Business
Reactions Trail Planned Removal Of Fuel Subsidy
The plan by the Federal Government to remove fuel subsidy sparked off reactions in Port Harcourt city and its environs over the weekend as majority of people interviewed condemned the step, describing it as one that would upset the current stability in fuel supply and impact negatively on other sectors of the national economy.
One of the respondents, the Managing Director of NEDAL oil Ltd, Prince Emmanuel Ogba said he was surprised that the current administration led by President Goodluck Jonathan which is lauded for checking fuel crises in the country could be thinking of removing fuel subsidy now.
“I think that the step is wrongly timed because government should allow the ongoing reform in the petroleum sub sector to get to an advanced stage such that when subsidy is eventually removed, it would not have abrupt and far-reaching negative effects that would eventually affect other sectors of the nation’s economy”, he said.
The managing director who ackowledged that Nigerians could not run away from removal of fuel subsidy in the future, stressed that the idea of removing fuel subsidy should not even be imagined now.
According to Prince Ogba, “the whole idea of removal of subsidy is about increase in pump price and whence such step is taken at this stage of reform in the oil sector, it affects almost every other calculations in the nation’s economy”.
But to Mrs. Ijeoma Nwankwoala, the idea of removal of fuel subsidy would cause people to create “artificial scarcity because, in the short run, there could be hoarding by marketers who may have feelings of uncertainty over the acceptability of the step”.
In the long run, she continued, “Immediately the increase in pump price tries to stabilise, Nigerians would think of short cut. By that, I mean, black market may present itself as another competitor to organised market”.
Mrs. Nwankwoala, a secondary school teacher also expressed the view that when black market begins to thrive as a negative effect of the increase in the pump price, illegal bunkering and vandalism of pipelines by economic saboteur could become the order of the day.
Some drivers in the metropolis also condemned the removal of the subsidy because of the impact it was capable of having on the transport sector.
“Commuters in Port Harcourt always complain that the transport fare in the city is higher than what obtains in other cities of the country. Now if you remove subsidy in petrol which will result in increase in transport fare, you can imagine how high the fare would be,” said Cletus Chukwu, a taxi driver.
Another commercial driver, Jonathan Charles who operates along Port Harcourt/Aba Express Way advised the president not to give in to anti-people strategies by those he considered enemies of the government and the common Nigerians.
Mr. Charles pleaded with the president to drop the idea, at least, for now until other aspects of the ongoing reforms have been addressed, stating that what the government should be thinking now is the problem with the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
He described the non remittal of funds to the government by NNPC to the tune of several hundred billions of naira, the comatose of all the refineries in the nation and undefined standard in allocation of oil blocks as the problems with the industry.
“But government would not see those ones because they concern the big men in the country but whenever any issue concerns the common man, the government applies a different approach,” he said.
“Look at the much talked about implementation of new minimum wage to Nigerian workers, it had been turned to a drama. This attitude should change in the interest of Nigerian masses”, he maintained.
It would be recalled that the Minister of Labour and Productivity, Emeka Nwogu, recently said that federal government has no better alternative to removal of fuel subsidy. Apart from providing more fund to service the nation, government believes that there is great disparity between the cost of petroleum product in Nigeria when compared to other countries.
Chris Oluoh
Business
Food Vendors, Others Relocate To New Site At PH Airport
The raging controversy between the Port Harcourt International Airport Management and restaurants/canteen operators and theirallies over relocation has been brought under control, as the operators have commenced relocation to their structures at the new site.
Recall that there had been serious feud over a directive by the Manager of the airport, Mr. Michael Area, for food vendors and their allies to relocate to the new site.
They insisted that the new site was too distant and hence, would negatively affect patronage from customers, with possible loss.
They further also insisted that it wouldcost them much money to put up another structure, given the economic situation in the country, since the airport management did not build any structure for them, apart from providing the empty land they have to also pay for.
The situation had led to flexing of muscles, which made the Airport Manager to order for sealing of all shops, resulting in scarcity of food, as airport users could not find a place to eat, apart from the only Genesis fast food spot available.
As at last Friday, The Tide observed that most of the food vendors had transferred their structures to the new place, and had started doing business there already.
Meanwhile, customers have started settling down at the new location as they were seen patronising shops for foods and drinks, in spite of the distance.
Few of the remaining structures at the old site, The Tide further gathered, will also be removed as quickly as possible, and the owners are making efforts to get funds for the job to be done.
One of them, Mrs Aka Love explained that she was going to relocate to the new place before the end of March.
Currently, business activities at the old site have come to null, as the place which was usually a beehive of food, drinks and relaxation, has completely winded down.
By: Corlins Walter
Business
MOWCA Strengthens Maritime Crime Prevention
Secretary General of the Maritime Organisation of West and Central Africa (MOWCA), Dr. Paul Adalikwu, has stepped up interaction with the United States Government to lift restrictions placed on some member countries allegedly implicated in illicit shipping activities.
Adalikwu, who led a delegation from the MOWCA Secretariat to the US Embassy in Abidjan for a first leg of the strategic consultation aimed at promoting seamless participation of MOWCA countries in international trade within the global maritime space, reiterated the organisation’s commitment to the best ethical and lawful maritime practices.
Addressing the U.S Ambassador to Côte d’Ivoire, H.E Mrs Jessica Davis Ba, the MOWCA SG stated the organisation’s interest in promoting the International Ship and Port facility Security (ISPS) code which aims at enhancing security of vessels and their ports of call.
He expressed the commitment of MOWCA in promoting environmentally friendly, safe and cost effective shipping without any encumbrance that may limit the economic potential of member countries.
Dr Adalikwu recalled that at the instance of the U.S. Department of State invitation, MOWCA participated in the 2023 Registry Information Sharing Compact (RISC) Conference in Larnaca, Cyprus, on February 28–March 1, 2023, and a virtual meeting held on June 6 2023, with Mrs Jennifer Chalmers, Officer in change of Counterproliferation Initiative.
He recalled The U.S. DOS willingness to support MOWCA’s effort for preventive maritime security through the establishment of the Center for Information and Communication (CINFOCOM) with the aim to ensure a maritime situational awareness domain within MOWCA’s member states’ waters.
He added that MOWCA under his watch is committed to training and retraining of maritime practitioners and experts to enhance the human capital capabilities of member states.
The CINFOCOM will help prevent transnational crimes committed at sea like sanctions evasion by North Korea and other state actors, who exploit poor enforcement due diligence by ship open registries to circumvent United Nations and U.S. trade restrictions.
By: Nkpemenyie Mcdominic, Lagos
Business
Nigeria’s Public Debt Hits N97.3trn – DMO
The Debt Management Office (DMO) has hinted that Nigeria’s public debt increased by 10.7 per cent from N87.87 trillion in the third quarter of last year, to N97.34 trillion as at December 31, 2023.
DMO, in an update data released last Friday, said the increase in the debt stock was largely due to new domestic borrowing by the Federal Government to part finance the deficit in the 2024 Appropriation Act and disbursements by multilateral and bilateral lenders.
The office noted that the N97.3 trillion public debt comprises of domestic debt of N59.12 trillion and external debt of N38.22 trillion. The sum of $3.5 billion was used to service external debt during the review period.
“Nigeria’s Public Debt Stock as at December 31, 2023 was N97.34trillion or $108.229 billion. This amount comprises the domestic and external debt stocks of the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN), the 36 States Governments, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
“There was an increase of N9.43 trillion over the comparative figure for September, 2023, which was largely due to new domestic borrowing by the FGN to part finance the deficit in the 2024 Appropriation Act and disbursements by multilateral and bilateral lenders.
“At N59.12 trillion, total domestic debt accounted for 61 percent of the total public debt stock, while external debt at N38.22 trillion accounted for the balance of 39 percent.
“Consistent with the debt management strategy, Nigeria’s external debt stock was skewed in favour of loans from multilateral (49.77 percent) and bilateral lenders (14.02 percent) or total of 63.79 percent which are mostly concessional and semi-concessional.
“Whilst the DMO continues to employ best practice in public debt management, the recent and on-going efforts of the fiscal authorities to shore up revenue will support debt sustainability”, DMO stated.
By: Corlins Walter
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