Business
Mark Wants Enabling Environment For Indigenous Automobile Manufacturers
Senate President, David Mark, has urged the
Federal Government to encourage indigenous automobile manufacturers by
providing them with a conducive environment.
According to him, the effort will also
enable Nigeria to achieve industrial revolution.
Mark made the call during Tuesday’s Plenary
Session while ruling on the bill for an Act to repeal the National Automotive
Council Act and the Centre for Automotive Design and Development Act.
The bill which seeks to provide for an Act
establishing the National Automotive Design and Development Council passed
through second reading on the floor of the Senate.
Mark said, “Government should encourage
private indigenous automobile manufacturing companies.
“We tend to discourage our local automotive
industry and unless we encourage them this country cannot achieve technological
development. ’’
He challenged the executive arm of
government to summon the political will to implement the various laws passed by
the National Assembly.
“My prayer is that we will have the
willpower to implement all the laws and resolutions emanating from the National
Assembly.
“For us, we are very prepared to push as
much as we can and leave it for those who have the power of implementation to
do so accordingly,’’ Mark added.
In his lead debate, the Leader of the
Senate, Sen. Victor Ndoma-Egba (PDP-Cross River) said the merger of the two
agencies would boost efficiency, productivity as well as generate employment opportunities.
Sen. Enyinnaya Abaribe (PDP- Abia) said
that the passage of the bill would spur the new agency to perform its
responsibility efficiently.
“Let the passage of this bill be a
challenge to spur the agency to perform with efficiency. We should not just set
up this agency but we must ensure that it performs, ‘’ he said.
Sen. Shola Adeyeye (ACN- Osun) urged the
Senate to go beyond the automotive industry by considering the merger of other
government agencies with similar functions.
“We can even go further to look at every
ministry and agency to consider where we can merge those who discharged similar
functions.
“We cannot have a functional automobile
industry until we have stable power and a functional steel industry,’’ he
added.
Sen. Chris Anyanwu (APGA- Imo) stressed the
need for government to invest in research and development as key to industrial
development.
“With their merger, I believe there will be
better synergy. “We have to invest on research and development, and shield our
research institutes from politics, ‘’she said.
Opposing the bill, Sen. Olubunmi Adetunmbi
(ACN-Ekiti) said the Senate could only debate the matter after studying the
report of the Stephen Orosanye-led Committee on rationaliation of government
agencies.
“It will be helpful for the Senate to have
access to the Orosanye report, and then we can have a holistic understanding of
the issues.
“This bill and the amendment it is seeking
are cosmetic. What we should concern ourselves with is the value this merger
and what it will add to the automotive industry,’’ Adeyeye argued.
Also opposing the bill, Sen. Ben Ayade
(PDP- Cross River) said there was no basis to merge the two agencies because
they performed different functions.
“Its unfair to merge these two agencies
because they have different functions.
“We should enact law to stop importation of
complete vehicles into the country and compel investor to set up assembly
plants in Nigeria, ‘’ Ayade suggested.
The Bill was referred to the Senate
Committee on Industries for further legislative action and expected to report
to the Senate in two weeks.
Meanwhile, the Senate on Tuesday observed a
one-minute silence in honour of the victims of the terrorist attack in Potiskum
and the late Nigerian football star, Mr Rashidi Yekini who died last week.
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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