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Subsidy removal: Borno, Adamawa, Yobe rolls out palliative
Borno, Adamawa and Yobe governments have embarked on measures to ameliorate the current hardship on citizens caused by the removal of petrol subsidy.
Citizens of the three states worst affected by insurgency in North East have been experiencing hardship which many said is further worsened by the subsidy removal.
In Borno and Yobe states, the distribution of palliatives to households has commenced in earnest, while in Adamawa, the committee constituted for the exercise is still working on modalities.
Gov. Babagana Zulum of Borno said during the launch of the palliatives distribution at Maisandari Ward of Maiduguri that his administration would sustain the support to the less-privileged and communities affected by insurgency throughout his tenure.
Zulum said that while the Federal Government palliatives would cater for 100,000 vulnerable households in the state, his administration would provide for additional 300,000 households to make a total of 400,000 households.
He explained that ”Borno’s case is peculiar as some areas have been devastated by the insurgency and returnees are yet to have full access to their farmlands, hence the need to continue supporting them.”
The Chairman of North East Civil Society Forum, Amb. Ahmed Shehu, lauded the early distribution of palliatives by the Borno Government, particularly the involvement of CSOs in the committee, and urged other states to emulate Borno.
He said “I am urging other states to also involve Civil Society Organisations in the palliative committees for transparency and accountability.”
In Yobe, the Deputy Governor who is the Chairman of the palliatives committee, Alhaji Idi Gubana, said distribution of palliatives has commenced, targeting 80,000 households in 17 local government areas of the state.
Gubana, who spoke through his Press Secretary, Mr Hussaini Mai-Suleh, said the distribution had been launched in the three senatorial zones, with that of Zone A in Damaturu, Zone B in Fune, and Zone C in Jakusko.
In Adamawa, the distribution of palliatives is yet to commence, but the state government had constituted a distribution committee under the Chairmanship of the Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Auwal Tukur.
The committee was inaugurated on Wednesday by the Deputy Governor, Prof. Kaleptapwa Farauta, and members were tasked to ensure that the palliatives reached the intended persons.
“Work out necessary modalities for the transportation of palliatives, both food and non-food items, from the source to the distribution points.
“Monitor and liaise with relevant stakeholders or community agents and ensure equitable distribution of the palliatives to the intended beneficiaries,” Farauta tasked members of the committee.
Some Internally Displace Persons (IDPs) at Damare camp in Girei Local Government Area of Adamawa, urged the state goverment not to forget displaced persons in the exercise.
Ladi Paul, the Women Leader in the camp, said that about 227 households were in serious need of food support in the camp.
“I am appealing to government to come to our aid; we were affected by flood in 2022 and the removal of fuel subsidy has further compounded our situation in the camp”, she said.
Some residents of Yola also lamented the delay in the distribution of the palliatives, adding that the recent looting of food items in government stores in the states by some youths should serve as a wake-up call.
The Nigerian Railway Corporation has announced the suspension of services between Delta and Kogi due to the unsatisfactory nature of the track conditions from Ujevwu in Delta State to Itakpe in Kogi State.
This was disclosed in a notice titled “Public Announcement” which was sent to customers, indicating that the agency plans to resume operations on Monday, July 8, 2024.
The suspension, effective from Friday, was attributed to an obstruction on the track.
“This is to officially notify our esteemed passengers that the Warri-Itakpe Train will not run today Friday, 5th July 2024 due to the obstruction we have on our track.
“We shall resume our normal train services on Monday 8th July 2024. Passengers who already booked their tickets online will be refunded.
“All inconveniences are highly regretted. Thank you,” the statement added.
Ogun State Head of Service, Mr. Kehinde Onasanya has said that the State is leading other states of the Federation in Ease of Doing Business, owing to the provision of requisite infrastructural facilities through the Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects in the State.
Onasanya made this known while delivering a keynote address at the launch of a book titled “Practical Guide to Public Private Partnership Arrangement in Nigeria” authored by Pastor Adebisi Sogunle and held at the Waterfalls Events Centre, Ikeja, Lagos.
According to him, since the State passed the PPP law in 2019, the initiative has facilitated projects with road networks rehabilitated and expanded as well as reconstruction of the Ijebu-Ode-Epe Expressway among others.
He explained that the collaborative agreement between the public and private sectors was predicated on the strengths of both sectors to achieve outcomes that neither could effectively accomplish alone.
“Under the visionary leadership of His Excellency, Prince Dapo Abiodun, Ogun State has harnessed the potential of PPP to drive significant developments and give Ogun State focused and qualitative governance and as well create the necessary enabling environment for a public private sector partnership.
“This is fundamental to the creation of an enduring economic development and individual prosperity of the people of Ogun. Let me, therefore, highlight some of the notable projects of the State Government and their impacts through PPP:
“The Ogun State Agro Cargo Airport: Developed in partnership with the private sector, the Agro Cargo Airport is designed to facilitate the export of agricultural products, thereby boosting the agro-industrial sector.
ii.Ogun State Housing Development Projects: Several housing projects, including the Prince Court Estate, have been developed through PPP arrangements to address the housing deficit.
iii.Ogun State Energy Generation Projects: Lisabi Mini Power was developed in partnership with the private sector to generate 4.5mw Power for transmission and distribution within the State to Government core areas.
“Other projects of the State Government in the pipeline through PPPs include the Olokola Deep Sea Port, Sagamu Trailer Park, Sagamu Stadium, Hillcrest Estate, PMB Estate, Lomiro Oil Palm, OGSG Pharmaceuticals, OGSG Forestry project, Gateway Hotel Ota, Inland Dry Port at Kajola/Papalanto, amongst others,” the HoS said.
While congratulating the author of the book for his contributions to the discourse on PPP, Onasanya said the valuable resource will no doubt guide policy makers, practitioners and investors in navigating the complexities of PPP arrangements in Nigeria and urged public servants as well as private sector partners to key into the messages of the book and apply its lessons in their endeavours.
On his part, the former Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said the book is timely because government alone cannot maintain all its assets, which requires the PPP arrangements, saying the arrangement paved the way for some major road infrastructure with particular reference to Ogun State and commended the Ogun State Government for keying into the initiative, which has created more job opportunities for the people.
Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the event, the National President of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Dr. Chris Iziguzor said the PPP initiative has assisted Ogun State in achieving much in the area of infrastructural development and added that the arrangement, in turn, brought in more investors and provided job opportunities for the citizens.
In his response, the author, Pst. Adebisi Sogunle, while appreciating all guests for the support he got, said he wrote the book based on the experience he garnered while working on a PPP arranged programme in Cross River State.
He said the book will help in examining the roles of stakeholders because they have the responsibility to maintain the environment when political, economic, and administrative concerns arise while partnering.
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Reverse 40 per cent import fees on LPG to encourage local manufacturers – Techno Oil boss urges FG
Mrs Nkechi Obi, Group Managing Director (GMD), Techno Oil Limited has urged the Federal Government if Nigeria to reverse its policies on the importation of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) and Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) cylinders.
Obi made her displeasure known during a panel session at the 2024 Nigeria Oil and Gas (NOG) conference in Abuja.
Speaking, Obi pleaded with the government to reverse the zero import duties placed on the importation of LPG cylinders and restore the initial 40 per cent import duties, to discourage importation.
“We need policy reversal on that to encourage local producers. The unofficial explanation we are getting from some customs officers is that the Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) which the government wants to encourage its usage in Nigeria, has the same Harmonised System (HS) code with LPG.”
“So, the import benefits placed on CNG equipment eventually affected LPG equipment; that is why they were tied together on the zero import duties.”
“Harmonised System codes are commonly used throughout the import and export process for the classification of goods.”
“For me, we don’t produce CNG cylinders in Nigeria because it involves advanced technology but we produce LPG cylinders here.”
“For us to produce CNG cylinders, we have to change one or two machines, and we expect the government to encourage us to upscale our technology to 32, which we are planning to do.” She lamented.
Obi also called on the Federal Government to separate LPG HS code from that of CNG, to ensure that importers of LPG pay higher import duties, and to also enable the government to continue with its efforts to make CNG affordable in the country with zero import duties.
“The previous government protected those producing cylinders, so that import will not overshadow local production; they did that to encourage local manufacturing but when this government came into existence, policy changed.”
“We only enjoyed that policy for six months before it was scrapped and replaced with the new “zero import duties” policy.”
“Definitely, we have to produce CNG cylinders and the government needs to consider those that will go into that production. But if government policy is killing LPG cylinder production that we are doing, it will be very difficult to enter into CNG cylinder production.”
“So, if there is anybody who can venture into CNG cylinder production, we the producers of LPG cylinders are here to do that and it is in our plan.”
“But we are not encouraged to do it because of what happened to us in the LPG cylinder production because of the frustrating policy that is encouraging its importation,” Obi added.
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