APA – Lagos (Nigeria)
The call by President Bola Tinubu on world leaders to serve African countries a better deal of international politics in his address at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) is one of the trending stories in Nigerian newspapers on Wednesday.
The Guardian reports that President Bola Tinubu in the early hours of today made his inaugural address at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), with a call on world leaders to serve African countries a better deal of international politics.
Mounting the rostrum on the opening day of the 78th UN General Assembly, President Tinubu highlighted five key points for global attention. First was the importance of a developed Africa to the world; democratic governance to end military coups on the continent; protracted battle against violent extremists in the region; global trust and solidarity to secure the continent’s mineral rich areas from pilfering and conflict, and lastly, the devastating effects of climate change on Nigeria and other African countries.
In reference to the wave of military incursions into governance in Africa, President Tinubu affirmed democratic governance as the best guarantor of the sovereign will and well-being of the people.
He said military coups are wrong, as is any tilted civilian political arrangement that perpetuates injustice, but the enabling factors of political and economic instability must be addressed by all.
He said: “The wave crossing parts of Africa does not demonstrate favour towards coups. It is a demand for solutions to perennial problems. Regarding Niger, we are negotiating with the military leaders. As Chairman of ECOWAS, I seek to help re-establish democratic governance in a manner that addresses the political and economic challenges confronting that nation, including the violent extremists who seek to foment instability in our region. I extend a hand of friendship to all who genuinely support this mission.
“This brings me to my next crucial point. Our entire region is locked in a protracted battle against violent extremists. In the turmoil, a dark channel of inhumane commerce has formed. Along the route, everything is for sale. Men, women and children are seen as chattel. Yet, thousands risk the Sahara’s hot sand and the Mediterranean’s cold depths in search of a better life.
“At the same time, mercenaries and extremists with their lethal weapons and vile ideologies invade our region from the north. This harmful traffic undermines the peace and stability of an entire region. African nations will improve our economies so that our people do not risk their lives to sweep the floors and streets of other nations. We also shall devote ourselves to disbanding extremist groups on our turf. To fully corral this threat, the international community must strengthen its commitment to arrest the flow of arms and violent people into West Africa.”
Speaking on Nigeria’s economy and its delicate balance as Africa’s most populous nation, President Tinubu noted the longstanding internal and external factors of Nigeria’s and Africa’s economic structures, which has been skewed to impede development, industrial expansion, job creation, and the equitable distribution of wealth.
“If Nigeria is to fulfill its duty to its people and the rest of Africa, we must create jobs and the belief in a better future for our people. We must also lead by example,” he said.
The newspaper says that Nigeria has been asked to take advantage of the $300 billion potential economic gains that await Africa’s digital economy by 2025. This advice came from the Head of Privacy Policy, Africa, Middle East and Turkey, Meta, Dr. Ololade Shyllon.
She said huge economic potential awaits Nigeria and others if they can key strategically into the region’s digital economy, stressing that this has been propelled by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement.
Already, the World Bank has projected that AfCFTA presents a major opportunity for African countries to bring 30 million people out of extreme poverty and to raise the incomes of 68 million others, who live on less than $5.50 per day.
Additionally, the World Bank, said with the implementation of AfCFTA, trade facilitation measures that cut red tape and simplify customs procedures would drive $292 billion of the $450 billion in potential income gains.
As such, Shyllon, who spoke as a panelist at a telecoms forum in Lagos, said implementing AfCFTA would help usher in the kinds of deep reforms necessary to enhance long-term growth in African countries. She disclosed that the lack of harmonisation of various trade policies in the region would be a major setback to reaping the benefits
Stressing the importance of harmonising data regulation in the region, the Meta chief, said currently 35 African countries have different data regulations unlike the European Union (EU), which has only a single data regulation.
The Punch reports that Dangote Petroleum Refinery is currently importing crude oil and expects its first crude cargo in two weeks’ time, the Executive Director, Dangote Group, Devakumar Edwin, has revealed.
Although the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited trades crude oil on behalf of Nigeria, Edwin in an interview with S&P Global Commodity Insights on Monday, said the NNPCL had committed its crude to other entities.
The Dangote refinery boss did not disclose the other entities receiving the oil company’s crude but NNPC disclosed last month it had entered into a $3bn crude oil-for-loan deal with African Export-Import Bank. The deal allowed the company to pledge future oil production to the bank as repayments for the loan.
Also, NNPC sources told The PUNCH on Tuesday the company had entered into crude oil contracts with a number of entities, a development that made it impossible for the organisation to meet Dangote’s need earlier.
A top official of the oil company, however, said plans were already underway to ensure Dangote’s refineries crude oil needs were met in November.
Also, Edwin pointed out that the importation of crude by Dangote refinery was temporary, as the firm would receive supply from NNPCL from November.
Edwin went ahead to state that the firm would begin the production of up to 370,000 barrels per day of crude that would give rise to Automotive Gas Oil, popularly called diesel, and jet fuel in October 2023.
For Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, the Dangote Group’s boss said the plant would produce it by November 30, 2023.
The newspaper says that Nigeria witnessed another round of widespread blackout across the country on Tuesday as the national power grid collapsed again, making it the third grid collapse in about five days.
Power generation on the grid crashed from a peak of 3,594.60 megawatts at midnight to 42.7MW by midday of Tuesday.
It was observed that at noon, only the Delta Power plant was operational on the grid, contributing 41MW, while Afam generated 1.7MW.
On Friday, The PUNCH reported that the Federal Government had explained that the nationwide blackout witnessed the preceding day, being Thursday, was due to a fire incident and an explosion on the Kainji/Jebba 330kV line 2.
Power consumers, however, kicked against the never-ending excuses of the government as regards power generation and supply in Nigeria, despite privatising the generation and distribution arms of the sector since November 2013.
The PUNCH had earlier reported on Thursday that there was widespread blackout across the country following the total collapse of Nigeria’s electricity grid early Thursday morning.
The report stated that the grid collapsed totally around 12.40am on September 14, 2023, leading to the massive loss of supply to power distributors nationwide.
GIK/APA