Category: General

The Federal Ministry of Justice, in collaboration with Jos Electricity Distribution Company (JEDC), has inaugurated a joint task force to checkmate energy theft and other related offences.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the task force was named: Special Investigation and Prosecution Task Force on Electricity Offences (SIPTEO).

Speaking at the occasion on Thursday in Jos, Managing Director of JEDC, Mr Abdu Mohammed, said it would help bring to the barest minimum the issues of massive revenue leakages and investment losses resulting from energy theft and vandalism of electrical assets.

Mohammed noted that in spite of having a metering penetration of 240,000, those on prepaid meters represented 35 per cent of the company’s entire customer base, with an expected monthly revenue of N2.5 billion.

He, however, said that the company only made N1.4 billion monthly from prepaid customers, adding that 50 per cent of its collection was lost to energy theft.

According to him, the act undermines the company’s efforts at ensuring efficient service delivery.

Mohammed said that in 2021, the company spent N7, 298,134 on critical infrastructure upgrade, with the intent to improve reliability and safety of services.

He, however, said that the assets had come under relentless wave of attacks by vandals, notwithstanding their benefits to communities.

The managing director said that the company had expended between N400 million and N500 million on fixing and replacing vandalised transformers in 2023.

“This is clearly a double jeopardy for the company. While the company’s revenue is being massively depleted by vandalism and energy theft, the little that trickles in is expended on repair and replacement of the assets wrecked by vandals,” he said.

Earlier, the Board Chairman of JEDC, Alhaji Adamu Wakil, said that the initiative was laudable, as it would help clamp down energy theft and revenue loss.

NAN reports that the company had said that vandalism (theft of electricity lines and materials) attracts three to five years imprisonment and energy theft (meter tampering, bypass, hooking and intentional damage of electricity infrastructure) between six months and three years imprisonment.

Similarly, the offence of receiving stolen electricity attracts a penalty of 14 years imprisonment, while obstruction of JEDC staffers in the discharge of their duties attracts six years imprisonment or N2 million fine.

NAN also reports that various military and para-military agencies pledged their support in the fight against energy theft via provision of logistics.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

The Open Foundation West Africa (OFWA) has inaugurated a Kiwix4School app in Federal Government Boys College (FGBC), Wuye, Abuja, to address the students’ challenges in accessing internet-based curricular resources.

Ms Obiageli Ezeilo, Assistant Director, Federal Ministry of Education, while inaugurating the app on Thursday, said that the project is being implemented by OFWA under the Wikimedia Foundation.

According to Ezeilo, who is also a Kiwix ambassador, the aim of the project is to provide students with the opportunity to access available educational information.

“KIWIX serves as a complementary service to education by providing offline educational materials.

“The Kiwix app being introduced in FGBC today will help in revolutionising education. It will solve the problem of internet connectivity we experience in Africa and Nigeria.

“We have this problem of internet connectivity, or low internet or no internet connectivity at all. So with this app, those challenges would be solved.

“Educational contents would be downloaded in the school’s system and this will also serve as a control measure because students will not be having unnecessary interferences from the internet.

“It is also going to cut costs because instead of buying data all the time, you don’t need to spend that money anymore,” he said.

Ezeilo also said that FGBC was the pilot test for the Kiwix4School project, while other schools would be brought on-board with time.

She added that the app would not only be beneficial to students but to teachers as well.

In her remarks, Mrs Marian Ifejika-Tor, Assistant Director, Federal Ministry of Education, serving in FGBC Wuye, said the app would help students learn faster, especially in assessing information or resource materials.

“Whenever you give them assignments, they can easily go to the school’s media lab to get access to the information.

“This new development is great because it is starting with the children to catch them young and they will in turn, sell the idea to their parents.

“So, I think catching the young ones is very important and very key to education,” she said

Similarly, Mr Adebayo Adetunji, School Media staff, FGBC, Wuye, described the attitude of the students and acceptance to the app as great and welcoming.

Adetunji said that it was not difficult for the students to learn how the app operates because some of them were already computer inclined.

“The students are very smart and inquisitive; they are always ready to work so whenever they see technology related skills, they welcome it with open arms.

Adetunji encouraged students generally to delve into the use of technology to grow and build careers for themselves, as the opportunities in it were enormous.

Andrew Onomuakpokpo, Head Boy of FGBC, Wuye, commended the foundation for bringing the opportunity of Kiwix4School to his school.

According to Onomuakpokpo, “the project is awesome and apart from the fact that it will help us to learn faster and better, it will also help us to build our computer skills.

“As the head boy of the school, I will put all my efforts into learning this so that I can teach my fellow students,” he said.

The Labour Prefect of the school, Donald Akubuilo, said the Kiwix4School app had opened a smarter and better way to learn.

“It is very rich in materials, so it will boost my learning and I will be better academically.” he said.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

The Group Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Group Plc., Oscar Onyema, has advised African governments to reposition their economies to attract financial investments.

Onyema said this while speaking to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the sidelines of the ongoing 2023 African Investment Forum (AIF) marketplace in Marrakesh, Morocco.

He urged African leaders to remove roadblocks, ensure connectivity to transportation, and boost money payment systems on the continent.

He commended the Nigerian President, Bola Tinubu’s, administration’s effort towards ensuring a business-friendly environment for investors.

“We have talked about investments in human capital and ensuring that investors have a conducive environment when they come to a country to do business.

“All these things are very critical and I am sure that Nigeria understands that when you look at what the current administration is doing, there seems to be a significant focus on ensuring we have the right environment and infrastructure to support investors.

“And they are also going out there, telling investors that we want you to come and that we are open for business,” he said.

According to Onyema, these things are very important because investment flows are ubiquitous and they will go where it’s easiest for them. So we understand that.

He said: “from the capital market perspective, we have been talking to investors; portfolio investors do not like uncertainty.

“They like transparency; they like to be able to model expected returns to be able to articulate risk and manage the risk.

“So those are all very important things that our governments should be paying attention to as we try to attract investors.”

According to Onyema, the Nigerian Exchange Group Plc is at the AIF to showcase projects and connect with investors.

While commending the AIF, he said it was a good platform that brought together various players.

He also commended the governments that provided the facilitation, the project sponsors, and the investors.

On the effect of political risk on investors, Onyema said political risks were not peculiar to Africa, but were found everywhere in the world.

According to him, what is most important is the ability to fund and execute his project.

“The first thing to note is that one of the statistics the president of AfDB gave is that default rates in Africa is only 2.5 per cent, one of the lowest compared to other climes.

“Political risk exists everywhere in the world. Its not just Africa.

“But there seems to be a perception that because Africa is still experimenting with different political constructs, which are unstable, the numbers do not support them.

“With regards to the projects that are funded, there is a lot of work that happens before it gets to the marketplace, so all the products are already bankable before they get here,” he said.

NAN reports that AIF is where bankable projects in Africa meet with investors; investors meet with Heads of State and Governments in investment board rooms.

It is also where investment comfort is given, risks are managed, and deals are closed.

AIF, founded in 2018, is a multi-stakeholder platform that has become the continent’s premier investment platform.

It is a flagship initiative of the AfDB and the Islamic Development Bank.

It has the European Development Bank, Afreximbank, Trade and Development Bank, Development Bank of Southern Africa, Africa Finance Cooperation and Africa 50, as its founding partners.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

The Association of Certified Protocol Practitioners in Nigeria (ACPPN) has sympathised with the Canadian government over the fire outbreak at the High Commission of Canada to Nigeria, in Abuja.

ACPPN President, Mr Michael Ikinbor, in a statement issued by the spokesperson, Olatutu Oladunni, assured the Canadian Mission of the association’s full support.

Ikinbor appealed to the mission to maintain calmness and peace during the trying time.

The president sympathised with those affected directly and indirectly, describing the occurrence as unfortunate.

“For the families who lost their dear ones in the process, may God strengthen them and restore all that they have lost.

“I wish those still battling for their lives at the hospital, a quick recovery and perfect health,” he said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the explosion at a section of the Canadian High Commission in Abuja on Monday killed two people and left two others injured.

Global Affairs Canada, in a statement issued on Monday, said the cause of the explosion was being investigated and the high commission would be closed temporarily.

The closure implies that visa and immigration services for persons seeking to visit or emigrate to Canada has been put on hold until further notice.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

The National Commission for Refugees Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI) has received 36 Nigerian migrants including children deported from Sweden.

The Federal Commissioner, NCFRMI, Alhaji Tijani Ahmed, said during the returnees profiling that usually the deportees must have been contacted either on the account that they overstayed in their host country or expired VISA.

Ahmed, who was represented by Amb. Catherine Udida, the Director Migration Affairs in the Commission, said on Wednesday that the government of Sweden must have reminded the returnees of their irregular status.

He explained that Swedish authority must have given them two or three trials of opportunities for them to return of which they failed.

“They will have no option than to start processing their deportation because it is different from coming back voluntary.”

Ahmed also said that after profiling the returnees, they would be provided with accommodation, dignity kits and some stipends.

“We have profiled them, identified the vulnerable ones among them; in addition we are taking them to a hotel, trying to understand what the real issues are, and then follow up with referrals.

“Ordinarily, if they had come voluntarily, usually there is livelihood support scheme that is provided, so you go for training and you’re given some stipends for start ups.

“Because they were deported the onus is on us the government to make their lives as comfortable as possible,” Ahmed added.

He said that sometimes the government would keep the returnees for up to a year, saying that whether they were deported or not, the commission would ensure that they were taking care of properly.

He, therefore, assured the returnees that no mater the circumstances that brought them back, `Nigeria would continue to be their country and that there were too many opportunities for them to utilise.’

Mr Roland Nwoha, the Country Director, International Returns and Reintegration Assistance (IRARA) explained that the returnees were Nigerians who had immigration issues and were asked to leave Sweden.

Nwoha said that different countries have different laws, saying that some countries expected that any of their legal documents should be renewed before it expired, but some migrants were ignorant of it.

“But what they don’t understand is that you don’t wait until your documents expire before you renew it.

“And for us at IRARA, our duty is to support these Nigerians, help them get a safe landing. It’s likely many of them were brought back from detention centres, while some were picked up from the streets.

“We imagine that coming back will be difficult, so what we are doing is to provide them with arrival assistance, cash support, toiletries and a place to pass the night before they travel to their final destinations.

“Most importantly, we want to set up an income generating activity to welcome them back in a dignified way,” Nwoha said.

He said that the returnees were given N158,000 each including the children.

One of the deportees said he was undergoing treatment in a hospital before he was deported.

“I thought they were taking me to another hospital before I knew it, I found myself in Abuja although I was also in Sweden to seek asylum.”

Another returnee said she was married to a Swede and was in the process of regularising her documents before she was picked from her house.

“I’m not even well and I don’t have any relation here in Nigeria, all my family members are in UK,” she said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that among the returnees were seven families.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

Britain has reiterated its commitment to strengthening and advancing bilateral relations with Nigeria in the areas of health, education, and security.

British High Commissioner to Nigeria Dr Richard Montgomery said this at his residence in Abuja during the celebration of the 75th Birthday of King Charles III of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

According to Montgomery, Nigeria and the UK have exceptionally strong people-to-people links with a huge Nigerian diaspora population in the UK just as there’s a very big UK diaspora population in Nigeria with mutual interests in the creative arts, sports, and education.

“Nigeria really matters to the UK. We share history, We share interests in defense and security, trade and investment, and our justice and home affairs.

“We’ve worked together on development/cooperation, on health, education, livelihoods, and government effectiveness.

“We share our views and negotiate many foreign policy challenges and in many international organisations.

“And as shown by four ministerial visits during my first six months as high commissioner, we assure you that the UK stands ready to work in partnership with Nigeria, in all these areas of cooperation and more in the spirit of mutual respect.

“Our two countries also have exceptionally strong people-to-people links on education on the creative arts or sports and through the large UK and Nigeria industries in our country.

“So we’ve got a really strong relationship and it’s my job as British High Commissioner to build and strengthen it,” he said.

Montgomery also urged all Nigerian citizens to stay strong, especially with the pressures, particularly given the difficult global economy and inflation.

“I know that people are hurting at the moment. Inflation is high, but I want to stress that we need to believe that the new administration is making some big bold, and necessary reforms.

“This is because if Nigeria successfully implements its reforms there will be a higher growth path and everything will be possible in terms of people’s livelihoods,

“In the revenues necessary for services across the country, I’m really optimistic that Nigeria has a great future ahead,” he said.

The Emir of Kano, Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero, who was at the ceremony congratulated the king on his 75th birthday.

Bayero said he was looking forward to much stronger relations between the two countries during his tenure.

“The king has been assisting a lot, especially in girl child education and climate change, thank you.

“We know the role has been played as an heir apparent to the throne and Now that he’s here, we believe we can get more out of that experience.

“And also how we have been talking to each other where we think they can come in and assist and I believe the relationship will always be reciprocal,” the emir noted.

His Majesty Ogiame Atuwatse III Olu of Warri wished the king long life and good health during his reign.

“We believe that in your time Nigeria and the UK will build further relationships on the solid foundation of transparency, equity in terms of education, and trade, among other mutually beneficial platforms,” he said.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

The Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (NLNG), says the company has not increase the price of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG).

Mr Andy Odeh, General Manager, External Relations and Sustainable Development, NLNG, dismissed the alleged report of the increase in a statement issued in Port Harcourt on Wednesday.

He said the company cannot be blamed for any current surge especially as NLNG has so far delivered over 380,000 metric tonnes of LPG to the domestic market.

He said “NLNG has noted media reports insinuating that a price hike by the company is responsible for the surge in the domestic LPG, commonly known as cooking gas.

“The reports insinuated a price hike by the company and predicted that scarcity looms as a consequence.

“NLNG dismisses these media reports as speculative and indicative of a fundamental misunderstanding of Nigeria’s intricate market dynamics.”

Odeh said the company has grown the nation’s domestic LPG market volume from 50,000 metric tonnes in 2007 to over 1.3 million metric tonnes of both domestic and imported LPG in 2023.

“NLNG currently delivers over 450,000 metric tonnes per annum of Butane – the main product in cooking gas – and has embarked on domestic propane supply to further grow the market.

“The company has committed its entire Butane and Propane production to the domestic market from 2023, accounting for approximately 40 per cent of the total market volume.

“Since the beginning of the year, NLNG has delivered over 380,000 metric tonnes of LPG using the company’s dedicated LPG vessel,” he added.

The NLNG general manager said the company remained committed to delivering domestic LPG to locations close to the market.

He said diversifying delivery points, starting with Lagos in 2023, would ensure competition among terminal owners resulting to reduction in consumer supply chain costs.

According to him, the company was making efforts to reach terminals in Warri and Calabar as soon as challenges limiting safe delivery of gas to other locations are achieved.

“The domestic LPG market like any other is subject to dynamic market forces and various external factors.

“Factors like changes in exchange rates, and escalating price benchmarks mirroring crude oil prices, and the Panama Canal drought-induced vessel scarcity impacted transport costs especially for imported LPG.

“These factors have had a significant effect on energy prices in recent times and could undoubtedly be some of the reasons for recent price hikes witnessed in the domestic market,” he explained.

Odeh said that NLNG was fully focused towards ensuring the reliable supply of LPG production to the domestic market at prices that are reflective of the market.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

The Nigerian Association of Medical Physicists (NAMP) has appealed to President Bola Tinubu and the National Assembly (NASS) to support the passage of the Medical Physics Regulatory Council (Establishment) Bill, 2022.

The President of NAMP, Prof. Fatai Balogun, made the appeal during the association’s 2023 Annual Scientific Conference and Workshop on Thursday in Calabar.

The theme of the five-day conference, which started on Nov. 6 and would run until Nov. 10 is: “Medical Physics: Creating Innovation for Safe Radiation Medicine Practice.”

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Medical Physics Regulatory Council (Establishment) Bill, 2022 was formerly Medical Physics College and Medical Physics Regulatory Council of Nigeria, Bill 2017.

NAN also reports that medical physicists are healthcare professionals with specialised training in the application of physics to solve health challenges.

The NAMP president, therefore, said that the pending bill is aimed at producing college of medical physicists and a regulatory body to check the activities of academic and clinical medical physicists.

According to him, if the bill is passed, it will enable the nation to train those who want to go directly to clinical studies, while encouraging people to take the field of medical physics as a viable option.

Balogun said, “medical physicists are so important in healthcare provision. Infact, without them, you cannot set up an oncology centre because without medical physicists, there will be no oncologists.

“Currently, our members are just over 100, with very few of them certified because Nigeria does not have a regulatory body necessary for certification.”

Ms Olusola Osunsami, the Chairperson of NAMP Clinical Training and Certification Board, stressed the need for legislative backing for medical physicists to be recognised as healthcare professionals.

She said the physicists play vital roles in the way patients are treated because they ensure science and technology are used for effective and safe medical practice.

On her part, Dr Nwamaka Lasebikan, the President of the Association of Radiation and Clinical Oncologists (ARCON), commended NAMP for the 2023 conference.

Represented by Dr Ololade Kehinde, the Secretary General of ARCON, Lasebikan called for investment by government, individuals and financial institutions, while appealing for a reduction of bottlenecks that hinder the establishment of cancer centres.

Dr Samuel Otene, the Chairman, Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), National Cancer Committee, said that the relationship between clinical oncologists and medical physicists was so strong as they could not do without each other.

Otene said while an oncologist could give a dose of radiation to a cancer patient, the oncologist needed a medical physicist to explain the safety of the amount of radiation to the body of the patient.

He said while cancer care is a multi-disciplinary endeavour, its challenge still remained the high cost of treatment.

He added that, “if we can find a way to incorporate cancer care into the health insurance scheme, it will go a long way in reducing the rate of cancer mortality in the country”.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria