America different. Its what makes us exceptional. It isextremely dangerous to enco urage people to see thems elves as exceptional, whatever

the motiv ation. There are big cou ntries and small countries, rich and poo r, those with

long d emocratic tradit ions and thos e sti l l f inding their way to democracy. Their pol ic iesdiffer, too. We are all different, but when we ask for the Lords blessings, we must notforget that God created us equal.

Vladimir V. Putin is the president of Russia.New York Times

Newspater Review 12th Sept

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