Nigerian press focuses on suspension of strike by university teachers, others

The verdict came barely a month after an investigation by Cable News Network (CNN) which exposed the government’s alleged complicity in the shooting of unarmed protesters at Lekki toll gate during the nationwide #EndSARS protests in Lagos.

The respected newspaper x-rayed the heightened insecurity in the country manifest in banditry, kidnapping and terrorism before warning that “Africa’s most populous country is teetering on the brink.”

The publication wrote: “If the latest kidnapping turns out to be its work, it would mark the spread of the terrorist group from its north-eastern base. Even if the mass abduction was carried out by ‘ordinary’ bandits – as now looks possible – it underlines the fact of chronic criminality and violence.

“Deadly clashes between herders and settled farmers have spread to most parts of Nigeria. In the oil-rich but impoverished Delta region, extortion through the sabotage of pipelines is legendary.

“In its three remaining years, the government of Mr. Buhari must seek to draw a line in the sand. It must redouble efforts to get a grip on security.”

The Punch reports that large crowd thronging the web portal of the National Identity Management Commission for the process of obtaining their National Identity Number led to the crash of the portal on Monday.

Many people who wanted to print the enrollment form, which is a major requirement for registering for the National Identity Number were unable to do so and got stranded. Checks showed that www.nimc.gov.ng as well as www3.nimc.gov.ng displayed error messages.

The commission reopened its enrolment centres on Tuesday for NIN registration after they were shut the previous day.

It was observed that only applicants with completed application forms were allowed into the premises of the commission in Lagos after they had received tally numbers earlier in the day.

NIMC officials encouraged those that had not been attended to as of 2pm on Tuesday to return the next day as early as 6am to be captured. The Lagos centre was one of those that were shut down on Monday due to the large crowd that

The newspaper says that the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association has warned that the growth in Nigeria’s external debt was jeopardising the economic growth efforts of the Federal Government.

The association raised this concern in a statement on Tuesday titled ‘Salvaging the Nigerian economy from total collapse:

A call for urgent action’. The Director-General of NECA, Dr. Timothy Olawale, in the statement noted that Nigeria’s debt servicing was affecting funds needed for investment and infrastructural development.

He said the revised 2020 budget showed that the country spent N3tn on debt servicing, which accounted for 27 percent of the total expenditure and 35.6 percent of the revenue.

“With all the borrowings, there seems to be insignificant impact in some economic objectives as there is still widespread unemployment, high poverty levels, poor infrastructural development and poor health indicators,” he said.

The Sun reports that Africa’s leading cement producer, BUA Cement, has signed an agreement with Sinoma CBMI of China for the construction of three new cement plants of three million tonnes each per annum in Edo, Sokoto and Adamawa states of Nigeria to be completed by the end of 2022.

Upon completion, this will bring BUA Cement’s total capacity to 20 million metric tonnes by 2022.

At nine million tonnes combined capacity, this is the single largest contract ever awarded in the Nigerian cement industry for the construction of new cement plants at the same time and by a single company in Nigeria.

These three new plants are in addition to BUA Cement’s already existing 6mmtpa plants in Edo State, 2mmtpa plants in Sokoto State and another 3mmtpa BUA Cement plant in Sokoto – which will be commissioned in Q2, 2021.

Speaking at the ceremony held simultaneously at BUA HQ in Lagos and the CBMI HQ in China, Abdul Samad Rabiu, Chairman of BUA Cement, said the expansion decision was to transform the manufacturing industry and increase Nigeria’s cement production capacity, noting that “Nigeria and the surrounding region are still home to huge opportunities in construction, housing, infrastructure and allied industries”.

The newspaper says that the Federal Government and the Government of Jamaica have launched an inaugural direct flight to both countries.

The Spokesman, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ferdinand Nwonye, disclosed the development in a statement in Abuja yesterday.

Nwonye said the move was part of activities to commemorate the 50 years of good bilateral relations between the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Republic of Jamaica.

“An inaugural direct flight, Air Peace, departed from Lagos and landed in Montego Bay, on Monday, December 21, 2020,” Nwonye said.

Nwonye disclosed that aboard the flight was the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, in company with a number of other senior Federal Government officials and members of the organised private sector.

“They were received at the Sangster International Airport, Montego Bay, by the Minister of Transportation of Jamaica and other top Jamaican government officials. “It is expected that the welcome development woulddeepen relations between the two countries in areas of tourism, education and economic activities, to mention a few,” Nwonye stated.