Nigeria: Press spotlights plans to reward Super Eagles for reaching AFCON final, others

APA – Lagos (Nigeria)
The report that the Nigerian Government has promised to reward the Super Eagles for showing strong commitment and dedication in reaching the final of the 2023 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) is one of the trending stories in Nigerian newspapers on Thursday.
The Guardian reports that the Nigerian Government has promised to reward the Super Eagles for showing strong commitment and dedication in reaching the final of the 2023 African Cup of Nations (AFCON).
Nigeria’s Vice President Kashim Shettima revealed this to the players and their officials in the dressing room following their hard-fought victory over South Africa in the semi-finals on Wednesday.
Shettima, who was with Governors Dapo Abiodun (Ogun) and Duoye Diri (Bayelsa), Minister for Youth, Dr. Jamila Ibrahim, as well as oil mogul Wale Tinubu, FIFA Council Member Amaju Pinnick, and NFF President Ibrahim Musa Gusau, also said that the government and Nigerians are proud of their accomplishments.
The Super Eagles of Nigeria showed great determination and resilience to defeat the Bafana Bafana of South Africa 4-2 on penalties in the semi-finals of the 2023 AFCON to reach the final, where they will face the host nation, Ivory Coast.
Nigeria went into the lead in the 67th minute of the game through captain William Troost-Ekong from the penalty spot after Victor Osimhen was brought down in the 18-yard area.
Teboho Mokoena thereafter put South Africa level on 1-1 also from the penalty spot in the 90th minute after Alhassan Yusuf, who replaced Alex Iwobi on 63 minutes, fouled Percy Tau.
The penalty was awarded to the Bafana Bafana following a lengthy check by the Video Assistant Referee (VAR), with the main referee also going to look at the monitor before giving it.
The Super Eagles, despite having a player more could, however, not score the winning goal as the match went into a penalty shootout, which saw Moffi, Kenneth Omeruo and Troost-Ekong net their spotkicks.
South Africa failed to convert two of their spot kicks, with goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali saving both, and despite Ola Aina throwing away his penalty, Kelechi Iheanacho scored his to help the Super Eagles win 4-2 and reach the final of AFCON 2023.
The newspaper says that amid various teething challenges confronting the digital space, electronic payment transactions in December stood at N71 trillion, bringing the total volume of transactions last year to N600 trillion.
According to the statistics from the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) Instant Payment (NIP), released yesterday, the N71 trillion was an all-time high monthly record on the platform. The rise could be attributed to the rising adoption of e-payment and festive activities.
The e-payment data showed a steady increase throughout 2023, amidst various challenges, including those witnessed during the critical cash crunch in the first quarter following the failed Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) naira redesign policy implemented under the then governor, Godwin Emefiele.
Indeed, the monthly analysis showed that Nigerians spent N38.9 trillion on electronic platforms in January 2023, while in February, e-payment value stood at N36.8 trillion.
In March 2023, the value of electronic transactions jumped to N48.3 trillion, driven by the scarcity of cash at that time. By April, a total of N41.3 trillion was spent on the electronic channels, while in May transaction volume stood at N45.9 trillion.
NIP transactions value in June 2023 was N45.3 trillion, a slight decline from the value recorded in May. July saw e-payment transactions jump to N47.4 trillion. In August, the value of NIP transactions climbed further to N50.9 trillion, while it rose to N51 trillion in September.
By October and November, transaction value stood at N59 trillion and N63.6 trillion respectively, while the highest transaction, N71.9 trillion, was recorded in December.
In a document earlier made available to The Guardian by the NIBSS, with emphasis on transactions by Nigerians during the festive period of last December, failure pattern was between 0.35 per cent to 0.95 per cent and an average processing time of 0.62.
The Punch reports that lingering regulatory approvals have stalled Dangote Petrochemical Refinery’s plan to release aviation fuel (Jet A1) and diesel for sale in the Nigerian market in January, findings by The PUNCH have shown.
One week after the January 31 timeline set by the management of Africa’s largest refinery to begin sale of its petroleum product in the local market, the refinery is still battling to cross the hurdles of the several layers of regulatory approvals.
The development came almost a month after the refinery began the production of petroleum products at the expansive facility.
On January 12, 2024, Dangote refinery announced that it had commenced the production of Automotive Gas Oil, popularly called diesel, and aviation fuel or JetA1.
The President, Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, in a statement issued by his firm at the time, thanked President Bola Tinubu for his support, encouragement, and thoughtful advice towards the actualisation of the project.
Dangote also thanked the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, NMDPRA and Nigerians for their support and belief in the historic project, as he revealed that the facility would pump out diesel and aviation fuel in January, subject to regulatory approvals.
He said, “We thank President Bola Tinubu for his support and for making our dream come true. This production, as witnessed today, would not have been possible without his visionary leadership and prompt attention to details.
The newspaper says that Nigeria’s one-year treasury bill was oversubscribed by 300 per cent during the Primary Market Auction by the Central Bank of Nigeria on Wednesday.
Results from the auction showed that the one-year T-bill was the toast of investors who offered N1.87tn for the N600bn on offer, out of which N908.75bn was allotted with stop rates of 19 per cent. Investors bid between 13 per cent and 29.9 per cent as interest rates.
The auction was aimed at rolling over maturing Nigerian Treasury Bills worth N1tn. The auction covered maturities across three different tenors: 91-day with N200bn on offer, 182-day with another N200bn and 364-day had the highest treasure bill on offer at N600bn.
At the end of the auction, the 91-day bill received N39.90bn offers all of which were sold, the 182-day bill got N76.83bn subscriptions out of which N51.35bn was allotted.
Commenting on the day’s auction, the Managing Director of the Arthur Steven Asset Management, Tunde Amolegbe, said that the performance of the one-year bills showed that investors had confidence in the current government and the reforms it had embarked on.
He said, “Firstly, the investors are seeking higher rates for funding due to CBN signalling further tightening due to accelerating inflation and other factors. Secondly, interest seems skewed towards the longer end of the curve which is an indication of confidence in the government and its reforms.
“Also, the massive over–subscription shows the significant system liquidity.”
GIK/APA