The pledge by the National Security Adviser that Nigeria’s territory will never be used as a haven by any group of secessionists or terrorists to destabilise another friendly sovereign country is one of the trending stories in Nigerian newspapers on Wednesday.
The Punch reports that the National Security Adviser, Major General Babagana Monguno (retd.) has said that Nigeria’s territory will never be used as a haven by any group of secessionists or terrorists to destabilise another friendly sovereign country.
Monguno said this on Tuesday during his speech at the opening ceremony of the eighth session of the Cameroon-Nigeria transborder security committee meeting at Transcorp Hilton, Abuja.
The National Security Adviser also called for the activation of the Local Bilateral Committees to help integrate local communities in the fight against terrorism and other forms of insecurity in Nigeria and Cameroon.
He said, “The most dominant transnational security issue remains the threat of terrorism perpetrated by the Islamic State in West Africa Province and Boko Haram Terrorists.
“These terrorist groups continue to exploit the porous border areas to disrupt the livelihoods of innocent citizens in their communities.
“At this point, I am glad to acknowledge that the close counterterrorism collaboration between our two countries has significantly curtailed the activities of these terrorists as well as other forms of criminality.”
The newspaper says that power generation increased to 3,910 megawatts on Tuesday morning following the restoration by the Transmission Company of Nigeria of the national grid which had collapsed the preceding day.
The TCN explained that the grid collapse, the second time within a period of one month, followed a sudden drop in system frequency.
Figures obtained from the Federal Ministry of Power in Abuja showed that the 3,910MW was the quantum of electricity generated on the grid as at 6am on Tuesday.
It was also learnt that the grid had suffered an initial loss of 402MW on Monday, causing an imbalance that pulled out 3,560MW and the eventual collapse of the system.
Reacting to the collapse, the General Manager, Public Affairs, TCN, Ndidi Mbah, stated on Tuesday that the country’s power system had been restored. She explained that the national grid experienced partial system disturbance at about 1.06pm on Monday, August 23.
“The incident followed a sudden drop in system frequency from 50.18Hz to 47.63Hz that caused system instability and consequently the collapse of a part of the national grid,” Mbah said.
The Guardian reports that barely five days after the National Security Adviser, Major General Babagana Monguno (retd.), announced that the President’s security strategies were working owing to questionable surrender of Boko Haram terrorists to security forces, bloodthirsty gunmen, yesterday, attacked the nation’s foremost military university, the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA), Kaduna State, killing two military officers and kidnapping another.
The unknown gunmen shot Lieutenant Commodore Awolor Wulah and Flight Lieutenant Commodore Okoronkwo, while Major Stephen Datong was kidnapped.
The bandits had pulled up on motorbikes, invading the army barracks located along Airport Road, Afaka, in Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna around 1:00 a.m.
According to a source, the gunmen, who were dressed in military camouflage, beat the guards and headed for the officers’ quarters of the institution.
Incidentally, the military institution is opposite the Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation, Afaka, where 39 students were abducted by bandits on March 11, 2021. The bandits demanded N500 million a few days after the abduction, but they were finally released after spending 50 days in the bandits’ den following negotiations.
It was gathered that personnel monitoring closed-circuit television (CCTV) at the academy were reportedly asleep yesterday, when bandits attacked the premises.
According to a source, the bandits sneaked in through a part of the facility that had no fence. “It was in the middle of the night, and the personnel that were meant to be monitoring the CCTV had slept off. They could have put everyone on alert and avert the attack.
“The gunmen operated for hours and left without any hindrance. After they left, soldiers in the barracks made efforts to trail them but failed. They couldn’t kill even one of them. They searched everywhere in the bush but couldn’t find them. They had fled away with their motorbikes.”
The newspaper says that the establishment of direct flights between Seoul and Nigeria will open up business opportunities and boost hi-tech startups, the 1st Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Korea, Choi Jong Kun has said.
Speaking in Abuja during a diplomatic shuttle to Nigeria, the Minister said lack of direct flights between Nigeria and Korea is hampering business opportunities between the peoples of the two countries.
“There is the need for Nigeria and South Korea to explore the possibility of establishing direct flights between the two countries to facilitate frequent movements between the two countries. That will also improve government-to-government collaboration and the private sector. The private sector, especially businesses should be able to come to Nigeria and do business in a stable environment. Though international travels are risky at this time, if we need to do so, we will,” he said.
The Minister paid tribute to the status of Nigeria as a formidable nation, stating that the country is not only the largest economy in sub-Saharan Africa, but also the largest black nation on earth, underscoring the importance of Nigeria in the multilateral setting.
ThisDay reports that a former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and a former Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, has called on the federal government to stop subsidising power and fuel consumption in order to put the economy on a sustainable fiscal path.
He also warned the government against excessive borrowing, describing it as a time-bomb. Sanusi said this yesterday at his Diamond Jubilee celebration where he launched his book and also commenced the HHMS11 SDG challenge, a United Nations initiative of which he chairs the advisory council.
Also speaking at the event, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Mr. Godwin Emefiele, pledged that the central bank and the Bankers’ Committee would raise $2 million in five years to support his drive towards supporting the girl child.
Sanusi while speaking on the state on the Nigerian economy said: “Nigerians have to understand that the way we run the state is unsustainable we cannot continue subsidising fuel, we cannot continue subsidising power. It is desirable, but not sustainable but we have to be ready to make certain sacrifices.
The Sun says that Nigeria’s leading container terminal operator, APM Terminals Apapa has launched a Berthing Window service to reduce the waiting time of ships and help consignees take prompt delivery of their consignments at the port.
The first Berthing Window for the WAF/MWX service (operated by Hapag Lloyd, CMA-CGM & Arkas) was launched last week with the arrival of the 4,360 TEU CMA CGM LAPIS at APM Terminals Apapa, which is located within the Lagos Port Complex, Apapa.
The Chief Commercial Officer of APM Terminals Apapa, Richard Smith, who was represented at the launch of the maiden edition of the Berthing Window by the Commercial Manager, Temilade Ogunniyi, said the service will enable the allocation of a fixed time period for vessels to berth, discharge, load and sail.
He said the new Berthing Window is another major milestone achievement at APM Terminals Apapa to enhance service delivery and improve customer experience.
“The berthing window is a major step towards bringing structure to the berth schedule, cutting waiting time to zero, assisting shipping lines to maintain a regular fixed arrival time, and allowing us to deliver better services to Nigerian importers and exporters,” Smith said
GIK/APA