BusinessDay 16 Apr 2018

Monday 16 April 2018
US Nigeria Mission reiterates commitment
to deepen ties with Nigeria
US Consulate General,
John Bray, has
reiterated the commitment
of the US
Nigeria Mission to deepen
bilateral ties with Nigeria for
sustainable development.
The mission recently
graduated 20 young Nigerians
of the Carrington Youth
Fellowship Initiative (CYFI),
an initiative geared towards
promoting civic engagement,
economic empowerment,
and education and health
care delivery.
Launched in 2011, the
CYFI works to bring together
Nigerian youth to design
and implement projects
focused on societal innovation.
These projects centre
on broader themes championed
by Ambassador Walter
Carrington, for whom the initiative
is named.
Bray in his message to
the graduates urged them
to remain in touch with
their cohort and maintain
the strength of the bond
they have formed together
through collaboration.
“Our objective at the US
Consulate General in Lagos
is to support efforts that address
Nigerian issues, par-
Kachikwu named as one of 100
most influential Africans of 2017
Minister of State
for Petroleum
Resources,.
Emmanuel
Ibe Kachikwu, has been
named by the New African,
a London-based magazine,
as one of the 100
Most Influential Africans
of 2017 in the category of
Business and Finance.
In a letter signed by
Omar Ben Yedder, group
publisher and managing
director, congratulating
Kachikwu, the magazine’s
publisher said their organisation
was ‘’dedicated
to changing the African
narrative and fighting for
its interests, and hope to
continue on this journey
ticularly economic development,
access to healthcare,
peace and security, transparency
and good governance.
To that end, the CYFI program
is an incredibly valuable
program, in that it allows
some of the most promising
young people in Nigeria who
are passionate about these
issues to affect real, positive
change.
“Always remember that
you are a select few chosen
from a pool of the most
talented and driven young
people in Nigeria. The friendships
and partnerships
you’ve developed over your
year with CYFI will become
some of the most rewarding.
“As you’ve learned this
year, you can run into all
kinds of challenges in the
course of implementing real
and meaningful change.
I hope that the successes
you have had this year have
shown you that the importance
and impact of your efforts
far outweigh the trials
and tribulations you sometimes
face in the course of
enacting this change,” Bray
said, urging them to stay
committed and passionate
to societal innovation and
change in their society, even
in the face of opposition.
alongside people engaged
in transformational roles
across the continent such
as your goodself.”
According to Yedder, it
has become the tradition
of the publishing outfit to
dedicate its annual year
end edition to ‘’celebrating
and reflecting on what
shaped the African continent
in the past year and
highlighting the men and
women who were changemakers
and influencers in
a number of sectors and
industries’’. It is in accordance
with that tradition
that Kachikwu was spotlighted
as one of the greatest
influencers of the continent,
last year.
C002D5556
BUSINESS DAY
47
NEWS
ICRC pledges commitment to successful implementation of port concession
MICHEAL ANI
The importance of
ensuring Public
Private Partnerships
(PPP) in the
country are executed without
undue encumbrances
was highlighted last week,
when a delegation from the
Infrastructure Concession
Regulatory Commission
(ICRC) visited Josepdam
port concession site in Lagos,
as part of its monitoring
activities.
ICRC is a commission
established in 2005, and
saddled with the responsibility
of monitoring and
SEYI JOHN SALAU
… embarks on fact finding to Josepdam concession project
ensuring the efficient execution
of all PPP projects
entered into by Ministries,
Departments and Agencies
(MDAs) on behalf of the
Federal Government.
Chidi Izuwah, acting
director-general, ICRC,
who led the delegation, expressed
delight at the site,
which shows the potentials
of PPP for making the
economy more vibrant and
improving the country’s indices
as it pertained to port
operations.
According to Izuwah,
the commission is aware of
some of the challenges currently
being faced by Josepdam,
which range from the
challenge of having third
party and equipment occupying
more than 25 percent
of their terminal land mass,
court injunction brought
against Jospdam port services
by third party and inability
to meet covenanted
GMT target as stated in the
agreement due to certain
challenges.
Izuwah however maintained
that all disagreements
relating to concession
exercises at the ports
must therefore be resolved
in order to make Nigerian
ports the hub for international
shipping trade in the
West and Central African
sub-region.
To him, the commission
is working tirelessly to ensure
that all of such challenges
be resolved.
“It is on this premise
that the ICRC decided to
embark on this monitoring
exercise to brainstorm with
your management and the
NPA on the way forward.
“As the regulator of the
lease agreement, we can-
not fold our hands and
leave you to struggle it out
alone,” he said.
“Under the President
Muhammadu Buhari-led
administration, there is a
will to address this issue
and effort is being made to
resolve it to create a winwin
situation for all parties,”
he said.
Simon Travers, managing
director, JBS, urged the
commission to assist in
finding an amicable settlement
on the issue of the
third party presence at the
terminal, which was hindering
its operations.
He recommended that
the NPA should review and
extend the lease agreement
for years lost due to
the third party interference
and also appealed to the
government to repair the
access road to the port.
Prior to the ports exercise
and subsequent
concession of terminals
in 2006, the nation’s ports
were known for inefficiency
and decaying infrastructure
resulting in the delay
in cargo clearance and several
other malpractices.