Globacom has appointed Ahmad Farroukh as its new chief executive officer. This strategic move follows the Nigerian Communications Commission’s (NCC) initiative to enhance corporate governance within the telecom industry.

Farroukh is set to spearhead a significant transformation at Globacom, which is also in the process of restructuring its board.

He began his career in 1995 as the CEO of Investcom Group in Lebanon, a company later acquired by MTN Group.

His extensive experience includes roles as managing director of MTN Ghana and regional director for West Africa under Investcom, an MTN subsidiary. From 2006 to 2010, he served as CEO of MTN Nigeria and was appointed CEO of MTN South Africa in 2014.

In 2015, Farroukh became the CEO of Mobily, Saudi Arabia’s second-largest telecom operator, a position he held until 2017.

He joined Smile Communications Nigeria Limited as Group CEO in 2019 prior to his appointment at Globacom.

Farroukh holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration and Accounting from the Lebanese American University and is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) in New York, USA.

A suspected member of a ‘One chance’ syndicate was reportedly lynched around the NYSC junction, along the Kubwa express way in Abuja on Tuesday.

Witnesses, who spoke to City & Crime, said the suspect arrived the area around 2 am in a gulf car, in company of two others from the Dutsen-Alhaji junction, on the same express way.

A member of the United Hunters Society of Nigeria in Kubwa, Muhammad Sani, while speaking to our reporter, said the two other members escaped from the scene immediately their vehicle hit a road barrier.

 Also speaking, a security guard with one of the filling stations in the area, Sulaiman Yunusa, said a stolen motorcycle being driven by one of the robbers, was recovered at the scene, before the vehicle was set ablaze by the mob. 

He said one chance activities are becoming rampant along the express way, with some of them stealing goods from trucks parked along the road during the night hours.

Our reporter, who visited the scene, later in the morning, saw how scavengers were dismantling their abandoned vehicle after it was set on fire.

 He was told that the remains of the suspected robber were taken to the Kubwa hospital morgue by the policemen, after they were alerted on the incident. 

Spokeswoman for the FCT Police Command, Josephine Adeh, a Superintendent, could not be reached for comment on the incident.

[DailyTrust]

Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, on Wednesday, expressed his indifference towards the Federal High Court’s decision stopping the Central Bank of Nigeria’s, CBN, from releasing state allocations.

This is as the governor said his approach to the crisis, in adherence to the intervention of President Bola Tinubu, empowered his opponents.

While Governor Fubara expressed no regrets for seeking peace, he acknowledged that this approach may have inadvertently empowered his opponents.

Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court in Abuja issued a ruling on Wednesday halting the CBN from releasing monthly financial allocations to the Rivers State Government.

The ruling cited a violation of the 1999 Constitution regarding the presentation of the 2024 budget before a four-member Rivers State House of Assembly.

Justice Abdulmalik stated that the disbursement of monthly allocations by Governor Fubara since January of this year constituted a breach of the Constitution.

Speaking during a special thanksgiving service aimed at celebrating his administration’s resilience amid recent political turmoil, including an arson attack on the State House of Assembly on October 29, 2023, Fubara assured Rivers people that his administration would continue to disburse payments to contractors and ensure timely salary payments to workers starting tomorrow (on Thursday).

Governor Fubara confirmed that allocations for the 23 Council Chairmen would also be processed, as the Joint Accounts Allocation Committee, JAAC, procedures have been finalized.

He encouraged his supporters to maintain their resilience, emphasizing that challenges can be overcome.

Reflecting on his administration’s achievements, Governor Fubara noted that despite initial skepticism regarding the longevity of his government, he has successfully led for over a year, conducted local government elections, and maintained a full cabinet despite attempts to destabilize his leadership.

He highlighted ongoing projects throughout the state, countering criticisms regarding his administration’s capacity to deliver.

Fubara referenced recent accolades positioning Rivers State as a leader in financial accountability and transparency.

In recounting the violent incident from October 30 of the previous year, characterized by the governor as an assassination attempt, Fubara attributed the assault to political adversaries who allegedly ambushed him following a legal withdrawal related to the Martin Amaewhule group, a decision influenced by an intervention from President Bola Tinubu.

While Governor Fubara expressed no regrets for seeking peace, he acknowledged that this approach may have inadvertently empowered his opponents.

[DailyPost]

When you finally read The Guardian editorial that drew the ire of presidential spokesperson Bayo Onanuga, you cannot help but wonder at his overreaction. For a Presidency that forged its path to power through journalistic propaganda, these people are too jumpy when they encounter media reports they consider unflattering. Even before being sworn into power, Onanuga had started gaming regulatory agencies against the media house that refused to drool before their almighty presence.

An egregious instance was the NBC imposition of a N5m fine on Channels at their prompting. If the court had not put paid to that nonsense, that is the singular errand the NBC would have been running for this administration by now.  The other day, their government also threatened to sue Daily Trust. Now, Onanuga is going after The Guardian? And that is not even counting his social media meltdowns. For an ex-journalist, this man sure has both the determination and zeal for single-handedly policing the media―old and new—on behalf of his principal. One can only wish him good luck on this crusade.

After reading through The Guardian article at least twice because I genuinely wanted to understand why a reputable media house would go to the extent of “openly inciting unrest against President Bola Tinubu’s administration and advocates regime change,” I found nothing of the sort either explicitly stated or implied. Onanuga had to have been responding to some other issue other than that piece. Whatever it is that bothers him, it has made him the proverbial old man who gets uneasy each time dry bones are mentioned in a proverb.

First, they must understand that nobody needs to read The Guardian or any other newspaper to be incited against a government that has systematically despoiled them, tanked the quality of their livelihood, and has no comfort to offer other than the same jading platitudes with which they fed us through “nine years of Buhari.” If the government—through any of its officials—think that the revolution against their poorly-contrived policies will be activated by reading newspaper editorials, they have another think coming. 

Between the time I first drafted this article and when I sent it off to the editor, fuel price increased by N27 to N30. That looks like a negligible amount, but the multiplier effect that increase will have on goods and services will further dwindle the purchasing power of an already denuded people. Given the speed with which people’s lives are changed by the vicissitudes of T-Pain’s economy, I can assure Onanuga that newspaper editorials/features, no matter how provocative, can only react to a reality that has already been reshaped. They are not the ones who will incite the revolution; the best that printed journalism can do in the age of new media technology is to analyse the revolution after it must have happened, exploring the angles that online and 24-hour on-call analysts on social media might have missed.

As that Guardian report duly noted, people’s nostalgic longings for a return of the military government are not unfounded. I agree. The factors shaping Nigerians’ angst are based on material conditions of hardship they experience, something which Onanuga and his paymasters—safely ensconced in the villa from where they keep throwing out one harsh reform after the other—can never quite understand.

Twenty-five years is near enough for people to look back and wish for the return of the former oppressors. Yet, 25 years is also distant enough for the memories of the pain that comprised the military years to have receded and replaced by misguided desires. It does not help that the rickety government that Onanuga serves hardly has any coherent results to show for all their pretentions at reforms. They embarked on costly restructuring without proper cost-counting, and that is how we found ourselves stuck with reforms that even the government that initiated them cannot properly defend. All they offer by way of projection into the future are vague promises.

There are many days when Nigeria under Tinubu feels like living under Sani Abacha with social media. We can start by recounting the records of the violation of human rights that have so far been perpetrated by the so-called fighters for the return of democracy. From key officials in the Tinubu administration, to the police who run the errands of egotistic big men in power, and the array of wannabe dictators who have the Police IG on speed dial, this is a government that serially forgets that it is supposed to be democratic. Then add the rapid impoverishment millions of Nigerians have experienced in a short while and the sense of despondency pervading everywhere, and you will see why people cannot but make an association between their lives under the Tinubu administration and the military. The days of Abacha and the days of Tinubu have so much in common that it feels as if history has been static.

Every reasonable person can agree that a return to the military is not the solution. First, because they are anachronic, and second, because anyone who thinks that a military that has been severely depleted by fighting terrorism, banditry, and other categories of restiveness throughout the country is the one that will launch an economic agenda that will redeem Nigeria’s history is self-deluded. The Nigerian military cannot even manage its own budget effectively!

No matter how illusionary the desires for a military return might be, there is a context dictating them. Those who lived under the military and want their return do not see an enlightening difference between this present darkness and the one they experienced under the military. They take Nigeria’s foray into democratic rule as a farce that should be ended. For another generation that never quite witnessed military rule and relies on passed down accounts, the longing for the military is precipitated on the longings for an efficacious power; the power that can compel history into motion, not the effete one that calls itself democracy.

One cannot blame them for such delusions. Structures of political power in Nigeria are so perverted that the only thing they breed is ill consequences. At this point, we are basically a one-party state; hardly anyone can afford principled opposition. Basic political science teaches us that the three arms of government are supposed to serve as checks and balances for each other, but there is no such integrity anymore. Leaders can do basically whatever they want, and they have not hesitated to take advantage of the lack of a viable system of accountability. It is a democracy, but it is also not one in spirit and truth.

The spirit of democracy has been routinely violated, and people know from experience that hardly any other means exist for them to get rid of this power and principalities that assumes a lordly reign over their lives other than through a violent upheaval. That is why the desire for a military intervention is not about to go away. People like Onanuga might chalk down the desires for insurrection to the antagonisms of tribal politics, but the truth is that their own government and its inefficacies have done more to promote the military in the imagination of Nigerians than the coups in our neighboring countries.

To provide the balanced perspective that he thinks The Guardian missed, Onanuga’s rejoinder added the “positive developments” that have occurred under his principal’s watch. If he is certain of the veracity of his figures, I encourage him to go to the marketplaces and tell those buying food at astronomically high prices about the “notable decline” of the revenue-to-debt service ratio this year, the rise of foreign reserves, a higher GDP growth, and even increased exports. In his own interest, he should also go with his hearse in tow.

Many Nigerians, whether rich or poor, like to play the big man. They like to portray themselves as what they are not in order to create false impression about themselves. The essence of their actions is to make the other party cringe in fear and kowtow to them. They derive satisfaction from so doing, especially with a crowd of onlookers around.

   As the ‘big man’ shouts and curses, the lesser mortal, in most cases, looks askance, wondering how he would get out of trouble. ‘What kind of trouble is this?’ He mutters inaudibly. His case is not helped by those who rather than side with the truth, will be asking him to beg and set himself free. ‘Beg for what?’ He thinks. All the same, he bides his time, hoping that things will sort themselves out.

  This is a common scenario which plays out on the streets virtually on a daily basis. The oppressor may be a nobody but he would have put the fear of God into the oppressed who has turned jelly. As Fela, whose title of the song: “Who are you?” we have borrowed for this piece, noted in another song many years ago, “my people fear too much. We fear to fight for freedom; we fear to fight for liberty…”

    As a result of fear, we suffer in silence in the face of oppression. Last Sunday, somewhere in Abuja this kind of ‘power show’, another one from Fela’s stable, was on display in Abuja when a member of the House of Representatives, Alex Mascot Ikwechegh, decided to dance naked. It was an unnecessary show of shame for which today he has become remorseful. All he needed to do in that situation was to calm down, but the people of his village, as they say, seemed to be after him.

  He lost all sense of reason as he descended on the e-hailing cab driver, Stephen Abuwatseya, who came to deliver an item to him in his home at the highbrow Maitama district. He believes that his stay in Maitama, the billionaires’ playground confers special status on him as a member of the National Assembly. The Bolt driver, to him, was a common taxi driver, who could be abused and tongue-lashed like a slave. 

So, Mascot felt such a man deserves no respect. If only it was really a mascot that treated Abuwatseya that way, people would have seen it as an object that was misbehaving, but this was a human being and a representative of the people, for that matter, treating a person that he should ordinarily have protected shabbily. He was disdainful of Abuwatseya, as he asked the cabman time and time again: “do you know who I am?”

Many public officials suffer from this big man disease. They have a penchant for flaunting their influence and affluence at any given opportunity. They throw it in the face of others and before you ask: ‘Mr who are you?’, the words: ‘do you know who I am?’ would have tumbled out of their mouths. They utter the words with an air of importance, as they cast their look wide look. In all seriousness, they do not need to go to such extent, as bigmanism needs no heralding.

It announces itself without fuss, just as a tiger does not need to show its tigritude. As it was the case in the past, Ikwechegh would have gotten away with his verbal and physical assaults of the poor cab driver, but for the advancement in technology, which enabled his victim to record everything on phone. Despite being aware of the recording, he was not deterred. He continued to boast and declared that he could make Abuwatseya disappear without trace and no Jupiter on earth would do anything to him.

He spoke as if he had the Inspector-General of Police in his pockets. It was all braggadocio. The lawmaker turned lawbreaker now knows better that nobody is above the law. He has publicly apologised and initiated amicable resolution of the dispute. Ikwechegh learnt his lesson the bitter way – pride goes before a fall. He fell because he did not know when to stop, not even  when the driver was cautioning him during the incident: “you have been insulting me and I have been quiet… Are you slapping me? Did you just slap me three times?”

Now, he faces the whole country over this matter. The police have taken it up; so also are his colleagues who have begun investigating him. It is enough that he has admitted his guilt and shown remorse. If an offender admits his crime, the elders say, he does not stay long on his knees begging. He should be allowed to go and sin no more, after going out there to apologise to Abuwatseya as well as duly compensate him for the public assault. The compensation will be besides paying the driver for his services.

  Perhaps, this way, our big men, especially lawmakers, will realise that they cannot just assault commoners and go scot-free. A senator did it to an expectant mother a few years ago, now a representative has followed suit. There may be many other unreported cases that we have yet to know about. It is high time everything was done to stop these people from being law unto themselves.

Last Wednesday, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu dismissed five ministers from his cabinet to reposition the National Executive Council (NEC) for effective service delivery. Among the sacked ministers was the erstwhile Education Minister Prof. Tahir Mamman.

Many saw Mamman’s sack as a shock, particularly after his efforts toward the setting up of a committee to look into the outstanding issues affecting the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) 2009 agreement among other pending demands.

However, the erstwhile minister’s 18-year minimum age policy for university admission drew the ire of many stakeholders, including parents. Observers reckoned that he should have made wide and open consultations before jumping to announce policy.

In a move to justify the decision, Mamman argued that the ministry was emphasising the age requirement for entry into tertiary institutions as outlined in the National Policy on Education, the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) Act, and the Education (Minimum) Standards Act 1993, and  not the age for participating in West African Examinations Council (WAEC), National Examinations Council (NECO), National Business and Technical Examinations Board (NABTEB) or any ordinary level examinations.

“However, the ministry acknowledges that some children are exceptionally intelligent and the ministry will work out a guideline to deal with cases of genuine exceptionally intelligent learners,” he added.

A contentious policy: to be or not to be?

Despite the clarification and what seemed a justification, the policy generated intense outrage, even as critics believe that contributed mainly to his exit. On whether the policy will be retained, stakeholders argued that government should decide that, while others hold that it is dead on arrival.

Speaking on the contentious policy, Vice Chancellor, African School of Economics (the Pan-African University of Excellence), Abuja, Prof. Mahfouz Adedimeji, posited that whether the policy stays or not, it is within the purview of the policy makers, adding that policies are to be critically examined and retained or revised as deemed fit.

While giving an assessment of the minister’s tenure, Adedimeji said he did his best, particularly with the DOTS, an acronym for Data Repository, Out-of-School Children Education, Teacher Training and Development, and Skill Development and Acquisition, policy and the renewed emphasis on skills acquisition.

Adedimeji said: “While I understand the thinking behind the policy, my opinion is that 16 years should have been enforced as the minimum age for admission to universities. This is because we have a situation in which those who are below 16 are being admitted. That would have been better and that is why the revised policy allowing candidates who are to be 16 by next year to be admitted this academic session resonates with many Nigerians.

“I think whether the policy stays or not is within the purview of the policy-makers and my own is to suggest that we implement the erstwhile 16 years first. The expected thing is that policies are to be critically examined and retained or revised as deemed fit.

“My assessment is that the former minister did his best. He is a tall intellectual figure as he combines the highest academic title with the highest professional title in law. I like the DOTS policy of his administration and the renewed emphasis on skills acquisition. I would score him A as he did his best and we appreciate his service.

‘‘For instance, the stance he took on the degree mills was commendable just as his efforts in taking the public universities out of the IPPIS payment system were laudable.”

Deputy National President, National Parent Teacher Association of Nigeria (NAPTAN), Chief Adeolu Ogunbanjo, noted that the policy cannot outlive the minister.

He said: “The policy still has to go through public hearing. The policy cannot stay. We will mobilise against it. Government cannot continue with the policy; that was what consumed him. All those policies he was trying to introduce. Education is now becoming expensive… To assess the minister, it is below average.  The 16-year policy should be allowed to stay. Let it be the choice of universities to decide the age to grant admission. We should stick to the 6-3-3-4 system. Now that he is fired, we don’t want such a policy anymore. It is educationally retrogressive for Nigerian students and parents.”

For Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) Chairman, University of Lagos (UNILAG) branch, Prof. Kayode Adebayo, the government will decide if it wants to stick with the policy or discard it. He added that the minister was not given ample time to prove his mettle. Adebayo hailed the minister for setting up a committee to look into several lingering issues, including renegotiation of the 2009 agreement with the Federal Government.

He said: “The minister was not given sufficient time to display his quality and prove himself.  He tried his best. He was a positive minister. Concerning the 18 years admission age, did he do something wrong? I don’t know how that became an offence. The government knows what to do concerning the policy. Who is an adult in Nigerian constitution?

“He started well; he started to hit the ground running, but part of the criticism against him is that how will he just announce that universities should not admit students who are not up to 18 years. Critics said he should have told the President before taking the decision. He did the little he could do. He started something that would give us hope; that shows light at the end of the tunnel. One of the main reasons he was removed was because of the policy.  He set up a committee for the ASUU renegotiation of the 2009 agreement. He was sacked the day the committee was to have its inaugural meeting. He didn’t have the opportunity to sit and negotiate with the group. He was performing, and still did the needful within the system.

National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) Southwest Coordinator, Comr. Owolewa Taiwo, noted that the initial policy of no admission for under-18 students would have disenfranchised many students who had already written their examinations. He added that Mamman’s later reversal of this policy, specifically for the 2024 admissions, showed that he was willing to listen to feedback and make adjustments.

“The policy of no admission for under-18 students was actually reversed by Tahir Mamman, the former Education Minister, after facing backlash from stakeholders. Initially, he had announced that candidates seeking admission into higher institutions must be 18 and above. However, this decision was met with strong opposition from stakeholders, including Vice Chancellors and Rectors, who argued that it would force students below 18 years to stay at home for two to three more years.

“Later, Mamman changed the minimum age for admissions into tertiary institutions from 18 to 16 years, specifically for the 2024 admissions. He also set a minimum tolerance score of 140 for admissions into universities and 100 for polytechnics and colleges of education.

“As for how NANS would assess Mamman’s tenure, it’s likely that his policy decisions would be viewed as inconsistent and potentially harmful to students. The initial policy of no admission for under-18 students would have disenfranchised many students, who had already written their exams. However, Mamman’s later reversal of this policy shows that he was willing to listen to feedback and make adjustments.

 Overall, NANS may view Mamman’s tenure as marked by controversy and inconsistency, but also a willingness to adapt to feedback,” he said.

Why the sack was inevitable

Nevertheless, a group, Education for Accelerated Development (EDAD) in a statement by its National Coordinator, Dr. Livinus Mbaonu, assessed the former minister’s era, and highlighted reasons the minister was sacked.

The statement read: “Tahir’s statements led to a diplomatic misunderstanding between Nigeria, Benin Republic, and Togo, resulting in the suspension of degree programmes from universities in these countries.

 “He wrongly claimed that only three universities in Benin were accredited, while the actual number is over 50, causing confusion about the legitimacy of these institutions.

 “His unprofessional handling of foreign students’ participation in the NYSC scheme caused thousands of Nigerian graduates from Benin and Togo to be denied entry into the programme and the Ministry of Education’s failure to address the needs of stranded foreign students, whose scholarships are unpaid or delayed leads to significant challenges.

“The former minister’s implementation of an 18-year minimum age policy for university admissions resulted in a lawsuit against the ministry, as many saw it as restrictive and discriminatory.

 “Mamman declared that Nigerians who had obtained certificates from universities in Benin and Togo would be sacked from public service and prosecuted.

“The former minister claimed that the Federal Government would pay stipends to all unemployed graduates in Nigeria, a promise that was not part of the government’s agenda and created false expectations.”

Enter new ministers

The duo of Tunji Alausa and Suwaiba Ahmad were announced as the new Minister of Education and the Minister of State for Education respectively.

Mr. Alausa, the new education minister, is a successful medical doctor.  He bagged a Bachelor’s degree in Medicine and Surgery from the University of Lagos in 1993. He practised as a Nephrologist in the United States for many years. He served as Chief Medical Resident at Cook County Hospital, Chicago, Illinois. He was also an Assistant Professor at the Rush University Medical School.

Alausa was named one of America’s Best Physicians in 2007, 2012 and 2020. Before his latest appointment as education minister, he served as the Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare.

He hails from Epe, Lagos State, and is a personal physician to President Tinubu.

Ms Ahmad, an associate professor of education, has extensive experience in the sector. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Education and Chemistry from Bayero University, Kano (BUK) in 2003 and her Master of Education in Curriculum Studies from the same university in 2009. Ms Ahmad also obtained her doctorate in Science Education from Ahmadu Bello University in 2014.

She has worked as an academic staff at the Bayero University Kano since 2004. She is also an associate of the Policy Practice, an organisation working on political economy analysis on governance, conflict and fragility, economic and social development.

She was also the Director of the Centre for Gender Studies at BUK, a position she assumed in 2020. She was the consultant for the state-level situation report for Jigawa State and part of Kano State on the Partnership for Learning for All in Nigeria (PLANE), a seven-year education programme funded by the United Kingdom Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).

She was also the consultant for Jigawa State for Partnership to Engage, Reform and Learn (PERL) flagship, another FCDO-sponsored programme on core governance reforms and service delivery improvements in the country.

[TheNation]

•IPMAN, PETROAN eye refinery’s 500m PMS reserves, queues in Abuja after NNPCL’s price hike

Oil marketers have again written a letter to the Dangote Petroleum Refinery expressing their willingness to buy refined petroleum products from the $20bn plant.

They disclosed this on Wednesday following Tuesday’s remarks by the President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, that marketers were not buying products from the Lekki-based facility.

Dangote faulted the continued importation of petrol by oil marketers and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited despite the fact that the commodity was being produced by his refinery.

He raised the concern in Abuja on Tuesday after he was summoned by President Bola Tinubu, alongside the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, and the Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPCL, Mele Kyari.

“I have a refinery. I’m not in the business of retail. If I’m in the business of retail then you can hold me responsible. But what I’m saying is that the retailers should please come forward and pick. If they don’t come forward and pick, what do you want me to do?

“So, I am expecting either the NNPCL or the marketers to stop importing; they should come and pick because we have what they need. And as they move, I will be pumping,” Dangote stated after the meeting with the President in Abuja.

Responding to this on Wednesday, oil dealers under the aegis of the Petroleum Retail Outlet Owners Association of Nigeria and their counterparts in the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria said they were willing to buy petrol from Dangote.

They specifically stated that they had approached the refinery a couple of times to express the interest of their members in lifting refined products from the plant.

“We have listened to him (Dangote) and as far as I’m concerned what he said is very strange to my hearing. PETROAN had written to him since 2022, we wanted to have a business meeting with him and understand the business dynamics,” PETROAN President, Billy Gillis-Harry, told one of our correspondents.

He added, “I sent the same letter to him (Dangote) today (Wednesday) to ask for a meeting, so, we can determine the modality of business. We cannot drive our tankers into the Dangote refinery to start buying products just like that. We must have a business meeting to determine the modalities, make our inputs and compare notes.

“We are willing to patronise Dangote but cannot do it in the air. We have to sit down and have a productive business meeting with him that is transparent enough. That is the challenge. So, we are willing but we can’t just fly into the plant and start loading products.”

Asked what was the response of the refinery, Gillis-Harry replied, “Up till this moment, there has never been any positive response, rather, all we get from them is that they repeatedly say to us that ‘we will meet.’ But we never met. So, at what point are we going to meet and conclude the business? Let Nigerians know that PETROAN is willing to buy from him.

“If he has 500 million litres, we are willing to be one of the off-takers, for with the size of our membership and retailers scattered across the country, we are a very productive business mix that should be good for him. So, he also has the job to woo us and to get us to work with him.”

Gillis-Harry said petrol retailers were awaiting the plant to fix a date for both parties to meet.

Also, speaking on the matter, the National President of IPMAN, Abubakar Maigandi, raised concerns over difficulties faced by IPMAN members in accessing fuel at the Dangote refinery despite a N40bn payment made through NNPCL.

Maigandi stated that despite NNPCL’s directive that IPMAN members pick up fuel at the Lagos-based refinery, some marketers waited with their trucks for four days without being able to load any product.

He expressed surprise at Dangote’s statement on Tuesday, claiming the refinery had 500 million litres of petrol in stock and ready to supply the nation.

“If the refinery truly has 500 million litres, then there should be no reason our members couldn’t load after four days. We are willing to buy the product directly if the refinery is ready to sell to us, but for now, our members can’t access, it even after paying,” Maigandi said while speaking on Channels TV’s Sunrise Daily on Wednesday.

The refinery, touted as Africa’s largest, reportedly can produce over 30 million litres of fuel daily at full capacity.

Dangote, during Tuesday’s visit to Tinubu, reassured that the facility was prepared to meet local demands,emphasising that the stock in reserve could sustain the country for over 12 days without imports.

However, Maigandi countered Dangote’s claims, pointing out that IPMAN members were yet to successfully load fuel from the refinery through the NNPCL arrangement, despite their readiness to purchase directly.

He added, “Instead of routing through NNPCL, Dangote should consider registering independent marketers directly. This would simplify the process and prevent such delays in accessing the product.”

Import licences

Meanwhile, some marketers revealed on Wednesday that Dangote refinery was currently selling its petrol to dealers with import licences.

The marketers told The PUNCH that the refinery, situated at the free trade zone in Lekki, Lagos State, is currently prioritising marketers with valid import licences even as plans were underway to start selling to other marketers soon.

After battling crude shortages for months, the refinery unveiled its petrol in early September and began selling to the NNPCL on September 15 as its sole off-taker.

However, following the Federal Government’s directive that all marketers could approach the refinery for PMS lifting without waiting for the NNPC, willing marketers said they had indicated interest in buying petrol from the $20bn refinery.

Officials of the refinery told one of our correspondents that the direct sale of PMS had begun without recourse to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited.

This came barely a week after some marketers said their demand to lift fuel was halted by the existing agreement between the refinery and the NNPCL.

Speaking with our correspondent, some operators, who were yet to start business with the refinery, said officials had assured them of their cooperation.

The sources said the supply of PMS was being done in different categories, and those who had licences from the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority to import petrol were the first set of marketers that were being attended to.

“Dangote refinery is selling to those who have import licences. They are the first set of customers. We don’t know the reason, but it may be because the refinery is in a free trade zone,” a marketer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak on the matter, stated.

Earlier in an interview with The PUNCH, the National Vice President of IPMAN, Hammed Fashola, said this explained why IPMAN was making efforts to get its import licence from the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority.

He also alluded to the opinion that this might be because the refinery was located in a free trade zone.

“Yes, I heard it too, they (Dangote) have started selling to some marketers. They categorised it. There are some marketers with import licences. Those are the people that they are attending to right now.

“And that’s why we are trying as much as possible to get our import licence too. So, I think very soon they will start dealing with the small ones. I don’t know how they came about that idea. I think it depends on the directive given to them, according to them. And we believe that they will soon start with the other marketers. Maybe it’s because that place is a free trade zone,” he said.

Fashola said he could not confirm whether or not the product was being sold in naira to those with import licences.

“I don’t want to say something that I cannot really confirm or that I’m not sure of,” he added.

Fashola disclosed that the association’s application for an import licence was still being processed by the NMDPRA.

“We are still on the import licence. We are seriously working on that. There is no way that it will not take the official time. There are things that we had to submit. You have to meet some terms and conditions to have it granted. So, we are trying to do that,” he said.

However, Fashola refused to state some of the conditions.

“I don’t need to mention that to the media,” he insisted.

For importation, Fashola said the association had enough storage capacity with tank farms in Calabar and Lagos.

“We have enough storage capacity. You know, I said the other time that I don’t want to discuss our capacity. But all those documents related to capacity have been submitted. And when we get what we want, we will disclose everything to the public,” he stated.

Expert speaks

An energy expert, Professor Emeritus, Wumi Iledare, said though he would not know whether or not the refinery was selling to marketers with import licenses, this could be because of the location of the facility.

However, he advised that the government should give a waiver to Dangote so that the refinery would be able to sell to local marketers without, hindrance if that was the case.

“We recognise Dangote is in a free trade zone. So, if you want to buy something like that, unless there is a waiver, it is going to be like an import. But because of the arrangement with the Federal Government, this may be different. The Petroleum Industry Act allows for willing-buyer, willing-seller arrangements.

“As the marketers are seeking Dangote out, Dangote should be seeking them out too. The marketers know the landing cost and this will allow them to negotiate with Dangote. Import is the alternative, otherwise, Dangote will become a monopoly,” Iledare stated.

The Don maintained that the Dangote refinery was not a domestic refinery but an offshore refinery in the sense that it was located in a free trade zone.

“That is why Ghana, Senegal, Cameroon, and others are eager to buy from Dangote. The Nigerian marketers are actually competing with other other countries looking to buy from Dangote. The government has to grant a waiver to Dangote to sell to the domestic market. That is why NNPC should have taken an equity whereby products from Dangote will be for their domestic market, but they didn’t do that.

“Dangote should be granted waivers to sell to the domestic market if that is the issue. The government should look at this from the consumers’ point of view without jeopardising the investors from making money,” he noted.

41.7 million litres

The Nigerian Ports Authority said two vessels carrying a total of 41,705,100 litres of petrol arrived in Lagos through the Tincan Island Ports on Wednesday.

The NPA disclosed this in the Wednesday edition of its ‘Daily Shipping Position’ sighted by The PUNCH.

Earlier, The PUNCH reported that a vessel with 20,115,000 litres of PMS was discharging at the Kirikiri Lighter Ports Phase 2 on Wednesday but a second check at the report showed that another vessel with 21,590,100 litres of the product was discharging at the Kirikiri Phase 3, Tincan Island Port the same day.

The document also showed that a vessel carrying 20,000 metric tonnes of AGO (diesel), discharged at the same terminal on Tuesday.

According to the document, aside from the vessel coming with 250 units of used vehicles on Saturday at Five Star Logistics, another vessel with 500 units of used vehicles would also be berthing at the Tincan Island Container Terminal the same day.

The document showed that a total of 12 vessels carrying different consignments, including butane gas, AGO and containers among others, are expected to berth between Monday, October 28, and Friday, November 8, 2024.

Meanwhile, it was recently reported that the Dangote refinery was not able to meet its commitment to the NNPC in the supply of PMS.

There were claims in the media that out of the 400 million litres of petrol that the refinery ought to supply in September, only 103 million litres were delivered.

It was also claimed that in October, Dangote supplied 214 million litres to the NNPC instead of 665 million litres, resulting in a shortfall of 78 per cent.

The reports added that from September 15 to October 20, only 317 million litres of PMS had been supplied out of a total commitment of 1.065 billion litres of petrol.

Meanwhile, following the NNPCL’s increase of petrol across the country on Tuesday, long queues were seen at its retail outlets in Lagos and Abuja on Wednesday.

The national oil firm raised the retail price of petrol in Abuja to N1,060 from N1,030 per litre, while in Lagos, it increased the unit price of the commodity from N998 to N1,025 per litre, which received widespread criticisms from the Organised Private Sector, Civil Society Organisations and Nigerians in general.

Experts and key followers of the Nigerian oil and gas sector fear inflation in the country may further skyrocket following the latest hike, after it rose to a 28-year high (34.2 per cent) in June, which could compound the hardship in the country.

[Punch]

Organised Labour said yesterday the latest hike in the pump price of petrol was pushing Nigerians to the limit.

It also warned the Federal Government against what it described as a surprised and unexpected reaction of the people to the frequent hike in the price of the product.

Labour equally advised the government to be wary of the silence of Nigerians in the midst of excruciating hardship and misery being inflicted on them, saying even a goat can bite when pushed to the wall.

This is even as an employer group, the Chemical and Non-Metallic Products Employer’s Federation, CANMPEF, said the petrol price increases, occasioned by subsidy removal, had led to an increase in transportation/logistics, production costs, the decline in household income and purchasing power.

Labour’s warning came on a day the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, said its members wait for days to load petrol from Dangote Refinery in Lagos, despite paying N40 billion to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL.

It also said Nigerians can pay less for the product if marketers were allowed to buy directly from the refinery.

One of the labour leaders, who attended the October 16 meeting with the Federal Government at the office of the Secretary to the Government of Federation, SGF, told Vanguard on condition of anonymity that government officials are gradually pushing the masses to revolt against the establishment.

He said: “We had thought that the Federal Government will halt the incessant increase in the pump price of petrol after our October 16 meeting, where we made the government representatives, led by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation understand the level of frustration, hunger, misery and general restiveness across the country.

‘’Sincerely, we thought the government would give the people a breathing space and suspend the increases. The government is testing the patience of Nigerians. I can tell you that government is pushing the citizens to a boiling point.

“This latest increase yesterday (Tuesday, October 29) is one increase too many and a bitter pill to swallow. The increases are pushing the citizens to the limit.

“Government should not be surprised if the people of Nigeria decide to react in an unexpected way that will shock those in government. The people are really angry, frustrated, hopeless and are moving to a point where they may vent their anger in an unusual way that may be difficult to curtail.

‘’You cannot continue to flog a child and tell him not to cry. Hunger is everywhere, apart from the people in power or their friends and relations.

“The frustration and suffering in the country were also highlighted a few days ago during the meeting of the 19 Northern governors, alongside traditional rulers, among others. Across the country, people are just waiting for something to ignite the fire.

“Increasingly, the government is providing the fuel that will ignite the fire. What is probably left is someone to light the matches. We (Labour) have been urging the government to jettison the anti-people policies and lessen the pain, suffering, hunger, poverty and frustration to no avail.

“We have been cautious, thinking the government will allow common sense, empathy and the reality of the mass suffering of the citizens to drive its actions and inactions. Unfortunately, the reverse has been the case. It is getting to the time when the bubble will burst. Even a goat can bite when pushed to the wall.

Our choices limited

Similarly, addressing the 8th Quadrennial Delegates’ Conference of the National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives, NANNM, yesterday in Abuja, President of Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, Joe Ajaero, said: “Today, the nation’s macro-economic indices are all heading down south without any letting.

Electricity tariffs have gone up, making power almost inaccessible to a greater number of our citizens.
“Petrol prices have gone through the roof and are nearly impossible for an average Nigerian to afford.
Transportation has become difficult, leading to levels of food scarcity and hunger never seen in the country before now.

‘’That unfortunately has become our lot and that has become what majority of Nigerians look up to us to ameliorate.

“We need your unity and your strength if we are to creatively engage these forces and make governance work for the greater number of workers and people. As it is today, our choices are very limited. It is either we find a way to collectively overcome the forces that are bent on keeping us down as a people or we completely surrender to them and wallow in hopelessness.

“The forces of neo-liberalism must be challenged and the trade union movement remains the only viable force in Nigeria and in the world that can creatively engage it and mitigate its stranglehold on our nation.

“We must offer strong counterpoise to their prebendal logic and proffer newer arguments to triumph over their quest for profit at the detriment of the social will. It is only by remaining strong and united that we can hope to achieve that.

‘’It is sad but we cannot afford to keep our public refineries shut while still importing refined petroleum products. We demand a review of our salaries instead of its eroded values. We must together demand the re-commissioning of Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna refineries in keeping with the agreement we had with the Federal Government on October 15, 2023.”

Employers’ group laments

Speaking in a similar vein, the Chemical and Non-Metallic Products Employer’s Federation, CANMPEF, an employer group, said the petrol price increases occasioned by subsidy removal had led to an increase in transportation/logistics and production costs and a decline in household income and purchasing power.

Addressing members and guests at the 45th Annual General Meeting, AGM, of CANMPEF in Lagos yesterday, the President of the employers’ federation, Mr Devakumar Edwin, lamented: “Following the liberalization of the foreign exchange (FX) market, PMS importers are embattled with looming scarcity and sourcing challenges of FX which continues to increase the selling cost of PMS.

‘’The price adjustments led to an increase in transportation/logistics, production costs, decline in household income and purchasing power.

“There is optimism surrounding the possibility of an energy transition that will reduce the industry’s dependence on expensive diesel and PMS. However, significant investments are required to make renewable energy viable for manufacturing operations.’’

According to him, the spillover of the increases in the petrol price, and floating of the naira has worsened the crises facing the manufacturing sector of the nation’s economy.

“For the manufacturing sector to reach its full potential, government’s intervention is critical. If priority attention is given to manufacturing as a strategic value-adding sector, capable of driving economic transformation, then the country can earn its position among industrialized nations.

“To unlock the potential of Nigeria’s manufacturing sector, the government must commit to the following investments: History has shown that protectionist policies can have a profound impact on local industries.

‘’A notable example is Nigeria’s 2007 cement policy, which restricted imports by companies without local manufacturing investments.

‘’In just 15 years following the policy, cement production in Nigeria grew from 7 million metric tonnes to over 60 million metric tonnes per annum. Expanding such policies to sectors like agriculture, petrochemicals, basic chemicals, electronics, and tools manufacturing could set Nigeria on the path to becoming an industrial giant.

“Declare a state of emergency in the manufacturing sector: The sector requires immediate attention, and this can be achieved through policies that promote growth, investment, and innovation. A clear declaration of urgency by the government would demonstrate its commitment to revitalizing the sector.

“Subsidise consumption through manufacturing: By offering tax reliefs and removing tariffs on key agricultural and manufacturing inputs, the government can reduce operational costs and encourage growth.

‘’These subsidies will also have a profound impact on job creation, especially for Nigeria’s youth, who will be gainfully employed in productive industries. The social and security benefits of such a move are immeasurable and far reaching.

‘’Create a favorable business environment: Ensuring ease of doing business is essential for long-term sustainability in the manufacturing sector. This requires a combination of administrative and legal reforms to eradicate bureaucratic barriers and other inefficiencies that hinder industrial growth.”

Marketers spend days at Dangote Refinery, buying through NNPCL — IPMAN

Meanwhile, the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, said yesterday the price of petrol could reduce, if its members wwere allowed to buy petrol directly from Dangore Refinery.

IPMAN President, Abubakar Garima, who disclosed this in an interview on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily programme, also said his members could hardly load petrol from Dangote Refinery in Lagos, despite paying N40 billion to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL.

He expressed surprise that the owner of the refinery, Aliko Dangote, said marketers are boycotting his refinery to buy imported petrol.

The IPMAN boss said his members are not importing petrol, as claimed by Dangote, adding that rather than get Dangote petrol through the NNPCL, the private refinery should register independent petrol marketers directly for smooth loading of the product.

“If he (Dangote) can be able to sell the product to us directly, we can buy it because we have to pay before we pick. Currently, we have N40 billion with the NNPCL but we cannot source the product.
“Just of recent, there are some of my marketers that NNPCL sent to load in Dangote refinery and those marketers stayed there with their trucks for four days, and they cannot load.”

Recall that Dangote had after at a meeting with President Bola Tinubu in Abuja on Tuesday, told reporters that he had over 500 million litres in tanks in his refinery but lamented that marketers are not patronising his facility.

However, Garima said IPMAN, with over 20,000 members in Nigeria, had N 40 billion upfront payment with the NNPCL and still couldn’t load petrol from the refinery.

He said Nigerians will see a reduction in the pump price of petrol if Dangote Refinery allowed independent marketers lift the product directly like NNPCL.

Check your price’

The IPMAN president also urged Dangote to check the price of his commodity if marketers importing petrol are boycotting his product. “Since he (Dangote) says marketers are not buying his product, he should check his price properly. Is it higher than what they are obtaining outside or is it the same rate?
‘’Then if marketers buy this product through him, how long will it take for it to reach their depots? That one too is a factor,” Garima stated.

The IPMAN president said there was nothing wrong if marketers outside his organisation decided to sell imported products but insisted that Dangote should review its price.