All Posts in "Day: December 1, 2021"

Okunbor spoke while delivering the 51st Founders’ Day Lecture of the University of Benin, titled, “The Global Energy Transition and The Imperatives for Nigeria.” He called for an urgent optimisation of Nigeria’s energy resources for speedy economic and industrial development of the country.
He said, “Nigeria has gas in abundance – around 202 trillion cubic feet of proven gas reserves and about 600 trillion cubic feet of unproven reserves. Harnessing these vast gas resources, and on time too, is key in the next decade of Nigeria’s existence.”
According to him, the second approach for Nigeria’s successful energy transition would be an intentional growth of the off-grid power and renewables industry taking advantage of foreign financial support and technology transfer.
Okunbor stated, “The on-going energy transition is here with us. As with other transitions, it is a journey that will involve multiple approaches, collective action and undoubtedly present new challenges and opportunities.
“Nigeria is well positioned to ride the wave of the current energy transition with its abundance of natural fossil fuels and renewable solar energy. We need to move with a greater sense of urgency and a clear sense of direction.”
Okunbor, who is also the Managing Director of The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC), said, “Nigeria, as a country with abundant natural fossil fuel resources, cannot afford for international and multilateral agencies to stop funding the development of fossil fuels, particularly gas projects.
“The transition is underway,” Okunbor said, “but it will move at different paces and produce different outcomes in different countries, depending on local factors. Society, as a whole, faces a dual challenge to transition to a low-carbon energy future, dealing with how to manage the risk of climate change, while also extending the benefits of energy to everyone on the planet. This is a challenge that requires changes in the way energy is produced, used and made accessible to people.”
Despite the efforts at decarbonisation, Okunbor said oil and gas would remain in the energy mix for some decades to come. He said, “This is partly a consequence of the time needed for renewables to reach the necessary level of materiality. In part, it is also a consequence of the lack of substitution options in some parts of the economy. But the world will need to meet its energy needs at the same time as it tackles climate change.”
He noted that to make the federal government’s ”Decade of Gas” agenda a success, the country would need to unlock the domestic gas-to-power value chain; accelerate infrastructure development; drive gas-based industrialisation; and deepen domestic liquefied petroleum gas penetration.
Online Editor by — December 1, 2021 in Energy 0
Global Attack on Fossil Fuel Investment Will  Worsen Energy Crisis-NNPC

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited  attributed the current global gas crisis to shortage of investments in the oil sector as activists, investors, and climate change advocates continue to mount pressure on banks and oil companies to withdraw funding for fossil fuel related projects.
The corporation said there might be no end in sight to the overheating of the oil market, which could even worsen if the required financing of major oil and gas projects continued to lag.
Speaking in Yenagoa during the 10th Practical Nigerian Content (PNC) Conference organised by Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), the Group Executive Director, Upstream, NNPC, Adokiye Tombomieye, urged Nigeria to look inwards for financing of major projects.
The event was attended by several industry and non-sector players, including the governor of Bayelsa State, Douye Diri; Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, who was represented by the Director, Human Resources Management, Dr. Famous Eseduwo; and the NCDMB Executive Secretary, Simbi Wabote.
Others at the event included Country Chair, Shell Nigeria, Osagie Okunbor; Group Managing Director, NNPC, Mele Kyari, who attended virtually; Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Petroleum Agency (NURPC), Mr Gbenga Komolafe; and several top shots in the oil and gas industry.
Tombomieye, who was represented by the Group General Manager, National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS) Bala Wunti, said there had been a downward spiral in investment in the oil and gas industry since 2000. But he stressed that with the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) things would change from 2022.
Tagged, “Driving Nigerian Content in the New Dawn of the Petroleum Industry Act,” the NNPC top official, who spoke during one of the sessions, maintained that there was an on-going trend of upward movement in the industry.
“The reason is not far-fetched,” Tombomieye stated, adding, “We have seen the consequence of uncertainty in the industry. Investment and uncertainty never mix.”
Tombomieye explained, “Whether we go ahead with the energy transition or not we have already created a monster and that monster is that we now have finance activists, investment activists that have come into the space to create problems for energy investment.
“Energy investment is being attacked and will continue to be attacked in the fossil fuels industry. Investment capital is now very discriminatory against fossil fuels, but not only that, it has become more and more impatient.
“Everybody wants to invest today and recoup the money tomorrow. Nobody wants to invest that money for 10 years, but I need to let you know that the upstream space is not a day’s job. You will invest today and wait for 10 years. These issues have created an impediment to investment.”
According to the GED, the crunch on finance and investment has not created the new energy crisis across the globe, but has seen the prices of gas skyrocketing in the last few months.
However, he stated that the situation had also brought about significant opportunities for Nigeria, which would now have to look elsewhere to finance major projects.
He said, “If I’m not getting money from JP Morgan and I’m not getting money from Blackwell, if Shell is running away, where else will the money come from. And this is a challenge for the service contractors. We do know that there should be active collaborations by the service contractors.”
Tombomieye argued that though many players within the industry liked to cut corners, with the advent of the PIA, that would soon stop. He said major investments would start rolling in by 2022 as pending disputes are being resolved.
During the event, the NCDMB Executive Secretary, Wabote, formally signed a deal with Amal Technologies for the setting up a state-of-the-art factory to produce hardware, embedded systems, and other technological devices in Nigeria. He said the plant could produce as much as two million electricity meters.
Wabote stated, “The plant will produce smart gas/smoke detector alarm devices that monitor and detect smoke and all types of gas leakages (especially LPG), call the user’s mobile phone if the intensity of the gas is getting high, and automatically shut off the valve of the gas cylinder using Internet of Things and Artificial Intelligence technology.”
On the board’s 10-year roadmap, Wabote said while there was a total of 96 initiatives, 56 were on track, 24 were on-going, 16 initiatives were not yet due, while overall, 75 per cent of the roadmap was on-track as at November 2021.
According to Wabote, “Five areas monitored for evaluation of Nigerian content are engineering, procurement, fabrication, project management, and services. Based on projects covered by our monitoring and evaluation directorate, a total of $20.4 billion was spent on these five categories between 2016 and 2020.
“The top three industries’ spend are $8.07 billion on fabrication, representing 39 per cent of spend; $4.74billion on engineering services, representing 23 per cent of spending, and $5.67 billion on procurement of manufactured materials representing 28 per cent of spend.
“The low spends were $1.18 billion on services, representing six per cent of spend, and $746 million on project management, representing four per cent of spend.”
In his remarks, Sylva called for closer collaboration among the various agencies of the ministry with implementation of the PIA about to come into force. He said the conference had continued to grow every year, adding that the NCDMB had consistently broken new grounds with the implementation of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act.
He enjoined the board to continue its upward trajectory and stay focused on the implementation of the Nigerian Content 10-Year Strategic Roadmap to grow Nigerian content to the targeted level of 70 per cent by 2027.
He said, “Government expects that with the PIA now in place and supported by the enabling structures to ease doing business, new Final Investment Decisions (FIDs) should begin to happen rapidly in the Nigerian oil and gas industry.
“With over $42 billion worth of investment agreement signed by various Nigerian entities at the just concluded Intra African Trade Fair (IATF) in South Africa, there is strong optimism that so many new projects would soon commence in the Nigerian oil and gas industry.”
Komolafe, in his comments read by the Senior Technical Adviser NUPRC, Mr. Abel Nsa, said over a decade since the enactment of the NOGICD Act, so much had been achieved by the NCDMB over the years in the development of indigenous capacity. He said this had helped in stimulating the local economy and brought about the resurgence of new businesses, creation of jobs for the youth and unemployed, in addition to the retention of wealth in the country.
Shell Chair in Nigeria said the company in 2016 spent over N2 billion in the construction, upgrade and provision of equipment for the Nigerian Institute of Welding (NIW) in a bid to enhance welding technology in-country.
“With this investment, the institute is now able to perform destructive and non-destructive testing of materials in Nigeria,” he said.
Diri urged the stakeholders to create “local contentment”, to foster a conducive environment for the operations of the oil companies.
Online Editor by — December 1, 2021 in Oil&Gas 0
130,000 Nigerian Children Living With HIV -UNICEF

About 130,000 children are living with HIV in Nigeria, just as one Nigerian child died every five minutes from Aids-related reasons in 2020, the United Nations Children’s Agency (UNICEF) said in a report released ahead of tomorrow’s World AIDS Day, December 1.
Announcing this in a statement  signed by Safiya Akau, UNICEF Nigeria, Tuesday, the agency further revealed that 30 per cent of them died from  AIDS-related deaths in 2020.
It further stated that 20,695 Nigerian children aged between zero to nine years were newly infected with HIV in 2020,
while only 3.5 percent  (1,629,427) of them are receiving antiretroviral treatment (ART).
The statement partly reads, “In Nigeria, about 30 per cent of AIDS-related deaths in 2020 occurred in children. Alarmingly, only about 3.5 per cent of the 1,629,427 Nigerians receiving antiretroviral treatment (ART) are children, revealing a big treatment gap.
“Barriers to adequate access to HIV services are longstanding and familiar, including discrimination and gender inequalities.”
It also said, “In Nigeria, almost eight out of ten new infections occurring in adolescents aged 10-19 occur in adolescent girls, while an estimated 83,000 pregnant women in Nigeria are HIV positive. Only 44 per cent of them are on ART, risking continued mother-to-child transmission of HIV.
“Another 120,000 children died from AIDS-related causes during the same period, or one child every five minutes.
“In Nigeria, 20,695 children aged 0-9 years were newly infected with HIV in 2020 – or one child every 30 minutes.”
According to the statement, at least 300,000 children world were newly infected with HIV in 2020, or one child every two minutes.
The latest HIV and AIDS Global Snapshot warns that a prolonged COVID-19 pandemic is deepening the inequalities that have long driven the HIV epidemic, putting vulnerable children, adolescents, pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers at increased risk of missing life-saving HIV prevention and treatment services.
“The HIV epidemic enters its fifth decade amid a global pandemic that has overloaded health care systems and constrained access to life-saving services. Meanwhile, rising poverty, mental health issues, and abuse are increasing children and women’s risk of infection,” said UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore. “Unless we ramp up efforts to resolve the inequalities driving the HIV epidemic, which are now exacerbated by COVID-19, we may see more children infected with HIV and more children losing their fight against AIDS.”
Alarmingly, two in five children living with HIV worldwide do not know their status, and just over half of children with HIV are receiving antiretroviral treatment (ART). Some barriers to adequate access to HIV services are longstanding and familiar, including discrimination and gender inequalities.
The report notes that many countries saw significant disruptions in HIV services due to COVID-19 in early 2020. HIV infant testing in high burden countries declined by 50 to 70 per cent, with new treatment initiations for children under 14 years of age falling by 25 to 50 per cent.
Although uptake of services rebounded in June 2020, coverage levels remain far below those before COVID-19, and the true extent of the impact remains unknown.
In 2020, sub-Saharan Africa accounted for 89 per cent of new HIV paediatric infections and 88 per cent of children and adolescents living with HIV worldwide, with adolescent girls six times more likely to be infected with HIV than boys. Some 88 per cent of AIDS-related child deaths were in sub-Saharan Africa.
Nigeria has the highest number of children and adolescents aged 0-19 years living with HIV in West and Central Africa, with an estimate of 190,000.
“Children and adolescents continue to be left behind in the HIV response around the world. In Nigeria, teenage girls also bear the heaviest burden. We must increase and sustain HIV investments to ensure children are born free of HIV and stay HIV-free throughout childhood and adolescence,” said Peter Hawkins, UNICEF Nigeria Country Representative.
“This is a shared responsibility. The HIV response must be increasingly integrated into all ongoing sector plans. The COVID-19 response presents an opportunity for Nigeria to take big strides to make strategic health system-wide investments that can benefit all children and adolescents. That must include meaningful engagement with all affected communities, especially the most vulnerable,” said  Hawkins.
Online Editor by — December 1, 2021 in News 0
MTN Offers 575million Shares To Nigerians

MTN Nigeria Communications Plc  announced its public offer to retail investors for the sale of up to 575million shares held in Nigeria by MTN Group would be priced at N169.00 per share.
MTN Chief Executive Officer, Karl Toriola, who announced this in Abuja at a media briefing, said the offer would open at 8am on December 1, 2021 and close at 5pm on December 14, 2021.
Toriola said the minimum subscription is for 20 shares and lots of 20 shares thereafter.
He explained that the offer includes an incentive in the form of one free share for every 20 shares purchased, subject to a maximum of 250 free shares per investor.
According to him, the incentive is open to retail investors who buy and hold the shares allotted to them for at least 12 months, post the allotment date.
Commenting on the price announcement, MTN Chief Executive Officer, said “The success and growth of MTN Nigeria is intrinsically linked to that of Nigeria and Nigerians.
“Therefore, we are excited to offer Nigerians the opportunity to own shares in MTN Nigeria.
“Our journey to becoming the largest network in Nigeria has been humbling, but we still have a long way to go.
“There is much more to do to support the evolution of an inclusive digital economy, and we continue to invest as we evolve into a truly digital operator, capable of seamlessly integrating value across the evolving telecommunications, digital and fintech segments.
MTN Group President and Chief Executive Officer, Ralph Mupita, said the offer aligns with MTN Group’s strategic priority to create shared value.
He said: “In the last 20 years, we have worked diligently to connect 68million subscribers onto voice and data networks and ensure that we deliver the benefits of a modern connected life.
” With this offer, we will contribute to the further deepening of Nigeria’s equity capital markets.
“It is the first time in a series of transactions as the MTN Group implements its plans to ensure broad-based ownership by reducing its shareholding in MTN Nigeria to 65per cent over time.
“We thank the Nigerian authorities for the support we as MTN Group have received in the various approvals related to the offer and remain committed to play out humble role in driving digital and financial inclusion across the country over the medium term.”
Investors will be able to submit applications through the issuing Houses, Receiving Agents(authorised stockbrokers and Nigerian banks) and online via a unique digital application platform, PrimaryOffer, adminstered by the Nigerian Exchange Limited.
Online Editor by — December 1, 2021 in IT&Telecoms 0
EndSARS: Sanwo-Olu Woos  Youths With   Peace Walk 

Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu says the state deserves true healing after the disturbances that trailed last year’s protests against police brutality,
He said only sustenance of harmony can guarantee the realisation of aspirations of all residents.
Sanwo-Olu spoke in a live broadcast held at the State House, Alausa, on the State Government’s position on the recommendations of the Judicial Panel of Inquiry on EndSARS submitted a fortnight ago.
The Governor said the state currently faced the hard choice of restoring harmony or doing itself a great harm, urging residents to join his administration in strengthening harmony and put the State on the path of peace.
Sanwo-Olu asked residents to reject those fueling anarchy and suspicion, clinging to unsubstantiated belief that carried no weight of verifiable evidence, while choosing emotion over facts.
His administration, he said, is ready to facilitate better communication between the youths and the State’s security machinery to resolve issues before they become intractable.
He said he would be leading ‘A Walk for Peace’ in December to herald the healing of the land, extending an open invitation to the youths, members of the diplomatic corps, civil society groups, students and the media as well as other stakeholders to join him in the Peace Walk.
The Governor  invited Folarin Falana (Falz), Debo Adebayo (Mr. Marcaroni), Dele Farotimi, Temitope Majekodunmi, Segun Awosanya (Segalinks), Adedotun (Just Detoun), Seun Kuti, Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu and Commander of Rapid Response Squad (RRS), CSP Yinka Egbeyemi and others to join him in the “historic march for our dear Lagos.”
He said: “Nobody will build this city for us. Let us show the world who we are. We are Lagosians. A people of great renown, driven by the irrepressible spirit of Lagos. It is a testimony to our strength and resilience as a people that, despite the huge losses incurred because of these terrible incidents, we have bounced back, with our economy as vibrant and virile as ever. I have no doubt whatsoever that our prospects are as bright as ever and the best lies ahead of Lagos State and Nigeria.
“We will make it easier for our young people to initiate formal complaints on human rights violations through the Ministry of Justice. We will also improve the coordination between the state government and the security agencies, including the police and the military. In this vein, we are studying how to improve security policy formulation, information sharing, and clarifying rules of engagement in times of social unrest.
“Just as we have established a mechanism to compensate all those who lost homes, businesses, and livelihoods to the violent destruction of October 2020, we shall also establish a detailed procedure for the just compensation of citizens with verified claims of police brutality committed during the protests.”
Speaking on last year’s EndSARS protests and the events that followed, especially the hijack of the protests by hoodlums, which led to the destruction of public and private property worth billions of naira, the Governor said the Government, the youth, protesters, the Police and other security agencies have learned the appropriate lessons from the EndSARS protests, particularly the Lekki Tollgate incident, with a view to averting any recurrence to the detriment of the State.
On mixed reactions following the release of the report of the Judicial Panel of Inquiry, Sanwo-Olu said his administration remained committed to the process that would bring a closure to a “painful episode” in the history of the State.
The much-expected White Paper, the Governor pledged, will be issued later in the day.
He recalled that the panel was originally inaugurated to investigate allegations of police brutality committed by the disbanded SARS and in the aftermath of what happened on October 20, 2020, he decided to expand the mandate to include investigating what happened at the Lekki Tollgate that night.
He said: “As a matter of good faith and a sincere commitment to uncovering the truth, we constituted a panel of individuals that we believed were independent, credible, and representative of the various stakeholder communities interested in the movement against police brutality.
“Apart from the chairman of the panel being a respected retired jurist, various stakeholders including the youths, #EndSARS protesters, the police and civil society groups were represented on the panel. I am sure no member of the panel can claim that the State Government made any attempt to influence them in any way throughout the duration of its sitting.
“While I commend the panel for undertaking its task to the best of its abilities, it is however regrettable that the panel’s work and the leakage of an unauthorised version of the report have generated much tension. Sadly, a deep wound has been reopened.
“The heated exchanges among various shades of opinion on the report have unfortunately put us all at the risk of missing the larger picture; the fact that what we all seek in common is a land in which we are all safe and secure, law enforcement agents are trusted, and justice is guaranteed for all.
“We have no intention to engage in histrionics or further inflame passion on a matter that has generated intense interest and controversy nationally and internationally. Our decisions and actions will be based entirely on the law, the weight of evidence, and unblemished respect for the truth.”
Governor Sanwo-Olu, while expressing his administration’s commitment to end human rights abuses, said he has never been in any doubt as to the sincerity, patriotism and noble motivations of both organisers of EndSARS protests and those who participated in the movement to see an end to the human rights abuses by the now disbanded Special Anti- Robbery Squad (SARS).
He said it is also on record that the Federal Government accepted all the demands of the protesters, including the immediate scrapping of SARS, adding that the National Economic Council (NEC) also recommended the establishment of State Panels of Inquiry into cases of police brutality and the Lagos State Government was the first to set up its own panel.
He said: “I can boldly say that no state took the advocacy for police reforms and justice in the face of documented brutality more seriously than we did in Lagos. We have so far paid N420 million in compensation to victims of police brutality, in line with the recommendations of the panel.
“My good people of Lagos State, you will also recall that in solidarity with the protesters, I joined our youths at various points during the demonstrations, particularly at the Lekki Tollgate and Alausa.
“I received the charter of demands of the protesters and promised to pass them on to the President and Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces, President Muhammadu Buhari.
“I kept my word and passed on the demands to the President, who promised to act promptly on the issues raised.  However, perhaps as a result of entrenched lack of trust between the government and the governed over the years, the protesters responded to the government’s concessions with skepticism, and the demonstrations continued, even growing in intensity.
“Regrettably, what had been very well organized and peaceful protests were subsequently hijacked in different parts of the country, particularly in Lagos. In the ensuing descent into anarchy, many of our compatriots were caught up in the violence. Several policemen were killed. Public and private property, including critical infrastructure, were set on fire, leading to losses estimated at several billions of naira.
“At that point, I imposed a curfew to restore normalcy in Lagos. We had only one goal in mind: the maintenance of law and order, and the protection of citizens going about their daily lives. This is more than a legal duty. It is a sacred obligation under the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which I swore to uphold,” the governor explained.
Online Editor by — December 1, 2021 in News 0
Senate Probes Jailbreaks In Nigeria

The  Senate has mandated its Committee on Interior to carry out a full scale investigation into the causes of jail breaks in Nigeria.
It has therefore summoned the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, the Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola and the Controller General of the Nigeria Correctional Service (NCoS), Haliru Nababa over the jail break at the Jos Medium Security Correctional Centre.
The summon, according to the Senate, is to find out the challenges of the centers in order to prevent future occurrence.
The resolutions of the Senate was reached, following a motion titled, “Terror Attacks on two Communities in Plateau North and Jail Break at the Jos Medium Security Correctional Centre Jos,” brought to the floor by Senator Istifanus Gyang during plenary.
Gyang noted with grief the multiple terror attacks on two communities of Ta’egbe, Rigwe land and Durbi, Sheri District in a Bassa and Jos East Local Governments, leading to the death of over ten persons over the weekend.
According to him, the attacks caused by a security breach of the Jos Medium Security Correctional  Centre, was a setback to the relative and much desired peace in Plateau North.
He disclosed that nine inmates, including an officer identified as Umar A. Mohammed, were also killed, while 252 inmates escaped during the jail break.
He said among the inmates at large, six were fatally injured, 10 of the escapees re-arrested, 63 sentenced to death, 27 convicted, and 181 awaiting trials.
Gyang said that the invaders responsible for the break “walked through a security zone and broke through to have over 200 inmates escape from the Centre.”
He added that the wardens who put up a fight against the invaders were overwhelmed during a gun battle against the attackers.
In his contribution, Senator Ahmad Babba Kaita (Katsina North) blamed the spate of insecurity in Nigeria on the inadequate number of personnel across the various security agencies in the country.
He implored  the National Assembly to rise to the occasion by appropriating more funds to security agencies to enable them undertake recruitment of more personnel.
The Senate Leader, Yahaya Abdullahi (Kebbi North), attributed the recent jail break in the country to what he described as a “porous prisons system”.
He lamented that jailbreaks have become a recurring decimal which in recent times have exposed the lives of Nigerians to harm, as a result of prisoners on rampage to avenge their conviction.
It also mandated the committee on Interior to invite the Minister of Interior, the Attorney General of the Federation and Comptroller General of the Nigerian Correctional Service, Haliru Nababa, in order to carry out full scale investigation of the status of correctional centres nationwide, with a view to finding out the challenges to prevent future recurrence of jail breaks.
Online Editor by — December 1, 2021 in News 0