BusinessDay 19 Oct 2017

Thursday 19 October 2017
Curiosity as Blue Swift birds migrate to Lagos
OBINNA EMELIKE
Curious Lagosians
have been reporting
the sightings of the
Blue Swift birds in
Lagos, which is a rarity. The
Swift and its relatives form a
group called Apodidae, a very
ancient group of birds as well
as the fastest of all birds in
level flight.
They are known to spend
three months of the year
in Britain, arriving in early
May and leaving in early August.
Following the summer
months, they are known for
spending their winters well
south of the Sahara. They have
been seen in the Congo Basin,
Malawi, Tanzania, Zimbabwe,
Mozambique, and South Africa,
but this is the first time
sightings have been reported
in Nigeria.
Until recently, their routes
were unknown until the last
few months where sightings
Organised labour
has called on the
Federal Government
to tread
cautiously with regard to
the cancellation of Intels
Nigeria Limited Vessel Pilotage
Service contract with
the Nigerian Ports Authority
(NPA), warning on implications
for jobs and contract
integrity.
The NPA, following a
directive to that effect by
the Federal Government,
recently terminated the
contract that has allowed
Intels to receive revenue on
behalf of NPA for 17 years,
saying the contract violates
the Nigerian Constitution,
especially in view of the
implementation of the Treasury
Single Account (TSA)
policy of government.
Intels, however, reacted,
saying the NPA acted without
due recourse to the
terms of the agreement that
IGNATIUS CHUKWU
FG embarks on enforcement of driver’s licence violation in FCT
Federal Road Safety
Corps (FRSC) is organising
a special
operation targeted
at detecting drivers without
proper driver’s licence. The
commission says it is set to
clamp down on violators with
sanctions, as it has observed
high-level of disobedience to
the regulation on the use of
driver’s licence by some vehicle
owners in the country,
particularly in the Federal
Capital Territory, Abuja.
Boboye Oyeyemi, corps
marshal of the FRSC, stated
this while receiving Kayode
Opeifa, secretary of transportation
for the FCT, during
a courtesy visit to the Corp’s
headquarters in Abuja, recently.
The corps marshal said
have been reported, thereby
leading to speculations that
these birds have migrated to
Nigeria.
Of the three species of
swift breeding in Europe,
the one with the most southerly
breeding range (the pallid
swift) has the most northerly
winter quarters, while the one
which breeds furthest north in
Europe moves furthest south
in Africa. David Lack, an ornithologist,
did the most work
on Swift’s recorded swifts that
travelled over 6,000 miles to
reach South Africa.
One reason it is hard
to know much about their
whereabouts and what they
are doing during winter is
that they look like other swift
species, especially the African
black swift.
The birds are not dangerous
and these quintessential
summer visitors, with their
mostly aerial lifestyles, are a
delight to watch.
Intels: Labour cautions FG on
job security, contract integrity
JOSHUA BASSEY
MIKE OCHONMA
specify conditions precedent
before a party could
exit the contract.
But workers in the maritime
sector under aegis of
Maritime Workers Union
of Nigeria (MWUN) have
emphasised the need for
both parties to resolve the
disagreement without hurting
the economy.
Adewale Adeyanju, president
general of MWUN,
said on Wednesday that
Intels was a major employer
of labour in the sector, and
cautioned that any massive
job losses could spark off
uprising in the volatile Niger
Delta region.
“As a major stakeholder
in the nation’s maritime
sector, our utmost concern
is the job security in Intels
Nigeria Limited. Today, we
are aware that Intels has
under its employment over
5,000 direct employees and
over 6,000 indirect employees
bringing the number of
employees to over 11,000.
the practice of driving vehicle
without proper driver’s licence
was illegal and unacceptable
to the FRSC, stressing that the
perpetrators would be sanctioned
accordingly.
According to Oyeyemi,
traffic regulation requires that
every driver must be properly
licensed to operate a motor
vehicle, and whoever violates
this basic requirement will be
apprehended and meted with
appropriate sanctions to serve
as deterrence to others.
To this end, the FCT sector
commander of the FRSC has
been directed to commence
a special operation that could
fish out the perpetrators of
the act and sanction them accordingly.
On his part, Opeifa commended
the leadership of the
FRSC for the success recorded
by the nation in the international
recognition of the Nigeria
driver’s licence.
He noted that due to the security
features introduced into
the licences, which make their
validity to be verifiable online,
many states in the USA had
given reciprocal recognition to
the holders of the licence from
Nigeria, adding that the feats
achieved by the FRSC over
the years were made possible
because of its adoption of technology
and huge investment in
information technology.
He expressed support for
the idea of establishing FCT
Road Traffic Management
Agency, noting that in view
of the growing volume and
sophistication of motor transportation
business in the FCT,
there was the need for the
establishment of the agency
to handle road traffic management
in the municipality.
Edo State government
has warned
that it will no longer
fold its arms while
mischief makers instigate
pensioners into embarking
on needless and stage-managed
protests in order to put
the state government in bad
light and undermine efforts
at resolving pension issue.
In a statement signed by
the head of service, Gladys
Idahor, the state government
said it was not only committed
to clearing the backlog
of pension arrears but also
instituting a new regime
where retiree’s entitlements
are not delayed.
According to Idahor, not
less than N6.2 billion has so
far been paid to retirees between
January to September
2017, and explained that the
C002D5556
BUSINESS DAY
Edo warns against sponsored pensioners’ protests
A1
NEWS
Shell funds GMoU with N10bn in 2017
… as community cluster boards take turns to defend projects
Shell Petroleum Development
Company
(SPDC) says
it has so far transferred
over N10 billion
to the accounts of host
communities in the Global
Memorandum of Understanding
(GMoU) in 2017
mandate year. The general
manager said this new push
took effect in recent year
when the communities got
their allocations fast, just to
ease tension in communities.
SPDC’s general manager,
external relations, Igo Weli,
disclosed this in the presence
of the finance officer
at the Shell Residential Area
Recreation Club on Monday,
when the clusters and
boars turned out to defend
their projects before a panel
which included government
officials and top journalists.
Weli said it was important
for the experts to hear what
>>>
… pays retirees N6.2bn in 9 months
was released to communities
in such a short time and
what they did with the funds;
in the face of massive denials
that “Shell did nothing in the
communities.”
The Akuku-Toru Board
got the highest (N2.3bn)
while some others such as
RA Cluster and Abual/Odual
got between N300m and
N500m within the mandate
years. Two major issues
stuck out, litigations and
insecurity hampered progress
in some clusters. Some
chairmen even pleaded for
special provision for litigations
but Weli turned down
the request, saying issues
would b looked at individually.
On demands for increase
in funds, the GM made it
clear that such demands
were in the hands of the host
communities. “If vandalism
and bunkering reduce and
income of Shell increases,
we will increase your mandate.
In that case, that aspect
is in your hands”.
Over 20 clusters and
boards from Rivers State
and Abia (Owaza) alone
testified that production had
increased in their respective
areas due to the GMoU
activities and urged Shell to
do more.
Some of the communities
showcased up to 42
projects while some had
only 12, showing the volume
of oil extracted in their areas.
The most exciting were
the Ogoni communities
who stopped producing oil
since 1993 but who still got
GMoU grants and LiveWire
projects.
The GM thus warned
oil communities to get the
best they could from crude
oil while it lasted because it
may no longer be a proud
product. He also said if
Shell is drive out, as a global
brand, it could adjust, but
wondered if the communities
could also adjust.
Most of the board chairmen
put in strong words for
Shell, saying most of those
condemning SPDC do not
come from oil bearing communities.
“Do not listen to
them. They are professional
agitators. They cannot come
to our communities to stop
our GMoU projects.”
Some cluster chairmen
said some persons who
mocked the GMoU concept
at the beginning were now
making trouble to join while
some communities that vandalized
oil facilities are now
begging Shell to return to
their communities due to
the avalanche of projects
that are being executed and
commissioned almost on
weekly basis.
They said the new approach
must be sustained
and boosted in the coming
years, saying this was the best
way to engage with the host
communities.
L-R: Omoh Anenih Mordi, past secretary general, Interior Designers Association of Nigeria (IDAN); Ekuah Abudu, chairman, board
of trustees, Interior Designers Association of Nigeria (IDAN); Titi Ogufere, president, Interior Designers Association of Nigeria;
Tola Akerele, secretary general, and Tomi Ajakaiye, head of communications, Sterling Bank plc, during the briefing to formally
announce the African Culture and Design Festival (ACDF), in Lagos.
protest on Monday, October
16, was an orchestration by
some disgruntled elements
and their political allies designed
to undermine the
effort of the state government
to sustainably resolve
the pension issue once and
for all.
She said “the state government
would henceforth
prevent miscreants who
under the guise of agitating
for pension payment,
disrupt law and order in the
society, particularly when
there is sufficient evidence
showing that they are being
sponsored by some antidevelopment
agents and
mischievous members of the
opposition who have refused
to accept the verdict of the
people.”
She emphasised: “Governor
Obaseki, who is extremely
vast in pension matters
having served as a member
of the Presidential Taskforce
which established the new
pension order currently in
operation in Nigeria, has
always been very empathetic
to the plight of pensioners,
hence he made a commitment
during the presentation
of the 2017 budget
to resolve the problems of
pensioners in Edo State in a
sustainable manner.”
She further added that
despite resistance, Obaseki
saw through the implementation
of the Contributory
Pension Scheme, which has
now ensured that future
generations of workers never
again suffer the plight, which
pensioners are currently
facing.