25042019 - Free web operators threaten national security — EXPERTS

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18 — Vanguard, THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2019 AMONG many others, two prominent Nigerians during the Easter weekend, raised the alarm over threats posed by hunger and poverty in Nigeria. The Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II and the Aare Onakakanfo of Yorubaland, Gani Adams, drew the attention of President Muhammadu Buhari to the twin threats at different fora, urging him to do something drastic to address them. Emir Sanusi, who spoke at the 36th Aminu Kano Annual Memorial Symposium at Mambayya House, Kano, said poverty and hunger are twin evils that clearly define backward countries. Adams participated in a conference in Ikeja, Lagos, on Thursday last week where the Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, claimed that life had improved in Nigeria under Buhari’s watch. Although the fact of pervasive The looming hunger, poverty time bomb hunger and poverty in the land should be pretty obvious to any serious leader, the clarion call from these leaders who interact with the grassroots everyday should be taken very seriously. As of February 2019, the World Poverty Clock recorded that 91 million of the nearly 200 million Nigerians live in abject poverty, with the country already classified as the “the poverty capital of the world”. Emir Sanusi, in his address at the symposium, affirmed the longestablished fact that much of the poverty is pervasive in the North as only “20 per cent” of the extremely poor live in the Southern parts. It is also obvious that the widespread hunger verging on famine is not only an offshoot of poverty itself, it has been exacerbated in recent years by an escalation of insecurity across the land. The entire food belts of Nigeria in the North East, North West, North Central and Southern parts have been under siege by Boko Haram Islamist insurgents, the so-called bandits, armed herdsmen militias, kidnappers and other violent armed groups. Many farming communities have been displaced and are living either in refugee camps or have fled to larger towns for safety. Insecurity is fuelling poverty and hunger in a way never seen before, not even during the Nigerian civil war. Insecurity, poverty and hunger have become elements of a self-reinforcing vicious circle rapidly pushing Nigerians towards the edge of the precipice. We call on newly re-elected President Muhammadu Buhari not to dismiss the distress signals coming from the grassroots as mere rants of disgruntled political enemies. The situation is dire and real. Buhari must use his renewed mandate to turn the security situation around for the better to enable Nigerians return to their communities and produce food to feed our people. If urgent steps are not taken and soon, we fear that alternatives may be patently unbearable. The time to act is now. NEDC: Another drain pipe? By Sunny Ikhioya ON Friday, April 9, 2019, the Senate confirmed the appointment of retired Major General Paul Tarfa and other members nominated for the board of the North East Development Commission, NEDC. It is neither the constitution of the commission nor the appointment of board members that is the issue here; the issue is whether this project will not become another drain pipe where rent seekers and carpetbaggers will have a field day. That is, an avenue for political settlements and an appeasement for family members, friends and other cronies of those in Abuja. We have seen it in OMPADEC (Oil Mineral Producing Areas Development Commission), NDDC (Niger Delta Development Commission) and other state controlled commissions that deal with resources allocations. We have seen the urge for individuals to grab and the opportunity for the big guys at Abuja - they control these agencies - to allocate jobs and contracts to their very own and in the process subverting the purpose for which these commissions are set up. This fear is not misplaced. The Babachir Lawal case is still fresh in our memory. The Deputy Senate President, Ike Eweremadu, expressed this sentiment when he said: “The NDDC is steeped in a lot of protocol and bureaucracy, so this commission (NEDC) should learn from this”. What he failed to mention was the shenanigans going on underground, outside the official norms, where invoices are tendered and paid for without substantive proof. What reigns in the commissions that we have seen so far are the manifestations of new sets of the super rich enabled by their privileged appointments and unlimited access to government money, while the conditions in the areas for which these commissions are set up continue to deteriorate. You will also discover that the administrative costs of running these commissions will soon outstrip costs of envisaged projects; that is our way. The NEDC was specifically set up to “coordinate the rebuilding of the insurgencyravaged North-East region of Nigeria”. Already, N10 billion, out of the N55 billion allocated for the first year, has been earmarked for administrative and other bureaucratic functions. If you ask me, this appears to be a huge chunk of the budget given the situation in the country presently. One would expect that things will be done in a very austere manner, with the purpose of meeting the needs of the people and in the event turn them away from acts of insurgency and sabotage against government. The idea of creating the NEDC is a good one, but looking at the way we are going about it, it is destined to end up a sham like its predecessors. I came to this conclusion because we have not properly addressed the insurgency issue. You cannot build on nothing; there is nothing on ground to show that we have established peace in the region. Up till last week, we were still witnessing Boko Haram attacks in towns and villages in Borno and Adamawa states, villages beING over run and people displaced from their ancestral lands. Our armed forces are yet to find a permanent solution to the killings and displacement of people in the region. How can you build in an atmosphere of crises? I believe we are putting the cart before the horse. We should not be in a hurry to take wrong decisions because we want to please our people. If the purpose for this project is not met, then the whole thing will become another drain pipe to the nation which OPINION is in need of funds to execute vital projects across the land. The NEDC, as it is today in the North-East, will not work unless peace is restored to the region. You remember the late Umaru Yar’Adua and his amnesty policy which paved the way for militants of the Niger Delta to surrender their arms? That brought about peace in the Niger Delta area which has remained till date. You want to build for the Boko Haram to destroy? What then is the purpose for building? Our priority for now should be on how we can properly equip our armed forces to cope with the ravaging Boko The NEDC, as it is today in the North-East, will not work unless peace is restored to the region Haram insurgents, killer herdsmen and kidnappers in the land; until peace is achieved, reconstruction will be difficult to achieve. We must beat the Boko Haram to submission, to the point where they will never rear their head again; and when that is achieved, then we can begin to rebuild. The Marshall Plan to reconstruct Germany and other war-ravaged regions of the world did not take effect until victory was achieved after the Second World War; until the opposition was properly brought to submission. They capitulated and conceded defeat and were ready for the transformation that was to take place in their lives. So, what the North East zone of Nigeria needs for now is a lot of sensitisation of the populace. This government has a lot to do in this regard, with the Minister for Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, leading the way. The people in the zone must be made to realise that they are destroying their entire history, culture and future if they continue in this manner. The ones that have demonstrated good prospect for change should be properly rehabilitated. The liberation of the North-East must start with education and reorientation; the same people who are giving Boko Haram information will turn their back on them if they are properly reoriented. Let there be peace in the land; let the people be properly rehabilitated back to their lands; then we can start the rebuilding and reconstruction processes. Another thing is, how can we separate the foreigners from the true Nigerians? It is clear, from the way these people operate, that a large percentage of them are foreigners. So, destroying properties, killing and looting in the land means nothing to them since they have no filial connection to the land. You cannot standby or partake in the destruction of your ancestral land unless you are a bastard. At the moment, a video is trending in the social media showing how Nigerians are being tortured by fellow Africans in Angola. Same thing happening in South Africa, a country that we helped to liberate. Same with Ghana. Nigerians are serially attacked and forced to return to their country. Why is it only in Nigeria that foreigners are holding the whole country to ransom and nothing is being done about it? We used to play the big brother role to all, but see how they have paid us back. I don’t know how we can go about it, but we must, by all means, start identifying ourselves, beginning from the North-East region. The conspiracy of our northern brothers with the immigrants from Chad, Mali, Niger and the rest is not doing this country any good. Again, if peace is not achieved, all that have been recommended here will not work, so we go back to where we started from. •Ikhioya, www.southsouthecho.com Twitter: @SunnyIkhioya
Bonny light hits $75.04 per barrel By Prince Okafor THE price of Bonny Light, Nigeria’s premium oil grade, yesterday, crossed the $75 mark trading at $75.04 per barrel as the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC, continues to eliminate excess oil from the international market. This gives a significant boost to the Excess Crude Account, ECA, which has suffered huge depletion in the past one year. Nigeria pushes oil revenues that come above budgeted oil price benchmark into the ECA. The 2019 benchmark is $60. The uptrend in the Bonny Light is coming against a trend reversal in the prices of other oil grades – Qua Iboe, Brass River, Brent and OPEC Basket dropping from $75.15, $75.01, $73.89 and $74.30 to $74.96, $74.91, $73.84 and $73.3 per barrel respectively. According to a market analyst at Forex Times, FXTM, Lukman Otunuga, “The conflict in Libya and US sanctions on Venezuela and Iran are constraining Oil supplies, even as OPEC producers press on with output cuts through June 2019. “Rising oil prices will remain a welcome development for Nigeria, given how a handsome chunk of export revenues are sourced from Oil sales. Appreciating Oil prices are likely to provide foreign exchange stability, ability to implement 2019 budgets and economic growth.” However, Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo, Nigerian born OPEC Secretary General stated: “Every country understands the importance of achieving full and timely conformity with their voluntary production adjustments under the decisions of the 175th Meeting of the OPEC Conference and the 5th OPEC and non-OPEC Ministerial Meeting, on the 6 and 7 December 2018. CURRENCY BUYING SELLING US DOLLAR POUNDS EURO FRANC YEN CFA WAUA RENMINBI RIYAL SDR DANISH RAND $90.80 -0.70 2,270.00 -34.00 $12.63 -0.01 $74.41 -0.10 $65.78 -0.52 305.9 306.4 306.9 396.2017 396.8493 397.4969 342.8527 343.4131 343.9735 300.3142 300.805 301.2959 2.7352 2.7396 2.7441 0.5053 0.5153 0.5253 423.6531 424.3455 425.038 45.526 45.6009 45.6758 81.569 81.7023 81.8356 424.3445 425.0381 425.7317 45.9158 45.9908 46.0659 . 21.3157 21.3506 21.3854 CBN Exchange rate as at 24/04/2019 “Overall conformity levels to the new voluntary production adjustments, reached almost 90 per cent for the month of February 2019, which is up from 83 per cent in the month of January. We expect them to improve further in the coming months. “While we have seen a marked improvement in market conditions in the first quarter of 2019, compared to the Vanguard, THURSDAY, APRIL 25 , 2019 — 19 turbulence and volatility of the fourth quarter of 2018, with the market steadily moving towards a more balanced state, we still believe we need to see inventory levels drop further.” LAUNCH: From left: Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Blueprint Technologies Ltd., Saheed Alao; Chief Executive Officer/Founder, GLOW Health Enterprise, Adanna Monde, and Group Managing Director./CEO, United Bank for Africa Plc, Kennedy Uzoka, at the official launch of GLOW Health in Lagos. FG, AfDB to create $500m Technology Innovation Fund By Elizabeth Adegbesan The federal government, yesterday, said it is working in collaboration with Africa Development Bank (AfDB) to create a $500 million Technology Innovation Fund to support start-ups that had attracted foreign investments into the economy. The Senior Special Adviser to the President on Information Communication Technology (ICT) , Lanre Osibona, disclosed this at the ongoing Fintech Week in Lagos. According to the chairman of the organizing committee for the event, Dr. Yele Okeremi, the programme was a medium for stakeholders in the sector to articulate what must be done to challenge the status quo and change the subsisting narratives on technology about Nigeria internationally. In his keynote address, Osibona stated: “The event is remarkably apt at this stage of our journey as a nation towards becoming a Digital Economy. This is so much so the case because we have a huge opportunity to ride on the Fourth Industrial Revolution towards economic diversification and growth, social inclusion, job creation, with resultant efficiency and transparency of process across sectors. It will enable boundless innovation in the manner we deliver medical health services, in agriculture, education and no doubt access to finance and the associated cost of finance. “Worthwhile for me to mention, one of the dominant topic of discuss in our many conversations towards supporting innovation is the need for affordable and patient capital to support our burgeoning start-up ecosystem, and counterpart funding for those start-ups that have successfully attracted foreign investment from Seed & Angel investors and Venture Capitals. We are working on putting together a Technology Innovation Fund in collaboration with AfDB to the tune of $500 million.” On her part, Mrs. Oluwatoyin Albert, Group Head, Switching and Processing Terminal Services at Express Payments, said that innovations, collaborations and adequate infrastructure are needed for Fintechs to explore huge opportunities inherent in the digital economy. Pension scam on the decrease — PTAD By Rosemary Onuoha The Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) has said that efforts to reduce pension scam are yielding results even as number of pensioners that reported receiving scam calls in 2018 reduced to 160 from over 200 in 2017. About 34 actually paid money to the fraudsters. Pension scam calls are made by fraudsters to targeted pensioners requesting fees or cash to help them track and solve their pension complaints and ease payment of their outstanding pension entitlements, a proposal they never execute after collecting the fees. Executive Secretary of PTAD, Sharon Ikeazor, who disclosed this at the verification exercise for eligible parastatals’ pensioners under the Defined Benefit Scheme in Lagos, noted that PTAD is committed to entrenching zero tolerance to pension fraud. Ikeazor said that the Directorate commenced the Verification of 104,133 pensioners and Next of Kin of 270 federal funded parastatals. She disclosed that the directorate arrested three impersonators who attempted to fraudulently get enlisted into PTAD’s payroll, adding that efforts were being made to apprehend the individuals who gave the impersonators the forged documents. The verification exercise which NCDMB laud Pinnacle Oil over local content devt By Prince Okafor The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has commended Pinnacle Oil and Gas for championing local content promotion in the nation’s oil and gas industry. Pinnacle Oil was recognized as the downstream operating company with the most impactful local content development initiatives at the just concluded Nigerian Oil and Gas Opportunity Fair (NOGOF), in Bayelsa State. The company was formally recognized by the Nigerian government for its contribution to local content development in the Nigerian oil and gas industry. Speaking during the NOGOF fair, the Chief Executive Officer, Pinnacle Oil and Gas, Peter Mbah said, “We have intensified our investment in the local oil industry. The award is a confirmation of our confidence and continuous investments in the Nigerian economy.” Famed for its first mover advantage in pioneering the development and construction of a world class petroleum products handling facility at the Lekki Free Trade Zone in Lagos, Pinnacle Oil was, among other achievements, recognized by the NOGOF for this facility which would comprise a 600,000 MT tank farm for storage on the shore, connected to Single Point Mooring (SPM) and Conventional Buoy Mooring (CBM) facilities. The SPM/CBM which Pinnacle oil and gas has pioneered in Nigeria, are infrastructure for the offshore offloading of large vessels without any need for them to come to shore or use a jetty. The detailed Nigerian content opportunities for which Pinnacle was recognized are, hands on training in the assembly of SPM and CBM; welding and fabrication works’ hands on training; tank farm erection; instrumentation installation; sub contracts, security, insurance and financial services. It had the objective to bring together major players across the upstream, midstream and downstream sectors as well as the government and industry regulators to showcase opportunities in the Nigerian oil and gas industry and present available in-country opportunity. started Tuesday, April 23rd is expected to round off Thursday, May 29 and is taking place across the six geopolitical zones and Lagos. Amongst the pensioners undergoing verification were the defunct/privatized agencies namely Nigeria Aviation Handling Company ( NAHCO), Assurance Bank, Nigerian National Shipping Line (NNSL) and Aluminium Smelter Company Of Nigeria (ALSCON) PTAD explained that the exercise is to validate inherited payrolls from the various defunct pension boards and offices which handled payment to the pensioners under the Defined Benefit Scheme and to create a comprehensive digital database of pensioners.
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