Business
Stakeholders Want Implementation Of N85bn Water Resources Budget
Stakeholders in the water sector on Tuesday called for full implementation of the N85 billion earmarked for the Federal Ministry of Water Resources in 2017 budget.
They told The Tide source in Abuja that doing this would go a long way in ensuring that the country meets its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) targets by 2030.
The stakeholders added that it would also improve access to water and sanitation for all.
Mr Oseloka Zikora, Outgoing Programmes Coordinator, Africa Ministers Council on Water (AMCOW), said there was the need for increasing funding for the water and sanitation sector.
According to him, investing in this sector will have a ripple effect on other sectors, which would lead to overall development.
“Increasing funding for water resources development would have a value adding impact on all other sectors such as health, reduction in water borne diseases, availability of water and sanitation facilities would improve school enrollment.
“We also believe that when you invest in water resources development, it would have multiplier effect on energy, because when you build multipurpose dam, you are able to get energy resource from that,” he said.
Zikora, who is also the Chairman, Governing Board, Federal Polytechnic Offa, said this would also promote irrigation and agriculture towards increasing food production and job opportunity for teeming unemployed youths.
Mr Victor Olaomi, Coordinator, Alliance for Hygiene Promotion, said the total amount for the sector was great, saying emphasis should be placed on projects that would touch the lives of people, especially in rural areas.
He said: “we really commend the Federal Government for the increase, if you look at what we have now and in previous years, you would see that there is improvement.
“It is commendable, but there is a lot more that can be done, we call for more capital projects that will have direct impact on the people.
“We call for projects that will directly benefit the people in terms of water supply, sanitation and hygiene, and not just building infrastructure alone.”
Olaomi said transforming the lives of Nigerians, especially in rural areas, would have direct impact on how inclusive development could be for the nation.
He urged state governments to take a cue from what the Federal Government was doing in terms improving their own budgets for water, saying transforming lives happen mostly at the state and local government levels.
He said access to water supply and sanitation was the first step to overcoming poverty, saying that there was the need for stakeholders to consciously prioritise water supply. He also called for effective measures to ensure that capital projects were completed; stressing that there should be an end to abandoned projects.
Ms Priscilla Achakpa, the National Coordinator, Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC) Nigeria, bemoaned the low priority given to the sanitation sector, as the bulk of the money was for Integrated Water Resource Management and River Basins.
The coordinator, who commended the increase in budget to the water sector, however, lamented that the issues of sanitation and hygiene had not been getting the desired governments’ attention.
Achakpa then stressed the need to scale-up funding to sanitation, hygiene and gender, noting that NGOs also needed to scale up awareness for government to realise the importance of funding the sector.
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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