Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa State has unveiled a new transport scheme as part of measures to alleviate the suffering of commuters in the state occasioned by the Federal Government’s removal of fuel subsidy.

Inaugurating 100 taxis and six luxury buses at the DSP Alamieyeseigha Banquet Hall premises in Yenagoa, yesterday, Diri said the initiative was his administration’s palliative to boost the transportation sector.

The governor in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Daniel Alabrah, acknowledged the hardship on Bayelsans due to the removal of the subsidy on petrol.

He said: “This is another historic day as we launch this fleet of transport vehicles to alleviate the suffering of our people.

“For those who have been crying over the ban on commercial tricycles at night, this is an effective replacement. The ban is, however, still in force.

“Now, we have taxis that will run within the city of Yenagoa and environs to the Niger Delta University at Amassoma, to the airport and the Federal University, Otuoke and other towns.

“I appreciate all Bayelsans for their patience. You know that your government has your welfare at heart.”

He called on youths of the state to take advantage of the initiative to empower themselves just as he projected that over 100 youths would be engaged as drivers in the intra-state and intra-city transport scheme.

Handing over the keys of the vehicles to General Manager of the Bayelsa State Transport Company, BSTC, Chief Timi Fanama, the governor said the new arrangement would be different from previous government’s transport initiatives in the state and urged the management to make good use of the vehicles to enhance the transport system.

On his part, Fanama urged youths to avail themselves of the scheme and see driving as a career.

In a welcome address, the Commissioner for Transport, Grace Ekiotene, appreciated the governor for inaugurating the scheme to cushion the effect of the hardship faced by Bayelsans as a result of the subsidy removal.

The police in Nigeria’s federal capital territory have apprehended a 46-year-old man, identified as Jude, for having the carnal knowledge of his two daughters and impregnating them in the process.

The incident happened at Ikwa community, Zuba Chiefdom, in Gwagwalada Area Council of the FCT.

The accused reportedly has four kids; two females and two males.

According to a neighbour, identified as Idris, the incident came to public knowledge after one of the daughters reported the matter to her fiancé who was a police officer in Minna, Niger State.

He further disclosed that before the arrest, the accused conspired with his wife to abort the pregnancies and sweep the matter under the carpet.

He added, “In fact, when the man was taken to the police station, his wife was trying to cover up the matter, but her daughters opened up and told them how their father had been sleeping with them and how they aborted their pregnancies.’’

A police officer at the division who preferred anonymity, confirmed the incident, saying the suspect would be charged to court.

Spokeswoman of the FCT Police Command, DSP Adeh Josephine, has not issued a statement regarding the incident.

The naira appreciated against the United States dollar on the Investor & Exporter forex window on Wednesday, closing at 793.70/$.

A spot exchange rate of N853 to the dollar was the highest rate recorded within the day’s trading before it settled at N793.70.

On Wednesday, $87.19 million was traded at the investor’s and exporters’ window.

The local currency had earlier traded at N825 a week earlier on the I&E window.

According to figures obtained from the FMDQ, the trading, which commenced at 778.07/$ on Wednesday reached a high of 853/$ before closing at 793.70/$.

The trading also recorded a turnover of $87.19m as of the end of trading.

The Central Bank of Nigeria, in recent weeks, directed Deposit Money Banks to remove the rate cap on the naira at the I&E window to allow for a free float of the national currency against the dollar and other global currencies.

The banking regulator explained its new forex operation in its report on ‘Understanding the operational changes to the foreign exchange market’.

By collapsing all segments in the FX market into the I&E window, it said this meant all eligible FX transactions in the market would only be done via the I&E window, as all other windows ceased to exist.

“The I&E market functions by a willing buyer, willing seller system, where an entity with demand for FX seeks out another entity with FX to sell at an agreed price through an authorised dealer,” the CBN stated.

On the concept of the willing buyer and willing seller model, it explained that the rates were mutually agreed by both parties.

The CBN said PTA, BTA and other invisible transactions would continue to be accessed through the banks at the prevailing market rate.

The Central Bank of Nigeria had announced Tuesday and Wednesday next for its Monetary Policy Committee Meeting, where decisions will be made on the Country’s economic challenges.

No fewer than 2,500 ghost workers have been uncovered from the payroll of local government areas in Benue State.

There are 23 local governments in the state.

Benue State Governor, Hyacinth Alia, disclosed this in a press statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Kula Tersoo, and made available to journalists in Makurdi on Thursday.

The governor, who gave reason for the the delay in payment of salaries of teachers in primary and post-primary schools, as well as the local government staff, said there was a need to sanitize and clean all the manipulations created by the past administration.

Alia explained that the probe into activities of local government during the last administration revealed mindless padding of the wage bills and manipulation of the payroll.

The statement read in parts, “The governor says the decision for the delay in the payment of salaries of the above-mentioned workers was taken after the government discovered mindless padding of the wage bill and other fraudulent manipulations on their payroll.

“He says the decision became necessary after the discovery, to enable the government sanitize and cleanse the payroll; to ascertain the actual wage bill of the state, and to know the genuine workers that are worth their wages.

“He reveals that the first phase of an extensive staff verification and payroll audit for all teachers and local government staff has just been concluded, and it has already uncovered over 2500 ghost workers that have already been removed from the payroll.

“He identifies ghost workers, ghost schools, double dipping, unlawful employment, salary padding, payment to dead or retired individuals, unlawful replacement, and inflation of the wage bill, as some of the payroll infractions discovered from the audit.

“He assures that workers who were successfully screened will receive their salaries before the end of this week, noting that government is not only fishing out ghosts workers and removing the padding associated with payroll fraud but also putting in measures to ensure the systems are protected going forward.”

Alia had suspended the 23 local government chairmen to pave the way for a thorough investigation into alleged maladministration in the council areas by the state assembly.

The Vice President described President Tinubu as a leader with a genuine interest to transform the country, adding that his principal is a good man.

He said: “President Bola Tinubu is a good man, I will urge all of us to rally around and support him.”

On his personal relationship with the former senators, the Vice President said “In the last four years, I have formed permanent bonds of friendship and of fraternity that I believe will stay with me for the rest of my life.

“I want to assure you that I will work with you in the interest of our nation. What binds us together as a family and a nation supersede whatever that divides us.”

Earlier in his remarks, the leader of the delegation, Sen. Philip Aduda, said the visit was not partisan as composition of the group comprised members across different political affiliations who are united for the progress of the country.

He pledged their support for the Tinubu administration and prayed for the success of its policies and programmes.

In the same vein, Senator George Sekibo expressed confidence that the capacity, humility and depth of knowledge of the Vice President will impact the policies and programmes of the Tinubu administration and reassured Shettima of their loyalty and solidarity at all times.

Other members of the delegation included Senator Sam Egwu; Sen. Aliyu Abdullahi; Sen. Gabriel Suswam; Sen. Emmanuel Bwacha; Sen. Chukwuma Utazi; Sen. Ibrahim Oloriegbe; Sen. Uche Ekwunife; Sen. Betty Apiafi; Sen. Yakubu Oseni; Sen. Jarigbe Agom Jarigbe; Sen. Suleiman Kwari; Sen Danjuma Laah; Sen. Cleopas Moses and Sen. Stella Oduah.

Sen. Biodun Olujimi; Sen. Nora Daduut; Sen. Bulus Amos; Sen. Istaifanus Gyang; Sen. Michael Nnachi; Sen Hassan Mohammed; Sen. Albert Bassey Akpan; Sen. Clifford Ordia; Sen. Hezekiah Dimka, and Sen. Chukwuma Ibezim, were also at the meeting.

The National Working Committee (NWC) of the factional National Chairman of the Labour Party ( LP), Lamidi Apapa, has felicitated with the party’s flag bearer, Peter Obi, on his 62nd birthday.

The Apapa-led NWC of the party, as much as they jubilate with Obi, said they regret fielding him as the party’s presidential candidate for the 2023 presidential election, Naija News gathered.

According to the faction, Obi, rather than representing varied interests in the party, chose the interest of a faction.

The faction, in a statement issued on Wednesday night by Suspended National Publicity Secretary of the Labour Party, Comrade Abayomi Arabambi, said as he celebrates his 62 birthday, he should reflect on being a statesman rather than a regional bigot.

Arabambi said, “The National Working Committee (NWC) of the Labour Party (LP) felicitates with its popular presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Gregory Obi, on his 62nd anniversary.

“The Party wishes that the occasion should provide the celebrant a period of deep reflection and ponder on the citizens-conferred status of a statesman who represents interests beyond his ethnic leaning

“The Lamidi Apapa-led National Working Committee of the Party hereby charges the celebrant to, on this occasion of thanksgiving to God, to be reflective of the Nigerian interest, which he seeks to serve.

“While we in the Labour party join him to thank God and wish him a good health and prosperity we want to also remind him that his popularity emanates from the love of the people for the Labour party and galvanized by his representation of the people.

“In wishing him well, we want him to state that we regret fielding him on the platform of the party, in the light of recent development particularly actions that undermined the discipline the Labour party has been known for.

“It is indeed worrisome that even though he went to the Presidential Electoral Tribunal as a non-member of the Labour Party and lied severally that there was a time they issued subpoena to INEC for all those document and maintained that they, they were unable to pay all the documents they seek to tender, kicks regret in our party stakeholders.

“We are further disturbed that our presidential candidate would rely on a “non party agent’ who came to court to defend the alleged stolen mandate,” this is regrettable as it is laughable.

“We wish him well for his 62nd year birthday. We made a mistake to have fielded him to, which we will never repeat again.

“We had thought that this birthday will offer him an opportunity to have a reflection that would make him a better Nigerian and not an Ethnic bigot.”

There’s a trending video from nine years ago. If you watched it casually, you might in fact think that it was done yesterday. It was a clip of Ugandan President, Yoweri Museveni, narrating what happened in 2014 when a delegation of African heads of state was asked by AU to mediate the Libyan crisis at the time.

Museveni’s account of the outcome of the assignment, which has so far not been denied by NATO, was a scandal – an African shame – on steroids. It’s surprising how the incident remained largely unreported until this video resurfaced again recently.

It wasn’t the usual anti-Western trope about colonialism, neo-colonialism or imperialism that caught my attention. It was what appeared, if Museveni were to be believed, to be the brazen, daylight interference of NATO in the peace mission of the African leaders and how they responded to it.

Museveni told a meeting of the Pan-African parliament in Midrand, South Africa, that a plane conveying six African heads of state to Tripoli, including his own minister who represented him, was asked not to proceed by NATO as the aircraft approached the Libyan airspace on its mission. 

“How can African leaders nominated by an African continental body, on African soil, be stopped by NATO from doing their duty,” he asked the parliament, pointing out that even the Mauritanian President, Mohammed Abdul Aziz, who was chair of that session of the parliament, was also on the trip. 

The Ugandan leader described the incident as a classic case of African elite betrayal. As the camera panned the helpless, forlorn look on the faces of the leaders present in the hall, you could almost hear a pin drop. 

I don’t know what Museveni might have done if he was on the plane on that day, and he didn’t say either. It however appears improbable to me that a man who had been in bed with the West for decades would have done anything other than what the delegation on that Tripoli mission did: meekly accepted his fate, like the rest, while the plane returned to base. How could Museveni not see that he was a part of the African elite betrayal story?

Helen Epstein wrote in her book, Another Fine Mess: America, Uganda And the War on Terror, that Museveni owes his longevity in power to billions of American dollars that have been used to train and buy equipment for his army and prop his government. Western aid to Uganda accounts for over 10 percent of that country’s GDP, and was, in fact, up to 42 percent of the budget in 2006. To put it politely, western pipers have always called Uganda’s tune.

Things only began to fall apart between Museveni and his sponsors after the homosexual rights wars broke out, worsened by his strong-arm tactics against the opposition in that country’s last general election. Not that he suddenly discovered the despicable history of western colonialism and exploitation in Africa or the treachery of the elite.

Since watching that video of Museveni’s blood boiling over what was apparently a latter-day moment of African epiphany, made after he had been in power for 28 years, I’ve been asking myself if NATO might have asked a plane conveying Nelson Mandela, Robert Mugabe and Olusegun Obasanjo on that kind of mission to make a mid-air return. Very unlikely. 

If the current crop of African leaders had not eaten the sour grapes of betrayal, it is improbable that NATO would treat them with such contempt. So, what would NATO have done if the airplane defied the return-to-base order? Shot down an aircraft carrying six African leaders on an AU peace mission in Africa? Sadly, the mission is a metaphor for the current state of leadership on the continent; they love life too much to dare. 

Interestingly, there was not even a word of protest from the AU after the aborted mission, allegedly directed by NATO in name only. The mastermind, obviously, was Barack Obama, the first Black American president, who would later unleash perhaps one of the most consequential destabilising forces on the Sahel after the brutal elimination of Moummar Ghaddafi. I’m not sure it was a moment that Obama would look back on with pride. Yet, for the AU, too busy with the politics of subservience to care, it was business as usual.

Another African leader has been talking lately, making statements that re-echo memories of Museveni’s bluster. William Ruto, Kenya’s president while addressing the Djibouti parliament in June, said something fairly radical. Why, he asked Djibouti, should that country or any other African country for that matter, conduct bilateral trade amongst themselves in US dollars?

Although Ruto said he was not opposed to settling accounts for trade with the US in dollars, his statement was the diplomatic equivalent of what should have been the appropriate response of that AU-Libya mission to NATO’s meddling: that the alliance had no business stopping the AU delegation from landing on the soil of an African country which, in any case, was not a member of NATO.

On the face of it, there’s really no reason intra-African trade should be settled in dollars. The EU, perhaps the largest single currency union, conducts intra-European trade in euros. So, why can’t AU, especially if the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), the continent’s financial provider, set up a payment and settlement mechanism to facilitate intra-African trade? As tempting as this option may be and in spite of the obvious advantages including reduction of transaction costs among others, the devil is in the detail. Ruto knows.

With 54 countries in Africa, it would be interesting to test a continental payment clearing house that is not even contemplating optimum currency area – a slightly different system that would have allowed trading in one or more frequently used regional currencies – but is instead thinking of dealing with 42 different currencies on the continent simultaneously. 

Given the current disastrously low volume of intra-African trade, which is about 18.2 percent or $169.7 billion in 2021, a common clearing house is hardly as important as removing the barriers to trade that have stunted the impact of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA).

Unnecessary restrictions and obstacles to the movement of people and goods, shambolic customs regulations and border policing — not to mention poor infrastructure and protectionist policies by countries that fear, not always irrationally, that their neighbours are conduits for cheap foreign products — have severely limited trade among African countries and denied citizens prosperity. 

These are not problems that can be solved by settling bank notes or making sound bites. Until African countries develop the capacity to go beyond being just primary commodity markets, always looking outside the continent to consume, in excess, what they cannot produce, Ruto’s wishes would remain what they are – wishes. 

Does Ruto know, for example, that a number of Francophone countries in West and Central Africa which are part of the CFA franc zone still maintain 50 percent of their reserves in the French Treasury in Paris? It isn’t a big secret that France torpedoed the attempt by ECOWAS to introduce the ‘ECO’ as a subregional currency three years ago. How will an African payment settlement system extricate Francophone West Africa from decades of French namby-pamby?

Also, when Britain announced recently, for example, that it was adding Nigeria’s naira to its list of pre-approved currencies, allowing it to provide financing for transactions with Nigerian businesses in the local currency, it was hardly an act of charity. It was, instead, that country’s calculated response to the new reality of its post-Brexit misery. 

African leaders may chew the microphone all they want in Midrand, South Africa or in Djibouti. Ruto and his colleagues would soon find, as the six African leaders on that aborted AU mission to Libya found many years ago, that the strong have the weak for lunch. 

When vested interests push back against the fancy idea of an African payment and settlement system, as they will, would the mission return to base?

Azu Ishiekwene is Editor-In-Chief of LEADERSHIP  

The ICC International Maritime Bureau (IMB) recently released its January to June 2023 IMB Piracy and Armed Robbery Report Summary Sheet, which indicates a resurgence of piracy around the Gulf of Guinea waters. In this report, TOLA ADENUBI looks at the reasons the scourge is returning.

The launch of the Integrated National Security and Waterways Protection Infrastructure, otherwise known as Deep Blue project by the Federal Government in 2021 and the collaborative efforts of international navies patrolling the Gulf of Guinea (GoG) waters brought succour to the waters off Nigerian coastline, leading to a drastic drop in the rate of piracy attacks on vessels between late 2021 and most part of 2022.

With a drop in piracy incidents, Nigeria recorded zero attacks on ships calling at its  ports and this necessitated the removal of the most populous black nation from the list of countries designated as risk maritime nations by the International Bargaining Forum (IBF) in the first quarter of 2022.

The IBF, which is a body that brings together the International Transport Federation (ITF) and the international maritime employers that make up the Joint Negotiating Group (JNG), had listed five designated risk areas and applicable benefits in the event of attacks leading to deaths and disability, mentioning the Gulf of Guinea as second extended war risk zone covering Liberia/Ivory Coast border to 00°N 005°E, to the Angola/Namibia border.

However, events in the first and second quarter of 2023, according to the 2023 January to June IMB Piracy and Armed Robbery Report Summary Sheet of the International Maritime Bureau (IMB), has shown a return of insecurity in the GoG waters.

According to the IMB, 65 incidents of piracy and armed robbery against ships were recorded in the first half of 2023 in the GoG, an increase from 58 incidents for the same period in 2022.

Of the 65 incidents reported, 57 vessels were boarded, four had attempted attacks, two were hijacked and two were fired upon. Perpetrators successfully boarded 90 percent of targeted vessels. Violence towards crew continues with 36 taken hostage, 14 kidnapped, three threatened, two injured and one assaulted.

The IMB mid-year report further stated that “The Gulf of Guinea witnessed a concerning surge in maritime incidents between Q1 and Q2 of 2023, with five incidents in the first quarter and nine in the second quarter. Out of these, 12 were classified as armed robberies and two as piracy, predominantly targeting anchored vessels in the region.

“Fourteen crew were kidnapped, of which eight crew members were taken from vessels anchored within territorial waters. Additionally, in two separate hijackings, 31 crew members were held hostage, communication and navigation equipment destroyed and partial cargoes stolen. One of these incidents also involved the abduction of six crew members.”

Appealing to governments in the GoG waters to redouble efforts in tackling maritime crimes, IMB Director, Michael Howlett, said, “The resurgence in reported incidents including hostage situations and crew kidnappings in the Gulf of Guinea waters is concerning. The IMB calls for continued, robust regional and international naval presence as a deterrent to address these crimes.

“We once again call on the Gulf of Guinea regional authorities and the international community to refocus their attention on the region, to establish long-term, sustainable solutions that effectively address these crimes and protect the seafaring and fishing communities.”

Why resurgence of piracy?

Findings by the Nigerian Tribune have revealed that due to the ongoing onslaught against oil thieves on Nigerian waters, most of the people siphoning the nation’s crude oil are gradually returning to their first job – piracy.

Disclosing this to the Nigerian Tribune exclusively, a top official of Tantita Security Services, a private security firm contracted by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) to tackle oil theft, explained that most of the people perpetrating oil theft were also involved in kidnapping-for-ransom attacks on ships before.

The Tantita Security Services official, who wouldn’t want his name in print as he has not been authorised to speak on the matter, said “I am not surprised piracy is gradually on the rise again.

“The pirates never left before; they only switched trade due to the pressure on them from international navies and the Nigerian Navy. They switched to oil theft after some of them were killed by foreign navies patrolling the GoG.

“If you observed, as piracy declined, oil theft increased. These guys never left in the first place; they only switched trade. These guys are used to making money in foreign currency through illicit activities on Nigeria’s waterways.

“So, as piracy went down, activities in oil theft increased. Nigeria was losing huge revenue due to its crude oil being stolen to neighbouring African countries. That was why Nigeria witnessed a drastic drop in piracy attacks on ships.

“But since the NNPCL contracted Tantita Security Services to help in tackling oil theft, the pressure is now on these guys to switch trade again. You know that anywhere Tompolo puts his hands, the place always becomes hot for whoever is competing with him (Tompolo) for such space.

“Tompolo is fully focused on the war against oil theft and, as such, there cannot be room for people who indulge in such illegal activities. They are moving back to piracy because stealing crude oil now is a no-go area for them.

“Some of them have lost ships. We just destroyed a ship, MT TURA II, some days ago for trying to steal Nigeria’s crude oil to Cameroon. The vessel was burnt to serve as deterrent for other would-be-oil-thieves.

“So, they are going back to piracy. I saw the IMB report. It is important that our security operatives are on top of their game because the statistics of attacks on commercial ships may rise if unchecked.”

Recall that the vessel, MT TURA II (IMO number: 6620462), owned by a Nigerian registered company, Holab Maritime Services Limited, with registration Nnumber RC813311, was heading to Cameroon with stolen crude on board when it was apprehended at an offshore location (Latitude: 5.8197194477543235°, Longitude: 4.789002723991871°), with the captain and crew members on board.

[Tribune]

The First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu, on Wednesday in Abuja, urged female lawmakers in the 10th National Assembly to work together and remain teachable as they discharge their duties for the next four years.

“As a former lawmaker, I advise you to please work together, irrespective of party affiliation, because the success of the nation depends on this. My advice is that, be teachable. Stay that way. Learn new things. Try it. You can’t say you are all-knowing,” Mrs Tinubu said when she received female senators and members of the House of Representatives at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The Special Adviser to the First Lady, Busola Kukoyi, disclosed this in a statement she signed on Wednesday titled, ‘The First Lady Oluremi Tinubu encourages female National Assembly members to remain committed to constituents.’

The statement quoted her as saying, “You are the women here at the National Assembly for the masses, and you should not take this for granted”.

“As a former lawmaker, I advise you to please work together, irrespective of party affiliation, because the success of the nation depends on this.”

She urged the women not to lose their femininity in the execution of their duties.

[Punch]

The federal government says the country targets to earn $5 billion from exporting jobs in the outsourcing industry in 2024.

Dr Ezra Yakusak, the Executive Director of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council, NEPC, disclosed this at the National Conference on International Trade-in-Service organized by the council on Wednesday in Abuja.

He emphasized the significance of outsourcing to the Nigerian economy.

Yakusak explained that some outsourced services include financial, advertising, courier, customer support, and logistics.

According to him, Nigeria is moving gradually and focusing more on the export of services because it is an area that has been neglected for a long time.

He added that the Country’s high population, less expensive labour cost, and English proficiency make it appealing to companies and businesses worldwide.

“It has so much potential, but if our services sector is well harnessed, we can earn more than the $4 .8 billion we earn from our products.

“We are looking at five billion dollars in 2024,” he said.

[DailyPost]