Nation
Nigeria Mismanaged Asia Oil Deal – Reports
Nigeria has mismanaged relations with Asian oil firms thereby failing to capitalise on deals which could have helped it develop its infrastructure, and leaving $20 billion of investment at risk, think tank Chatham House said on Monday.
Former president Olusegun Obasanyo sought partners in China, India, South Korea and elsewhere to buy oil blocks before leaving office in 2007 in return for billions of dollars of infrastructure and downstream investment.
But neither has there been a single barrel of oil produced by Asian national oil companies in Nigeria, nor has any downstream commitment been started, leaving the Nigerian economy with no tangible benefit, the London-based organisation said.
“President Obasanjo’s stated grand design to achieve a ‘development dividend’ through the oil-for-infrastructure scheme with Asian national oil companies has fallen apart,” it said.
“With it went the impact that it might have made on the Nigerian landscape,” Chatham House said in a 60-page report.
Five decades of oil extraction in Africa’s most populous country has enriched a small elite, but the vast majority of he country’s estimated 140 million people still live on two dollars a day or less.
Chatham House blamed the lack of progress on political interference in what should have been purely business decisions.
“The scale of the corruption, mismanagement and non-execution of projects in the Obasanjo years has sent shock waves through Nigeria,” the report said.
“His intentions were good but officials failed to spell out the full implications of the scheme. And many used the scheme for private profit. It might have been a good idea on paper but the spirit was breached in the implementation.”
The administration of President Umaru Yar’Adua, who took office in May 2007, has been reviewing deals struck under Obasanjo, cancelling the sale of oil retineries and reviewing oil licensing rounds.
Yar’Adua in January revoked two oil exploration licences awarded to Korea National Oil Corp (KNOC), saying the Korean firm had failed to pay the investment pledged.
KNOC, which says it met its obligations, has taken the case to court and the outcome is being closely watched by an industry concerned that rights awarded by one Nigerian government can easily be overturned by the next.
Chatham House said, following the cancellation of a Korean gas pipeline project and a contract with China to build a railway from the commercial hub Lagos in the south to the city of Kano in the North, $20 billion of investment promised by Asian national oil companies in 2005/06 was at risk.
Chatham House contrasted the Nigerian experience with that of Angola, where it said President Jose Eduardo Dos Santos’ almost 30-year tenure had boistered a stable central government and helped create a functional national oil company, Sonangol.
That stability had helped Angola emerged as the second largest supplier of oil to China last year and helped the African country secure at least $13 billion in oil-backed loans from Beijing to help finance essential post-war reconstruction.
Nation
Gombe Opens Bid For Construction Of Three-Arm Zone Project
Gombe State Ministry of Works, Housing and Transportation has opened bids for the construction of three arms zone complexes within the Gombe Capital Special Development Zone which held at the Ministry’s conference hall.
Speaking while presiding over the bid opening proceedings, the Commissioner, Engr. . Usman Maijama’a Kallamu assured the bidders that the bid opening would be carried out using procurement process which is based on specific regulations that are credible, fair, and transparent.
The Commissioner, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Alh. Idris Yambiu Buba said that the Ministry will continue to align itself for optimal results in the implementation of government policies and projects in line with Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya’s commitment to bringing development to the State.
While assuring the bidders of a transparent process, the SSA to the Governor on Special Project, Arch. Yakubu Mamman thanked Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya for his foresight in infrastructural development of the State, adding that government is committed to ensuring that all bidders had an equal chance to participate and compete based on merit to maintain standards and specifications.
Nation
Gov Mbah Signs Bill To Establish Teaching Hospital In Enugu
Governor of Enugu State, Dr Peter Mbah, yesterday, signed the Enugu State University of Medical and Applied Sciences (SUMAS) Teaching Hospital Bill 2024 into Law, promising to expedite action to actualise the teaching hospital immediately to provide quality training and healthcare services in the Enugu North part of the State and the State in general.
Mbah, while commending the Enugu State House of Assembly for accelerating action on the processing and passage of the Executive Bill, said that establishing SUMAS Teaching Hospital was in line with his manifesto.
He said, “What we have done by signing into law the Enugu State University of Medical and Applied Sciences Teaching Hospital Bill is that we now have in place a legal framework to immediately begin to put in place all that is required to upgrade SUMAS to a teaching hospital. This is part of our campaign promises and we are committed to delivering on that expeditiously.
“We believe that the importance and significance of siting a teaching hospital in our Enugu North zone can never be lost on us. So, we are not going to spend any time in making sure that everything that is necessary and required to upgrade and get the teaching hospital operational is put in place. With this Law, we are going to redouble our commitment and our efforts to achieve that.”
He assured the Governing Council and the Management of SUMAS of his continued support, adding that his administration would equally be counting on their pedigree and contacts to bring the teaching hospital to fruition in record time.
“We are going to continue to support you and we are also going to continue to count on your experience, network, and profile in raising resources to actualize the project.
“This year alone, we are going to spend 33 per cent of our budget on education. This underscores the importance of education to this administration. So, be sure to come to us whenever there is a need. We are going to support you because we are interested in education and we are investing heavily in it,” he said.
On his part, the Speaker, Enugu State House of Assembly, Hon. Uchenna Ugwu, who also spoke at the Bill signing witnessed by the Chairman of SUMAS Governing Council, Msgr. Obiora Ike, and the Vice Chancellor, Prof. James Ogbonna, and top hierarchies of the institution, commended Governor Mbah’s speed and faithfulness in delivering on his campaign promises. He assured that the House of Assembly was ever ready to fast-track every executive bill that would impact positively on the state and its people.
“We promised we are going to support this administration by doing our job expeditiously to ensure that there is no delay in your delivery of democracy dividends to our people. Therefore, the SUMAS Teaching Hospital Bill received expedited hearing and today you have the signing of the bill into law,” he stated.
Nation
Ododo Applauds Security Agencies Over Rescue Of 43 Bus Passengers
Kogi State Governor, Ahmed Usman Ododo has applauded security agencies in the State for their efforts in the rescue of 43 bus passengers.
The Special Adviser on Media to the Governor, Ismaila Isah disclosed this in a statement yesterday.
The statement noted that the governor welcomed the news of the release of the abducted bus passengers in Okehi Local Government Area of the State and called for sustained collaboration between security agencies and local communities to improve intelligence gathering and prevent crime and criminality in all parts of the state.
Ododo commended the caretaker chairman of Okehi LGA, Mr Amoka Eneji, the Nigeria Police, Nigeria Professional Hunters, Ebira Local Hunters Group and other security agencies for their intervention, which led to the rescue of the passengers who were abducted outside the state.
“Governor Ododo also commends the response of security agencies to the robbery incidence in Felele area of Lokoja and called for more urgency in addressing cases of insecurity in any part of the state.
“The Governor reassured the people of the state that his administration will not relent in its efforts in deploying maximum resources to ensure that all communities in the state remain unsafe for criminal elements.”
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