Heroic driver, conductor injured as tanker explodes in Lagos

But for the bravery of a petrol tanker driver and a conductor, the nation’s number one airport, Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, would have turned into a disaster zone yesterday.
The driver in particular put his life on the line by driving the tanker far away from the midst of others awaiting loading in the area after discovering that it had caught fire.
Had he not acted, the fire would have spread to other tankers and a major tragedy would have occurred.
But he summoned uncommon courage and moved the vehicle over a distance of 100 metres from the tankers’ bay.
Even at that, the fire razed three other tankers and a stationary saloon car.
But he sustained leg injury while jumping off the tanker before it exploded.
The incident, which occurred at about 3:25pm, caused apprehension in the area as people scampered for safety.
By then, the dress of the conductor identified as  Ajibade Ademola had caught fire.
He jumped into a nearby well to douse the fire and thus saved his life.
An eyewitness said the driver noticed the fire while buying some inner wears from a hawker.
According to eyewitnesses, the driver immediately jumped into the burning tanker and took it away in time enough to survive the explosion.
Onlookers, it was learnt, rescued him after he jumped off the tanker, took him to the other end of the road before emergency workers got to the scene and moved him to Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja.
The fire was later put out and traffic congestion inward the airport reduced.
Ademola who was rushed to Faith Hospital in Ajao Estate by personnel of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) for urgent medical attention, told The Nation that he did not know what caused the fire.
“I do not know what really happened. The only thing I know is that I was on fire and people were running. I started running too. The first thing that came to my mind was to jump into the well so that I could put out the fire.
“That was how I jumped and after putting out the fire, I came out of the well. But I was in serious pains and people assisted me and FRSC people also brought me to the hospital,” he said.
A man who gave his name as Rasak said they initially thought it was a bomb blast, until they saw the fire on the tanker.
“At first, we thought it was a bomb blast because the sound was very loud. The entire road was blocked. We were worried because there are a lot of important facilities around here and also filling stations.
“If not for that driver, something terrible would have happened in this area. He was very brave and saved the day. There are about 2,000 tankers in that park. Some were loaded. So, just imagine what would have happened,” he said.
Officials of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) and Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) were on ground, continuously blanketing the fuel to avoid a resurgence of the inferno.
Confirming the incident, the Director, state fire service, Rasaq Fadipe said no life was lost.
Similarly, LASEMA’s General Manager, Michael Akindele, urged residents to be safety conscious.
He said: “Investigation conducted by the Agency’s ERT revealed that a truck with registration number DKA369XF laden with PMS was ablaze and the truck driver, having noticed that his truck was on fire, hurriedly drove it away from their parking lot, which had several other trucks.
“The truck driver and one other person sustained several degrees of burnt on their bodies. Three other trucks with registration number XR998KSF, XP961KTU and XW 158EPE were all destroyed by the inferno.
“Further investigation would be conducted on the activities around the scene. The fire has been completely put out.”

FCT Elections: 2 injured, 500 ballot papers missing in Kwali

Some youths in Bako Village in Kwali Area Council of the FCT on Saturday went on rampage, following the discovery that 500 ballot papers were missing in their polling unit.
An eyewitness told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that after accreditation and voting, the presiding officer of the Dabi polling unit counted the ballot papers and discovered that instead of 3000 ballot papers, he had 2,500.
”This led to arguments between the presiding officer, party agents and party supporters at the centre, resulting in violence that left two people injured.
”This situation was however, brought under control by security agents attached to the centre”, Jeremiah Isaiah told NAN.
As at the time of this report, the centre was deserted and pockets of youths were seen discussing in hushed tones the possible effect of the violence on the voting in the area.
Also, some voters were seen milling around hopeful that the situation would be resolved soon.
”Just like a dream, the situation escalated into violence.
”The party supporters believe that the 500 missing ballot papers have been taken to a place where they will be thumb printed in favour of a particular candidate.
”This can lead to outright cancellation of the voting process in Dabi”, a security agent, who pleaded anonymity told NAN.
A voter, Adamu Musa, expressed disappointment over his inability to vote after travelled from Minna to exercise his voting right.
”I woke up very early to drive to Dabi today only to get here and this sad occurrence took place. I am very disappointed.
”I hope it will not affect the candidate I believe will bring a turnaround and excellent standard of living to my area”, Musa said.
NAN reports that shops were locked and no business activity was noticed,. But the area was peaceful as calm had returned to the village.
Meanwhile, NAN reports that the four new polling centres in Kwali attracted very little crowd compared with the seven existing polling centres.
At one of the polling units ,Police Barrack Unit, there were two registered voters while a combined team of INEC officials, security and party agents were 13.
Speaking to NAN, Mr Dahiru Abubakar, the Electoral Officer in Kwali confirmed the incident in Dabi Villag, saying that the violence in the centre could affect the election, if the votes cast was more than the number of registered voters. (NAN)

Buhari leaves for China today

President Muhammadu Buhari will today leave for a working visit to China, where he hopes to secure greater support from Beijing for the development of Nigeria’s infrastructure, especially in the power, roads, railways, aviation, water supply and housing sectors.‎
The‎ Special Adviser on‎ Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina‎, in a statement said those in the President’s delegation would include some state governors as well as the Ministers of Agriculture, Water Resources, Transport, Defence, Power, Works & Housing, Industry, Trade & Investment, Federal Capital Territory, Science & Technology and Foreign Affairs.
Adesina said Buhari’s talks with President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Keqiang and the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National Peoples’ Congress, Zhang Dejiang will also focus on strengthening bilateral cooperation in line with his administration’s agenda for the rapid diversification of the Nigerian economy, with emphasis on agriculture and solid minerals development.
The Presidential Spokesman said several new agreements and memorandums of understanding to boost trade and economic relations between Nigeria and China is expected to be concluded and signed.
“The agreements include a Framework Agreement between the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment and the National Development and Reform Commission of the Peoples’ Republic of China to Boost Industrial Activities and Infrastructural Development in Nigeria.
“Others are a Framework Agreement between the Federal Ministry of Communications and the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, and a Memorandum of Understanding between Nigeria and China on Scientific and Technological Cooperation” he said.
In keeping with his administration’s prioritization of economic diversification and industrialisation to boost employment, Buhari and his delegation will tour the Shanghai Free Trade Zone and the Guangzhou Economic and Technological Development Zone to gain more useful insights and understanding of the policies that underpinned China’s astronomical economic growth in recent years, said Adesina.
Buhari will also open a China-Nigeria Business/Investment Forum in Beijing and meet with members of the Nigerian Community in China before returning to Abuja at the weekend.

Scarcity: Queues grow longer despite Kachikwu’s promise

Thousands of motorists and petrol seekers in Abuja and neighbouring states of Nasarawa, Kaduna and Lagos among others besieged filling stations on Friday in a bid to purchase premium motor spirit following the promise of the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, that the queues for the product would disappear by the preceding day, being Thursday.

The queues, however, never disappeared but grew longer on Friday, a development that led to the deployment of staff from the headquarters of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation to assist attendants at various outlets.

Some of the NNPC workers were sighted at the gates of a few filling stations in Abuja on Friday, controlling the entry and exit of motorists at the outlets.

Our correspondent saw some of the NNPC employees at the Total and Conoil filling stations located opposite the four towers of the corporation in Abuja on Friday. But their presence did not reduce the queues in front of the filling stations as hundreds of desperate motorists struggled to make way into the outlets in order to buy the product.

One of our correspondents, who monitored the fuel situation in Lagos, found out that rather than reduce, queues grew longer in many parts of the state.

In Ikeja, the Mobil filling stations at Oba Ogunji Road and Oba Akran Avenue had long queues of motorists, who had thronged the stations to purchase petrol.

Some of the stations, where queues remained lengthy in Ikeja as of Friday include NNPC station, Omole; Oando station along Oba Ogunnusi Road; MRS station at Ikeja, Ascon station, Akilo, and Conoil station at GRA.

The situation was the same in other parts of Lagos and some motorists stated that the announcement by the petroleum minister made many fuel seekers to come out to petrol stations.

“I read it in the newspapers that the queues will reduce in Abuja by Thursday and that is why I came out to buy fuel today. But what I’m seeing is even worse than what we saw earlier in the week,” James Atonko, a motorist at the Conoil filling station, said.

Kachikwu had on Tuesday announced that petrol queues would subside in Abuja and Lagos by Wednesday/Thursday, adding that the scarcity would reduce in other parts of the country by the weekend.

The minister had said, “Hopefully by tomorrow (Wednesday)/Thursday the fuel queues in Abuja should be over. Hopefully the same thing will happen to Lagos, and a day after, by the weekend, we should see Kano, Katsina, Sokoto, Port Harcourt and Warri getting enough products.”

But marketers had told our correspondent that the petrol scarcity would persist beyond this week in many parts of Nigeria due to issues of logistics, limited volumes of PMS imported through vessels and clearance procedures for the product as undertaken by agencies in the downstream oil sector.

An official with Nipco Plc, who spoke to one of our correspondents on condition of anonymity, said, “The queues in Nigeria can’t clear this week. Even if we have 100 vessels lined up, there are other logistic issues that follow and must be sorted out, and there are some agencies that come on board to do these things.”

Also, a former Treasurer of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Western Zone, Mr. Shina Amoo, said the lingering fuel scarcity might not ease until the end of May.

Amoo said this in a telephone interview with one of our correspondents in Osogbo on Thursday.

The former IPMAN chief said oil marketers could not buy above the recommended price and sell below the price, saying the crisis would begin to ease only when the supply of the product improved.

He said, “The April date given by the minister (Ibe Kachikwu) is not feasible. The man first said the scarcity would end by May and he came under heavy attacks so he apologised and gave another date. I don’t think the scarcity will end earlier than the end of May.

“The last time I bought fuel, I paid N182 per litre and how much do you expect me to sell that? It has to be higher and that is why filling stations now sell as high as N200 a litre.”

He stressed that the period when marketers sold below the price they bought the product was over, saying no marketer would do that now, no matter the threat.

According to him, the situation can improve if the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation does 100 per cent fuel importation or allow marketers with good records to also import the product but with strict monitoring.

Can Someone Tell Us What Should Be Done To Awake The African Leaders?

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Until The The Presidency In Africa Ceases To Be Old Men'S Exclusive Club , We will Continue To Sleep While The Rest Of The World Continue To Move Forward.

Again, Fulani herdsmen swoop on Falae’s farm

By Oluwaseun Akingboye   |   09 April 2016   |   2:22 am

Olu-Falae

A member of the Yoruba militia group, Odua Peoples Congress (OPC) guarding the farm of the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Chief Olu Falae, in Ilado, Ondo State has been reportedly killed by nomadic cattle rearers after the farm was attacked again last weekend.
The security guard, whose name was withheld, was declared missing after the attack until his body was found two days ago, battered and shattered with traces suggesting a premeditated murder.
It was gathered from dependable sources that the herdsmen swooped on the farm located at Ilado in Akure North Local Council and kidnapped the security guard, whose body was later discovered inside a pool of water a few kilometres to the farm.
The herdsmen, according to reports, invaded the farm, but must have been challenged by the security guards engaged by the politician following the incessant invasion of the farm, only to reinforce to kidnap the deceased.
Consequently, the matter was reported at the state Police Command and a search party was organised, leading to the discovery of his body.
The state Police Command, which had sent out invitation to journalists in the state for a press briefing yesterday, abruptly cancelled it, while the Commissioner of Police, Mrs. Hilda Harrison, did not give any reason for the postponement of the briefing.
But sources at the Command said the assignment might have been put off due to the sensitive nature of the incident, while awaiting approval from the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Solomon Arase.
The State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr. Femi Joseph, declined comment on the recent attack and killing of the guard.
Joseph noted that all the questions should be directed to the Police Commissioner, but all attempts to reach her proved abortive.
Personal Assistant to Falae, Mr. Moshood Adekunle Raji, confirmed the incident, but also declined to speak further on the matter, saying it was a criminal matter and would be handled by the State Police Command.
Raji stated that the Police were still investigating the matter, hence he could not make any comment on the latest development.
Falae himself was kidnapped on the same farmland on his 77th birthday on September 21, last year and his abductors, reported to be Fulani herdsmen, initially demanding N100 million ransom.
The elder statesman was said to have been taken to Owo where he was kept at a place called ‘Pipeline’ around Benin junction where he was kept.
Eventually, the ransom of N5 million was allegedly paid to one Datijo, who, according to one of the kidnappers, Abdullahi Usman, made away with the money.
Usman, said he initiated the plan for money to celebrate Salah, but regretted that one of his other accomplices made away with the N5 million ransom paid by the family for Falae’s release.
In their narrative, it was the second suspect Kato, who ferried Datijo and Falae on his commercial motorcycle from the hideout to where he was eventually picked up by the Police.
According to Mr. Abdullahi Garba, who addressed the press on behalf of the DSS, the suspects were picked up in Lokoja.
He stated that the abductors were mere criminals and that their action was not motivated by any political or ethnic sentiment save for criminality.
“The service wishes to state that the abductors were mere criminals. Investigations have further revealed that their action was not targeted at Falae as a statesman and prominent Yoruba leader.”
He enjoined Nigerians to continue to live peacefully with one another and shun attempts by mischief-makers to give the unfortunate incident an ethnic coloration and use it to cause disaffection among the populace.
There has been incessant kidnapping of people in Ondo State by the herdsmen before and after the Falae incident, which has further worsened the relationship between them and their hosts.
ome of the Fulanis and Hausas have said that it is the core implementation of the grazing routes that can solve the social problem, just as they look forward to the immediate implementation and other initiatives by the state government, as promised.
The Ondo State Chairman, Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN), Alhaji Bello Garuba, promised then to call a meeting of members of his association and prevail on them to desist from grazing on government and individual farms.

Manny Pacquiao promises action packed finale

Manny Pacquiao promises
to deliver an action-packed finale to his 21-year boxing career on Friday as he prepared to climb into the ring for the last time.
The 37-year-old Filipino boxing superstar takes on long-time rival Tim Bradley in Las Vegas on Saturday in what he says will be his final fight before retiring.
Pacquiao and Bradley squared up to each other before a raucous crowd of a few thousand fans at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Friday for the weigh-in, with both men well within the 147-pound limit.
Pacquiao tipped the scales at 145.5 pounds, half a pound heavier than his weight for his last outing 11 months ago, his money-spinning mega-fight against Floyd Mayweather.
Bradley, 33-1-1, was a pound heavier at 146.5.
Pacquiao, 57-6-2, has made no secret of his desire to crown his career with an explosive display against Bradley, who has taken him the distance twice before.
“Expect more action that the last fights we had,” said Pacquiao, who plans to concentrate on a political career in the Philippines when he retires.
Bradley meanwhile, who beat Pacquiao via a deeply controversial split decision in 2012 before losing the rematch, looked in formidable shape as he stripped down for the cameras.
The 32-year-old from California shrugged off catcalls from the largely pro-Pacquiao crowd, telling the audience: “I think there’s going to be a lot of disappointed fans tomorrow night.”
Pacquiao, who earned a staggering $150 million from his defeat to Mayweather last year, will bank another $20 million purse for Saturday’s bout.
Although he has stated it is last fight, he has pointedly declined to definitively rule-out a return to the ring.
– National hero –
“I cannot say that I’m not going to come back,” Pacquiao said this week, explaining that his mindset may change once he faces up to life without the sport that has made him fabulously rich and a national hero.
“I don’t know how I’ll feel when I hang up my gloves,” he added.
Those closest to Pacquiao, including his long-time trainer Freddie Roach and the veteran promoter Bob Arum, believe he may yet return.
Arum said Pacquiao could be persuaded to prolong his career if he scores a spectacular victory over Bradley.
“I think if he wins this fight well, he’s going to find a way to continue,” Arum said.
Roach has been in Pacquiao’s corner ever since the Filipino arrived at his Hollywood gym in 2001 looking for a trainer.
– ’15 years of greatness’ –
“It’s been 15 years of greatness,” said Roach, who hopes Pacquiao will fight on.
Pre-fight preparations were overshadowed by controversy in February when the devoutly religious Pacquiao described homosexuals as “worse than animals”, remarks that prompted several sponsors to sever agreements with him while also drawing widespread outrage from gay and lesbian activists.
Pacquiao is adamant that the saga did not disrupt his training. “There were no distractions,” said Pacquiao, who has expressed a desire to sign off in style.
“It’s really important for me to win this fight, to win convincingly,” Pacquiao said. “It’s part of my legacy.”
Bradley said he is preparing for an onslaught from Pacquiao.
“He’s going to come out like a bat out of hell and try to take my head off,” Bradley said.
Bradley teamed up with veteran trainer Teddy Atlas for his most recent bout in November, which ended in a ninth round technical knockout of Brandon Rios.
Atlas and Bradley have been poring over tapes of Pacquiao’s defeat to Mayweather last year, and his crushing knockout by Juan Manuel Marquez in 2012 as they attempt to concoct a gameplan to beat the Filipino.
But Atlas is under no illusions about the scale of the challenge represented by Pacquiao.
“When you’re competing against someone as good as Manny — he wins a fight because of pure talent,” Atlas said.
“The combination of speed and power that he has is uncommon. He’s a freak.”

Without The Card Reader PDP Would Have Robbed Me- Gov El Rufai

Kaduna State Governor,  Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, yesterday, went down memory lane when  he recalled the encouragement he received from President Muhammadu Buhari.
El-Rufai said Buhari was then the APC presidential candidate.
He said but for Buhari, he wouldn’t have been the governor of Kaduna State.
El-Rufai also said he would have lost the election that brought him to power if not for the Card Reader introduced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The governor disclosed this yesterday when he performed the closing ceremony of the 2-day Economic Summit for investors interested in doing business in the state.
El-Rufai said he was still wondering why people still refer to him as a nice governor, despite demolition of illegal structures by government.
He, however, appreciated Kaduna people for giving him 1.2 million votes during the gubernatorial election, alleging  that without the card reader,  the Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP) would have robbed him of the victory.
“I want to pay tribute to President Muhammadu Buhari who ensured that I became the governor of Kaduna State. It was President Muhammadu Buhari that forced me to contest for the governorship race of Kaduna State in revenge for persuading him to run the presidential race.
“If he had not asked me to run for the governorship,  I wouldn’t have stood before you today as the governor of Kaduna State.
“It is the Buhari phenomenon that had swept away the PDP.  Buhari is a man of integrity,  a Nigerian leader whose name has not been found in the Panama documents.
“The president inherited 16 years of impunity,  and it will take time to clean it up,  so, all Nigerians need to be patient with him. And, with the quality of leaders we have in the country,  Nigeria will take its rightful place in the comity of nations.
“I wonder why people still refer to me as a nice governor  even when I demolished their houses.  I am not a nice governor.
“I thank the people of Kaduna State for voting for us. We did not pay kobo to get those votes,  if it were in those days without the card reader, we would have lost the election…
“I promise you, we will keep working until we make this state a better place for you.”

Nomoreloss’ Body Committed To Mother Earth

The body of veteran Nigerian singer and songwriter, Nomoreloss, has been committed to mother earth on Friday.
Nomoreloss, whose birth name was Olumuyiwa Osinuga, was buried at the Ikoyi cemetery in Lagos State, Nigeria’s commercial city.
Family, friends and showbiz practitioners were present at the funeral to pay their last respects to the singer while they lent their support to his wife and daughter.
The talented artiste was confirmed dead on Monday, March 21, after battling an illness since January.
Aged 39, he has contributed immensely to the growth of the Nigerian music industry and his death would be felt by the industry.
After his death was made known, Twitter was awash with condolences from people in the music industry, his fans and other sympathisers.

Photos from the funeral ceremony of former Bayelsa state governor, Diepreye Alamiyeseigha

The Funeral Ceremony Of The Former Bayelsa State Governor Diepereye Alamieyeseigha Is Taking Place In Baylsa At The Moment. more images after the cut,

Naira to weaken ahead of budget signing

The naira is expected to weaken more on the parallel market but flat on the official interbank market next week as businesses await the signing of the 2016 budget by President Mohammadu Buhari.

The local currency closed at 320 against the dollar on the parallel market on Thursday, while it traded at  197 to the greenback on the interbank market.

“There is presently a lull in the forex market because of the non-release of the 2016 budget by the government, but we see  transactions picking up as soon as the government reveals its economic direction through the budget next week,” one currency trader told Reuters.

Analyst and the Chief Executive Officer, Cowry Asset Management Limited, Mr. Johnson Chukwu, said although investors and other stakeholders were waiting for Buhari’s final assent to the budget, weak consumer confidence would continue to keep the naira at the current level in the near future.

Meanwhile, the Kenyan, Ghanaian and Zambian currencies are expected to gain ground next week with the cedi recording its first year-to-date gain in recent years after weeks of consistent rally on renewed investor confidence underpinned by improved foreign exchange inflows, according to analysts.

Commercial banks quoted the cedi at 3.8290 to the dollar on Thursday, compared to 3.8350 last week, Reuters reported.

The Ghanaian government had on Monday appointed Abdul-Nashiru Issahaku as the governor of the central bank, promoting him from the deputy position to replace Henry Kofi Wampah, who retired at the end of March, four months earlier than expected.

The Kenya’s shilling is seen firming after weakening on news that the central bank said it had placed Chase Bank under receivership for 12 months to protect depositors, creditors and the public.

“We expect the shilling to regain its lost ground in the coming days as the Chase Bank issue dies out,” a senior trader at one commercial bank said.

The kwacha is expected to remain firm versus the dollar next week due to increased dollar supply from investors attracted to high-yielding government bonds.

On Thursday, commercial banks quoted the currency of Africa’s second-biggest copper producer at 10.2829 per dollar, up from a close of 11.1000 a week ago.

 “Stakeholders seek to take advantage of the high investment rates,” the local branch of South Africa’s First National Bank said, predicting a break of the 10.000 psychological level.

Court Sacks NFF President Pinnick, Orders Giwa To Take Over

A Federal High Court in Jos, Plateau State, has nullified the election that brought NFF President, Amaju Pinnick and his board into office.
Justice Musa Haruna Kurya delivered the ruling on Friday over the re-listed suit challenging the election process of Septemter 30, 2014 in Warri.
Before the elections in Warri, Christopher Giwa, in controversial circumstance had been declared new President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) through another congress in Abuja.
In 2015, Justice Ambrose Allagoa, who presided over the hearing, had ruled that the election as well as the congress preceding it were against his orders and ordered the plaintiff Christopher Giwa to return to office.
But FIFA was watching and warned Nigeria will be banned if the court ruling stops the newly-elected executive committee of Amaju Pinnick from working.
Former President, Goodluck Jonathan, had called parties to a peace meeting where he pleaded for the crisis to end and prevent Nigeria from an imminent FIFA ban.
When Plaintiff counsel, Habila Ardzard, was to withdraw the matter, he told the court then, “The number one citizen had demanded to intervene in the matter and that if parties are not satisfied, they can return to court.”
When Channels Television spoke to Christopher Giwa, he praised the ruling of the court.
“This is victory for Nigeria football. The right ruling has been made and we are taking over immediately.”
Amaju Pinnick confirmed the ruling of the court, adding that it is a setback for Nigerian football.
“It is sad we are still taking football matters to court. The NFF will file for stay of execution and later appeal the case.”
In the latest FIFA ranking, the Super Eagles dropped five points and now ranks 67th in the world and 14th in Africa. The team also failed to qualify for the 2017 African Cup of Nations.

Electricity, water scarcity: Protesting UNILAG students chase out lecturers

Students of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) yesterday chased out their lecturers from classrooms to protest scarcity of water and power outages in hostels.

The protest, which entered the second day yesterday, saw  students disrupt academic and administrative activities while policemen mounted surveillance from the main gate.
Yesterday afternoon, the protesting students barricaded the Akoka end of the main gate and prevented vehicular movement into and out of the campus while they screened those entering the university.
According to the students, the failure of the management to solve the lingering water and electricity situation, which they said had made life difficult on campus, prompted the protest.
The angry students marched round the campus, complained of a deteriorating environment, both at the hostels and lecture halls, while accusing management of preventing other water suppliers from bringing the commodity into the campus.
To ensure that the protest did not get out of hand, Lagos State Police Command, quickly mobilised policemen from Sabo, Denton, Surulere, Bariga and Orile divisions, in eight patrol vans and mounted surveillance at the Akoka end of the gate leading into the institution.
Daily Sun gathered that the two main gates, students’ hostels and lectures rooms were shut by the students’ union officials who led the protest. Also affected in the day-two protest were commercial activities as banks, eateries, photocopying business centers, campus shuttles and the numerous shopping complexes whose operations were all crippled.
Lecturers confirmed to Daily Sun that lectures were disrupted while two students of Mass Communication and Philosophy said they were sent packing from the male hostel at about 10.30am by the students’ union officials, who urged them to join the protest as it was for the interest of all students on campus.
John Odedeji, a 200 level student of Faculty of Education and Kemi Dada of Science faculty decried the shortage of water and the erratic electricity supply on campus. Both vowed that the protest would continue until the management addresses the issues in contention.  A lecturer at Department of Political Science, Dr. Dele Ashiru said: “I was chased out of the lecture hall this morning (yesterday) by the students who were protesting over electricity and water.
Ashiru said: “This is the first time in the history of Nigerian university that students would chase out lecturers from the classroom.’’
A Professor at the Faculty of Education told Daily Sun that the protesting students did not disrupt any lecture because they had declared lecture free day in honour of a colleague who died two weeks ago, but, after the programme, the students stormed the faculty.
No management of the university was around to speak with the protesting students, who insisted that the Vice Chancellor, Professor Rahaman Bello, must address them and give them reasons to suspend the protest.
But a text message sent to students from the DSA read: “Students should go about their academic activities peacefully and ignore the call for protest by those who are hell bent on disrupting the academic calendar.’’
As at 6.40pm yesterday, the Senate of the institution was meeting to decide on whether to shut the university and send the students home for some weeks.

NITEL to employ 4000 Nigerians ahead of rollout

AS former Nigerian Telecommunications Limited (NITEL), now Ntel, prepares to roll out it services into the nation’s market, indications are that over 4000 Nigerians will be employed in the organisation.
Speaking when a team from the firm paid a courtesy call on the Bureau of Public Enterprises, Head, Government Affairs for Ntel, Mr. Damian Udeh, confirmed that all labour matters were being managed appropriately and that till date, all staff of the enterprise were of Nigerian nationality.
“The company hopes to generate employment for over 4,000 Nigerians over the next five years,” he said.
However, Acting Director General, Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), Dr. Vincent Akpotaire, advised them to come out with unique products to effectively compete with the existing networks.
Akpotaire gave the advice when the representatives of Ntel management led by Mr. Osondu C. Nwokoro, visited the Bureau to make presentation on the post-privatisation roll out plan on Tuesday April 5, 2016. He advised the Consortium to justify their emergence in the privatization process by deploying the right technology to turn around the sector.
The DG expressed satisfaction with NATCOM’s post-privatisation roll out plans assuring the team of the Bureau’s dedication to its responsibilities towards achieving the set objectives of privatising NITEL/ MTEL.
He said he was optimistic that NTEL would fill the position of a strong indigenous telecommunications service provider.
He pledged that the Bureau would work with the National Council for Privatisation (NCP) to resolve some outstanding issues in order to expedite the execution of the roll out plans.
Earlier, Nwokoro said NATCOM, the core investors of the defunct NITEL/MTEL with its outlined post-privatisation plans and milestones, is well positioned to justifying the privatisation initiative championed by the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE).

Arsenal signs another Nigerian youngstar

The number of Nigerians in Arsenal’s main team continues to increase, as the London club has given young defender, Marc Bola, who has England and Nigeria nationalities, a professional contract.
The 18 year-old defender helped Arsenal’s under-18s to the FA Youth Cup semi-finals this term, as well as stepping up to become a regular for the club’s under-21s.
In Europe, he was part of the under-19s side to reach the knockout stages of the UEFA Youth League earlier in the season.
Arsenal recently signed Golden Eaglets’ duo of Kelechi Nwakali and Samuel Chukwueze.
Already in Arsenal’s main team are Alex Iwobi and Chuba Akpom, who is however on loan.
Super Falcons’ striker, Asisat Oshoala, recently joined Arsenal Ladies from Liverpool.
In announcing the elevation of Bola to the main team, Arsenal said: “Everyone at Arsenal looks forward to Marc’s continued development at the club.”
The youngster himself tweeted his delight.
“Pleased on Signing My First Professional Contract At My Dream Club,” he said.
The 18-year-old defender, helped the U18s reach the semi-finals of the FA Youth Cup this season, has come through the Arsenal Academy.
He was recently promoted to the Arsenal U21s.
The central defender or left back is athletic and very good in the air.
Bola was an ever-present in the under-18s’ back line last season.
The Arsenal official website said of Bola: “Equally adept on the left or in the heart of defence, the powerful teenager was often called up to the under-21s as cover and he caught the eye with several encouraging performances for Steve Gatting’s side.
“The lively defender has shown plenty of promise so far and will be hoping to continue his development by featuring for the under-21s on a more regular basis this term.”
Two other Nigerian youth players are in the Arsenal youth team, including Chiori Johnson and Tolaji Bola, both defenders.

 

Hope as Lagos port receives 257, 138. 679mt of PMS

By Roseline Okere, Salau Sulaimon (Lagos) and John Ogiji (Minna)   |   08 April 2016   |   3:10 am

• NPMC distributes 40m litres daily to filling stations
• Kachikwu unveils short, long term solutions to ending fuel scarcity
• Gov Bello warns marketers against sharp practices.
The weeks of agonising pains of fuel scarcity nationwide may afterall be over in a few days as about 257138.679 Metric Tonnes (MT) of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) is expected to arrive at the Lagos Tin Can Island Port yesterday.
Expected vessels at Lagos pilotage district obtained by The Guardian from a reliable source listed nine ships carrying PMS to include Oceana with 24000mt of PMS; Han Scholl, 31123mt; Nina, 32900mt; Champion, 23000mt; MSK Mediterranean ,37990.679mt; Armore Sea Leader, 37145mt; Malbec, 30696mt; Torm Trinity, 30000mt and Cumbria, 10282mt.
If delivered as expected, this may confirm the Minister of State for Petroleum Resource, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu’s statement that the lingering fuel scarcity would be over in few days.
In addition, the Nigeria Product and Marketing Company (NPMC) formerly PPMC has commenced distribution of about 40 million litres of petrol to fuel marketers in Lagos, Port Harcourt, Warri, Abuja, and Calabar, to ensure adequate supply of petrol to motorists even as Governor Sani Bello of Niger state yesterday warned marketers against sharp practices
Kachikwu, yesterday in a video on his facebook page, revealed short and long term solutions to fuel scarcity, blamed the current situation on the unavailability of foreign exchange for private marketers to import fuel and activities of pipeline vandals.
He stated that the country experienced fuel supply gap due to the inability of the independent marketers to meet their import obligation, which he said made NNPC to assume 100 per cent responsibility.
He said: “Although NNPC has a poor profile of 10,000 barrels allocation of crude and was supposed to meet 50 per cent of the delivery, the corporation was left with no option than to assume 100 per cent import of the country’s PMS needs.
“The individual who was to bring the balance has not been bringing any product. So, we have to be very creative over the last four to five months until we basically ran out of options.’’
Kachikwu noted that the NNPC now imports 100 percent of the fuel used in the country, against the normal 45 per cent that the corporation used to import in the past.
This over reliance on the NNPC to import fuel, he said, has caused a strain as the NNPC lacks the resource, capacity and network to be the sole importer of fuel into the country.
He hinted that the activities of pipeline vandals is incurring more expense for the country and causing a difficulty in the distribution of fuel around the country.
A hopeful Kachikwu admitted the challenges of meeting the petrol need in the country. “It’s been a very difficult work, very challenging, we’re getting to the solutions, the first few cargoes are beginning to come in and I think by the second week of April like I said, we should be hopefully out of this queue situation. But that is not a long-term solution”, he added.
Dwelling on logistics challenges, the minister said: “It’s not enough just to bring in the cargoes which we are beginning to do, but if you bring the cargoes and they arrive in Lagos, if you have to send 3,000 trucks round the whole country, it takes an average of four to seven days to do that, and the very next day, you’re back to the same place.
‘‘So the sheer logistical nightmare is not what NNPC was set up to do, we need to be able to get those pipelines back, get the depots functioning, push a lot of the responsibility to the major oil companies which are basically leaving us to do all the work and picking up the profit at the end of it all.
“We are at the stage right now of looking at policies geared towards advertising our depots and our pipelines for purposes of contracting joint ventures that will bring in money, refurbish depots that have been abandoned for upwards of a decade, so that we can have the distributional network that we need to be able to solve this.”
Kachikwu said that the government has adopted a long term solution to ending the fuel crisis.
He stated: “The long term solution is that we have to throw private initiatives to the downstream. We’ve got to have a situation where we create enough policy direction, such that people can get in there and actually do the business.
“Ultimately, the business must go back to where it belongs, which is the private sector, not the public sector and until we do that deal with the issue of pricing, which our price modulation has helped us manage, but not quite completely, we’re not going to solve the problem.”
Executive Director, NPMC, Justin Ezeala in a chat with reporters on Wednesday said in order to reduce long queues at filling stations, seven cargoes of fuel have been made available for end user while one cargo per day will be supplied throughout the month pending when the scarcity subsides.
“We know this might not be the solution but in order to reduce the stress on the people right now, we have embarked on massive importation of fuel cargos.’’
He said that already arrangements have been concluded by the corporation to engage 294 trucks to boost the distribution of fuel to retail outlets across the country.
Worried by the worsening fuel crisis and its negative impact of the economic life of the state, Governor Bello visited some filling stations in Minna, the Niger State capital, following public allegations of sharp practices by the petroleum products marketers.
He personally conducted checks at Forte Oil station opposite the Central Mosque, two Total filling stations, Mobil and NNPC mega-station all within Minna metropolis where all the stations against public allegations were found without product.
When the governor put a call to the Suleja NNPC Depot manager to know the situation and was told that four trucks of fuel were allocated to Niger State on Thursday, he then warned filling station owners to ensure that products are sold to members of the public whenever they receive consignment, adding that government will not tolerate diversion or hoarding of products meant for the state .
When the The Guardian visited some filling stations along Lagos-Apapa Expressway and Lekki-Epe Road late yesterday afternoon, petrol queues spanned more than 50 metres with attendants dispensing fuel at the approved pump price of N86.50 per litre.
But at some other stations, the commodity sold for much higher prices.
While black marketers sell petrol between N200 and N300 per litre, some petrol stations were bold enough to sell the commodity for between N150 to N200 yesterday.
Filling stations in Ago Okota area of Lagos such as Sabola, Mobil, Total, Rain Oil and Petroleum Manages were locked, apparently due to no supply.

The lawmaker representing Ojo Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Hon. Tajudeen Obasa has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to accept responsibility and find a solution to the hardship being witnessed by Nigerians due to the lingering fuel scarcity. Obasa, who is a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) advised the president and his close associates to stop trading blames about the myriads of problems facing the country. In a statement released by his media aide, Mr Opeyemi Ahmed, the lawmaker cheered him to constitute a competent team by appointing individuals that are capable to the task irrespective of their creed,calling or political affiliations. The Statement reads”Across the globe, leaders of nations are elected to proffer solutions to problems, to govern isn’t an easy task. Great leaders don’t criticize their predecessors, they call for patience and understanding to salvage the situation.” “The task of transforming the nooks and crannies of 774 Local Governments won’t be achieved by press releases of “Jonathan this Jonathan that”, it can only be achieved with concrete plans that will meet reality” “A government elected for four years by 15millions Nigerians can’t blame an individual for the duration, rather than trade blames ,committees should be set up to assess the progress made by the previous administrations in order to build a better nation” ” Governance is beyond propaganda, good policies tackle corruption, to fight corruption shouldn’t be the singular goal of a government. There are many sectors of the economy that needs the attention of the number one citizen, corruption can only be fought collectively with all hands on deck not on the pages of newspapers to score cheap political points”

Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/04/fuel-scarcity-accept-responsibility-stop-blaming-others-rep-obasa-tells-buhari/

The lawmaker representing Ojo Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Hon. Tajudeen Obasa has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to accept responsibility and find a solution to the hardship being witnessed by Nigerians due to the lingering fuel scarcity. Obasa, who is a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) advised the president and his close associates to stop trading blames about the myriads of problems facing the country. In a statement released by his media aide, Mr Opeyemi Ahmed, the lawmaker cheered him to constitute a competent team by appointing individuals that are capable to the task irrespective of their creed,calling or political affiliations. The Statement reads”Across the globe, leaders of nations are elected to proffer solutions to problems, to govern isn’t an easy task. Great leaders don’t criticize their predecessors, they call for patience and understanding to salvage the situation.” “The task of transforming the nooks and crannies of 774 Local Governments won’t be achieved by press releases of “Jonathan this Jonathan that”, it can only be achieved with concrete plans that will meet reality” “A government elected for four years by 15millions Nigerians can’t blame an individual for the duration, rather than trade blames ,committees should be set up to assess the progress made by the previous administrations in order to build a better nation” ” Governance is beyond propaganda, good policies tackle corruption, to fight corruption shouldn’t be the singular goal of a government. There are many sectors of the economy that needs the attention of the number one citizen, corruption can only be fought collectively with all hands on deck not on the pages of newspapers to score cheap political points”

Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/04/fuel-scarcity-accept-responsibility-stop-blaming-others-rep-obasa-tells-buhari/vvvvvvvvvvv

The lawmaker representing Ojo Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Hon. Tajudeen Obasa has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to accept responsibility and find a solution to the hardship being witnessed by Nigerians due to the lingering fuel scarcity. Obasa, who is a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) advised the president and his close associates to stop trading blames about the myriads of problems facing the country. In a statement released by his media aide, Mr Opeyemi Ahmed, the lawmaker cheered him to constitute a competent team by appointing individuals that are capable to the task irrespective of their creed,calling or political affiliations. The Statement reads”Across the globe, leaders of nations are elected to proffer solutions to problems, to govern isn’t an easy task. Great leaders don’t criticize their predecessors, they call for patience and understanding to salvage the situation.” “The task of transforming the nooks and crannies of 774 Local Governments won’t be achieved by press releases of “Jonathan this Jonathan that”, it can only be achieved with concrete plans that will meet reality” “A government elected for four years by 15millions Nigerians can’t blame an individual for the duration, rather than trade blames ,committees should be set up to assess the progress made by the previous administrations in order to build a better nation” ” Governance is beyond propaganda, good policies tackle corruption, to fight corruption shouldn’t be the singular goal of a government. There are many sectors of the economy that needs the attention of the number one citizen, corruption can only be fought collectively with all hands on deck not on the pages of newspapers to score cheap political points”

Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/04/fuel-scarcity-accept-responsibility-stop-blaming-others-rep-obasa-tells-buhari/vvv

My story, by Kachikwu

Minister of State for Petroleum Resources and Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr. Ibe Kachikwu has blamed the persistent fuel scarcity on the unavailability of foreign exchange (Forex), lack of capacity, activities of pipeline vandals as well as the reduction in subsidy payment.
The minister who spoke against the backdrop of the expiration of the deadline to end fuel scarcity said the factors combined have adversely affected the importation of refined oil by many of the oil marketers.
Kachikwu made the disclosure in a video posted on his official Facebook page. He said the scarcity was the most challenging issue since he assumed duty as the GMD and minister of state for pteroleum.
Kachikwu said further that no matter the transformation agenda of the government, issues of fuel scarcity have the tendency to bring down the polity and cause mayhem
Below is excerpt from the address:
“On resumption in August, we had a very major problem on our hands. Because subsidies, N500 billion, close to N600 billion, hadn’t been paid over a one year period, and so the majors, everybody who was importing had begun to very quietly reduce the levels of importation that they had and although I struggled very hard and got the (national) assembly approval and the president’s approval to eventually pay a good portion of that subsidy somewhere in November, by then it was too late. Too late because although they got the money, they didn’t have access to foreign exchange so the critical reason, main critical reason why you have this supply gap  today is that although NNPC has its own 445,000 barrels allocation of crude and is meeting its own, who is meant to meet 50 per cent of your delivery and is more than meeting but is indeed exceeding that, the individuals who should provide the balance of the 40 per cent component are not bringing in any product.
“And so, we’ve had to be very creative over the last four, five months, until we basically ran out of options and the sort of creativity that we put in the space was forward buying, forward purchase, forward crude allocations, and also, just to bring in more product, because we saw NNPC transit from a 45 per cent provider to suddenly 80 per cent, and about this month really to 100 per cent provider of petroleum products in Nigeria.
That was not sustainable, we didn’t have the capacity, we didn’t have the funding, we didn’t have access to the products, we didn’t have the foreign exchange. So in very many ways, it’s surprising that we’ve even been able to survive this long.
So the key element has been, how do we find foreign exchange for those who eagerly want to participate in the stream, who have been doing this traditionally, to get into the space, buy their products, come in, distribute. That’s something we’ve had to work on.
“Of course, the second problem was incessant pipeline disruptions. Literally, if you look at the statistics of this year, versus last year, we’ve had almost two times the number of pipeline interventions and disruptions than we’ve had over the last two, three years, in this year and that for us is very disturbing.
“Now, we’ve thrown a couple of ideas on this. The first thing that I have tried to do is, for the first time in this country, I have been able to convince the upstream companies to provide some FX buffer over the next one year for those who are bringing in products. And so I’ve tied Total Upstream to Total Downstream, Mobil Upstream to Mobil Downstream, Agip ENI to Oando, Shell to Conoil and things like that. It’s been very innovative, putting $200 million of FX availability out into the space. It’s taken a lot of goodwill, it’s taken a lot of work from me.
The second thing we’ve done is, we’ve had to box our way through the CBN to get a little of allocation, because we provide the bulk of this foreign exchange, we should have a bit of it to help stabilise the situation, because fuel queue, don’t make any mistake about it, it doesn’t matter what we achieve in our transformation agenda, is the single most difficult item, which if not solved can bring down the polity and can create a mayhem here, so it is something that we have focused on.
So I have been able to get a bit of co-operation from CBN on that.
“Now, I’ve also been able to convince Mr. President to give us access to some, other than the 445,000 barrels from national production. The difficulty with that of course, like you and I know is that it goes into the FAC entity, so once you touch any barrel there, you’re going to have Governors understandably, quarrel with you on this. But these are some of the innovative solutions we’ve done.
“We’ve thrown our creative options on the pipelines, by pointing a set of trial, by contracting contractors to get into the pipelines, and show us that they can deliver if we give them the contract.
What that has done is that for the first time in over eight years, we’ve been able to capture back system 2B all the way to Ilorin. For the first time in over six years, we were able to pump crude from Escravos into Warri and we were able to pump oil from Brass into Port Harcourt. And we were able to pump from Warri right into Kaduna, with a few skirmishes here and there. This is the first time in over 10 years we’ve been able to accomplish this. We accomplished this by not spending money, but owing obligations.
Now, we are going out to the stage of contracting, where we are going to advertise this and see how we can put this as permanent features into the system. So a huge amount of work’s been going on in this stream.
Our depots, we are at the stage right now of looking at policies geared towards advertising our depots and our pipelines for purposes of contracting joint ventures that will put in money, refurbish depots that have been abandoned for upwards of a decade, so that we can have the distributional network that we need to be able to solve this.
“It’s not enough just to bring in the cargoes which we are beginning to do, but if you bring the cargoes and they arrive in Lagos, if you have to send 3,000 trucks round the whole country, it takes an average of four to seven days to do that, and the very next day, you’re back to the same place, so the sheer logistical nightmare is not what NNPC was set up to do, so we need to be able to get those pipelines back, get the depots functioning, push a lot of the responsibility to the major oil companies who are basically leaving us to do all the work and picking up the profit at the end of the tunnel.
“So, it’s been a very difficult work, very challenging, we’re getting to the solutions, the first few cargoes are beginning to come in and I think by the second week of April like I said, we should be hopefully out of this queue situation. But that is not a long-term solution.”

Police to conduct psychiatric test on serving officers, recruits

The Inspector-General of Police, Solomon Arase on Tuesday disclosed that the Nigeria Police Force is considering conducting psychiatric test on recruits and serving officers.
Arase at the Nigeria Police Force Health Policy Revalidation meeting in Abuja, explained that the initiative became necessary following incidents of indiscriminate use of firearms by personnel of the force.
According to him, the Force was also considering the idea of a Trauma Centre for its officers because of the nature of their job.
“The Police should be concerned about the mental health of officers,” he said.
He noted that inadequate health workers, poor funding, infrastructure deficit and management deficiencies were some of the factors affecting Force’s medical unit.
“The development of any policy document entails an inclusive approach with relevant stakeholders.
“You all have been invited here today to review the Draft Health Policy for the Nigeria Police Force,“he said.
Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, promised the ministry’s assistance in the implementation of the policy.
He commended the police management for developing a health policy for its officers and their families.
The Nigeria Police Medical Service was established in 1975 with the primary mandate of providing health care services to serving, retired, family members of the force and detainees.

BREAKING! Manslaughter: Ibinabo granted bail

Embattled ex-beauty queen, Ibinabo Fiberesima got  of temporary relief as Court of Appeal sitting in Lagos granted her bail pending the determination of her appeal at the Supreme Court.
Justice Deborah Oluwayemi of the State High Court had in 2009 convicted Fiberesima of manslaughter, holding that her reckless driving was responsible for an auto crash, which claimed the life of one Dr. Giwa Suraj on the Lekki-Epe Expressway.
While sentencing Fiberesima to five years imprisonment, Justice Oluwayemi overruled the decision of the State Magistrates’ Court which earlier ordered her to pay N100,000 for the offence.
Having dissatisfied with Justice Oluwayemi’s verdict, the convict approached Court of Appeal to nullify the verdict but the court also affirmed it.
Again, the embattled Nollywood actress approached Supreme Court and the matter is pending before the court.
Besides, Fiberesima filed an application before the Court of Appeal, prayed the court to release her on bail pending when the Supreme Court would hear and determine her appeal against the appellate court’s judgment.
In an affidavit of urgency filed in support of her bail application before the Court of Appeal, one Victor Eden said Fiberesima had just undergone a surgery for breast cancer and was still under the watch of her doctors.
Eden said Fiberesima’s surgical wound had yet to properly heal, adding that the actress was afraid that her life might be endangered if kept in the prison custody.
He said it would best serve the interest of justice to release Fiberesima on bail while the Supreme Court’s decision in her case was being awaited
Lagos State Government did not opposed the application but urged the court to use it discretion.
The state represented by Mrs. Rotimi Odutola held that what real concern the state was the pursuit of the appeal filed by the convict.
She said the basis of the appeal was not on whether Feberesima was guilty or not, adding the actress did not disputed her conviction but only appeal the sentence.
After listing to argument of both parties, Justice Sidi Bage, who led the three-man panel granted the convict bail in the sum of two million naira with two sureties in the like sum
Justice Samuel Osuji who read the lead judgment held that there was nothing in the record of the court that the convict once jump bail.
And there was enough evidence before that the convict has health challenge
However, one of the three-man panel, Justice Y B Nimba did not agree with the panel, she held that no special circumstance exist for the grant of bail.

President Buhari Receives 2016 Budget

Details of the 2016 budget has been transmitted to the President Muhammadu Buhari.

The Special Adviser to the President on National Assembly Matters, Senator Ita Enang, confirmed this to Channels Television.
Senator Enang says he went into the President’s Office for the hand over in the company of the Chief of Staff.

Senator Ita Enang handing over the budget to the Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari

On Wednesday, the National Assembly transmitted the final document through the Clerk to the Presidency having concluded work on the figures.
In a statement jointly signed by the chairmen of the appropriation committees of the Senate and House of Representatives, Danjuma Goje and Abdulmumin Jibrin, the committees thanked Nigerians for their patience and understanding.
The chairmen said it took their committees extra weeks to get the details ready so they could correct all the inconsistencies, errors, omissions and padding in the document submitted to them in December 2015.
In the meantime, the President earlier today met with with the former President, Olusegun Obasanjo.
It’s not clear what the meeting is about but a source in the Presidency says it is in relation to the state of the nation.

Fuel scarcity: Kachikwu’s deadline ends today, tension persist

LESS than 24 hours to the April 7 deadline given by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, for fuel supply to normalize, Daily Sun investigations revealed that the timeline might not be achieved.
The situation in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja and Lagos, at press time was still chaotic, as most petrol stations have remained without products while the few that have are contending with.
There is anxiety as the scarcity still bites harder in Abuja and neighbouring states.
Observers believe that except by sheer magic or miracle, the scarcity might linger for some more days.
Kachikwu had during a meeting with the Senate said he expected that “between now and about April 6 and 7, the fuel queues will disap­pear, the Direct Sale Direct Purchase (DSDP) will begin and the foreign exchange allocation will see us smoothly through the track.’’
He had also promised that the situation would ease off finally in other states by this weekend.
In Lagos, a visit to depots in Apapa and Ibafon revealed that the inefficiencies in the loading process and logistics process to enable trucks load out products have compounded the fuel scarcity.
However, the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) has expressed readiness to partner with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to end the perennial scarcity.
The union president, Igwe Achese said NU­PENG has the capacity, men and will to end the perennial scarcity and therefore called for col­laboration with the NNPC to end the scourge.
NUPENG said since 60 per cent of its mem­bers are involved in the distribution chain and most of the Independent Marketers (IPMAN) and NARTO members either NUPENG mem­bers or former members, it will be able to get the issue right and end the present scarcity of petroleum products.
Meanwhile, Nigeria’s fuel shortages have caused power cuts across the border in Niger.
A statement by the state electric company, NIGELEC, said the cut has affected seven of Niger’s eight regions for the past 72 hours.
Landlocked Niger became an oil producer in 2011 but still imports about 70 percent of its power needs from Nigeria.
“This situation has caused (NIGELEC’s) principal provider to limit to a third its normal imports, which is at the base of the current disturbances observed on networks lately,” the statement explained.
“NIGELEC has found itself therefore with the obligation to proceed with rolling blackouts.”
But, Niger’s uranium-mining region Agadez, which has an independent power plant, has not been affected by the power cuts.
At the time of this report, many filling stations in the major cities across Nigeria were still locked up without products while those selling have long queues of vehicles to attend to.
Although government has warned against products hoarding and diversion as a way to discourage ‘black market’, fuel hawkers still dominate the business along highways in and streets of Abuja and Lagos.
As at yesterday morning, long queues of tank­ers had taken over the service lane of the Papa Oshodi expressway to Ibafon jetty.
Security officials had a hectic time control­ling traffic in order to ensure that trucks drivers comply with traffic rules.
At the Capital Oil and Sahara depots in Ibafon, marketers told Daily Sun that only few trucks had been loaded at 2pm.
A marketer, Mr. Tijani Abdul, said Capital Oil and Gas have commenced a 24-hour service. He urged other depots to follow suit.
About 46 million metric tonnes of petrol is expected to be injected into the supply chain in the next three days from the NIPCO depot, but the delay in getting approvals from the relevant authorities to give clearance to cargoes is report­edly slowing down the load out process and compounding the scarcity situation.

Prostitutes Divided as France Bans Paying for Sex

French MPs on Tuesday approved a new law that proponents say will protect sex workers by shifting the burden of the offense onto clients, but some prostitutes are crying foul.
The French union of sex workers (Strass, its acronym in France) called on members and supporters to protest the “repressive” bill outside the National Assembly, where lawmakers adopted the reform into law.
The legislation outlaws paying for sex, imposes fines for clients and overturns the existing ban on solicitation. In an unprecedented move, the bill also makes available €4.8 million per year to help sex workers quit the trade.
The comprehensive approach, which envisions an eventual eradication of prostitution, has earned support among other French organisations that assist and defend sex workers.
The law comes after more than two years of political wrangling, spurring heated debates – even among prostitutes – on the controversial topic.
‘Change mentalities’
The bill was authored by Socialist MP Maud Olivier – who represents the Essone department near Paris – who has made the fight against prostitution her personal crusade.
“Prostitution is violence”, the lawmaker states on her website, adding: “This poorly-understood violence is alone in not being recognised as such in law”.
Olivier says the law will help authorities tackle pimping and human trafficking, protect victims and help them escape the sex trade. It will also help better educate young people and clients of the harm caused by prostitution.
“The goal is to diminish [prostitution], protect prostitutes who want to quit, and change mentalities” she told France’s Le Monde newspaper on Tuesday.
Underfunded
Strass and other French advocacy groups disagree. This week the sex workers union accused Olivier and other lawmakers of upholding an “essentially repressive” reform.
The new law does nothing to help sex workers – of whom there are around 30,000 in France, according to official estimates – and even makes them more vulnerable, according to Strass.
Around a dozen organisations, which included Strass, but also Doctors of the World and France’s leading AIDS advocacy group, further argued that the measures to help sex workers transition to a new life was misguided and underfunded.
The law stipulates people have to stop prostituting themselves in order to qualify for cash stipends and other aid. “How can someone stop sex work without residency papers [which allows someone to legally live in France], long-term housing, or sufficient cash allocations?” the group asked in a statement, highlighting the fact that up to 80% of prostitutes in France are foreigners.
‘Real alternatives’
The law nevertheless represents a historic leap forward, according to other rights groups.
Le Mouvement du Nid (Movement of the Nest), a group that advocates for the abolition of prostitution, but also helps sex workers access medical attention, legal counsel and defends them from harassment, has mounted a detailed and impassioned defence of the legislation.
It has hailed France for joining other European countries that have shifted the criminal burden from prostitutes to clients.
“Sweden, Norway and Iceland have already ended this historic injustice, which consists of punishing the victims of the system, while defending the impunity of those who impose sex through economic power”, le Mouvement du Nid said in a statement.
The group said the law was unprecedented in its “ambition to offer real alternatives to people who are looking to leave prostitution behind”.
Free to work the street
The only thing supporters and detractors seem to agree on is that the law could fundamentally impact the way prostitutes work.
The change will come at a time when traditional prostitutes are already struggling to adapt to the new Internet-based business models, and facing new forms of exploitation.
As the industry moves onto the Internet, a growing number of people are offering to work as intermediaries between prostitutes and clients on the web, according to observers.
Critics of the law say it will push prostitution further toward the Internet business model, making it harder to police.
“Prostitution on the street is already starting to disappear because of the Internet”, Mylene Juste, a Paris prostitute lamented in a recent interview with FRANCE 24.
She is among the sex workers who have rallied in the French capital in recent months to protest the new law. “This is the way I want to live my life. I want to be free to work as a prostitute, even on the street. I don’t want to be on the Internet”, she said.

Fight In Nasarawa State Assembly Over Appointment Of Sole Administrators

Some members of the Nasarawa State House of Assembly on Friday engaged each other in a fight during plenaries, as issues surrounding the appointment of local council administrators divided the House.

Iwobi dreams to be part of Siasia’s Rio 2016 dream team

Arsenal exciting youngster, Alex Iwobi, has confirmed his intention to represent Nigeria in the upcoming Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, reports www.justarsenal.com.
The winger has rapidly rose to prominence in North-London, and is now an integral part of the first-team squad.
Iwobi will be expected to play a huge part in the Gunners bid to win next season’s Premier League title, but looks set to miss out on their entire pre-season, as well as the opening few matches also.
The tournament is set to run until August 20, with the PL starting the weekend before, and he will most likely be rested on his return as he adjusts to life back at the Emirates.
The Nigerian’s decision to play at Rio 2016 is likely to come as a blow for manager Arsene Wenger, but he can take solace in the fact that he will not have to feature in the African Cup of Nations at the start of 2017, after his side were eliminated in qualification in previous weeks.
Their failure to qualify is also likely to have played a part in his decision to play at the Olympics, although there is still a chance he will not be selected.
A player like Iwobi offering his services will of course mean that he is selected, however, so we will just have to prepare to start the new campaign without him, the website said.
“I am looking forward to the forthcoming Olympics and if I am invited, I will do my best to make a meaningful contribution,” Iwobi said.
“I believe that Nigeria has a crop of excellent players who are capable of doing great things at the Olympics. Coach Samson Siasia deserves a lot of praise for securing a place for the nation at the Olympics,” he added.
The youngster recently changed alliances, having played for England at various youth levels in the Under-16 to Under-18 categories, but has no regrets on his decision to play for the same country as his ever-famous uncle Jay-Jay Okocha.

Transportation Fares rise by 200 per cent as fuel scarcity continues

Amid efforts by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and independent marketers to ensure the supply of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) in the country, fares have increased by over 200 per cent in major cities in the country.
There are signs too, of restiveness in some parts of the country just as Lagos Governor Akinwunmi Ambode yesterday appealed to residents of the state to bear with the government over the lingering shortage of fuel and electricity across the state.
In Edo State, some Civil Society Organisations (CSO) yesterday protested against the incessant fuel scarcity and asked President Muhammadu Buhari to curtail his foreign trips and face the challenges at home.
To ease the pains of fuel scarcity in Cross River , the state government says it has begun the monitoring of trucks movement.The Commissioner for Petroleum Resources, Mr. Itaya Asuquo Nyong, said on Tuesday his ministry would follow up trucks at NNPC Calabar depot to ensure that products were made available to independent and major marketers and also to ensure that the people of Cross River and Akwa Ibom states were not short-changed.
Although the Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu promised the regular supply of petrol between yesterday and tomorrow, the fuel crises got worse in some parts of the country with commuters resorting to trekking long distances.
This comes as President Buhari is said to have summoned Kachikwu for a brief on the supply of products across the country.
As yesterday, many people were stranded at various bus stops due to a shortage of commercial buses, which are spending several hours in the queue at petrol stations in a bid to buy fuel.The few ones which manage to get the product at the black market have increased fares by over 100 per cent.
For instance, charges from Oshodi to Mile Two which used to be between N50 and N100 have risen to between N200 and N300, depending on the time and type of vehicle available.
Also, taxicabs within the city have increased their charges. Taxi fare from Victoria Island to Ikeja which used to be between N1,500 and N2,000 has increased to about N4,000. Some people have resorted to trekking to their destinations due to lack of commercial vehicles and the high fares. A one-way trip from Lagos to Owerri, Onitsha and Aba which was between N3,000 and N3,500 is now between N4,500 and N5,000.
Motorcyclists and vehicle owners keep vigil at filling stations that have now become battlefields as they struggle to fill their tanks, generating sets and any other fuel-consuming machines.
Explaining efforts put so far into fuel importation, NNPC stated: “A total of 975.32 million litres of white product was distributed and sold by PPMC in the month of February 2016 compared with 939.75 million litres in the month of January2016.
“This comprised 865.47 million litres of PMS, 73.99 million litres of kerosene and 35.85 million litres of diesel. Total sale of white products for the period March 2015 to February 2016 stands at 9.53 billion litres, PMS (8.19 billion litres) accounts for 85.86 per cent. While total special products for the period under review was 5.08 million litres, comprising 2.18 million litres of special products and 2.89 million litres of bunker products.”
The corporation noted that a total value of N74.72 billion naira was collected as sales revenue for white product sold by PPMC in the month of February 2016 compared with 71.62 billion naira collected in the prior month of January 2016.
According to NNPC, total revenues generated from the sales of white products for the period March 2015 to February 2016 stands at 706.59 billion naira where PMS contributed about 89.52 of the revenues collected with a value of
632.55 billion naira.
Nyong, who spoke at a meeting with some major independent marketers in the state as part of efforts in resolving the lingering fuel scarcity in the state that has lasted for over a month, said: “This meeting is not a union meeting but purely a state issue intended to ensure that products reach their destination because the scarcity is biting hard on the people.”
The commissioner said that was one in a series of meetings with major stakeholders in the petroleum industry to ensure that the state was given a fair share in the allocations of petroleum products at the NNPC depot.
According to a statement yesterday by Lagos Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Steve Ayorinde, the state consumes more than 40 per cent of the fuel and energy needs of the country and therefore appreciates that the impact of the scarcity would be felt more in the state. He however, urged residents to remain calm, orderly and law-abiding as government was doing everything possible within its power to find an immediate solution to the crisis.
“Governor Ambode says he shares the pain and discomfort of Lagosians and assures them that President Muhammadu Buhari is deeply touched by the situation and is working round the clock to alleviate the suffering of the people,” he said.
The protesters in Edo under the aegis of Talakawa Parliament in conjunction with Returnees Foundation and Traders Welfare Union of Nigeria lamented the lingering economic crunch that has bedevilled the economy resulting in untold hardship for her residents.
The leaders of Talakawa Parliament as well as Returnee Foundation and Traders Welfare Union of Nigeria, Kola Edokapyi and Solomom Okoduwa during a peaceful protest to the Edo State Council of Nigeria Union Of Journalists (NUJ), Secretariat in Benin, said it was out of place and painful to see the Commander –in-Chief of the Armed Offices and President touring the countries of the world without realising the poverty, hunger and unemployment Nigerians were faced with coupled with the fuel scarcity in the last four months.
The groups who brandished various placard with inscriptions as “End fuel scarcity now,” ‘‘ Kill corruption, don’t kill Nigerians” and “President Buhari must stop the frequent foreign trips”, decried the untold hardship Nigerians were facing due to the fuel scarcity and public electricity supply challenges.