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Local Bitumen Production Will Lower Cost Of Road Construction- Adegbite

By
Toyin Adebayo
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Minister for Mines & Steel, Arch. Olamilekan Adegbite
Minister for Mines & Steel, Arch. Olamilekan Adegbite

The Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Arch. Olamilekan Adegbite, has hinted that local bitumen production will lower the cost of road construction in Nigeria.

The minister stated this during a news conference in Abuja on the concession of Nigeria’s defined bitumen blocks, as the country began the process of domestic bitumen production.

Local bitumen production, on the other hand, would save the country foreign cash and produce revenue for the government, he said.

According to Adegbite, the country’s bitumen reserves are ranked sixth in the world in terms of reserve size.

He noted that the nation was endowed with a bitumen reserve size of 42.74 billion metric tonnes, which had remained unexploited for years.

The Minister added that the country was now poised to begin the production of bitumen locally as it had appointed a transaction advisor to oversee the process.

According to him: “To ensure that Nigeria’s bitumen resources are fully harnessed for industrial and infrastructural development, I constituted a nine-member Ministerial Bitumen Development Committee on 31 January 2020. The Committee carried out an inventory of internal existing infrastructure; compiled available geological information; re-established contact with previous interested companies and developed a framework for transparent allocation of the Bitumen resources.

“An important part of the Committee’s recommendations was to finalize the process of engaging a Transaction Advisor to ensure the concession process is open, transparent and in accordance with global best practices as enshrined in the Nigerian Mineral and Mining Act, 2007. The Bureau of Public Procurement, issued a notification of no-objection on 16th June, 2021.

“Subsequently, the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development issued a letter of award on 11th November, 2021 to PricewaterhouseCoopers to act as its Transaction Advisor and Program Manager for the concessioning of bitumen blocks to potential investors.”

The minister also revealed that many international and local investors had expressed interest in bidding for the bitumen blocks.

Adegbite revealed that the country was endowed with high grade bitumen which was easy to mine due to its proximity to the surface.

He said: “My office has been bombarded by several interested party both locally and internationally and I have always told them to wait for when the process is opened for bidding, which would be transparent and in accordance with best international practices. There is so much interest in our bitumen because the mineral is of the highest grade and close to the surface which makes mining less expensive.’

The minister also assured prospective investors of the huge local demand for the mineral. “Nigeria’s population is projected to reach 400 million in 2050, up from the present estimate of 203 million, given the present population growth rate of 2.5 percent. The World Bank projects that Nigeria’s current urbanization rate of 52% will increase by 4% annually.

Furthermore, 90 percent of goods, such as food and building materials, are transported by road to meet the demands of this rising population. This will increase demand for road infrastructure and put additional strain on the current road network, resulting in higher demand for asphalt for construction and maintenance.

Bitumen is a crucial component of asphalt that is used in road construction and once we begin to produce bitumen locally we will have a stable price that does not fluctuate with the exchange rate,’ he said.

The minister further revealed that the nation had a huge infrastructural deficit with regard to paved road.

He disclosed that only about 60,000 km out of 200,000 km of road networks was paved, which presented an inherent demand for bitumen. “This considerable road infrastructure deficit presents an inherent demand for bitumen. Hence, the development of Bitumen will lead to import substitution, local content development and increased value addition of the mining industry to the domestic economy, thereby creating jobs and generating revenue for government,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Minister of State Dr Uche Ogah, in his remarks noted that the ministry’s plan to develop bitumen was in fulfillment of the mandate given it by Mr. president, to diversify the economy away from oil. Ogah also thanked the bitumen committee for the hard work it had done.

Abuja Airport Ready to Introduce Park ‘N’ Pay for Motorists

By
Ekaette Ibuot
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The Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has disclosed plans to introduce a more organized park and pay for motorists at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.

Speaking to the leadership of the Abuja Transportation and Aviation Correspondents Association (ATACA), the airport manager/Regional general manager North Central, Kabir Mohammed said this is aimed at bringing sanity to the airport.

Mohammed said that the development is aimed at eradicating and stopping touts from harassing and extorting money from drivers who bring in passengers into the airport.

He added that, as parts of the ongoing reorganisations at the airport, the rowdy taxi drivers and the illegal businesses going on at the front of the departure hall at airport will be properly addressed.

Also, in order to curb the issue of the traffic Jam at the toll gate of the airport, which affected staff, airport users and passengers, the airport manager has commissioned a taskforce which constitutes of himself and head of department to supervise at the toll gate on a daily basis with the sole aim of managing the inflow of
traffic into airport.

This effort has improved on the situation to a great extent, making entry into the airport easier.

Mohammed has proposed the relocation of the Mosque to a more comfortable location for easy vehicular movement within the airport and as well as expanding the car park.

He has also proposed the introduction of shuttle buses for staff, stakeholders and airport users, as well as a staff welfare & recreation centre.

Introduction of staff weekly/monthly reporting which has made positive impact on staff discipline and performance.

At Age 83, Alaafin Joins Ancestors

By
Ola Akinola
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The residents of Oyo town will never forget April 22, 2022, when Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, the town’s longest-serving monarch, passed away on Friday evening.

Oba Adeyemi III, whose father was Oba Adeyemi II, died at the age of 83 after reigning as Alaafin for 52 years.

According to an inside source, Iku Babayeye suffered a slight injury during one of his usual exercises and was going to be taken abroad before passing away.

”He was taken to hospital early this week and an arrangement to fly him abroad have been concluded but he couldn’t go”

It was gathered that Alaafin gave up the ghost at the Afe Babalola University Teaching Hospital, Ado-Ekiti,  where he has been for routine medical check-up.

His remains have been moved to Oyo town in the earliest part of Saturday and was received at Idi-Igba by his first son, Prince ‘Tunde, and his other siblings and handed it over to the Oyomesi for traditional rites and others.

He succeeded Alaafin Gbadegesin Ladigbolu II in 1970, during the governorship of Colonel Robert Adeyinka Adebayo.

The head of the Oyomesi, Basorun of Oyo, High Chief Yusuf Akinade  Ayoola, is expected to take over pending the appointment of a new Alaafin.

Seyi Makinde, governor of Oyo State, is expected to be briefed officially Saturday morning by the Basorun.

The departure of Oba Adeyemi makes it three, the numbers of prominent Oyo state kings that have joined their ancestors in the last five month. Soun of Ogbomoso, Oba Jimoh Oyewumi died December 12, 2021 while Olubadan Saliu Adetunji died January 2, 2022.

Islamic Scholar Condemns Muslims for Publicizing Acts of Worship on Social Media.

By
Toyin Adebayo
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Associate Prof Muhammad Sani Umar Rijiyar Lemo, a renowned Islamic scholar, has warned Muslims against advertising their acts of worship on social media sites, which he refers to as “Riya” (an act of worship meant for the public to notice).

He gave this warning on Saturday evening during his annual Ramadan Tafseer at the Gwallaga Juma’at Mosque in Bauchi.

He claimed that any act of worship that is made public for the whole public to see is not rewarded by Allah (SWA).

According to him, “How can someone who embarked on a spiritual trip of Um’ra or Hajj start taking selfies at the time of boarding a flight or at arrival,” Sheik Lemo remarked, referring specifically to Muslims who embarked on Um’ra (lesser hajj).

“Some people even took selfies at the Ka’aba just to let their followers know that they were there.

“Such people should know that any act of worship that has an iota of Riya in it, Allah (SWA) those not reward such acts of worship.

“They posts their pictures for people to know they are there and their followers duly acknowledged that and that is their reward”, the Sheik cautioned.

He also urged social media communities following such people on their pages to always remind them on their actions and to advise them to desist from such acts in the comments sections of the posters.

As usual, the Associate Prof supported his argument with relevant quotations from the Holy Qur’an and Hadiths of Prophet Muhammad (SAW).

UNICEF Urges Legislators To Make Laws That Are In Children’s Best Interests

By
Toyin Adebayo
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Dr. Geoffrey Njoku, a communications specialist with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), has urged legislators to pass legislation that prioritize the interests of children in all aspects of life.

He did, however, imply that a few years ago, some people were clamoring for Ministry of Children’s Affairs in order to protect children’s interests, but the argument was that children’s interests are taken care of in most ministries.

He made this known in an interview during a Two day media dialogue with media practitioners on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as Child Rights’ organised by the Child Rights Information Bureau (CRIB) of the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture in collaboration with United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

He said, ministries budget must be child friendly, when you disaggregate the data, you will see the components that affect development in all areas such as education, health, protections among many others. These are things we are looking for in the laws that are being made.

Responding to a question from newsmen on parenting, Dr Njoku said, parents should focus more on their children, children’s number one enemy is internet and number one friend is also internet. This is because a lot of good things are in there. We need to make sure that the children are guided to do the right things, guided to be protected against bullies, predator and paedophile both online and offline.

He hinted that, parent should not abdicate the training of our children to housemaids, children may not respect them as their parents.

He also called on all states who are yet to domesticate the Child Rights Act do so with all urgency.

Flood: FCTA Strikes Gwarinpa Demolishes Over 400 Illegal Structures

By
Toyin Adebayo
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0

More than 400 illegal structures in Gwarinpa, Abuja, have been demolished by the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA).

The Development Control team and the FCT Tasks team on City Sanitation stormed the area and demolished over 400 illegal structures that had been illegally converted from corner shops to residential buildings, as well as others that were blocking the waterway.

Tlp. Murkhtar Galadima, Director of Development Control, who spoke to journalists at the event, bemoaned the area’s poor hygiene and sanitation, claiming that waste is being dumped directly into the stream, which is a ticking time bomb.

According to him, “This place you are seeing are not suppose to be houses, they were actually corner shops but people have converted them to residential abode. We have over 400 shops that were converted to residential buildings.

“We are working with Federal Housing Authority, we had some discussions with them on how to convert it into a modern mall but for now the thing that is called corner shops is not being used for that particular purpose, it being used as residential buildings. And when you look at the number of people staying here, the hygiene and sanitation is zero so for safety reasons it is better to remove them”.

While speaking on notice of demolition, he said they were given 1 month notice, “We gave them over a month notice, I remember we came here for sensitization and we marked it. When you go round you see the markings on the wall”.

He decried the fact that people built on water ways, “What we are trying to do is to recover the flood plain within Gwarinpa, People built on water way. The area is not properly planned because they are just discharging their waste directly to the stream. And this could be a source of epidemic, so it is a time bomb waiting to happen. If we don’t take action immediately the consequences is unimaginable.

“Definitely I will advice them not to interfere with water channels and to also tell others that guilty that we are coming for them”.

Meanwhile, the Senior Special Assistant on Monitoring Inspection and Enforcement to the minister of FCT, Comrade Ikahro Attah, said he was shocked at the level of illegality in that area,
“I am very surprised at the level of illegality here, thanks to Development Control who spotted this illegality here. People decided to build on water way,constructing on stream making this area Gwarinpa prone to flooding.

“They even pushed the stream to a point that if there is an heavy rain,there will be massive flooding and this is a disaster waiting to happen. Very sad here, the FCTA through Federal Capital Territory, Emergency Management Agency, FEMA and other components agencies had given warning , the Federal Government had given warning through the water resources, NIMET also warned against an impending flooding. But people decided to build on the flood plain and they are arguing about 15 meters but they built zero meters some are on minus 3 meters and thereby constricting the water way so when disaster struck, they will say Government is not serious. And that is why we are removing all of them by the water corridor”.

On number of house that would be removed, he said, the work is still ongoing but all houses on the water plain are going, “We are counting them, we don’t know the number yet. The Development Control are really showing commitment to save lives, so that flooding would not happen in Gwarinpa.

“The FCTA is really committed to ensure lives are not lost as a result of flooding”.

He , however,lamented that, “Not even one soak away in the whole community, once they defecates, urinate everything comes straight to the stream, they cannot dig soak away because it is a water bed. Once anyone defecates in his house it comes to the stream and that is an epidemic a disaster that is waiting to happen. We are also trying to prevent flooding so that when rain comes, it will have a wilder flood plain to pass through”.

Nigeria Behind Schedule In Achieving SDGs 2 – UNICEF

By
Toyin Adebayo
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0

Nkeiru Enwelum, the Nutrition Officer for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), has warned that if current malnutrition patterns continue, Nigeria will fall short of reaching Sustainable Development Goal 2 (Zero Hunger) by 2030.

According to her, the National Demographics Health Survey (NDHS) stated that Nigeria is number one in Africa and number two in the world in terms of malnourished children. Of the 35 million children under the ages of five , 14 million are stunted, 3 million wasted and 24 million anaemic.

She made this known at a Two day media dialogue with media practitioners on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as Child Rights’ organised by the Child Rights Information Bureau (CRIB) of the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture in collaboration with United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

Her words; ” Nigeria has 32% of stunted children and about 6.8% wasted. This figure stipulates that Nigeria has 14.5 million people suffering from acute malnutrition.

” The first 1,000 days of life is a critical window of opportunity for nutrition from conception up till the child second birthday. That period has been established as the critical window of opportunity to implement impact interventions in a child’s life in order to prevent malnutrition and mortality and ensure that children grows well and reverse the trend of malnutrition. If malnutrition is beyond the critical window of opportunity, it’s irreversible.

“The Convention on the right of a child stipulates that children has the right to food and the SDGs recognizes the importance of nutrition as critical to economic development and wellbeing of countries. It also situated SDGs as one that focuses on nutrition contributing to zero hunger , there are indication that track child nutrition specifically child wasting and child stunting”, she explained.

Speaking on prevention of malnutrition, Enwelum said;” It cost $15 (N6,000) to prevent malnutrition through the delivery of high impact nutrition interventions . It cost $120 (N60,000) to treat malnutrition through Integrated Management of Acute Malnutrition ( 8 times the cost of prevention).”

She , however, warned that failure to prevent and treat malnutrition can result in Long term congnitive and growth impacts; loss of income for households and up to 15% GDP loss for Nigeria; and increased morbidity and potential deaths.

Also, UNICEF Communications Specialist, Dr Geoffrey Njoku said we must work on providing framework and resources to eliminating child malnutrition in Nigeria.

He said, we are not going to achieve the SDGs relating to health. If a child is stunted, the brain is also stunted and the child will not his full potential as an adult.

FCTA, Abuja Chiefs Dialogue On Illegal Community Expansion

By
Toyin Adebayo
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0

… Warns Non-indigene Against Purchasing Illegal Land

The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has hinted that it is partnering with traditional leaders from the various Chiefdoms to stop the alarming trend of illegal community expansion in the nation’s capital.

Adding that the renewed massive demolition of illegal structures in some of the communities along the Airport road is as a result of some residents illegally expanding the areas by selling land without the government’s approval.

FCTA , also decried the rate at which some communities along that road axis were growing, with local Chiefs still illegally selling land to people who wanted to build without permission from the government.

The Senior Special Assistant to FCT Minister on Monitoring, Inspection and Enforcement, Comrade Ikharo Attah during an interactive meeting with Traditional and other Community leaders from over 10 villages, said Zamani village , where illegal structures have been marked for demolition, is one of the places where some residents have disregarded government’s warning to embark on unapproved expansion.

Attah expressed displeasure that residents were forcing government to spend scarce resources on demolition exercise, also vowed that enforcement of orders will not abate until environmental sanity was restore to all parts of the territory.

He noted that, the FCT Minister, Malam Muhammad Musa Bello was determined to routing out all the illegalities, having warned local Chiefs who illegally sell land, as well as those buying and developing such land.

Attah, however, reiterated that the houses of the indigenous people located within the approved areas won’t be demolished, said that all the structures on the illegal expansion would be pulled down.

He explained that the essence of holding meetings with traditional and Community leaders of the affected places, was to ensure that ensure proper sensitization, as well as galvanize support.

He further warned people who have continued with the habit of buying and building of houses illegally in any part of Abuja.

According to him, such practices amount to a collosal waste of resources, and also very tragic to economic growth.

Similarly, the Senior Special Assistant to FCT Minister on Community Relation, Ishaku Yamawo, called on the various Community leaders to desist from all negative activities that will attract punitive measures from government.

Yamawo also assured the leaders that indigenous peoples houses would not be affected in the demolition exercise.

He said the administration was working on modalities of providing more basic amenities in the communities, but needs the cooperation of the residents.

Failure To Pay N20m Ransom: Three Of 26 Kidnapped Victims In Kaduna Killed

By
Toyin Adebayo
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0

…Others Get Deadline

Terrorists killed three out of the 26 people kidnapped from Ungwan Bulus on Monday night, threatening to kill others by noon if their demands are not met.

Gideon Haruna Goni, the Chief of Ungwan Bulus, verified this to reporters who visited his palace on Tuesday, April 19.

According to him, the terrorists called the community and told them to go pick up the bodies of those killed near Dutse Community on the Kaduna-Abuja route.

He claimed that the terrorists threatened to assassinate others if they did not pay the N20 million by 12 p.m. on Tuesday, April 19, 2022.

“They have threatened to kill more, especially women if their demands are not met. 26 were abducted, one was released, three were killed.

“The one that was released was based on health grounds. He has liver problem,” the Chief said.

The Chief while speaking, said that on March 31, the bandits invaded the community around 8pm, shot and killed two people, while 26 were abducted.

“We came together as a community, raised some amount and they called us and told us to pick corpses of victim’s from Dutse.

“I am appealing to them not to kill anyone, we are appealing to the state and federal government as well as religious clerics to come to our rescue so that the killings will stop.

One of those whose family members were kidnapped, said that they have been able to raise N7m, but the terrorists insist on the N20m or they will keep killing the victims.

N10Bn Debt: FCTA Seals Works & Housing Ministry, Merit House, Fed Character Comm, Murg Plaza, Others

By
Toyin Adebayo
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0

… Says Ministries Of Health, Education, Defence, Others Next

Officials from the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), escorted by highly armed security personnel, sealed the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing’s headquarters building in Mabushi, Abuja, in the early hours of Tuesday.

The popular murg plaza located just opposite the UTC market at Area 10, Garki, Merit House, and the Federal Character Commission were among the places shut down by FCTA officials, who were armed with court orders.

The operation was conducted by Engineer Osilama Braimah, Director of the Abuja Environment Protection Board (AEPB), who is also the Chairman of the Special Debt Taskforce, and Comrade Ikharo Attah, Senior Special Assistant to the FCT Minister on Monitoring Inspection and Enforcement on Tuesday in Abuja.

Speaking to newsmen on the breakdown of debt owed the agency, Braimah said
government Ministries,  Departments and Agencies are owing to the tune of 10 billion Naira and this, he said is not acceptable.

He, however, hinted that some ministries are making frantic efforts to pay while others show signs of on willingness.

According to him, “The board got court orders to seal the premises” he said.

According to him, the exercise which has just begun will cover all public and private offices owing the board.

A senior magistrate court sitting in Wuse II, Abuja had served the defendants with summons to appear before the court on March 30th, 2022 but they failed to honour the court.

“The debtors includes: Federal Ministry of  Works — N9,998,625.00; Federal Ministry  of  Defence  –N17,220,775.00; Federal  Character  Commission—N10,128,906.25; Civil service  Commission–2,451,649.50; and Revenue  Mobilization and Fiscal Commission—21,683,750.00

“In addition, Federal  Ministry of  Health —N14,204,843.75; Federal Ministry of  Trade & Investment—N19,222,287.50; Federal Ministry of Education  Hqtrs –N25,838,275 ; and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps Wuse–N16,583,031.25”, he stressed.

The Director, however, warned the public against attempting to bribe AEPB officials as he urged them to pay into government coffers as stated in the bill they received. 

Meanwhile, the Senior Special Assistant to the FCT Minister on Monitoring,  Inspection and Enforcement said the FCT Minister is committed to the full recovery of all funds owed the Administration, its Secretariats departments and Agencies.

According to him, “We are just starting with the Abuja Environmental Protection Board,  seeing that most offices and persons generate waste and are not willing to pay to the collection and evacuation of such waste. Government establishments are expected to lead by examples. Now that we have started with ourselves,  everyone will be certain that there would be no sacred cow.

” The FCT Administration is starting with the debtors of Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB).Very soon, we will move to the FCT Waterboard, the Abuja Geographic information system (AGIS) and other FCTA revenue generatiing agencies. No one kobo will be left uncollected.

” The FCT as you know is growing beyond expectation and plan. Government must do all to march infrastructure with population growth and expansions. The FCT Administration needs all the money it can get to bridge the infrastructural gap. Our drive for revenue is at its peak at the moment” , he explained.

Attah , however, called on all those who are owing the FCT in whatever way to immediately hurry and pay up, while adding that more public and privately owned properties would be sealed up in coming days and weeks.

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