APA – Lagos (Nigeria)
The concern raised by the Nigeria Labour Congress on Tuesday over the lingering cash scarcity in the country dominates the headlines of Nigerian newspapers on Wednesday.
The Punch reports that the Nigeria Labour Congress, on Tuesday, expressed concerns over the lingering cash scarcity in the country.
Five days to the Christmas Day celebration, the congress said in a statement by its National President, Joe Ajaero, that the situation had serious implications for citizens, insisting that urgent steps must be taken to address it.
Bank customers have been groaning over their inability to access cash to meet daily needs, despite assurances from the Central Bank of Nigeria.
The banks have continued to ration cash over-the-counter, while many ATMS are not dispensing cash.
However, NLC in the statement warned the Federal Government and the Central Bank of Nigeria that a mass public protest was imminent if nothing was done to address the naira shortage.
The newspaper says that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd. has won this year’s The Whistler Newspaper Award for Transparency and Innovation.
This was disclosed in a statement by the Chief Corporate Communications Officer of NNPCL, Olufemi Soneye.
The Group Chief Executive Officer of the Company, Mr Mele Kyari, received the award from the Governor of Abia State, Alex Otti, on behalf of the Company during the Newspaper’s 2023 Award Night, in Abuja recently.
In his acceptance speech, Kyari expressed NNPCL’s commitment to delivering value for its shareholders, stressing that the award would spur the company to re-dedicate itself towards more transparency and innovation in its operations.
The Guardian reports that the Office of the Vice President, in collaboration with the Bank of Industry (BoI) is set to commence the disbursement of loans to the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) by January 2024.
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Job Creation and MSMEs, Office of the Vice-President, Mr Temitola Adekunle-Johnson, made this known in a statement, yesterday, in Abuja.
Adekunle-Johnson said the move was part of an effort at keeping to President Bola Tinubu’s promise to support the transformation of the MSMEs space in the country.
He revealed that the loans, totalling about N75 billion, would be given to small businesses across the country at an interest rate of nine per cent.
Adekunle-Johnson explained that the Federal Government and the bank would leverage existing platforms to provide the loans to small businesses, targeting women and youths.
The newspaper says that stakeholders have increased calls towards the fixing of eastern waterways and ports to decongest Lagos ports and recover revenue lost to the diversion of cargoes to neighbouring countries due to poor infrastructure.
They made the call at the 2023 yearly conference and awards of the Association of Maritime Journalists of Nigeria (AMJON) held in Lagos.
Recall that senators and members of the House of Representatives had expressed regrets over the loss of over N1 trillion in revenue due to poor infrastructure in the maritime sector.
The lawmakers, during the 2024 budget defence by the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, also queried the under utilisation of the N130 million released for rehabilitation, utilisation and patronage of eastern ports as well as the monitoring of navigational channels of Calabar River Port.
Oyetola had admitted that shippers divert vessels to neighbouring countries’ ports while stressing the need for adequate funding for the dredging of various ports across the country to enable them to take big vessels.
The Managing Director of the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), Munirudeen Oyebamiji, emphasised on the dredging of the waterways serving the eastern ports, which he said will reduce congestion at the Lagos ports.
He said the discovery of oil in the country caused the government to neglect the development of inland waterways, as the focus moved to coastal areas where they were doing oil businesses to the detriment of the inland waterways.
Speaking on ‘Developing Nigerian Waterways infrastructure for effective movement of goods and services’, Oyebamiji, who was represented by the General Manager of Business Development, Olumide Adetola, said the government has to focus on dredging the waterways in the eastern part of the country to enable businessmen directly berth goods at the seaports to relieve pressure from Lagos ports.
He listed the infrastructural intervention requirements for optimal benefits of Nigeria’s waterways to include, dredging to remove silt and other impediments, construction of River ports and jetties, installation and maintenance of navigational aids such as dams, dykes and groin to ensure the achievement of highest level of efficiency and seamless operations.
Others, according to him, include improvement of port-linked flow in landward connection to the ports, river bank protection and maintenance of dredged channels, removal of wrecks and derelicts on the inland waterways that impede navigation as well as the removal of aquatic weeds including water hyacinths and other plants on the waterways.
GIK/APA