Gauteng seeks to strengthen trade ties with Lagos State

FEC Approves 29-Member Committee On National Minimum Wage

he Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved the setting up of a 29-member National Minimum Wage Committee to negotiate and arrive at a new minimum wage in the country.

The meeting was presided over by acting President Yemi Osinbajo.

The Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige said this when he briefed State House correspondents on the outcome of the meeting of the Council held in the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Wednesday.

He stated that the approval of the committee followed the council’s deliberation on the report of the joint committee of government and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC).

Ngige said that membership of the committee would be drawn from Governors’ Forum, organised private sector and labour federation.

According to him, the chairman and secretary of the committee will be appointed by the Federal Government.
“Today, the Council deliberated on the report of the joint committee of government on one side and the labour federation of the NLC and TUC.

“If you recall, on May 11, 2016, there was a deregulation of the oil and gas sector in Nigeria and this resulted in the increase we had in the Premium Motor Spirit (PMS).

“As a result of that, the labour union kicked against the increase and said that even if the increase will be there, government should put in place mechanisms to make sure that we don’t have further increases.

“That is why they said the Petroleum Pricing Regulatory Board (PPRB) should be put in place.’’

Osinbajo said that labour also asked for review of the National Minimum Wage for workers in the country in order to enable them have better purchasing power.

“Prior to this increase, they had made a demand of N56,000 monthly as the lowest wage payable to any Nigerian worker and thirdly they need some palliatives to cushion the effect of the increase in the pump price of petrol.

“So, government put in place a committee and that committee finished its work on April 24 and handed its report to Secretary to the Government of the Federation.

“Today at the council, I presented the report with various recommendations therein and I’m happy to let you know that government approved the setting up of National Minimum Wage committee,’’ he said.

According to the minister, the Federal Government will present six members of the committee from the public sector; Governors’ Forum will select six governors (one from each geo-political zone), and labour federation will present eight persons.

He added that the organised employers association would jointly present eight persons as members of the committee.

The minister, however, revealed that the chairman and secretary of the 29-member committee would be appointed by the Federal Government.

Ngige reassured that the government would commence the payment of arrears of salaries and promotion, death benefits and other outstanding allowances of workers to boost their morale.

2014 National Conference recommendations will solve Nigeria’s problems – Jonathan

Former President Goodluck Jonathan says recommendations ​of ​the 2014 National Conference ​organised by his administration will solve many of Nigeria’s problems.

He spoke at the Rivers State 50th year anniversary in Port Harcourt on Wednesday.

Jonathan insisted that fiscal federalism was the system that ​would ​​develop Nigeria.

“This will allow states to assume control of the exploitation of their natural resources and mandate them to pay adequate taxes to the Federal Government,” ​he ​said​.

​”​My conviction that fiscal federalism will initiate faster development is borne out of a comparison between the intervention Agencies and the 13 percent derivation.

”​From the days of Special Funds, through OMPADEC to now NDDC, the Federal Government has provided funds for the development of the oil bearing communities but very little physical infrastructure to show for it.

“This is so because these bodies are highly political and lack continuity as tenures are hardly completed. New Federal Government administrations appoint new teams who award new contracts hence the zone is littered with abandoned projects.

Nigeria to unveil new investors for its refineries – says minister

At the annual Nigerian jamboree to the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) in Houston, Texas, Dr. IbeKachikwu, the minister of state for petroleum resources, told a “world press conference” on May 5, 2017 that Nigeria’s refineries would soon have new investors. He said 26 investors had indicated interest in the epileptic refineries. “By September, we will unveil the investors for the refineries,” the minister said smoothly, typically. “When we came onboard, the refineries were not working but as we speak, we have sizeable investment portfolio for them to an extent that we don’t know who to partner with for the investment.”

Let’s say I didn’t go to school at all. Or let’s say it was evening school that I attended. These would still be my takeaways from the minister’s proclamations: one, our refineries are now in a position to attract investment; two, 26 investors have indicated interest in taking over the refineries (on a repair, operate and maintain, ROM, agreement); three, we have not taken a decision yet because there are so many suitors to choose from; and four, we will announce the favoured investors by September. Without attending Harvard Business School, I would still conclude that it appeared the process was going to be competitive and transparent.

On May 11, 2017 (six days later, right?) Mr. Wale Tinubu, the CEO of Oando Plc, told the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) that the group had received approval of the government to “repair, operate and maintain” the Port Harcourt Refinery together with “our partner” Agip, a subsidiary of ENI, the Italian company indicted in the Malabu/OPL 245 affair. Tinubu said: “We plan to increase the refinery capacity from 30 per cent to 100 per cent.” Great news, as far I am concerned. We need the refineries back as soon as possible; we have had enough of the endless TAMs gulping billions of naira and spewing out virtually no products for decades.

Now this is where I need your help. The last time I checked, with the help of Google, May and September are different months. There are June, July and August in-between. With the help of Google, I also discovered that the gap between when Kachikwu spoke in Houston and when Tinubu spoke in Lagos was a whopping six days — or, to make it simpler, less than one week. There are usually four weeks in a month, and from May 5, when Kachikwu spoke, to September, there are 17 weeks, according to the all-knowing Google. With Tinubu’s disclosure, should we assume that May is the new September? Or that September came early for Oando, Agip and Kachikwu?

But I think Google is overrated. There were so many questions it could not answer. For instance, I asked: “Is Oando among the 26 investors Kachikwu boasted about in Houston?” I could not make head or tail of the results. Google came up with “FOX 26 Houston KRIV”. Nonsense. But I got more gibberish for other questions: did Oando and ENI send in a bid? Was it an unsolicited bid? Was it selective tendering? If it was competitive bidding, how many bids were received for Port Harcourt? How much did Oando/ENI bid? How much did others bid? How much did the bidders promise to invest? How many years will the ROM run? Are there concessions for the new operators?

I can understand why Google got stuck — that almighty search machine likes transparency. If you do not make your information public, it cannot make it public for you. The best, or should I say the worst, Google would do is to suggest answers that it thinks are related to your questions, even when there is no connection whatsoever. If you google most of the major concessions and major contracts awarded by this government, you will get irrelevant answers on the process. For the same reason: transparency is very scarce in these major deals. We just wake up one day and hear that one company has been awarded a job. Not a word on the process.

Don’t get me wrong: I’m not saying Oando should not take over the Port Harcourt Refinery. I have devoted a significant part of my column-writing career to promoting the cause of Nigerian companies. I believe that one day, made-in-Nigeria will be enjoyed all over the world. I want Nigerian companies to fly our flag honourably. Even though I have been called names and subjected to sickening innuendos for promoting Dangote, Globacom, Oando and Innosons, among others, I am not about to repent. Americans are proud of their Apple, Microsoft and Chevron, and my dream is that our people and our companies will become global brands too.

That said, though, I am very worried about an emerging pattern in this administration. President Muhammadu Buhari campaigned on the strength of correcting the mistakes and misdeeds of the previous government, but I am seeing too much repetition for it to be coincidental. There is too much secrecy in the way many important things are done, and corruption, need we say, thrives on secrecy. Take away competition, take away transparency, take away accountability, and you have a perfect recipe for corruption. We cannot be sealing deals under the table without revealing the details to Nigerians and then claim we are building an open society.

We just woke up one day to learn that GE had secured the concession to take over the railways. How did it happen? What are the details of the deal? Is this the best possible deal Nigeria can get? We were just watching TV one evening and learnt that the federal government had finally signed a renegotiated concession agreement with the Global Steel Holding Limited (GSHL) for Ajaokuta Steel. Up till today, we don’t know the details. Ask questions and what you get as answer is: who paid you to ask? As a journalist, I’m used to the blackmail. I would have quit this job the day I joined if I had to pay attention to personal attacks.

By the way, I know a bit about the procurement options. I know of “sole sourcing”, where you go to one provider only because no other provider does it — like buying a Rolls Royce from the maker. “Selective tendering” allows you to approach a few providers who meet certain criteria. There is “repeat procurement”, where you return to earlier provider because of time constraints and because they did a previous job well. All these need strong justifications because you are restricting competition, which is a major element of procurement. And then there is “competitive bidding”, where you throw it open to all. In all, Nigerians deserve to know the process adopted.

Get me right. I am not saying anything illegal is being done in the case of the Port Harcourt Refinery. It just lacks transparency. That’s my point. And what about other moral issues? ENI again? As I write this, many Nigerians are being prosecuted or wanted by the EFCC for their involvement in the OPL 245 deal. They are being accused of taking part in an elaborate bribery scheme. But ENI, which is at the centre of it all and is being prosecuted by an Italian prosecutor for its role in the $1.3 billion affair, is cornering more deals in Nigeria without getting as much as a slap on the wrist. The impression being created is that our anti-graft war is very narrow.

I sympathise with the government over the limitations imposed by procurement rules, particularly the constraint of speed, but the process was designed for a purpose. More so, this government has been in power for nearly two years, which means a lot could still have been accomplished over the years in spite of the constraints. And, remember, there are many options that can shorten the process which the government has been using for a while now. The biggest headache, though, is that there is too much opaqueness for us to conclude that transparency is a guiding principle. The chaos over the concessioning of Port Harcourt Refinery is a very good example. Dissonance.

Chelsea cancel victory parade after Manchester bomb attac

Chelsea have cancelled a victory parade scheduled for Sunday in London in the light of Monday’s bomb attack in Manchester.

Antonio Conte’s side won the English Premier League title last Sunday and could claim the double by winning Saturday’s English FA Cup final match at Wembley.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that thousands of fans were expected to turn out for the parade.

“In light of these tragic events, we feel it is inappropriate to go ahead with the victory parade in London on Sunday,” the club said in a statement.

FEC Observes One Minute Silence in Honour of Onuekwusi

The Federal Executive Council (FEC) Wednesday observed a minute silence in honour of Channels Television State House Correspondent, Chukwuma Onuekwusi, who passed on Tuesday in an Abuja hospital.

Announcing Onuekwusi’s passage at the opening of the weekly FEC meeting, Acting President Yemi Osinbajo who presided over the meeting, described Onuekwusi as one of the members of State House family who passed on after a brief illness.

Further describing him as a very good, very articulate, patriotic and committed journalist, Osinbajo called for a minute silence in his honour and prayed that his family be comforted over his loss.

“Honourable ministers and members of the Federal Executive Council, yesterday, we got very sad news of the passing on of one of the members of of State House family. He is Chukwuma Onuekwusi of the Channels Television who passed on after a brief illness.

“I want us in recognition of the fact that we remember a very good, a very articulate and also a very patriotic and committed journalist, observe a minute silence in honour of this fine gentleman. We pray for the comfort of his family and all of those he left behind,” Osinbajo stated.

Coup: No plans to take over power from Buhari – Defence Headquarters

The Defence Headquarters has dismissed claims of coup by the military to usurp power from President Muhammadu Buhari.

Recall that there are rumours of a possible takeover of power by this Military. This was further fueled by a statement credited to the Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai where he claimed some politicians were approaching soldiers to usurp power.

But in a press briefing by the Defence Information Office, the military said there was no course for any alarm.

It said, “Professionally, it is a command responsibility to caution officers and men on routine basis to conform to the ethics of the military in all ramifications, which includes; interactions and exchange of visits among others.

“This command responsibility is exercised right from the highest echelon such as the office of the Service Chiefs down to the lowest levels of command. Hence, the caution from the Army in this case.

“Secondly, administratively, officers and men are regularly cautioned to exercise command and control by Appropriate Superior Authorities through commanders at various levels. This is to prevent members of the armed forces from derailing from their core focus of total dedication to their oath of allegiance. Thus, it is a usual practice in military administration.

$50m World Bank loan: Bayelsa to create 7,000 temporary jobs

The Bayelsa government on Wednesday said it planned to create at least 7,000 temporary jobs from the implementation of projects funded from the $50m development facility from the World Bank.

The loan stock is part of World Bank’s intervention with $200m in four states in the Niger Delta region mainly Bayelsa, Edo, Rivers and Delta.

Addressing newsmen after a project tour of completed and ongoing interventions, Mr Ayens Adogu, Project Coordinator of State Expenditure For Results Bayelsa, said more than 3,000 jobs had so far been created in the first phase of the project.

He said that there were indications that the state would exceed the targetted 7,000 at the end of the second phase of the programme following the successes so far recorded in the first phase.

The youth, according to him, were engaged to provide labour for the concrete road projects for a period of one year and being paid a monthly stipend of N20,000 while a new set of youths are engaged at the end of the year to rotate the jobs among the unemployed.

Adogu said that the development of some micro-projects were implemented with direct labour approach, to engage unemployed youths who were trained in skills and entreprenHe said that part of the conditions of the temporary one-year jobs included a compulsory saving which could only be withdrawn at the end of the contract to assist as start-up capital at the end of the one-year contract.

He explained that SEEFOR project was a collaboration between the Bayelsa Government, World Bank and the European Union to fund quick impact development projects like concrete walkways, streets, market stalls, craft centres and health centres.

According to him, benefiting communities are selected based on needs and readiness of the communities to contribute 10 percent of the N10m set aside for each benefiting community.

Adogu said that some 108 micro public works projects had so far been completed in the first phase of the project while SEEFOR just advertised expression of interest for contractors for 136 new projects.

The Project Coordinator said that the projects had impacted positively on the lives of beneficiaries, especially in the rural communities by kick-starting economic activities in the processing of agricultural produce like cassava and fish.

“The government of Bayelsa is using the World Bank credit to reflate the economy of the state and boost economic activities to improve the living standards of the people.

“The impact of the project has touched the state’s economy; for instance, the payment of over 3,000 hitherto unemployed youths involves 10 banks and not to mention the award of small contracts for the over 108 micro public works projects across the state.

He said that the $50m development facility had a 40-year tenor and 10-year moratorium at concessionary interest in entreurship, to enable them to seek self-employment at the end of the temporary jobs.

NUJ vows to resist any attempt to truncate Nigerian democracy

The Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, said it will use every available means to resist any attempt to truncate democracy in Nigeria.

The union said that democracy had come to stay in Nigeria and would use all legitimate means available to members of the Fourth Estate of the Realm to defend the democratic structure in the country.

The National President of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, Comrade Abdulwaheed Odusile, made the declaration in Kaduna, Wednesday at the NUJ national colloquium on elections, corruption and roadmap to 2019 organized by the Kaduna council in collaboration with the Pax-community Partnership Projects, PCPP.

Comrade Odusile who stated this as part of his contribution to the theme of the colloquium, “2015 polls: Reminiscence, Lessons, Challenges and Projections‎” said the colloquium is coming at the right time, in x-raying the 2015 elections to serve as a guide to 2019 elections.

He called on relevant authorities to thoroughly investigate those behind the plans to truncate democracy and punish ‎those that may be found guilty to serve as deterrent to others that may contemplate such in the future.

“The NUJ will resist any attempt to change the present democratic government, we will not allow any attempt to truncate democracy in Nigeria because democracy has come to stay ‎in Nigeria,” he reiterated.

50,000 migrants landed in Italy this year

(ANSA) Rome, May 24 - Some 50,000 migrants have landed in Italy in the first months of this year, most from Syria, Eritrea, Nigeria and Somalia, the head of the department for civil liberties and immigration, Gerarda Pantalone, told the parliamentary anti-mafia commission Wednesday.

Nigeria's Delta Could Produce 2.2 Million Barrels Per Day By End Of June

The worst disruptions in Nigeria's oil-producing Delta region are over, and production could reach 2.2 million barrels per day (MMbbl/d) by the end of June, the CEO of Nigeria's Oando said on May 24.

Oando CEO Pade Durotoye told the Africa Independents Forum in London that the long-closed Forcados oil field could be back to capacity by the end of June, enabling a return to nearly full production from what is typically Africa's largest oil exporter.

"We think that the worst is behind us," Durotoye said. "Before the end of June, we will have Forcados back, which would take us comfortably back to 2.2 million bpd."

Attacks in the Niger Delta had pushed production to just over 1 MMbbl/d at certain points in 2016, which was the lowest in decades, but attacks have abated since the start of 2017.

The first Foracdos cargo from the main Trans Forcados export line loaded during the week of May 15, although operator Royal Dutch Shell Plc (NYSE: RDS.A) has said force majeure remains in place.

Durotoye said "bold actions" by the government to address security in the area had helped, and that if it continued, Oando could boost output from 50 Mbbl/d to 150 Mbbl/d within 12-18 months.

Still, Durotoye said concerns over more violence was leading investors to view the region with a lot of caution.

"Capital is still going to be constrained," he said.

Durotoye also said Nigeria's long-delayed Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), which governs everything from the operations of state oil company NNPC to fiscal terms on oil exploration projects, was moving at a more assured pace.

"We expect approval sometime in the second half of the year," Durotoye said.

Uncertainty over fiscal terms has held back upstream investment, especially in capital-intensive deepwater offshore. Durotoye said that PIB approval would "put some concerns to bed."

Nigeria will be out of recession by September, Godwin Emefiele assures

Godwin Emefiele, governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), says he remains confident that the economy will be out of recession by the end of the third quarter of 2017.

Emefiele said in Abuja on Tuesday, the CBN will not dictate where the much-needed foreign exchange convergence will be, but hopes the rate will head southwards rather than on the high side.

“My view is that with all the positive signs we see: inflation tending downwards, GDP improving to the extent that negative growth rate has decelerated quite significantly, in fact we have seen foreign exchange going to the real sector and industrial capacities are beginning to improve,” Emefiele  said.

“We’ve seen positive signs in various economic sectors, I am very confident that at the end of the third quarter, we will be out of this (recession), and I still hold that position.

“We would prefer a convergence that will significantly be going southwards, than a convergence that will go northwards. The fact that we have seen a convergence in the southward direction gives us a lot of hope that things are working in the right direction.”

Emefiele said he, as a person, wants low interest rates for the economy,  but the economic aggregates available to the MPC does not allow for such at this time in Nigeria’s economic life.

“Even I, want a low interest rate but the economic aggregates that we see today, unfortunately, does not give room for us to begin to look at that direction of signalling a downward interest rate.

“You would have read World Bank and IMF reports,and what they have both insisted is that we should tighten further.

“But rather than tightening, what the monetary policy committee has decided to do is to hold and watch, given that we had embarked on a consistent policy tightening before we decided to adopt the hold strategy.”

The governor said the bank remains resolute on sustaining its current foreign exchange policy in the interest of the Nigerian economy.

“I have said it and I will repeat myself that the interventions will be more vigorous and intense, to underscore the fact that we are determined to ensure that the Nigerian economy recovers, by making sure that foreign exchange is being made available to all sectors of the Nigerian economy to conduct their businesses.”

Emefiele said in four weeks, about $1.1 billion has come into the Nigerian economy via the exporters forex window created about a month ago.

He said all these are signs that the policies of the bank were the right ones, bolstering the capital market and driving liquidity.

Andela, the Zuckerberg-backed developer startup, is opening in its third African country

Three years after opening up shop in Lagos, Andela, a startup that trains and pairs software developers with global tech firms, will be launching in Uganda—its third African country.

Andela says it considered every Anglophone country in Africa with a population of more than three million people and conducted test recruitment exercises in several of those countries. Eventually, the choice of Uganda was based on the country’s teeming youth, says Jeremy Johnson, Andela CEO.

“Uganda is the second youngest country in the world, with 70% of the people aged under 25,” Johnson tells Quartz. While conducting test recruitment, Johnson says Andela received 800 applications with the average age of applicants being 25. Already open in Lagos and Nairobi, Johnson says Andela has received applications from over a dozen countries across the continent. “Being able to accept applicants who are able to work in their home country is important to us,” he tells Quartz.

Founded in 2014 with corporate headquarters in New York, Andela trains software developers for six months and then deploys them to tech companies around the world that need their skills. It places a high premium on vetting and has received over 60,000 applications since launch but only 0.7% of those have been accepted. Johnson says the company will keep expanding and scaling up in countries where it already operates. In January, Andela moved to a new five-story office in Lagos as the company’s personnel had outgrown the old space.

By connecting African developers to global opportunities and new career paths, Andela and other developer training schools and programs could possibly play a role in solving the unemployment problem prevalent in many African countries. But Johnson says the company’s work will not be a quick fix. “I don’t think we can fundamentally solve the issue but I can think we can create an example that others can look to and say ‘this is possible’.”

Andela was backed by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative which led a $24 million Series B round last June. Johnson says it’s growing at a rate of over 100% annually and hopes to continue expanding to a new country every year.