The directive by President Buhari to the military service chiefs to be decisive in dealing with terrorists and ending the insurgency in the North-east without further delay is one of the trending stories in the Nigerian newspapers on Wednesday.
ThisDay reports that President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered the military service chiefs to be decisive in dealing with terrorists and ending the insurgency in the North-east without further delay.
Buhari has also justified the extension of the Kano-Katsina-Jibiya rail line to Maradi in Niger Republic, saying the project, when completed, will boost trade between Nigeria and Niger Republic, foster trans-Sahara trade and contribute to the expected gains in the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA).
The Chief of Air Staff, Air Vice Marshal Oladayo Amao, who spoke on the presidential directive during a visit to Maiduguri, said the president routed the order through the Chief of Defence Staff, Maj.Gen. Lucky Irabor, for them to come up with new strategies to rout the insurgents.
Amao, during his visit to the Air Task Force of Operation Lafiya Dole in Maiduguri, said: “Mr. President had given the Chief of Defence Staff, along with the service chiefs, the onerous task of bringing the war against insurgency to a decisive end in order to restore normalcy to all troubled parts of the country.”
He stated that they had already begun to “take action in this regard, holding several meetings to evolve strategies for better synergy in the joint operations.”
The Guardian says that worried that the rising level of insecurity might result in ethno-religious war, famine and related crises, the Nigerian Senate has scheduled another marathon debate to address various security challenges.
A seven-point motion on the matter was scheduled for debate yesterday but shifted to today because of the death of a member of the House of Representatives, Chinedu Prestige.
Sponsored by Senate’s Deputy Majority Leader, Robert Borroffice, the motion expressed fears that the nation had entered a phase, characterised by unabating terrorism, insurgency, banditry and kidnapping.
The motion, contained in the Order Paper, frowned on the practice of ejecting Nigerians from any part of the country.
“Section 43 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is sacrosanct, as every citizen of Nigeria has the right to live and acquire property in any part of the country,” the motion stated.
The Vanguard reports that governors of the 19 northern states of the federation have said the current system of open grazing of cattle in the country was no longer sustainable.
The position of the governors, acting under the aegis of Northern Governors Forum, came on Monday night against the backdrop of incessant clashes between farmers and herders across the country.
Consequently, they called for intensive sensitization of herdsmen to adopt new methods in carrying out their trade.
The northern governors’ position was also amplified by Edo State governor, Godwin Obaseki, who noted that the only way to stop frequent clashes between farmers and herders was to halt open grazing, promising to provide grazing areas for herders to stop nomadic herding.
Similarly, Igbo socio-political organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, described open grazing as an ill-wind that will do Nigeria no good.
The newspaper says that Nigeria’s Minister of State, Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, has admonished Nigerians to be ready to bear the pains of increased petrol pump price as crude oil price climbs above $60 per barrel.
Speaking at the official launch of Nigerian Upstream Cost Optimisation Programme in Abuja yesterday, Sylva said with no provision of subsidy in the 2021 budget, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, cannot continue to bear the cost of under-recovery.
At present, the pump price of petrol ranges from N160 –N165, the price band set when crude traded just above $43 per barrel four months ago.
The President of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Ayuba Wabba, in a swift reaction yesterday, warned that Nigerians and businesses in the country would not be able to cope with another hike in the pump price of petrol.
He said: “I am not sure Nigerians would be ready to bear any more pain at this time because of the fact that a lot of factors have affected the economic, social and even the well being of Nigerians.”
The Punch says that President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday justified the decision of his administration to construct a rail line linking Nigeria with Niger Republic despite criticisms that trailed the announcement of the plan.
He said connecting Niger Republic through rail would, among other benefits, foster trans-Sahara trade and contribute to the expected gains in the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement. Buhari made the justification while virtually presiding over the groundbreaking for the commencement of the rail line from the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The rail line is known as Kano-Katsina-Jibiya-Maradi (Niger Republic) rail line with branch line from Kano. Describing the rail line as ‘another vital transportation infrastructure’, Buhari noted that it traversed the major commercial and administrative centre of Kano and passes through other economic hubs including Kazaure, Daura, Katsina and up to the border town of Jibiya and the Niger Republic city of Maradi.
According to the President, the cities of Jibiya and Maradi constitute a significant trading core between Nigeria and Niger Republic, adding that the tradition dated back many centuries. Buhari said, “This vital infrastructure line will establish an end-to-end logistic supply chain in railway transport services between Northern and Southern regions of the country, reaching Nigerian southern ports of Lagos and Warri.
The Nation reports that the trade volume between China and Nigeria reached $19.27 billion in 2019, the Charge’ d’ Affairs of the Chinese Embassy in Nigeria, Mr. Zhao Yong, said yesterday.
Also, despite the pandemic, bilateral trade growth between both countries from January to October 2020 increased by 0.7 percent. Yong, who was excited about the increase in trade volume between the two countries, said the increase is 1900 times that of 1971 when the diplomatic relationship was established.
Speaking at the opening session of the Forum of Nigeria and China @ 50: Reflections and way forward, the envoy said Nigeria ranks first among China’s top 40 trading partners in the world.
“Over the past 50 years, the mutually beneficial China-Nigeria economic and trade relations have enjoyed a robust development, the scales and areas of cooperation continuously expand, and the modes of cooperation have been diversified.
“In 2019, the trade volume between China and Nigeria reached $19.27 billion, which was 1900 times that of 1971 when the diplomatic relationship was established,” he said.
GIK/APA