BusinessDay 28 Feb 2018

Wednesday 28 February 2018
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BUSINESS DAY
7
FG not ready for provision of
perimeter fencing in 2018
IFEOMA OKEKE
Despite the spate
of runway incursions
across Nigerian
airports,
BusinessDay’s checks show
that the Federal Government
may not provide perimeter
fences across the
airports in 2018.
The Federal Airports Authority
of Nigeria (FAAN)
Tuesday said it would capture
the construction of perimeter
fences in all airports
in the 2019 budget.
Experts say 2019 may be
too late for this development
as Nigerian airports
continue to remain porous
and could be threats to security
if immediate steps
are not taken to address security
lapses at the airports.
The recent incursion of
Akure airport runway by
cows that caused AirPeace
aircraft to delay landing for
about 20 minutes, thieves
opening up cargo hold at
the airport, the falling off of
Dana Air door upon arrival
at Lagos airport and the
recent theft at the airports
have again brought to the
fore the need to improve
aviation safety through ensuring
that aircraft, airport
runways and airside are secured.
John Ojikutu, member
of aviation industry
think tank group, Aviation
Round Table (ART) and
chief executive of Centurion
Securities, told BusinessDay
that if the NCAA
had put security fences
across airports in the
country, there would not
be incursion of the runways
by cows.
“The NCAA and FAAN
should be blamed for absence
of security fences
across our airports. There
are certain things we must
have in place before we
are certified to operate the
airport. If NCAA approved
the airports to be operating
without perimeter
fences, the airline should
know that.
“This information
should be in the Aeronautical
Information Publication
(AIP). The pilot must
read it before he departs.
The operators too should
be blamed because if they
are going to Akure, they
should take precaution on
landing,” Ojikutu said.
He recalled that in
1990s, when he was the
airport commandant people
were farming on the
runway side of the Murtala
Muhammed International
Airport (MMIA), until he
had to put a stop to it.
On the issue of poaching,
Ojikutu advised that that
FAAN should “withdraw
coy Identity Cards from disengaged
staff and ensure
same for ground handling
staff; limit number of staff
working in the aircraft and
apron, and conduct regular
background checks on all.
Ensure regular payment of
salaries; demand for security
enhanced fences and
regular patrol of aircraft
manoeuvring areas.”
‘Compel oil majors to build refineries,
power plants, or revoke their licences’
IGNATIUS CHUKWU & DAVID EJIOHUO
The Federal Government
has been told
to compel the oil
multinationals to
build refineries and bring
to an end the perennial fuel
scarcity in Nigeria.
An engineer, Lucky Akhiwe,
who is the vice president
of the South-South Chambers
of Commerce, made the
observation when he spoken
with BusinessDay in an exclusive
interview at the Port
Harcourt International Airport,
Omagwa.
According to Akhiwe, who
is also the chairman of Oil
Flow Services, the only solution
to end the embarrassing
fuel scarcity in the country
was for the Federal Government
to have strong political
will and compel the major
oil exploration companies to
build at least three refineries
in the country.
This decision, he noted, is
being made all over the world
and all the Federal Government
needs to do is to make
a condition for oil companies
to have it as part of their lease
agreement to build refineries
of at least 300 barrels of petrol
per day or have their lease
cancelled.
These refineries he further
noted must not be
modular ones but refineries
that could produce about 300
barrels a day and any major
exploration company that
failed to do so should have its
lease agreement terminated
by the Federal Government.
Apart from the refineries,
the oil companies should
also be made to build power
plants as part of their obligations
to the nation and their
contribution to boost the
electricity generation in the
country.
The chamber of commerce,
he explained, had on
several occasions, engaged
the Federal Government on
the need to make these decisions
but regrets that the
government lacks the strong
political will to do so.
This, he said, was unfortunate
because these companies
make their money here,
taking it as an advantage because
they were not asked
to plough back their wealth
into the country. “I tell you,
if this decision is taken, we
can buy fuel at N30 per litre
in this country and we can
have enough electricity generated
into our homes and
industries.’’
On the development of
the modular refineries as
proposed by the Federal
Government, Akhiwe explained
that the modular
refineries idea was feasible
but regretted that the
Federal Government was
not helping the matter because
of the bottle neck
conditions. “How can you
ask people to start paying
$150,000 as condition to get
the license, even when the
procedure is not clear. How
can you ask community
people to pay such amount
as a condition to start a
modular refinery, from
where will they produce the
money’’?
NEWS
Land use charge: OPS mulls
legal action against Lagos
… says law inhumane, insensitive to enterprise
JOSHUA BASSEY
Organised Private
Sector (OPS) is
considering a legal
option to challenge
the provisions of the Lagos
Land Use Charge law assented
by Governor Akinwunmi
Ambode on February 7, describing
the legislation as
‘insensitive’ and at variance
with the ease of doing business
drive of government at
federal and state levels.
The OPS through one of
its bodies – Nigeria Employers’
Consultation Association
(NECA) says the amended
Land Use Charge Law,
which replaced the Land Use
Charge Law 2001, lacks ‘humanness,’
which is a major
attribute of good governance.
Olusegun Oshinowo,
director-general of NECA, in
a statement on Tuesday, said
the “OPS will not stand hand
tied up to celebrate impunity
and cheer disdain. It will fight
this law by social resistance
and any other legitimate
means at its disposal.”
Oshinowo observed: “The
new law will expect property
owners in Lagos State to pay
an increase of over 200 per
cent in Land Use Charge
even when the income of the
property owner has not experienced
significant increase
to justify the charge.
“There is, also, a penalty
payment ranging between
125-200 percent, if payment
is not made between April
and August 2018. The new
charge is, thus, highly insensitive
and inhumane to
say the least. It is, therefore,
unacceptable to organised
businesses.”
Although Oshinowo
commended Ambode for
“good works and making
Lagos a model for good
governance,” he, however,
averred, “sensitivity and humanness,
which is part of
good governance, is missing
in the amended Land
Use Charge law of the state.”
The new law extended
the period for the payment
of all annual Land Use
Charge Demand Notices
for 2018 to Saturday, April
14, 2018. The extension is
to enable property owners
and affected occupiers
take the option of enjoying
the discounts available for
the prompt and early payment
of Land Use Charge
invoices.
The land use charge law
as amended seeks to consolidate
all property and land
based rates/charges into a
single property charge. It
also sets the modalities for
levying and collection of
land use charge in Lagos
State
The state government
believed that the law, which
would expectedly boost the
revenue profile of the state,
would significantly contribute
to the growth and development
of Lagos as well as
facilitate the current administration’s
vision of a globally
competitive mega city.