The report that some telecommunication subscribers were left stranded on Tuesday after telecom companies barred their lines from making calls following a directive from the Federal Government is one of the trending stories in Nigerian newspapers on Wednesday.
The Punch reports that some telecommunication subscribers were left stranded on Tuesday after telecom companies barred their lines from making calls following a directive from the Federal Government.
The Federal Government had on Monday directed telecom companies to enforce compliance with its National Identification Number-Subscriber Identity Module policy by blocking outgoing calls on all unlinked lines after the deadline for the SIM-NIN verification expired on March 31.
While giving the directive, the government revealed that 125 million SIMs had submitted their NINs for linkage.
The Nigerian Communications Commission stated that there were 197.77 million active telecom subscribers as of February 2022.
This means that over 72.77 million active telecom subscribers will be affected by the government directive after the Association of Licensed Telecommunication Operators of Nigeria confirmed that its members would comply with the directive.
In a statement on Monday, it said, “ALTON members are committed to complying with the instructions and call on telecommunication subscribers who have not obtained and/or linked a NIN to their SIMs, to do so at any of the designated centres.”
On Tuesday, many subscribers woke up to an inability to make calls on their lines.
The newspaper says that the Nigeria Football Federation has tasked its Technical and Development Sub-Committee to begin the search for the new Super Eagles coach after the former technical crew members led by Austin Eguavoen were relieved of their positions after the Eagles failed to qualify for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
The Executive Committee of the NFF took the decision on Tuesday after they met in Abuja to deliberate on important issues in Nigerian Football.
In a communiqué made available to The PUNCH, the NFF Executive Committee, who tendered an apology to the country for failing to qualify for the World Cup, implored its Technical and Development Sub-Committee to, with a matter of urgency, begin the search for a new Eagles coach as well as other coaches for the home-based Eagles squad and other youth teams.
“The Executive Committee mandated its Technical and Development Sub-Committee to, within the next five days, make recommendations to the Executive Committee on coaching crews for the Super Eagles, the CHAN team, the U-20 Boys and the U-17 Boys ahead of upcoming assignments,” the statement reads in part.“This is to ensure preparations for the next qualifying tournaments and championships commence in earnest.”
Reports say former Eagles coach Sunday Oliseh is in the running for the position, while Eguavoen on Monday also stated that he would love to return to the coaching position in the future.
The Guardian reports that the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission is collaborating with the European Union (EU) to tackle maritime insecurity along the West African coast.
Meeting in Abuja to develop the framework known as the ‘European Union-funded Support to West Africa Integrated Maritime Security (SWAIMS) project’, the gathering which drew participants from all the ECOWAS member countries, is expected to review and refine modalities on the distribution of essential maritime security equipment across ECOWAS’ littoral countries.
Speaking on the modalities of the meeting, the Head of ECOWAS’ Regional Security Division, Col. Abdourahmane Dieng, observed that maritime insecurity is one of the most persistent and intractable threats to maritime communities and economic prosperity in the sub-region.
He declared that ECOWAS launched its Integrated Maritime Strategy in 2014 with parameters for the development of the blue economy premised upon a coherent security framework.
Recognising that turning the tide against maritime insecurity is a collaborative effort and that no single country or region can tackle it alone, ECOWAS, in conjunction with the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), formulated the Yaoundé Code of Conduct for broad-based regional maritime security along the entire Gulf of Guinea. But the security partnership goes beyond Africa, embracing the European Union (EU) and other key international players located outside the Gulf of Guinea because the Gulf is of global importance as a crucial international maritime route.
In his comment on the initiative, the EU Senior Coordinator for the Gulf of Guinea, Ambassador Nicolas Berlanga Martinez said: “The EU is a committed partner to the Gulf of Guinea region and will continue to provide extensive and targeted assistance to strengthen the critical features of the Yaoundé security architecture.”
The newspaper says that except local refiners put patriotism above profit, it might be difficult to focus more on the domestic market in selling refined fuel, considering that they can make more in a competitive market, especially when exposed to import parity prices.
This was the view of some stakeholders at a virtual workshop organised by Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) in Lagos, recently.
Specifically, the Vice President, Crude and African Markets, Argus Media, James Gooder, in his presentation, noted that even if Nigeria had sufficient refining capacity, it would still be in a competitive market and exposed to import parity prices.
According to him, the local producers have the choice to sell in the domestic market or import.
Import parity is a price-setting mechanism for a commodity in which the price is set based on the cost of importing the commodity into a location
He said West Africa relies on imported products due to lack of sufficient regional refining capacity and that European surplus of petrol finds a natural home in Nigeria.
“In a global market, product flows are directed by price. Nigeria is competing with other destinations for products. Even if Nigeria had sufficient refining capacity, it would still be in a competitive market and exposed to import parity prices” he stressed.
The Nation reports that the Debt Management Office (DMO) has released the schedule of local borrowings of about N720billion by the Federal Government for the second quarter.
The schedule is contained in the DMO’s “FGN Bonds Issuance Calendar For The Second Quarter, 2022”.
The calendar shows that, on April 25, the DMO would open a new 2032 FGN bond, valued at between N70billion to N80billion, with a tenor of 10 years. It has an interest rate of 13 per cent per annum.
Also on April 25 , the DMO will re-open a 2025, two-year, 11- month FGN bond valued, at between N70billlion and N80billion. It has an interest rate of 13.53 per cent, with original tenor of seven years.
The DMO will also re-open a 2042 FGN bond on the same date, valued at between N70billion and N80billion.
May 16 will witness the re-opening of a 2025, two years, 10 months’ FGN bond valued at between N70billion and N80billion.
The newspaper says that with the activation of more than over seventy blending plants, Nigeria would soon become Africa’s fertilizer powerhouse, President Muhammadu Buhari has assured.
The President spoke yesterday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, during an audience with the Executive Committee of Fertiliser Producers and Suppliers Association of Nigeria (FEPSAN).
He disclosed that Nigeria’s rising prominence in the comity of fertilizer producing nations has been as a result of the implementation of the right policies by the present administration.
In a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, the President noted that Nigeria has become a major global player in the production of Urea, going by the country’s massive production facility.
The statement reads: “With our over seventy blending plants operating, Nigeria is on its way to becoming Africa’s fertiliser powerhouse. And with our mega Urea production facilities, Nigeria is definitely a global player in the Urea space.”
Expressing delight that the era of persistent shortage of fertiliser had become a thing of the past, the president commended FEPSAN for partnering with the government in the backward integration project of the agricultural value chain.
Going down the memory lane, the President recalled what his administration did to overcome fertilizer shortage.
GIK/APA