Business
Nigeria Records More Accidents On Good Roads -FRSC
The Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) said last Thursday in Abeokuta that more auto accidents were being recorded on good roads than bad ones across the country.
The Zonal Commander in charge of Lagos and Ogun, Mr Ademola Lawal, made the observation at a meeting of stakeholders in the transportation sector.
“Accidents occur more on good roads than bad roads because drivers usually engage in over speeding to make up for the lost time they spent on bad roads.
“Some people are not used to good roads, so we have to continue to educate roads users on constant basis on the need to be cautious while on good roads,’’ he said.
He also said the organisation had designed a programme tagged, “Beyond the Road,’’ to check the health status of commercial drivers before they embark on any journey.
Lawal added that the FRSC would conduct compulsory test on blood pressure and sight of drivers in all the major parks in the zone to ensure that they were fit to drive.
“We will use some agents in commercial buses to caution drivers when they are over speeding and when they refuse, they shall be handed over to the next available FRSC team,’’ he said.
He further said that health centres would be established in all the parks to check the sight of drivers, adding: “I have never seen a driver using a recommended eye glass, does it mean they all have good sights?’’
Also speaking, the FRSC Sector Commander in Ogun, Ayobami Omiyale, promised that the command “shall ensure effective traffic control and monitoring of motorists and provide prompt rescue operations to crash victims.”
Omiyale, who noted that festive seasons usually witness increased human and vehicular movement, advised motorists to obey road rules and regulations.
He, particularly, advised drivers to guard against over speeding, dangerous driving, overloading, wrongful over taking and driving under the influence of alcohol to prevent accidents.
The sector commander stressed the need for synergy among stakeholders in the transport sector to ensure hitch-free and accident free celebrations.
“Our toll free lines of 122 and 070022553772 could also be called in times of distress; our team will be there on time,’’ he said.
The Chief Vehicle Inspection Officer (VIO) in the state, Mr Victor Otuyemi, said reducing road crashes was the collective responsibility of all stakeholders.
He advocated more education and enlightenment programmes for the motoring public to reduce carnage on the highways.
Responding, the NURTW Publicity Secretary in the state, Alhaji Akinwunmi Dauda, called for a review of the process of acquiring drivers’ licence to ensure that only qualified persons got the document.
He commended the FRSC for the proposed health centres, assuring that the project would not be abandoned mid-way.
Akinwunmi promised that drivers in the union would be effectively enlightened on traffic rules and regulations, adding that lessons learnt from the meeting would be transferred to them accordingly.
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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