Daily Archives: December 3, 2013

FG to Conclude Sale of Kaduna Disco, Afam Genco by March 2014

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The federal government will conclude the bidding process for the privatisation of the Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company and the Afam Power Station by the first quarter of 2014.
The Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Power (PTFP), Mr. Beks Dagogo-Jack, told THISDAY at the recent West African Power Industry Conference (WAPIC) in Lagos that the process was delayed due to corrections in the bidding process.
He said the Afam power plant and Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company had remained in government books owing to the bidding process corrections.
 
He however said the transactions were close to conclusion targeted before the end of the first quarter of 2014.
The Kaduna Disco and Afam Genco were not privatised along with the other assets of the Power Holding Company (PHCN) because no winners emerged with the required technical qualifications.
Following this development, the Bureau for Public Enterprises (BPE) opted for Plan B, where all the prequalified bidders were asked to re-submit their bids.
 
After the re-submission of the bids, the preferred bidders emerged with Northwest Power Consortium for Kaduna Disco and Taleveras Group for Afam Genco.
The Director General of BPE, Mr. Benjamin Dikki, told THISDAY that the privatisation agency was in the process of negotiating share purchase agreement with the bidders.
“Once we execute it, the bidders will now be obligated to pay 25per cent and the balance of 75per cent in six months, according to the transaction structure,” he said.
However, speaking on other outstanding milestones in the power reform, Dagogo-Jack, who represented the Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo, at the WAPIC conference noted that the sale of the power stations built under the National Integrated Power Project (NIPP) was also on course.
 
“The bids for these plants have been submitted with the public bid opening held in Abuja on November 11, 2013.Transaction completion is scheduled for mid-2014. The proceeds of the transaction are to be re-invested in the power sector: in the transmission network and in small and medium hydro plants,” he said.
Dagogo-Jack further stated that given the formal and operational handover of the successor companies concluded, the electricity market had been designed to operate with a set of interim rules.
 
He said the interim rules were “aimed at furnishing the new owners and the industry at large with a market test-driving experience as well as an opportunity for the Industry operators to provide field data necessary for regulatory fine-tuning of the market rules and related tariff and revenue issues”.

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Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
ionyclaret@gmail.com
https://www.codewit.com
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IITA Refreshes Strategy to Lift 11m out of Poverty

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The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) has refreshed its strategy, with a vision to raise 11 million people out of poverty in the tropics, and also redirect 7.5 million hectares of degraded land into sustainable use.
 
The refreshed strategy has been approved by the IITA Board of Trustees and emphasises the need for scientific research to achieve results at the farm level.
 
Addressing more than 200 national and international scientists in Ibadan, Oyo State, during the weeklong annual planning week (otherwise known as Research-for-Development Week), IITA Director General, Dr. Nteranya Sanginga, called on scientists to ensure that the outcome of their research is creating a favourable impact.
In his presentation, ‘It’s time for IITA’, Sanginga highlighted the constraints to development in the tropics, particularly in Africa. He outlined factors such as poor natural resource management (soils, water, and biodiversity), yield gaps, postharvest losses, and pests and diseases as major constraints to the growth of the region.
 
“The unfolding scenario has placed responsibility on IITA as a research institute to help tropical nations to overcome the challenges. Everyone is looking up to IITA to provide solutions to food insecurity in Africa,” he said.
 
Sanginga, who assumed office two years ago, also gave a progress report, highlighting the successes recorded, the problems, and the task ahead. During the period, the Institute’s research reputation soared to a record high.
 
Three scientists were honoured for their achievements. Dr. Charity Mutegi won the 2013 Norman Borlaug Award for Field Research and Application; Dr. Georg Goergen was honoured by eminent international fruit-fly taxonomists of the Royal Museum for Central Africa, Tervuren, Belgium (MRAC) and the Natural History Museum, London, England; while Dr. Tahirou Abdoulaye received an award from the Purdue University for protecting precious cowpea grain from pests in storage.
 
Funding to the Institute has doubled and the number of scientific publications in high impact factor journals has risen. Central to the growth is also the upgrade inhuman and infrastructural resources.
 
In the last two years, a modern Science Building has been built and launched in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania; the IITA headquarters in Ibadan has gone through a remarkable upgrade. The Institute has also begun the construction of the building in the Southern Africa Hub. Staff welfare has also received close attention while attention is being given to retaining and motivating excellence.
 
Sanginga said the growth of the Institute had never compromised research quality, but emphasised that researchers should not rest on their laurels but ensure that delivery is sustained. “There is no excuse… we must deliver and deliver,” he said.

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Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
ionyclaret@gmail.com
https://www.codewit.com
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Oshiomhole and Orbih: Why their battles should not die

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Whatever is the beef between the Edo State governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole and his one time buddy and chairman of the state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Chief Dan Orbih cannot be easily fathomed. But beyond the political excitement in the repeated sucker punches from Orbih is the element of constructive opposition. Or is it not?

Very few Nigerians, nay those in government, would apologise for a misdeed as Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State did last weekend.

The governor who has been celebrated for his unparalleled accomplishments in infrastructure development in the state, however, soured his reputation recently when he disdainfully put down a woman who allegedly violated the provisions against street trading in Benin City.

The governor had in a fit of anger dismissed the woman, Mrs. Joy Ifijeh who claimed to be a widow, telling her to “go and die.”

The words were caught on camera and one of such recordings landed in the hands of the state PDP chairman, Chief Dan Orbih who apparently, loaded it on the internet.

Orbih from the same Etsako stock as the governor, was by some accounts once a very close buddy of Oshiomhole with a relationship that extended to the exchange of holiday visits between the two families.

However, whatever it is that divided them remains a secret between the two men who despite their public feuds, still chat like buddies whenever they meet like during penultimate weekend’s burial of Admiral Mike Akhigbe.

Such pretence between the Etsako brothers underpins the biblical reference that a man’s foes are members of his household. Indeed, for Oshiomhole, Orbih has become more than an ordinary foe, becoming perhaps the greatest danger to the political and development legacies that have been central to the Oshiomhole phenomenon in Edo State.

Did Orbih take advantage of the widow in Benin to traumatize Oshiomhole?

Whatever, Oshiomhole’s apology was unprecedented from a government official and was out of context from the pattern of unparalleled arrogance that is characteristic with government officials who have openly traumatized the citizenry with their misdemeanours.

Before Oshiomhole’s apology, Orbih had last Friday issued a public statement where he disclosed the PDP’s decision to institutionalize an endowment fund for widows he claimed were suffering under the weight of what he claimed to be misrule in Edo State.

“The governor’s actions are appalling, insensate, disgraceful, indecent, cruel and below board. It is clear that he does not care much about the well being of the people as he pretentiously avowed,” Orbih said.

“Our hearts go to that hapless widow in this her time of travails and through her, to other widows who have been oppressed by the unfriendly policies of the administration in Edo State.”

Pledging that “the PDP, Edo State will not let any Edo person ‘to go and die’ if it can help it,” Orbih in the statement said:“our party has instituted an endowment fund for all widows and oppressed people in the state and by this release, we invite the widow captured in the video of the encounter with Governor Oshiomhole to come to the PDP Secretariat on No. 70, Sapele Road, at 11am on Tuesday December 3, 2013 to receive a first-installment sum of N250,000.00 to cushion the pain, trauma and loss occasioned by her mistreatment and the seizure of the items she sells.”

Political point

Whether Orbih was taking opportunity of the widow’s distress to score another political point or not, aides and associates of the governor, perhaps were able to make the comrade governor after about two weeks to reflect on his assertion, causing him to make the unprecedented apology.

Receiving a delegation of Federation of Muslim Women Association of Nigeria in Government House Benin City, last Friday, Oshiomhlole said he regretted his action.

“Last week, I had an encounter with a young lady at Oba Ovonramwen Square by Mission Road. She was trading on the road and too many people have been doing this. They block the road with their wares. Part of the problem of Benin before now is that it is so difficult to drive round the City.

“But you find some of our women; they just convert the road to trading post. For years we have been sermonizing. I came across this young lady who chose to put her wares right on the road thereby creating blockade and obstruction. We are all human and in my anger I said to her, how would you be doing this?  I asked them to confiscate her wares”, he said.

Explaining further, Oshiomhole said: “She told me ‘I am a widow’ and I said if you are a widow must you do things that would make other women widows. By this obstruction you have caused, you could cause accident. You could actually get knocked down.

“In the process I probably said something that I should not have said. I want to say that I do appreciate that I come from a very poor background. I understand the pains of the poor. We also need to be careful so that the poor do not create more problems. Just to say to our women that I regret having said what I said to her,” the Edo governor said to the delegation.

But whether the governor has made a personal apology to the woman has also become an issue.

Told of the governor’s unprecedented action in making an apology, Orbih was unmoved saying that the apology flowed from the PDP’s crusade on behalf of the woman.

Orbih disclosed yesterday that the PDP was going ahead with the scheduled launch of the endowment fund for the widow and other widows who according to him, have suffered under the Oshiomhole regime.

He spoke before Oshiomhole in a dramatic move had breakfast with the woman yesterday during which he offered her N2 million and an automatic employment.

Again, the governor made a direct apology to the woman saying:“when you put your things on the road a vehicle can run into you and they have killed some people like that and that was why I said if you are a widow do you want more people to be widowed? But when I said go and die, that one was said in a fit of anger. And I am really sorry”, he said.

Whatever, the governor has apologized and something positive has come out from the criticism of Edo PDP.

The state PDP had in the past also brought the Oshiomhole government to scrutiny in several other areas of governance and most recently, in the public campaign to stop the sale of Edo House in Lagos.

In that particular engagement, the PDP sought to prove using facts and figures that the Edo House would be better off left in the hands of the state government than being sold.

The engagements between the Edo State PDP and the Oshiomhole government have undoubtedly resonated for the good of the citizenry like Mrs. Ifijeh in Edo State. Oshiomhole is as such constantly on the watch knowing that any little slip, that Orbih is there.

It is only a pity that the situation is quite different in many other states where the administration and opposition officials have resorted to a cozy habitation of tolerance. In such cases, it is the citizenry that lose out. But not in Edo where Orbih puts Oshiomhole on his toes and the result would in the end translate for the good of the people of Edo State

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
ionyclaret@gmail.com
https://www.codewit.com
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The High Cost of Defection…

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While the defecting Governors do not have any constitutional impediment on their way to becoming members of the APC despite being elected on the platform of the PDP, the same cannot be said of members of the National Assembly or State Houses of Assembly, who were elected on the platform of the PDP but may want to defect to the APC, writes Ferdinand Orbih SAN…
 
Last Wednesday, November 27, 2013, the National Newspapers in Nigeria came out with screaming headlines. Although these headlines related to the same topic, the different wordings of each headline was an indication of the sensitivity and the volatility of the subject matter.
 
In the Guardian, the headline was “Four Aggrieved PDP Governors Move to APC”. In the Vanguard, the headline was “Amaechi, Four Other PDP Governors, nPDP Join APC”. THISDAY Newspaper captioned its own headline as follows “In political earthquake, five PDP governors defect to APC”.
 
The defection of four or five PDP Governors to APC did not come as a surprise to keen watchers of Nigeria’s political scene. Defection has been part and parcel of Nigerian Politics dating back to the First Republic. It is a well known fact, that the first Election into the then Western Region House of Assembly was clearly won by the NCNC led by the inimitable Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe and its allies. But to the amazement of the winners of that election, when the time came for the party with majority of members of the House to Form a government the NCNC (The Party that won the Election), suddenly found itself in the minority as a result of the cross-carpeting of many of its elected members from the NCNC to the Action Group, thus the seed of political cross-carpeting or defection or what some political analysts call political prostitution, was sown in Nigeria body polity.
 
The instability and other negative political consequences of political cross-carpeting or defection informed the wisdom behind the provision of section 68(1) (g) in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (As Amended). The said section which is designed to check this malaise provides as follows;
 
“A member of the Senate or of the House of Representatives shall vacate his seat in the House of which he is a member if–
(g) being a person whose election to the House was sponsored by a political party, he becomes a member of another political party before the expiration of the period for which that House was elected;
 
Provided that his membership of the latter political party is not as a result of a division in the political party of which he was previously a member or of a merger of two or more political parties or factions by one of which he was previously sponsored”
We shall in the course of this article examine whether or not the above provision has achieved its aims and purposes i.e. the prevention of political cross-carpeting in Nigeria, as well as, examine the political and legal implication of the defection of the PDP Governors to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
 
The point must be made that political prostitution is undesirable in all its ramifications because it is both politically and morally wrong. The constitution recognises that fact hence section 68(1) set out above. When a politician contests an election on the platform of a particular political party, and such a politician gets elected on that basis, it is morally wrong to abandon that political party by defecting to a political party that was not even in existence at the time he contested elections. If he must resign from his political party, he should also resign from the office to which he was elected into and then seek a fresh mandate from the people. That is the only way to demonstrate moral and political rectitude and that would be democracy in action.
 
It is laughable to hear defecting Governors proclaiming that they are fighting for democracy. What democracy if one may ask? The answer is democracy of unenlightened, selfish self-interest. One of the demands of the defecting Governors is their insistence that President Goodluck Jonathan must renounce his constitutional right to seek a second term in office. Is that demand democratic; especially when it runs counter to the express provisions of the Constitution? Some of the Governors are aggrieved because they are not in control of their political party structures in their various States. Is it democratic to hand over political structures to a Governor without his going through the necessary party rules and regulations to be in control of such structures? If one may ask, what stopped the Governors from seeking redress using the procedures laid down in their party’s constitution and the courts of the land?
 
Some of the Governors have complained about lack of internal democracy within the PDP. Are they sure that the APC to which they are headed is any better? Any casual observer of the activities of political parties in Nigeria can easily see that while the APC is built around 2 or 3 leaders, the PDP is not built around anybody and that is why it is possible for the Governors to effectively carry out a rebellion within their party in the last one year, fighting their political party to a standstill without let or hindrance from any person including the President of Nigeria. No Governor or group of Governors can constitute themselves into an internal opposition in the APC. They will be expelled unceremoniously.
 
The seemingly lack of principles in the defecting Governors is apparent from their bid to use the defection as a bargaining chip within the PDP they are condemning. For instance in the Vanguard Newspaper of Thursday November the 28, it was reported that the Baraje group speaking through Ezechukwu Eze, has clarified that they are still open for reconciliation and peace moves with the Bamanga Tukur-led National Working Committee. He was also quoted to have explained that their group is yet to merge with the APC and that the Newspaper report of the merger of their group with APC was a misrepresentation. In the same Newspaper three of the Governors belonging to the Baraje Group were explaining why they left PDP. It is difficult to understand the ways of Nigerian politicians maybe because one is not a politician. One is lost in the sea of clarifications offered by Ezechukwu Eze on the one hand, and the reasons given by Governors Nyako, Ahmed and Amaechi on the other hand for leaving PDP. However, the only irresistible inference which could be drawn from their action is that they have raised the stakes deliberately to blackmail the PDP to give in to their political demands. It will be interesting to watch how the PDP and the President will handle the situation.
 
Some of the Newspaper reports on the defection of the PDP Governors to the APC also stated that the “New PDP” (nPDP), has also in the process merged with the APC.
But is there any such political party as new PDP? Legally, the plain, simple, and straight-forward answer to that question is an emphatic NO and it has to be No because of the express provisions of section 222 of the Nigerian Constitution (As Amended) 2011 which provides inter alia as follows;
 
222. No association by whatever name called shall function as a party, unless –
(a) the names and addresses of its national officers are registered with the Independent National Electoral Commission;
(c) a copy of its constitution is registered in the principal office of the Independent National Electoral Commission in such form as may be prescribed by the Independent National Electoral Commission;
 
There is no gainsaying the fact that the names and addresses of the National Officers of the so-called new PDP are not registered with INEC. Similarly, neither a copy of its constitution nor its symbol or logo is registered with INEC. That being the case, the new PDP has been masquerading as a political party with the unfortunate connivance of the Nigerian press. And I say unfortunate because, the press is not unaware of the legal battles that the new PDP has fought and lost in its unsuccessful bid to establish its legitimacy.
 
In the light of the above, we are therefore of the firm view that there is legally no new PDP that can merge with the APC. Individual members of the PDP such as the defecting Governors, who feel that the grass is greener on the APC side, may join APC in their individual capacity and no more. It may well be that the political contraction known as the new PDP is contrived to invade the clear the provisions of Section 68(1) (g) of the Constitution which provides that where a member of a House of Assembly of the Senate or of the House of Representatives whose election to the House was sponsored by a political party becomes a member of another political party before the expiration of the period for which that member of the House was elected, shall vacate his seat.
 
It will appear that those who are calling themselves would want to hide under the proviso to this section by alleging that their membership of their new political party, the APC, was as a result of a division in their former political party (the PDP). The political drama being played out by those who have constituted themselves into the so-called new PDP, and their merger, or planned merger with the APC, cannot be covered by the proviso to section 68(1) (g) in the case of members of the National Assembly or the similar proviso in section 109(1) (g) in the case of members of a house of Assembly. While the defecting Governors do not have any constitutional impediment on their way to becoming members of the APC despite being elected on the platform of the PDP, the same cannot be said of members of the National Assembly or State Houses of Assembly, who were elected on the platform of the PDP but may want to defect to the APC.
 
We are of the firm opinion that any member of the National Assembly or State House of Assembly as the case may be, in the fold of the so-called new PDP, who may want to defect to the APC would automatically lose his seat. The fact that there have been defections in the past or cross-carpeting of some members of the National Assembly from the political party under which they were elected to other Political Parties does not make it legally right. The reason why defection from one party to another continues to take place is because the political parties themselves have not been serious in getting the courts to enforce the provisions of sections 68(1) (g) and 109(1) (g) of the Constitution. This time, the stakes are higher.
 
We foresee a situation wherein the PDP would seek to bring the full weight of the afore-mentioned sections of the Constitution on any member of the National Assembly of State Houses of Assembly, elected on its platform who would want to defect to the APC.
Chief Orbih SAN is the Chairman, Midwest Lawyers Forum

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Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
ionyclaret@gmail.com
https://www.codewit.com
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Jonathan to Inaugurate Manufacturing Plant Friday

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cPresident Goodluck Jonathan will on Friday this week inaugurate the multi-million naira ultra-modern integrated air conditioner and water dispenser manufacturing plant in Enugu.
 
The plant, which is a hundred per cent Nigerian-owned and the first in South-east and South-south geo-political zones of the country, has a capacity of employing over 200 workers.
 
The Managing Director, White Horse General Appliances Limited, Chika Joseph Okechukwu, who spoke with journalists yesterday, said the president would use the opportunity of the visit to lay the foundation stone for two other industries – a PVC manufacturing plant and LCD/LED assembly plant, all located within the premises of the company.
 
He said the company, sitting on a 100-acre land, was in fulfillment of a dream that started in 2007 when the foundation stone of the place was laid by the Enugu Governor, Sullivan Chime, accompanied by his Bauchi State counterpart, Isa Yaguda.
 
Okechukwu urged federal and state governments to patronise local manufacturers to enable them remain in production and boost employment, noting that it was only by so doing efforts at industrialising the country and improving on local content would yield the maximum benefits.
 
He expressed dismay that industrialists in the country were facing various challenges ranging from infrastructure, finance, security, among others, stressing however, that these could be overcome if government reduced reliance on foreign products for locally made goods.
 
“The entire master plan is going to be an industrial city where all the products we have on our catalogue and other ones that are not there are manufactured and assembled at the same time. For example, we have refrigerators which we are going to build the plant here, we have a bottling company for water and beverages, we have one of the best water here, which is the same water the Heneken plant and 7Up are using, Nigerian Bottling company are using. It will be a small city.
 
“We are producing water dispenser. We are also producing air conditioners of different sizes and model and in our split family we have models with three different colours. In our package we have ones with two different colours. All our products are covered with three
years warranty, though it is subject to power surge usage because our energy system here is not reliable so we use power surge to protect the units. We are running production on air conditioners and water dispenser.”
 
Okechukwu said he decided to site the industry in Egede, Enugu State based on the number of higher institutions turning out graduates in the state, adding that when all the units of the area come on stream, it would employ about 1,000 workers.
 
“My thinking is that I should site the industry here to help my people; we have a conducive environment because the amiable governor made investment conducive in Enugu State and after checking those things, and we decided to come here. We breathe fresh air here; we have space, so after considering those things I and my brother agreed that we site the industry here.
 
It does not matter where the industry is located, ones you have what people needs, and they will look for you. We source our components some of them in far away China. So if you need what we have, you come down to Enugu State. We have to industrialise this area and South-east as a region. We have the largest number of institutions in Nigeria. We have more graduates coming out,” he stated.

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
ionyclaret@gmail.com
https://www.codewit.com
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Chevron, Agip to Contribute 14 Fields to Marginal Bid Round

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Chevron Nigeria Limited- a subsidiary of United States oil giant, Chevron Corporation- will contribute 12 fields to the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) as part of the 31 marginal fields that would be offered to Nigerian independent companies by the Federal Government.
The Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC), a subsidiary of Italian oil company, ENI will also relinquish two marginal oil fields for the marginal fields bid round.
With proven reserves of about 10million barrels, marginal fields are considered uneconomical by the international oil companies (IOCs), hence the decision of the federal government to award the acreages to Nigerian companies.
Some of the marginal fields to be relinquished by Chevron to the Nigerian independents include Olure, Bime, and Omofejo in Oil Mining Lease (OML) 49.
Other marginal fields, according to Africa Oil + Gas Report, include Shango, Meta, Azama, Ruta and Oloye in shallow water OML 95.
Obira and Kudo marginal fields, also in shallow water OML 89, will also be relinquished by Chevron to boost indigenous participation in the upstream sector of Nigeria’s oil and gas industry.
Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) and ExxonMobil will also for the first time contribute marginal fields for the proposed auction. 
According to Africa Oil + Gas Report, NAOC submitted two fields, including the gas field Ajaketon, located in OML 63 and the Odimodi oil field, located in OML 62.
Exactly 12 years after the federal government offered the first set of 24 marginal oil fields to Nigerian independent companies, the government had unveiled plans to kick-start a second licensing.
The Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke said the marginal field licensing round was designed to increase exploration and production activities in the oil and gas sector to the benefit of Nigerians and the Nigerian economy.
She said a total of 31 fields would be on offer with 16 of them located onshore, while the remaining 15 are in the continental shelf.
She gave an assurance that the Federal Government would be committed to transparency in the bid process and encouraged companies indicating interest in the assets to form consortia that would enable them leverage upon each other’s strengths.
“Over the next two weeks, the Department of Petroleum Resources will undertake a road show to different parts of the country about the program. This will be followed by a three and a half-month of competitive bidding process in line with the Federal Government’s commitment to openness and transparency in the conduct of business activities in the country,” she said.
Giving an update on the last marginal fields bid round, which held in 2001, the minister disclosed that of the 24 fields that were allocated to 31 indigenous oil companies in that exercise, eight were already producing while the others are at various stages of development.
She noted that the marginal field operators who currently account for about one percent of the nation’s production have also recorded huge discoveries in excess of 100 million barrels to the nation’s reserve base.

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Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
ionyclaret@gmail.com
https://www.codewit.com
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Nigerdock Completes First Offshore Living Quarters for Total

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Nigerdock Nigeria Plc has completed the offshore living quarters built for Ofon Phase II project being developed by French oil giant, Total, the first of such facility to be fabricated in Nigeria.
Speaking during the completion/load-out ceremony of the platform at the Snake Island Integrated Free Zone Lagos base of Nigerdock at the weekend, Executive Secretary, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Mr. Ernest Nwapa, stated that the Nigerian Content implementation model had identified fabrication as one of the drivers in the oil and gas value chain.
He stated that for those things that could be done locally, the NCDMB would take up the challenge and ensure that they were done locally.
Nwapa, who was represented by the Director of Monitoring at NCDMB, Mr. Tunde Adelana, said through the bidding process, the NCDMB had taken deliberate steps to ensure that fabrication scope that could be executed in Nigeria would be executed fully within Nigerian facilities.
He said the board had also put in place a robust framework for promoting and protecting new investments in yard construction by establishing a basis for recommending yards that would be utilised for specific fabrication work scopes.
“We have Bonga South West project coming up. We have the Egina project and we have living quarters in all these projects. Of course EIFFEL and its partners will like to participate in these projects,” he said.
Also speaking, a representative of EIFFEL Nigeria Limited, a local subsidiary of EIFFAGE Construction Metallique of France, contractors to the project, said the project was the first offshore living quarters to be built in Nigeria.
He stated that EIFFEL, which was established in 1997 had fabricated two jackets in Warri, Delta State before the Nigerian Content Law was enacted, adding that the company was convinced that local content was very important.
“This is a very successful project. It is a successful project because we delivered on time and as you have seen during the visit, the standard of quality is very high. It can be compared with fabrication done in Europe. The high standard of quality is very important. What is also important is that we have worked one million man-hours without Loss Time Injury (LTI),” he said.
The Ofon Phase II Living Quarters platform and topside was built for Total Exploration and Production Nigeria by EIFFEL Construction Metallic of France, with OOP Engineering Limited as local content partner.
The project scope includes detailed engineering, procurement, fabrication and outfitting, as well as hook-up and commissioning.
The platform has 140 personnel on board, with total weight of 6,800metric tonnes, with total floor area of 5,300 square metres on seven levels and a helideck to be fabricated by Aveon Offshore in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

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Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
ionyclaret@gmail.com
https://www.codewit.com
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Membere-Otaji: Nigeria Should Pass PIB to Remain Competitive

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The Chairman of ELSHCON Nigeria Limited, an Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Installation (EPCI) and marine services company, Dr. Emi Membere-Otaji, has called on the National Assembly to expedite action on the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) to ensure that the country remain competitive in the global oil and gas business.
Membere-Otaji, who is also the 2nd Deputy President of Port Harcourt Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines & Agriculture (PHCCIMA), told THISDAY at the weekend that gone were the days when Nigeria was the only oil and gas –producing country in the sub-Saharan Africa.
He stated that having lost the monopoly of being the only exporter of crude oil in Africa, Nigeria should make her operating environment competitive to attract the International Oil Companies (IOCs) by passing the PIB.
According to him, unless the PIB is passed, the IOCs now have alternative destinations for investment as other countries have joined the league of oil and gas producers.
“Look, few years ago, Nigeria was the only crude oil –producing country in the whole of south of Sahara. Angola joined us later. But today, if you look at the map of Africa, almost every country bordering on the Ocean is either producing oil or has hope to find oil even in East Africa – Kenya, Tanzania and others. What we are trying to say precisely is that it is obvious we have to compete now. We need the IOCs and they also need us. There will be a compromise and the PIB will be passed and investment will continue. But the worry is that there are competitors now. Angola is there; Ghana is there; almost every country is there. However, we have an advantage – we have an advantage of huge reserves; we also have an advantage of population and availability of infrastructure as a country. We have an advantage that these other countries do not have,” he said.
He said local companies were affected by the non-passage of the PIB as the IOCs were withholding major investments, pending the passage of the reform bill.
He said the non-passage of the bill had made the operating environment uncertain, hence the delay in major investment decisions.
“If you listen to all the IOCs, they will tell you that they are holding on investments because of the non-passage of the PIB. We are a service company. As an oil service company, we service the Exploration and Production (E & P) companies. So, if they are not doing major investments because of the non-passage of the PIB, it simply means that we will have fewer jobs. That is how the non-passage of the PIB affects us. But I believe that they will pass the PIB. We are investing more; we are buying more vessels; we are bringing more equipment into our fabrication yards because we believe it will be passed,” he added.
On the level of investment made by his company, he said he would soon spin off one division of his company to form a separate company because the two divisions are getting bigger and bigger.
“But to let you have an insight, we started Marine Division with only one vessel but today, we have 13 deep and shallow water vessels. We started with one fabrication/jetty but today we have two. We have acquired the third one but we are yet to dredge it because of community issues. So, this can give you an insight without mentioning the cost of the investment,” he added.

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
ionyclaret@gmail.com
https://www.codewit.com
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Nigeria: The day of my death

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I WAS born on 12th April, 1952.  I died twenty-years ago on 26th December, 1993.  I was killed by armed-robbers on the way from Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos.
My wife was coming back from a trip to the United States and I went to the airport with six-year-old Femi-Kevin to meet her.  She had two major pieces of luggage.  I put one in the boot and the other in the back-seat of our car.  It was around seven-thirty in the evening, and we set out for home.
Soon, a car overtook us with some people who were shouting at us for some inexplicable reason.  I paid little attention to them.  It is commonplace in Lagos for some driver to be upset with you for some reason or the other.  But no sooner had they overtaken us than they swerved and blocked the road with their car.  Immediately, some men jumped out menacingly.
Dicing with death
From that moment, everything became surreal.  Indeed, everything switched to slow-motion.  I slammed on the brakes and the car stopped.  I switched to reverse-gear and the car moved back.  Our assailants were banking on the element of surprise, but my prompt reactions upstaged them.  Having reversed the car, I again brought it to a stop.  In front of us on the road were four armed men.
 
I had always foolishly believed in myself.  I regarded myself as a problem-solver.  True, this was a rather bigger problem than I had had to deal with before.  This particular one was a question of life and death.  But it was a problem nevertheless.  Therefore, I decided to try and address it like any other problem.  First; I needed to make a quick decision.  I had to decide whether to continue to reverse the car; or go forward or just surrender.
I seemed to have all the time in the world to make this split-second decision.  Finally, I decided on a foolhardy course of “no retreat: no surrender.”  I made up my mind to go forward at top speed and try to avoid their car, which was biased to the left side of the road.  I also resolved that if the man to my extreme right did not get out of the way, I would run him over with my car.
I put the car back into the first gear and went ahead to execute my plan; slamming hard on the accelerator.  The man to my extreme right literally had to jump out of the road because I aimed the car directly at him.  I managed to avoid their car and made a dash for it.  But before I could congratulate myself on turning the tables against our abductors, my plans went disastrously wrong.  A lamppost appeared suddenly out of nowhere, and I slammed headlong into it.
Mystery voice
I have been back on that road so many times since then and have wondered why I did not see that lamppost.  But I did not.  Once I hit the lamppost, I was trapped like a caged animal.  Once I hit the lamppost, all my brilliantly-executed escape plans turned out to be reckless.  Once I hit the lamppost, I knew that I was a dead man.  I looked out the window to see the man I nearly ran down now marching towards me.  I knew there could only be one thing on his mind: revenge.
But before I could panic, something dramatic happened.  I heard a voice.  It was not a booming voice.  It was a “still small voice.”  It was authoritative and calm.  It spoke with quiet reassurance.  “Femi,” it said, “nothing is going to happen to you here.”
Before I could even think about what that meant, the offended armed-robber drew near.  Again, I saw everything in slow motion.  Grimacing, he pointed his gun at me and pulled the trigger.  I saw a flash of light and the glass at my side of the door came crashing down.  The bullet pierced the body of the car, came out on the inside and killed me.  It is necessary to put it graphically.  The bullet hit me and I bled to death right there on the roadside.
Conversations in the morgue
Thereafter, I was no longer afraid of our assailants.  As a matter of fact, I became indifferent to them.  I seemed to be abstracted from the entire incident, and to be like someone watching an unfolding drama from the sidelines.  And yet I knew that however the matter was resolved, my life would never be the same again.
Don’t ask me why, but I opened the door and decided to come out of the car.  Only then did I realise that there was something wrong with my left leg.  The bullet came out of the inside of the car and lodged itself in my leg, but I never actually felt it enter my body.  As I came out of the car, the aggrieved armed-robber who had shot at me slapped me.  “Why were you driving like that?” he demanded.  “Please don’t be offended,” I pleaded.  “I was only trying to get away from you as best as I could.”
While all this was going on, the young man was rifling through my pockets.  He was removing my watch from my wrist.  Another man was removing the suitcase from the backseat of the car and loading it into the boot of their car.  And then I heard that implausible voice once again, defiantly oblivious to the situation.  “Femi,” it repeated, “nothing is going to happen to you here.”
I was not really paying much attention.  My whole life suddenly flashed through my mind.  So this is how it all ends, I thought.  I looked through the window of the car and saw my wife clutching little Femi-Kevin to her breast.  It was like seeing the past in the present.  So at such an early age this woman became a widow, I thought.
I noticed she was praying.  I could see her lips moving silently.  I did not believe in prayer and I never prayed.  As far as I was concerned, the fact that she was praying meant she was highly distressed.  So I leaned through the window to reassure her.  But the only reassurance I could give was the ludicrous one I had been given.  So I said to her: “Karen, nothing is going to happen to us here.”
Dead and buried
But something seemed to be happening.  One of the armed-robbers could not open the boot.  Neither could I give him the key because it was jammed in the ignition as a result of my hitting the lamppost with the car.  One simple fact completely escaped me.  Our abductors also seemed oblivious to it.  You could open the boot by pressing a latch on the floor of the driver’s side of the car.
I could tell that, with the frustration of being unable to dislodge the key from the ignition, the temperature of the entire incident was rising.  But then, one of them opened the glove compartment and saw some money I had miraculously forgotten there.  It so happened that it was a sizeable amount.  That discovery brought down the heightened temperature.  The man who discovered it was excited.  “Look what I found,” he shouted gleefully to his partners-in-crime.  Somehow, this discovery was enough to atone for their inability to retrieve the luggage from the boot.
It was time to go.  The man who had shot at me re-cocked his gun.  It was one of those revolvers that you snap at the top in order to re-load.  He pointed it at me and barked: “Lie down with your face to the ground.”  I don’t know where I got the courage from, but I refused.  I told him calmly: “You can take whatever you want and go, but I am not going to lie down.”  The man stared at me.  His look spoke eloquently.  It said: “Don’t you know that I have the power to shoot you dead right now?”
I was already dead, so I was not moved.  For a moment, we stood staring at one another defiantly, with him pointing the gun directly at my face.  I knew he would shoot again and could not care less.  But then suddenly, he changed his mind and walked away.  Then they all jumped into their car and drove off.
My resurrection
There is nothing like death to make a man to yearn for salvation.  I was a man falling down a cliff, looking for something to hold on to.  Then suddenly a mystery man arrived.  But instead of throwing me a rope, he threw me a thread.  “Catch this,” he said, “and I will pull you up.”  I knew certainly that a thread could not hold my weight.  But it was really no time to argue.  If I had other options, maybe I might have ignored the thread.  But as it was, the thread was the only solution available, even if it was absolutely nonsensical.  So I grabbed the thread and unbelievably, the thread; a thread, held my weight.
Once I held on to this slim thread of hope, I was filled with an incredible feeling of peace in the middle of an armed-robbery attack, even with a bullet lodged in my left leg.  But once the robbers left, I came back to my senses.  The peace lifted and I was filled with fear.  Clearly, I needed immediate medical attention.  My wife jumped out of the car and ran down the road shouting for help.  I looked down and realised that my trouser-leg, my sock and shoe were completely soaked with blood.  So I said to myself: “Well, you escaped that one.  But now you are going to bleed to death right here in the middle of this road.”
But immediately that thought came into my head, the voice I had heard earlier came back to counter it.  It was just as calm and commanding as before.  It was no-nonsense and conclusive: “Femi,” it said categorically, “there is nothing wrong with your leg.”
 

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
ionyclaret@gmail.com
https://www.codewit.com
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Dangote Distributes N540m to Borno’s Residents

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The Dangote Foundation yesterday began the distribution of  N540 million to about 54,000 indigent residents of Borno State with the aim of reducing poverty in the troubled state which has been under the siege of Boko Haram insurgency for the last four years.
 
The foundation, financed by the billionaire businessman, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, as his contribution to alleviating poverty in the country is collaborating with Support for Women, Orphans and Tsangaya (SWOT), a pet project of the wife of Borno State governor, Hajiya Nana Kashim Shettima.
 
The SWOT is to organise the indigents and get the financial support of the business mogul to them. Each beneficiary is entitled to N10,000.
 
Managing Director of the Dangote Foundation, Dr. Adhiambo Odaga, said yesterday that the foundation had earmarked N540 million  for distribution to the targeted beneficiaries in the 27 local government areas of the state as part of a special disbursement of N1.2 billion  meant for residents of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe States, where the federal government has imposed a  state of emergency.
 
Apart from Borno, Odaga said 177,500 women and 19,000 youths in Kano, Kogi, Adamawa and Yobe States had benefitted from the programme.
 
She said the micro-grants was part of a national programme instituted by the Dangote Group to provide cash transfers to at least 1,000 poor and vulnerable Nigerians in each of the 774 local government areas of the federation.
 
“Dangote Foundation’s micro-grants enable recipients to grow or start an enterprise, invest in productive assets, improve the health of their families and or take on new activities that will reduce their vulnerability and enhance the economic standing of their household and communities,” she said.
 
Governor Kashim Shettima and his wife monitored the launch of the distribution in Maiduguri.
The governor described   Dangote as a patriotic Nigerian and thanked him for giving special attention to states like Borno that have peculiar security, social and economic challenges.
 
His wife on the other hand said most of the beneficiaries were women who had lost their husbands at the peak of the Boko Haram insurgency as well as orphans, the blind, the crippled and other vulnerable members of the society.

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
ionyclaret@gmail.com
https://www.codewit.com
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