Business
Masts Erection NESREA Goes Tough On Telecoms Operators
The National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) has said that it will crackdown on more telecommunication companies for flouting the country‘s Environmental Impact Assessment regulations.
The Director-General, NESREA, Dr.Ngeri Benebo, stated this during a stakeholders meeting on the Review of the Draft National Environmental Standards For Telecommunications Facilities Regulations 2010, in Abuja, on Thursday.
The meeting was attended by representatives of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), MTN, Etisalat, Globacom, Multilinks Telkom, Visafone, and Helios Towers.
According to Benebo, “The Minister of Environment had during a stakeholders’ meeting last year, directed that Environmental Impact Assessment should be enforced from January 1, 2010. Since that time, we have written to the telecommunications operators and even given them deadline to comply. But none of them has complied.
“The last deadline expires by August 27, 2010. After that deadline, we will crackdown on those telecommunications companies that fail to comply.”
“Nobody can say that he or she is not a beneficiary of the growth and development that have taken place in the telecommunications sector within the last few years. This development is welcomed. But while we are all happy at this, we have to be mindful of the safety and health of the citizenry and the environment in particular. This is because every insult on our environment rebounds on us as human beings.”
“To say that because NESREA is regulating the environmental insults arising from the sector is discouraging investors from Nigeria is a wrong statement in the sense that any investment that does not take sustainable investment into consideration is not good for Nigeria.”
“Payment of tuition fees for undergraduate/postgraduate studies shall be subject to a maximum limit of $25,000.00 per semester,” the Manual states.
The expansion of international card limits also reflects growing confidence among lenders that foreign exchange liquidity has improved enough to support retail dollar transactions.
Speaking recently at the BusinessDay 14th Annual CEO Forum in Lagos, CBN Olayemi Cardoso, governor of the CBN said buying and selling activities now increasingly determine outcomes in the foreign exchange market, unlike in the past when market participants relied heavily on routine Central Bank interventions.
According to Cardoso, Nigeria’s net foreign exchange reserves have risen from just over $3 billion at the start of the reform programme to more than $40 billion, while gross reserves have climbed to about $52 billion, providing stronger confidence for investors and enabling the Central Bank to reserve interventions for periods of market stress rather than day-to-day liquidity management.
The restoration and expansion of international naira card spending limits are increasingly being seen as one of the clearest signs that the benefits of the CBN’s foreign exchange reforms are beginning to reach households, students and businesses making legitimate cross-border payments.
The Secretary-General and Chief Executive Officer, WEC, Dr Angela Wilkinson, disclosed this in a statement, last Thursday.
“Nigeria’s participation comes at a pivotal time as the country seeks to expand energy access, strengthen energy security, accelerate gas development and mobilise the capital required for industrialisation and sustainable economic growth.
“WEC Nigeria will convene leaders from across the energy ecosystem, apply the WEC’s globally recognised Energy Trilemma framework to Nigeria’s unique context, and promote evidence-based dialogue, practical collaboration and informed policymaking.
“It will also ensure that Nigerian and broader African perspectives contribute meaningfully to global energy conversations,” she said.
Wilkinson expressed confidence that Nigeria would play a significant leadership role at the World Energy Congress scheduled for Riyadh in April 2027 and beyond.
The statement also quoted the Chairman of WEC Nigeria, Isa, as describing the country’s participation as an opportunity to deepen national and African leadership within the global energy community through practical solutions tailored to regional development priorities.
He said the platform would promote collaboration across sectors and attract sustainable investments into Nigeria’s energy sector.
The Chief Executive Officer of WEC Nigeria, Wunti, was quoted in the statement as saying that the council would connect leadership, evidence and investment to build a secure, affordable and sustainable energy system.
“This system will be capable of driving economic growth and shared prosperity.”
According to him, the platform will also connect Nigerian institutions and businesses with international knowledge, technology, partnerships and investment opportunities through the World Energy Council’s global network.
Recall that WEC, founded in 1923, is the world’s oldest independent and impartial community of energy leaders and practitioners, advancing informed, collaborative and practical action across the global energy system.