FG saving N1.4trn annually from subsidy removal – Kachikwu

The recent removal of subsidy from the pump price of premium motor spirit is saving the federal government over N1.4 trillion that would have been expended on subsidy claims per annum, the minister of state for petroleum resources, Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, has said.

Speaking when he visited the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, the minister explained that the deregulation policy has also re-awakened the downstream sector and would help the nation become a net exporter of petroleum products in a few years.

“We now have a lot of people who are interested in investing in our refineries and building more refineries and we will remain committed to the goal which is to reduce importation of petroleum products by 60 per cent by the end of 2018 and become a net exporter of petroleum products by 2019,” he said.

Kachikwu in a statement yesterday by the board noted that with the fall in crude oil prices and reduced investment in the sector, the NCDMB must re-strategise and transit from its role of just propagating local content and local participation to one of finding commonality with industry stakeholders to encourage investment.

Kachikwu also stated that the corporate restructuring initiated in the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has reduced the average monthly loss recorded by the corporation from N40 billion in the recent past to N3 billion, while efforts remained on target to achieve profitability before the end of 2016, a feat that had not been recorded in 20years.

He also announced plans to carry out infrastructural re-graphing of Nigeria’s petroleum sector, adding that plans were afoot to review Nigeria’s ageing pipelines, depots and gas infrastructure and begin the process of replacing them.

On gas flaring, the minister stated that the new thinking was to move away from a penalty-based gas regulation which had largely failed over the years to a zero tolerance gas flaring regulation with year 2020 as the new target deadline.

Admitting that the entire spectrum of petroleum industry required strategic intervention, Kachikwu harped on the need to see the challenges as opportunities to transform the sub sectors into income earners for the populace.
SOURCE: TodayNG

IMF welcomes Nigeria's decision to end currency peg

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund said on Thursday it welcomed the decision by Nigeria's central bank to abandon its currency peg and adopt a flexible exchange rate policy, saying this was important to reduce fiscal and external imbalances.

IMF spokesman Gerry Rice told a weekly news briefing the Fund wanted to see how effectively the naira exchange market functions once the new float system is put into effect next Monday.

Nigeria's central bank governor said in a letter to President Muhammadu Buhari the bank expects the naira to settle at around 250 to the dollar after it abandons the peg of 197 to the dollar it has supported for 16 months.

"I think the announcement yesterday to revise the guidelines for the operation of the Nigerian interbank foreign exchange market is an important and welcome step," Rice told reporters. "It will provide greater flexibility in that market, the foreign exchange market."

Senior IMF officials, including Managing Director Christine Lagarde, have urged Nigerian officials to allow the naira to fall to absorb some of the shock to the economy from a plunge in oil prices and revenues. OPEC member Nigeria is a major oil producer. IMF officials have said that Nigeria has not requested IMF financial assistance, but has been in consultation with the Fund on dealing with budget shortfalls.

"As we have said before, a significant macroeconomic adjustment that Nigeria urgently needs to eliminate existing imbalances and support the competitiveness of the economy is best achieved through a credible package of policies involving fiscal discipline, monetary tightening, a flexible exchange rate regime and structural reform," Rice said. "Allowing the exchange rate to better reflect market forces is an integral part of that."

Ex-gov Goje approved N1bn for dictionaries – EFCC

Former governor of Gombe State, Danjuma Goje, illegally awarded a N1bn contract for the supply of dictionaries to secondary schools while he was governor of the state, according to the EFCC.

A prosecution witness, Salisu Abaji, said this before a Federal High Court in Jos where Goje is being tried for alleged fraud, the spokesman for the EFCC, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, said in a statement.

According to the witness, the ex-governor awarded a contract for the supply of dictionaries for over N1bn to Gombe State Universal Basic Education Board without following procurement process.

Furthermore, he was alleged to have paid 85 per cent of the contract sum upfront to the supplier, Real and Integrated Hospitality Company, as against the prescribed 15 per cent as contained in the UBEB guideline when he was the governor.

The prosecution witness, who is a former Secretary to UBEB, gave this testimony against his former boss.

He further submitted that one Aliyu el-Naffty, a former UBEB chairman, also an accused person standing trial along with Goje, awarded the contract the same day and ordered the advance payment based on the directive of the ex-governor.

Another prosecution witness and a former storekeeper at the Gombe State Government House, Mr. Mohammed Aliyu, concluded his testimony by tendering receipts of all payments made to the food contractor to the government during the eight-year administration of Goje from 2003 and 2011.

Abaji, however, admitted that he played a role in the award and payment of the said amount as upfront to the contractor. This, he did, under cross-examination by the defence counsel, Mr. Adeniyi Akintola.

The trial has been adjourned till October 4 and 5, 2016 by Justice Quadri.

SOURCE: Todayng

Osun School Uniform Crisis: Religious battle enters physical, spiritual realm Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/06/osun-school-uniform-sagaa-religious-battle-enters-physical-spiritual-realm/

Osogbo—The face-off  between Christian and Muslim leaders degenerated, yesterday, but the timely intervention of Oluwo of Iwoland, Oba Adewale Akanbi, saved what could have snowballed into major religious crisis as some Christian students of Baptist High School, Adeeke, Iwo for the second day appeared in church robes to attend classes for the day.


In defiance to Governor Rauf Aregbesola’s warning on Tuesday that any student found disobeying school rules and regulations risk expulsion, some students who arrived the school for the day’s lessons in church robes were turned back by security men manning the gate who however allowed female Muslim students who wore hijab as a complement to their uniforms into the school premises. 

However, some Christian leaders who initially kept a safe distance watching the unfolding event at this point moved to the gate to ensure that their children also gained access to the school premises. 

The Christians eventually gained access into the premises. Muslim leaders who were around the school premises also moved to the gate and a face-off ensued between the two groups. It was gathered that the paramount ruler of the town, Oba Akanbi, stepped in by personally visiting the school to douse the tension by inviting both the Christian and Muslim leaders to his palace for a meeting. 

The battle after a while, turned spiritual as Christians in the state, yesterday, organised an interdenominational prayer where they offered prayers to God to intervene on the issue of hijab and the court ruling. The prayer rally which was attended by over 200 pastors and thousands of Christian faithful across all denominations in the 30 Local Government Areas of the State including Ife East Area Office was held at Dominion Hall of Osun Baptist Conference, Gbodofon, Osogbo . 

The prayer called by the State CAN Chairman, Reverend Dr. Elisha Ogundiya and led by his Vice, Pastor Moses Adedeji Ogundeji, was meant to reject the court ruling on hijab and other alleged islamisation plot by the state government. Dr Ogundiya told Vanguard that the prayer was also meant to seek for peace from God and to “nullify anti-Kingdom laws and dealings with satanic forces that are tormenting the state for the past few weeks”. 

Meanwhile, Baptist High School, Iwo where students went to school, yesterday, with various choir and church apparels as well as hijab was condoned-off by the police after it was shut by the state government, as the Christian and Muslim leaders held meetings with the Iwo monarch, Oba Abdulrasheed Adewale Akanbi to find solution to the impasse. 

CAN condemns hijab ruling in Osun state Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, yesterday, expressed disappointment over recent High Court judgment in Osun State on the use of hijab in all schools including missionary schools, describing the development as unfortunate which may send a wrong signal that Osun State Government is clearly favouring one religion over the other. 

The meeting which was well attended, had in attendance the National Officers of the Association, all the five Heads of blocs, the zonal chairmen, the states chairmen and delegates representing the five blocs of the association; Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria (CSN), Christian Council of Nigeria (CCN) Christian Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria/ Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (CPFN/PFN), TEKAN/ECWA, and Organisation of African Instituted Churches

SOURCE: vanguardngr

Nigeria, 33 Others Depend On Family, Paid Donors for Blood Supply

As part of activities to mark the World Blood Donor Day today, the World Health Organisation (WHO) is encouraging all countries to establish blood services based on full voluntary non-remunerated blood donations.

It decried a situation whereby 34 countries including Nigeria, are still dependent on family donors and even paid donors for more than 75 per cent of their blood supply.

The WHO's goal is for all countries to obtain all their blood supplies from voluntary, unpaid donors by 2020.

The United Nations apex health body, in a statement, yesterday, said: "Today, only 62 countries get close to 100 per cent of their national blood supplies from voluntary unpaid blood donations, with 34 countries still dependent on family donors and even paid donors for more than 75 per cent of their blood supply."

The Guardian's investigation reveals that most hospitals in Nigeria still insist on family donors and encourage paid donors.

It was found that there are known, paid blood donors parading the corridors of most teaching and general hospitals. Relatives are asked to donate blood for patients before they are transfused and when they cannot, they are referred to patronise paid donors.

The WHO said voluntary unpaid blood donations must be increased rapidly in more than half the world's countries in order to ensure a reliable supply of safe blood for patients whose lives depend on it.

This year, the theme of World Blood Donor Day is "Blood connects us all", highlighting the common bond that all people share in their blood. The slogan, "Share life, give blood", draws attention to the role that voluntary donation systems play in encouraging people to care for one another and promoting community cohesion.

WHO Director-General, Dr. Margaret Chan, said: "Although we have many external differences, the same vital blood pumps through all our veins. Voluntary, unpaid blood donation is the act of giving life - the greatest gift any person can give or receive."

SOURCE: GuardianNg

FG to allocate oil blocs to skilled people from Niger Delta – Kachikwu

The Minister of State for Petroleum, Mr. Ibe Kachikwu has said the President Muhammadu Buhari led Federal Government will consider people from the Niger Delta region when allocating oil blocs.

Speaking at a Town Hall in Uyo, capital of Akwa Ibom State, the Minister said though the President had not allocated any oil bloc since assumption of office but that when he eventually starts, only skilled people will benefit.

According to the Minister, the President will follow due process when he finally starts the allocation of oil blocs.

Kachikwu said, “In terms of the allocation of oil blocs to south-south indigene, since we came into position, the government has not allocated any bloc of petroleum. The president has not put any emphasis on that at all.

“He said we need to correct the mess before we begin to give advantage. Let me set something very clearly here; just like Udoma, I didn’t know the president before I got appointed here, never met him before, never spoke to him before.

“Recommendations and reputation brought me here. I haven’t been in government before, so I don’t know how it works, but since the day that I resumed, this president has never called me to give me the name of anybody, any Nigerian, north, south, east or west and say to me ‘you need to do some favour.

“On the contrary, his emphasis is that there should be no favours. Make the right decisions and be able to defend it. On the issue of oil blocs, when the time comes, it will follow very due process.

“I’m one of those who believe there’s a need to see how the south-south and corridors would benefit, because that is part of giving back. I am sure that at the appropriate time, those presented to him, he will listen to it.

“He will listen to it subject to the fact that those who have skills and the finances to develop the field will be allowed to develop the fields.”

SOURCE: Dailypostng

How assisted suicide is gradually becoming lawful in America

CALIFORNIA, America’s most populous state, became the fifth to sanction doctor-assisted suicide on June 9th. According to the End of Life Option Act, adult Californians of sound mind who have a terminal illness and less than six months to live are eligible to receive a prescription for a drug to bring about their deaths. The lethal dose is not quite as easy to procure as a course of antibiotics: the law requires patients to make a written request (verified by two witnesses and approved by two doctors) and to orally request the drugs twice, spaced out by at least 15 days. Doctors confer with the patients (reminding them not to take the drug while in public) and write the prescriptions; individuals wishing to hasten their deaths are obliged to ingest the drugs themselves. This means that patients who are unable to self-administer the medication are not eligible to receive a lethal dose of an “aid-in-dying” drug, whether or not they tell loved ones of their desire to end their lives before they become incapacitated.

In implementing this law, California largely cribbed from similar legislation in Oregon, Vermont and Washington. (The practice is also permitted in Montana due to a court ruling in 2009.) With the End of Life Options Act, the number of Americans potentially eligible to secure an early death rises to about 50m, or roughly one-sixth of the total population. But the option will likely remain the choice of few people facing the end of their lives. The law in Oregon, which pioneered doctor-assisted dying, has not spurred a rash of suicides: over nearly two decades with the Death With Dignity Act, only 991 patients have used the programme to end their lives. Another 600 or so who obtained the medication did not end up taking it.

Three-quarters of Californians support doctor-assisted dying; the law had a fairly smooth run through the state legislature, where it passed in September 2015 by votes of 44 to 35 and 23 to 15. Governor Jerry Brown, a former Jesuit seminary student, signed it the following month, noting that if he faced a prolonged and painful death, “it would be a comfort to be able to consider the options afforded by this bill”. Opponents of the measure include disability-rights, religious and pro-life organisations, several of which are backing a legal challenge to the California law in court. The president of National Right to Life, Carol Tobias, condemns the law for having “no real safeguards”. The End of Life Option Act, she says, “shows a blatant disregard for the lives of California’s medically vulnerable citizens and sends a message to these citizens that their lives are less worthy to be lived”. The “real goal” behind the doctor-assisted dying movement, Ms Tobias claims, “is euthanasia on demand for any reason”.

This charge may be overstated, but national polls show strong support for medical aid in dying. The widely publicised case of 29-year-old Brittany Maynard—a California woman with brain cancer who travelled to Oregon to avail herself of doctor-prescribed suicide in 2014—may have pushed support even higher. Slim majorities supported the right to die from 2010 to 2013, but in 2015 a Gallup poll showed that 68% of Americans think terminally ill patients should be able to turn to their doctors for life-ending medication. This year, legislatures in 19 states and the District of Columbia have recently considered right-to-die bills. The Medical Aid in Dying Act was introduced last month in the New York Assembly. New York’s governor, Andrew Cuomo, is non-committal: “It’s obviously complicated and controversial and it’s going to depend on how the bill is written and what the provisions are”, he said. John Flanagan, the Republican majority leader in the state senate, seems more resistant. “This is an area where we need to be extraordinarily careful and circumspect”, he said. “We’re literally talking about life and death.”

SOURCE: The Economist