Business

Land Transportation: Operators Call For Regulatory Agency

Published

9 years ago

June 19, 2015

Players in the transport
sector in the South East have called for an agency to regulate road transport as a measure to reduce the carnage on the roads.
Many of the stakeholders in the South-East, told newsmen yesterday that they were dismayed by the lack of regulations to check entry and exit in the road transport industry as obtained in the other transport sectors.
A cross section of the stakeholders who responded to a survey in Umuahia, expressed the need for the establishment of such an agency to regulate the activities of commercial transport operators in the country.
A commercial bus driver, Mr Augustine Eziyi, said that such an agency would help to regulate the activities of the various transport unions and ensure sanity in the sector.
Eziyi blamed reckless driving, driving under the influence of alcohol, touting on major roads and streets of Umuahia and Aba, among other challenges in the sector, on the absence of control over the operators.
“If there is an agency specifically in charge of land transportation in the country, drivers will be decent and disciplined in their operations,’’ he said.
He also attributed the problem bedeviling the sector to the lack of good education among the drivers, saying that the level of illiteracy was high among the commercial drivers.
Similarly, a senior staff member of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), who spoke to our source on the condition of anonymity, said that the commission was in a good stead to regulate the operations in the land transport sector.
He, however, expressed regret that the commission was hamstrung by the lack of funds to carry out its statutory functions, saying that it could effectively control the consumption of alcohol by drivers while on the wheel, if the resources were available.
In Awka, the Chief Executive Officer of GUO Transport Company, Chief Godwin Okeke, urged the Federal Government to convene a stakeholders’ meeting to sanitise the road transport business.
Okeke said that the road transport sector needed a regulatory body like the air and water sectors.
“A situation where all who have money just come in, buy vehicles and employ unqualified drivers has contributed to the increasing number of accidents being recorded on the high ways.
“This situation has created chaos in the sector. What the Federal Government should do is to bring everybody together in the transport industry in a conference or workshop to make suggestions on how best to sanitise the road transport sector,” Okeke said.
The transporter argued that by so doing, good policies on road transport would be formulated to accommodate the different groups and systems of operation in the country.
He suggested that the government could also boost the road transport sector by improving on the security on the roads, providing easy access to loans and ensuring good roads.
He said that if government tackled the three areas, the transport sector would further give a boost to the employment of youths.
A driver with the ‘God is Good Motors’ in Awka, Mr Tony Okafor, also said that the establishment of a regulatory body would make the road transport business more attractive and reduce touting.
“Anyone who wants to run a transport system will be guided on the required standard for the country, starting from the calibre of drivers, conductors and attendants to employ,” he said.
On his part, the Executive Secretary of ‘Arrive Alive Road Safety Initiative (AARSI)’, an NGO, Mr Ike Okonkwo, urged the government to implement all the road safety rules and regulations, to check the carnage.
Okonkwo decried the current rate of road accidents in the country, saying that advanced countries had reduced road accident to the barest minimum.
“I still wonder why we cannot replicate same here in the country with all the agencies we have on the roads.
“There is a need for the enforcement of the rules, to ensure that everybody complies with them.
Also commenting, Mr Ben Osaka, the Coordinator of the FRSC Special Marshals and Partners in Onitsha, underscored the need for more enlightenment of drivers’ unions, to check the intake of drugs and stimulants among their members.
Osaka also observed that some of the vehicles plying the roads were unserviceable and should be kept out of the roads.
“There is a need for enlightenment, especially for drivers of articulated vehicles, which the FRSC had already started.
“There should also be a ban on the sale of stimulants and alcohol, on the roads and in motor parks.
“The issue of speed limiters in vehicles must be implemented while sloppy areas of any road should have speed breakers and danger signs,’’ he said.
In Abakaliki, the stakeholders called for the establishment of an effective land transport policy to correct the numerous anomalies bedeviling the sector.
They remarked that the numerous challenges which included the carnage on the roads, poor conditions of the roads, and traffic congestion, among others could be prevented with an endearing land transport policy.
Chief Ike Ifediba, the former Chairman of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Ebonyi branch, noted that such policy would reduce the carnage.
“Road accidents account for many deaths in Nigeria; an effective road transport policy with appropriate punishments for defaulters, will ensure that motorists obey traffic regulations.
“Incidents such as the recent fuel tanker explosions in the country could have been prevented with such policies, as adequate regulations on all forms of road transportation would ensure sanity on the roads,” he said.
A staff member of the FRSC in Ebonyi who also spoke on the condition of anonymity, noted that such a policy would ensure the adoption of road transport regulations as obtained in developed countries.
“In these countries, there are stipulated periods for articulated vehicles and smaller vehicles to ply the roads which ensure sanity on the roads.
“Such policy, if in existence, would have prevented the fuel tanker carnage in Onitsha and other parts of the country which claimed many lives in broad daylight,” he said.
Mrs Patience Okpo, a commuter, noted that such a policy would ensure that the roads were well maintained to reduce the carnage and check traffic congestion.
“The policy will stipulate adequate regulations which will ensure that the government at all levels provide adequate infrastructure for the people while the commuters will stop acts such as littering and soil mining, among others, which destroy the roads,” she said.

Business

Paper Industry’s Economic Contribution Hits N398bn

Published

1 day ago

April 22, 2024

The Tide

The contribution of the paper industry rose to N398.8billion in 2023 from N356billion it recorded in 2022.
Chief Executive Officer of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE), Dr. Musa Yusuf, disclosed this in a report released to mark the inauguration of World Envelopes Day in Lagos.
Marking the event, which also commemorated the 50th anniversary of envelope manufacturing firm, FAE Limited, Yusuf stated that the paper industry has a profound economic impact across all sectors of the economy.
He, however, noted that the growth in digital technology had greatly disrupted the sector, especially as a mode of communication.
“As of 2023, the value of the Nigerian paper industry was N398.8billion naira, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.
“The value was N365bn in 2022; N363 billion in 2021; and N255billion in 2020. This is a significant contribution to our GDP. However, when compared to the size of our economy, which is estimated at N230trillion as of 2023, it is still very small”, the CPPE boss stated.
Yusuf said the paper industry had been largely in recession because of the digital technology disruptions and other macroeconomic headwinds, especially relating to exchange rate depreciation, forex liquidity crisis and high cost of fund and energy cost escalation.
He emphasised that the paper industry had a profound economic impact across all sectors of the economy, which underscored the need for government intervention in the sector.
In her opening remarks, the Managing Director of FAE Limited, Funlayo Bakare, described World Envelopes Day as the brainchild of the company, which sought to set aside April 16 as a day to celebrate the fundamental role envelopes play in daily communication.
“As we celebrate our golden jubilee, we are delighted to announce the inauguration of World Envelopes Day, to be celebrated annually on the 16th day of April.
“This is a pioneering initiative by FAE Ltd in accordance with our leadership position in the sector.
“The establishment of World Envelopes Day is to raise awareness about the importance of envelopes in various aspects of human endeavour, including personal correspondence, business transactions, and creative expressions”, she said.
The Publisher of The Guardian Newspaper, Maiden Ibru, who chaired the occasion, stressed the need to strike a balance between digitalisation and physical paper production, especially due to the indispensable role paper plays in cultural preservation.
Nigeria once had three paper mills: the Nigeria Paper Mill Limited, located in Jebba, Kwara State; the Nigerian Newsprint Manufacturing Company Limited, Oku-Iboku, Akwa Ibom State; and the Nigerian National Paper Manufacturing Company Limited in Ogun State.
The mills are no longer operational, and the country has had to depend on importation to make up for the shortfall.
The Asset Management Company of Nigeria has taken over the management of NNMC over unpaid debts.

Business

Aviation Union Threatens Strike Over Revenue Deduction

Published

1 day ago

April 22, 2024

The Tide

The Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN) has said it would embark on industrial action if the Federal Government refuses to exempt aviation agencies from a directive that seeks to deduct 50 per cent from their Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).
ATSSSAN disclosed this in a communique issued by its National Executive Council (NEC) after its National Economic Council meeting in Ibadan, Oyo State.
The NEC, which had in attendance all 17 affiliates of ATSSSAN comprising all branch Chairmen, Secretaries, and national officers, reiterated calls for the exemption of the aviation agencies from the deduction of 50 per cent of their IGR under the Fiscal Responsibility Act.
The association said the agencies were not established for profit, hence stifling them of the required funds would jeopardise the effective performance of their safety and security mandates.
ATSSSAN warned that if the Federal Government insist on the deduction, it would compound the current financial state of the agencies, and “we may be forced to direct all aviation workers to down tools until the government reverses itself”.
Last year, the Federal Government directed the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation to immediately commence the presidential directives on a 50 per cent automatic deduction from the IGR of Federal Government-owned enterprises.
The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, had issued a circular titled, “Re: Implementation of the Presidential Directives on 50 per cent Automatic Deduction from Internally Generated Revenue of Federal Government Owned Enterprises (FGOEs)”.
According to the circular, all partially-funded Federal Government agencies and parastatals (receiving capital or overhead allocation from the Federal Government’s budget) should remit 50 per cent of their gross IGR, while all statutory revenues, like tender fees, contractor’s registration, and sales of government assets, among others, should be remitted 100 per cent to the sub-recurrent account.
ATSSSAN stated its apprehension over what it perceives as deliberate efforts by certain private airlines to stop their employees from forming labour unions.
Citing Section 40 of the Nigerian Constitution and international labor norms, the association contends that such actions constitute a violation of workers rights.
The statement, however, did not specify the airline operators suppressing workers from joining unions.
Part of the statement read, “The NEC-in-session calls on all employers in the private sector in the aviation industry to respect collective bargaining agreements in order to avert industrial crises at the workplace.
“NEC-in-session was seriously disturbed by the continuous willful acts by some private airlines towards frustrating the unionization of their employees, contrary to the letters and spirit of Section 40 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and relevant international conventions and laws”.
The association, therefore, called upon the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment to uphold and enforce employees’ rights to unionise within the aviation industry.
It urged the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, to orchestrate a dialogue involving all relevant stakeholders, including the non-compliant airlines and labour unions, under the auspices of the Labor Ministry.
At the meeting, other issues affecting workers, especially members’ welfare and working conditions, and the aviation industry at large were discussed, and positions and resolutions were taken.
The aviation group decried what it perceive as a dearth of avenues for career progression within government-owned aviation entities.

Business

NCDMB Rakes In $1m Return On NEDOGAS Investment

Published

1 day ago

April 22, 2024

The Tide

Management of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) says it has received a cheque of $1 million from Nedogas Development Company Limited (NDCL).
A statement made available to newsmen by the Directorate of Corporate Communications and Zonal Coordination of the Board said the sum received was part of the return on investment (ROI) on one of its strategic investments.
The statement added that: “The cheque was presented by the Chairman of the company, Engr. Emeka Ene, when he visited the Nigerian Content Tower in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, where he was received by the NCDMB’s Executive Secretary, Engr. Felix Omatsola Ogbe, and other members of the Board’s management.
“Nedogas Development Company Limited (NDCL) is a joint venture company between Xenergi Limited and NCDMB Capacity Development Intervention Company.
“As part of the project, Nedogas NDCL constructed and commissioned a 300 MMscfd Capacity Kwale Gas Gathering (KGG) and injection facility located in the Umusam Community, near Kwale in Delta State, Niger Delta, Nigeria.
“The KGG Facility was designed to handle stranded gas resources in Nigeria’s OML56 oil province by providing the opportunity for independent operators in the area to monetize natural gas from their fields through the gas gathering, compression, injection and metering infrastructure of the KGG for quick market access.
“Nedogas is one of the several strategic and successful investments of the NCDMB funded from the Nigerian Content Development Fund (NCDF), in line with the Board’s mandate to build capacity and catalyze local projects in the Nigerian oil and gas industry as enshrined under the Nigeran Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act”.
In his remarks, according to the statement, the NCDMB Executive Secretary stated that the success story of NEDOGAS at Kwale, Delta State, could be replicated in other oil and gas producing communities to minimise gas flaring, saying that Ogbe also declared the Board’s readiness to continue collaborating with the company.
“Their model should be extended to other parts of the country where gas flaring is continuing.They have shown that with the modular system, we can quickly remove flaring from our operations in Nigeria.
“The NCDMB had continued to receive briefings from its investment partners. We’re still waiting for them to come back with success stories. Some of them are near completion and have not started operations yet”, the NCDMB’s Executive Secretary said.
In his remarks, Chairman of NEDOGAS, Mr. Emeka Ene, conveyed the company’s excitement in returning part of the credit and profit, adding that it was a proof that the NCDMB’s investment was a success and they are getting back that investment, adding that the firm looks forward to further collaboration with the NCDMB to expand its scope.
Responding, the NCDMB boss said the Board was now doing effectively and practically and tangibly what it was set up for, saying its mandate was to impact the economy by direct interventions.
“That’s the way the economy can grow, improve the gas infrastructure in such a way that’s sustainable despite the tight economic conditions”, he said.
He added that, “the value propositions of the Nedogas project include total eradication of flared gas and conversation of environmental pollutants into products of value and creation of a strategic gas gathering hub and injection node for quick access to market for gas owners to monetize gas”.
Other benefits, according to Ogbe, include the provision of alternative gas supply to western flank of the OB3 line to add to the volumes of economic sustainability and increase in Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
“The partnership with NEDOGAS is one of NCDMB’s 15 strategic investments geared towards actualizing the Federal Government’s aspirations in key areas of the oil and gas industry.
“Most of the projects were targeted at actualizing the Federal Government’s Decade of Gas programme.
“Some of NCDMB’s notable third-party investments include Waltermith’s 5000 barrels per day (bpd) modular refinery in Imo State, Azikel Group12,000 bpd hydro-skimming modular refinery in Gbarain, Bayelsa State, and Duport Midstream’s 2,500bpd modular refinery in Edo State.
“Other investments of the Board include Better Gas Energy for LPG terminal and gas distribution, partnership with Rungas Prime Industries Limited to establish a cooking gas cylinders manufacturing plant in Polaku, Bayelsa State, and Alaro City in Lagos and the partnership with Butane Energy to deepen LPG utilization in the North”, he stated.
The Executive Secretary also noted that there was the partnership with BUNORR Integrated Energy Limited in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, to produce 48,000 litres of base oil per day and partnership with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Limited, Brass Fertilizer and Petrochemical Company Limited, and DSV Engineering to establish a 10,000 Ton Methanol Production Plant, Odioama, in the Brass Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.