APA – Lagos (Nigeria)
The report that 100 days since President Bola Tinubu took up the reins, he may have pulled millions of poor Nigerians below where his predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari, left them on May 29 on the poverty line is one of the trending stories in Nigerian newspapers on Tuesday.
The Guardian reports that just 100 days since President Bola Tinubu took up the reins, he may have pulled millions of poor Nigerians below where his predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari, left them on May 29 on the poverty line.
Tinubu said the economic reforms of the last three months, including fuel subsidy removal and foreign exchange (FX) liberalisation, would rescue the country from the control of the “tiny elite” and improve the lives of over 200 million citizens.
But the reality is not near the promise, perhaps too easy to tell how much of the promise he will eventually bring to reality. For instance, as pupils resumed school, yesterday, parents whose incomes have stagnated for years with minimum wage review negotiation not making much progress, were compelled to pay at least 70 per cent higher than they paid earlier in the year for school buses.
School management said the increase is to enable them to cover an over 200 per cent increase in the pump prices of premium motor spirit (PMS), which is used to power most school buses. Tuition fees have also been raised, some by as high as 50 per cent.
No sooner had Tinubu taken up the reins than he declared “subsidy is gone” paving the way for fuel marketers to increase the price of the essential commodity from N185 per litre to over N500 for the highest band.
A few weeks later, a further adjustment was made to the prices, with the price now swinging between N568 and N700 depending on how far a state is from Lagos, which hosts the landing ports of the imported finished product. Nigeria, Africa’s top crude producer, has had its refineries grounded for years, making it rely on importation.
The newspaper says that amid the cloud of uncertainties arising from today’s grounding of the economy with the two-day warning strike by the Organised Labour and tomorrow’s judgment to be delivered by the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC), security chiefs were yesterday summoned to an emergency meeting with President Bola Tinubu.
The meeting, which held behind closed doors, also came after a security report was released by the Department of State Security (DSS) revealing a plot by some elements to stage violent protests in order to discredit the Federal Government and security agencies over sundry socio-economic matters.
This was the first security meeting that the Minister of Defence, Mohammed Badaru, and the Minister of State for Defence, Bello Mattawale, would attend since their inauguration as members of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) last week Monday.
The security chiefs did not disclose what was discussed at the meeting, and also did not talk about the fresh directives they got from the President, ahead of his trip to attend the G-20 leaders summit in India.
According to the DSS spokesman, Peter Afunanya, “Intelligence reports have indicated that the plotters of the violent protests include certain politicians who are desperately mobilising unsuspecting student leaders, ethnic-based associations, youth and disgruntled groups for the planned action.
“The Service has identified ring leaders of the plot, as well as sustained monitoring around them in order to deter them from plunging the country into anarchy. In view of this development, university Vice-Chancellors and heads of tertiary institutions are advised to discourage their students from engaging in acts capable of derailing public peace.”
The Punch reports that the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, on Monday, announced that Nigeria’s earnings from the solid minerals sector between 2007 and 2021, a period of 15 years, was N814.6bn.
NEITI made this public in its latest 2021 industry report of the solid minerals sector, which was unveiled to stakeholders and lawmakers in Abuja.
In the report, the agency also stated that Nigeria N193.6bn from the solid minerals sector in 2021. The figure shows an increase of N60.32bn or 51.89 per cent growth, when compared to the 2020 revenue flows of N116.82bn.
“This positive trend reflects a continuation of the upward positive trajectory observed in the sector over the past five years.
“This contribution, though a significant increase over past years, is still abysmal considering the potentials of the sector to the Nigerian economy,” NEITI observed in its report.
The report, however, pointed out the consistent year-on-year increase in revenue to the federation account from the solid minerals sector in the past 15 years (2007-2021).
It puts the total revenue that accrued to the government during these years to N818.04bn, but stated that this was significantly low compared to the economic potential of the sector.
It stated that of the N6.62tn total government revenue in 2021, the solid minerals sector barely contributed 2.6 per cent.
Presenting the report in Abuja, the Executive Secretary, NEITI, Ogbonnaya Orji, said the 2021 solid minerals report reviewed, ascertained, reconciled and reported all revenues and investment flows to and from government in the solid minerals sector.
The newspaper says that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited is stepping up efforts to combat oil theft in the Niger Delta, as the country’s oil production continues to plummet.
In an update on its fight against crude oil theft in the country in July, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited said it uncovered 162 illegal pipeline connections and illegal refineries in the Niger Delta, mostly in Bayelsa State.
In a two-minute documentary, the state-owned oil firm said 93 illegal pipeline connections and 69 illegal refineries were uncovered in Aboa and Gbokoda between July 15 and 21, and had been destroyed.
“War on crude oil theft: 93 illegal pipeline connections discovered and 69 illegal refineries destroyed in the Niger Delta in the past week,” the company declared.
The company explained that large-scale crude oil theft was currently ongoing in the Niger Delta According to the NNPCL, the illegalities were discovered using its maritime intelligence system.
“30 wooden boats used in carrying stolen crude oil were confiscated in the past week, with some in Gbokodo, and five cases of oil spill recorded in the deep blue waters,” it disclosed in the documentary.
The PUNCH had recently reported how a self-acclaimed Niger Delta militant group, Creek Reform Warriors, threatened to resume attacks on major oil facilities in the region.
GIK/APA