The report that scores of gunmen believed to be terrorists on Tuesday night bombed the Kuje Medium Security Custodial Centre, Abuja, which was being guarded by dozens of soldiers, Department of State operatives, police officers and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps personnel is one of the leading stories in Nigerian newspapers on Thursday.
The Punch report that scores of gunmen believed to be terrorists on Tuesday night bombed the Kuje Medium Security Custodial Centre, Abuja, which was being guarded by dozens of soldiers, Department of State operatives, police officers and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps personnel.
During the attack which began around 10:22 pm, the terrorists released 600 inmates, including 15 deadly Boko Haram commanders who masterminded the March 28 attack on the Kaduna-Abuja train at Katari, Kaduna, in which eight persons were killed and over 68 passengers kidnapped.
The Islamic State West Africa Province claimed responsibility for the attack in a 30-second video which showed the gunmen setting ablaze vehicles parked in the facility.
The spokesman, Nigeria Correctional Service, Umar Abubakar, confirmed that an NSCDC officer, Insp. Illyasu Abraham, three terrorists and four inmates died in the incident.
The Kuje attack came barely hours after a convoy of cars carrying the Advance Team of security guards, protocol and media officers ahead of the President’s trip to Daura for Sallah, came under a terrorist attack.
Findings by The PUNCH on Wednesday indicated that the assailants bombed the fence before gaining entry into the facility and also razed seven vehicles, and destroyed other facilities.
The gunmen were said to have operated for about two hours without any response from the security agencies.
The Guardian says that President Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday, assigned portfolios to seven newly appointed ministers, charging them to serve the nation diligently.
He also announced the reassignment of offices and said the redeployment was to reinvigorate some sectors where the government needed to achieve better result.
Addressing a virtual Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting in Abuja, the Nigerian leader restated that his administration was strengthening things as it winds down on its second term in office.The new ministers and their portfolios are: Ikechukwu Ikoh (Minister of State for Science and Technology); Umana Umana (Minister of Niger Delta Affairs); Udi Odum (Minister of State for Environment); Ademola Adegoroye (Minister of State for Transportion); Umar Ibrahim El-Yakub (Minister of State for Works and Housing; Goodluck Opiah (Minister of State for Education and Nkama Ekumankama (Minister of State for Health).
The followings were re-assigned: Senator Adeleke Mamora as Minister of Science and Technology (formerly Minister of State, Health); Mu’azu Jaji Sambo, Minister of Transportation (originally Minister of State, Works and Housing); Sharon Ikeazor, Minister of State, Niger Delta (previously Minister of State, Environment) and Senator Gbemisola Saraki, Minister of State, Mines and Steel Development (ex-Minister of State, Transportation).
The President urged the new cabinet members to consult widely on driving key programmes of the current administration.
He also warned cabinet members against corrupt practices, reiterating that public officers must be above board.
The newspaper reports that the need to cut down on Nigeria’s high cost of governance, embrace local refining of petroleum products, create urgent solutions to vandalism and crude oil thefts as well as sustainable and diversified mass transportation system were part of options canvassed by oil and gas experts yesterday, in Abuja, as leeway to the soaring prices of petroleum products and elusive state of the sector in the country.
This is coming as long queues of motorists, jostling for Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) continued in Abuja and other parts of the country amidst payment of subsidy, now hovering around N6 trillion.
Some of the experts, who spoke at the Nigeria Oil and Gas Conference, said the Federal Government must first walk the talk by reducing cost of governance before asking the citizens to face hardship in moving the country forward, especially in the area of subsidy payment.
They also insisted that the security situation in the country, in terms of vandalism and theft, remained a disincentive and a situation that would continue to hurt the economy and deter the investment needed to address the challenges in the upstream and downstream sectors.
Former chairman, Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN), Tunji Oyebanji, said the current architecture in the downstream sector wouldn’t take the country anywhere, adding that the dependency on PMS is unacceptable.
“Government itself needs to walk the talk. You cannot continue to operate at a certain level without physically demonstrating a deliberate attempt to reduce the cost of governance, what you spend and what you spend money on, when you are telling people to take on a huge burden,” he said.
The Nation says that the agricultural sector in Africa has been crying for attention. It needs to be listened to given its contribution to the gross domestic product (GDP) and the number of jobs it creates.
An important sub-sector of agriculture is crop production. However, it has suffered low yields, which has hindered productivity and competitiveness.
Like other parts of the world, Africa is grappling with the challenge of developing more sustainable agriculture. Although the crop subsector has shown a lot of potential for production, not much has been accomplished in terms of attempts to improve crop yields and boost farmers’profits.
For observers, future food security depends on various factors, including improved crop yields.
Interestingly, there are moves by the African Plant Nutrition Institute (APNI) to accelerate research to boost crop production.
Established in 2019, in BenGuérir, Morocco, APNI is a non-profit research organisation that seeks to enhance plant nutrition for a resilient and food-secure Africa. Sustainable crop productivity is among many areas attracting researchers’ attention.
In its 2021 yearly report, APNI Chair, Hicham El Habti, noted that the stakes involved in African agriculture appeared to be continuous.
The Sun reports that members of Nigeria’s Organised Private Sector (OPS) have expressed concern over consequences of rising diesel prices and raw materials now threatening local manufacturers.
Beyond the need for diesel for transportation logistics, the stakeholders noted that the current model of high dependence on the national grid to power businesses has continued to hobble production processes in the economy, considering the vastness of the country which does not support the highly centralised regime of national grid.
They argued that the continued ownership and control of the transmission component of the power supply chain is also a challenge to grapple with, as many manufacturers are left to generate their own electricity to bridge supply gap.
Among the major constraints operators in the sector want government to address are low forex supply, poor electricity to the real sector, traffic gridlock along the nation’s port access roads seaports and several other pressing issues.
Leaders of the real sector noted that removing hindrances that affect manufacturing activities and other key players in the country’s real sector would enhance productivity, especially as Nigeria plans to join the rest of Africa to fully implement the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) protocols.
Commenting on the challenges facing Nigerian manufacturers, the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE), noted that escalating energy costs, alongside poor power supply from the national grid, have consequences for the economy as these reflect on the high production and operating costs across all sectors.
It also identified high haulage costs due to diesel prices as well as potential suspension of operations for businesses that are unable to pass the costs to the consumers.
GIK/APA