Fashola craves investment in power sector to boost supply

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   Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola has urged local and international investors to take advantage of the various investment opportunities in the power sector to boost their fortunes and improve electricity supply in the country.
He made the call at the opening of a two-day EU/Nigeria business forum organised by the European Union (EU) delegation to Nigeria in Lagos.

   Fashola listed the investable areas in the sector to include the distribution companies which need capitals to buy meters, gas supply, generation companies, Transmission Companies of Nigeria (TCN), rural electrification, promotion of coal and solar power and funding graduates of the National Power Training Institute to be able to produce cables and other power equipment.

   “Public Private Partnership (PPP) is key in financing projects and providing infrastructure. We in governance recognise that and serious investors know we are ready to create a frame-work for sustainable development.”
According to him, investments in infrastructures such as energy, schools, highways, among others, are driving growth globally. Contributors at the panel discussion include Chief Executive Officer, Nigeria Sovereign Investment Agency, Mr. Uche Orji; Deputy Country Director, Agence Francaise de Development (AFD), Mr. Hugo Pierrel; Country Manager, International Finance Corporation, EmeEssien Lore; and the Head, Economic Cooperation and Energy Section, EU delegation, Mr. Juan CASlA.

  They stressed the need to harness grants for renewable power generation, and called for increased commitments in power generation and distribution through partnership. The experts advanced the need for creation of credit guarantor system for projects in the power sector.
Kaduna State Governor Nasir el-Rufai said infrastructure deficit, especially electricity, had been a major problem in the textile industry, hence the need to support the government in providing steady power supply.
However, in an interview with The Guardian, Slovakia Ambassador to Nigeria, Peter Holasek, who introduced the country’s trade delegations to the forum, said their visit was part of efforts at establishing trade relations in key sectors of the economy such as energy, power, mining, ICT and food processing. He added that Slovakia businesses would seek established Nigerian business partners in the relevant sectors.

  The Head of EU delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Michel Arrion, said the objective of this year’s forum was to explore measures for financing power in Nigeria.
Governor of Lagos State, Akinwunmi Ambode, represented by Mr. Tunji Bello, and the President of Lagos Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Chief Mrs. Nike Akande, described the forum as timely, especially with the dwindling revenue from oil.

They stressed the urgent need to boost infrastructural development for economic growth, and expressed the hope that the meeting would engender mutual trade and economic relations

Boko Haram faction ready to negotiate release of 83 more Chibok girls

The Islamic State-allied faction of Boko Haram which last week freed 21 of more than 200 Chibok girls kidnapped in April 2014 in northeast Nigeria is willing to negotiate the release of 83 more of the girls, the president's spokesman said on Sunday.
Around 220 girls were taken from their school in 2014 in Chibok in northeastern Borno state, where Boko Haram has waged a seven-year insurgency aimed at creating an Islamic state, killing thousands and displacing more than 2 million people.

A faction of the militant group released 21 of the girls on Thursday after the Red Cross and the Swiss government brokered a deal. They were brought from the northeastern city of Maiduguri to the capital Abuja to meet state officials.
"These 21 released girls are supposed to be tale bearers to tell the Nigerian government that this faction of Boko Haram has 83 more Chibok girls," Garba Shehu, spokesman for President Muhammadu Buhari, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by phone.
"The faction said it is ready to negotiate if the government is willing to sit down with them," said Shehu, adding that the state is prepared to negotiate with the branch of Boko Haram.
The Islamic State-allied splinter group said the rest of the kidnapped Chibok girls were with the part of Boko Haram under the control of figurehead Abubakar Shekau, according to Shehu.

Boko Haram has apparently split with a big group moving away from Shekau over his failure to adhere to guidance from the Iraq- and Syria-based Islamic State, which in August named Musab al-Barnawi as its new leader for West Africa.
But that appointment was later dismissed in a 10-minute audio clip on social media by a man purporting to be Shekau, exposing divisions within the jihadist group that has plagued Nigeria and neighbours Chad, Niger and Cameroon.

Information Minister Lai Mohammed on Thursday denied reports that the state had swapped captured Boko Haram fighters for their release and said he was not aware if any ransom had been paid. He said a Nigerian army operation against Boko Haram would continue.
In recent days, the Nigerian army has been carrying out an offensive in the Sambisa forest, a stronghold of Boko Haram.
The militants controlled a swathe of land around the size of Belgium at the start of 2015, but Nigeria's army has recaptured most of the territory. The group still stages suicide bombings in the northeast, as well as in neighbouring Niger and Cameroon.

Project Fame Season 9...AND THE WINNER IS..........

And the Winner is…

25-year-old Okiemute Ighorodje Wins Season 9 of MTN Project Fame West Africa!
Okiemute Ighorodje
Season 9 of MTN Project Fame West Africa has come to an end and it was
Okeimute that took the enviable first prize.
For the closing gala, Okiemute performed
Phyno‘s hit song “Fada Fada”.
She claimed the N5m prize, an SUV, and a recording contract worth millions of Naira.
The glorious winning moment for the new MTN Project Fame champion. Say hello to the winner of Season 9, Okiemute. She performed an amazing version of Phyno and Olamide’s “Fada Fada” and killed it!

The first runner up was Elizabeth , who performed Tiwa Savage‘s “Standing Ovation”. She got N3m and a saloon car.
The second runner up was Kitay , who performed Kiss Daniels‘ “Mama”. Kitay got N2m and a saloon car.

Another one of the Super Six, Kitey, performing Kiss Daniel’s “Mama” #MTNProjectFameClosingGala
Pere who sang Sam Smith‘s “Writing on the Wall” came fourth and went home with N2m.
Père opened the night with Sam Smith’s “Writing On The Wall”. Amazing #MTNProjectFameClosingGala
The fifth position went to Dapo , who sang
Labrinth‘s “Jealous”. He went home with N1m.
Winner sang Adele ‘s “Hello”. She came sixth and went home with N500,000.

Winner’s rendition of Adele’s “Hello” was amazing #MTNProjectFameClosingGala
There were performances by YBNL toaster, Adekunle Gold , and dance instructor Loveth .
Congratulations Okiemute!

More militant groups declare ceasefire in Niger Delta

More militant groups in the Niger Delta have announced ceasefire, on a condition that security agencies should stop forthwith harassment and intimidation of their suspected members.
But peace is still elusive as yet another group, Niger Delta Greenland and Justice Mandate, has attacked a major delivery line operated by the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) in Udu Local Council of Delta State. The group also warned that no repair should be carried out on the damaged pipeline.

Following the Chief Edwin Kiagbodo Clark-led peace initiative in the region, the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) had, at the weekend, resolved to end all forms of hostilities, including jettisoning its avowed plan to declare a republic.
The group’s spokesman, Brig-Gen. Mudoch Aginigbo, announced on Saturday that it was ending hostilities and would support the peace initiative.

Also following the Pan Niger Delta Coastal States Consultative Meeting convened by Clark, the Reformed Egbesu Fraternities comprising Egbesu Boys of the Niger Delta, Egbesu Red Water Lions and Egbesu Mightier Fraternity announced yesterday a 60-day ceasefire.

They commended the convener and all the traditional rulers who participated in the meeting which the militant groups said reviewed the bombing campaigns against critical oil infrastructure and realised they were hurting not only Nigeria but Niger Deltans as well.
The Spokesmen of the Reformed Egbesu Fraternities, General Tony Alagbakeriowei and Commander Ebi Abakoromor, however underscored the big place of the neglected region in the country’s political economy. “ We are conscious of the fact that the Niger Delta alone accounts for 70 per cent of the annual national budget, 67 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product and 80 per cent of Nigeria’s foreign exchange, yet the Niger Delta has nothing to show and remains plagued by serious environmental degradation and social dislocation of our traditional and customary rights.
“Between 1957 and 2016, over two trillion barrels of the finest quality and grade as well as 1.2 trillion SCF of gas have been exploited and exported from the Niger Delta, yet we remain the poorest in all ramifications among all the oil- and gas-producing regions the world over.

“Angered by the above basic facts and worsened by the realisation that over 90 per cent of the Oil Mining Leases (OML) are owned by Northerners and the South West indigenes, we commenced our symbolic protests in the creeks with a view to unilaterally declaring a sovereign state of the Niger Delta on August 1, 2016.

“Aware that our collective strength and efforts no doubt have had a very negative impact on the economy of the country, coupled with our commitment and determination to continue with our bombing of oil and gas infrastructure and the declaration of the Niger Delta Peoples Republic, we have been pressured and appealed to by the Niger Delta Coastal States Stakeholders Consultative Meeting convened by Chief Dr E. K. Clark and most importantly, the Niger Delta Dialogue Contact Group led by His Royal Majesty, King Alfred Diette Spiff.

“Nigerians from all shades of opinion pleaded that we come to the negotiation table. In view of the persistent pleas and appeals, we the Consultative Council of the Reformed Egbesu Fraternities unilaterally declare cessation of hostilities for a period of 60 days to enable the Niger Delta stakeholders to commence an all-embracing dialogue with the Federal Government.
“However, under this 60-day period, we call on all relevant security agencies to stop forthwith all military harassment and intimidation of suspected members of these and other organisations.

“We caution against the preconceived notion of the service chiefs of the armed forces who had persistently stated recourse to military option if dialogue fails. This, to the best of our knowledge, is an act of intimidation and a ploy to truncate the negotiation process if at all there is sincerity and commitment on the part of the Federal Government,” the group said.

In a statement, the Niger Delta Greenland and Justice Mandate said: “The formidable strike team in charge of ‘Operation Zero’ brought down another major trunk/delivery line operated by NPDC in Udu Local Council area (Urhobo) of Delta State. We would also like to warn that no repair should take place on that pipeline pending when signals come from us.

“Peace cannot be realised in an unjust environment. Like we said from the onset, the Niger Delta Greenland Justice Mandate is not just about causing calamity and delighting in chaos, rather a child of circumstance, born to correct an injustice that has lived with us, from the time of our fathers.”

‘‘We are in this struggle, not to create any acrimony with our friends and brothers in the riverine axis, who are equal citizens of this over-sapped region, but to call the attention of the world to our peculiar experience; that we, as people of diverse tongues and orientation, have kept faith with both the Nigerian government and oil multinationals over the years, by being peaceful, patient and law-abiding all through the years, but have in turn been abused and abandoned by these same supposed partners.

They have all along taken our quietness and disposition for peace and choice for orderliness for granted. We have watched and seen that they only encourage lawlessness and violence.’’