The report that Nigeria requires $410 billion to achieve its energy transition plan by 2060 to address challenges and policy flexibility in the sector is one of the trending stories in Nigerian newspapers on Friday.
The Punch reports that the Federal Government says Nigeria requires $410 billion to achieve its energy transition plan by 2060 to address challenges and policy flexibility in the sector.
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, said this at the 7th Meeting of the National Council on Hydrocarbons in Minna in northern Nigeria.
According to the report, Sylva said at the meeting, which had the theme “Roadmap and Strategic Option Towards Achieving Energy Transition in Nigeria”, stated that Nigeria was committed to achieving carbon neutrality.
Represented by the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Gabriel Aduda, the Minister said: “This will end energy poverty as it will lift 100 million people out of poverty and drive economic growth forward.”
He also said that the country through the Solid Minerals Development Fund was on the verge of unveiling a cutting-edge technology in gold mining.
The newspaper says that a Federal High Court in Lagos, on Thursday, stopped the establishment of the proposed national carrier – Nigeria Air, by the Federal Government.
Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa reordered the Federal Government and domestic airlines to maintain status quo in their suit relating to the establishment of airline.
The judge made the order pending the determination of the suit filed by the Registered Trustees of the Airline Operators of Nigeria and five others in the aviation industry.
The four other plaintiffs include Azman Air Services Limited, Air Peace Limited, Max Air Limited, United Nigeria Airlines Company Limited and Topbrass Aviation Limited, who were the first to sixth plaintiffs.
The first to fourth defendants include Nigeria Air Limited, Ethiopian Airlines, Senator Hadi Sirika (Minister of Aviation, Federal Ministry of Aviation) and the Attorney-General of the Federation.
This came as the Federal Ministry of Aviation declared on Thursday that it would deploy every necessary step to vacate the order that had stopped the ongoing work towards to establishment of the national airline.
Thursday’s event at the court was in line with The PUNCH’s exclusive report on Tuesday which revealed that lawyers representing the Federal Government and Ethiopian Airlines would battle at the Federal High Court.
After series of legal work, the judge, on Thursday, ordered that the national carrier should be halted and subsequently adjourned the case till February 2023. Our correspondent who was at the court reported the story.
Also, a fresh suit was instituted by one of the Chief Executive Officers of the domestic carriers, Captain Edward Boyo, seeking the name of the Board of Registered Trustees of the Airline Operators of Nigeria to be removed from the suit on the grounds that members of the association did not agree to sue the Federal Government over the national carrier project.
The Guardian reports that 13 years after it was abolished, the Federal Government, yesterday, formally announced the return of history as a stand-alone subject in the country’s basic education curriculum.
Also, 3,700 history teachers have been shortlisted for the first round of training for enhanced teaching of the subject.
The Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, speaking at the reintroduction ceremony, lamented that national cohesion was threatened, following removal of the subject from the curriculum.
He said: “History used to be one of the foundational subjects taught in our classroom. But for inexplicable reasons, the stream of teaching and learning was abolished. This single act, no doubt, relegated and eroded the knowledge and information that learners could otherwise have been exposed to. It was a monumental mistake.
“The loss created by the absence of this subject has led to a fall in moral values, erosion of civic values and disconnect from the past. More worrisome was the neglect of the teaching of this subject at basic and post basic levels of education, invariably eroding the knowledge of the evolution of Nigeria as a country.”
Adamu was represented by Minister of State for Education, Goodluck Nanah Opiah, at the event attended by Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar, and other key stakeholders in the education sector.
The newspaper says that the Presidency, yesterday, expressed satisfaction with the current bilateral relationship between Nigeria and its neighbours, confirming that such ties have helped, especially, in addressing border insecurity, illegal arms import and smuggling.
Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the President, Garba Shehu, disclosed this in Niamey, Niger, shortly after President Muhammadu Buhari commissioned a major road named after him in the state capital.
He said Buhari, on assumption of office in 2015, opened up strong dialogue with neighbouring Niger, Benin, Chad, and Cameroun, an approach, he said, has resulted in positive diplomatic ties of mutual interest to both countries.
Garba noted: “President Buhari has strong respect for our neighbours and he understands the essence of neighbourliness. Before this administration, some of these countries complained that Nigerian leadership was not even talking to them.
“We have opened up dialogue with them, and it is paying off. We are partnering with them on essential matters, especially, on security, tackling smuggling, and importation of illegal weapons. So, the partnership is complete.”
According to the aide, Buhari leaves behind, on May 29, 2023, a solid relationship, built on a solid rock with Nigeria’s neighbours, and expected to be built upon by his successor.
While justifying the naming of a road after Buhari, Shehu said the development indicates the tremendous respect Nigeria’s neighbours have towards him.
President of Niger Republic, Mohammed Bazoun, who was accompanied by the mayor of Niamey and other officials, took Buhari on a tour of the 3.8kilometer boulevard, commissioned in line with the country’s constitutional provisions.
Buhari is in Niamey to join other leaders in the continent for the African Union (AU) Summit on Industrialisation and Economic Diversification.
The Guardian also reports that The Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Prince Clem Agba, says in spite of global and local shocks, the Federal Government has recorded growth in the economy. Agba said this at a sensitization program on the Nigerian Labour Force Survey (NLFS) and the Nigerian Living Standards Survey (NLSS) organized by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in Abuja.
He said some of the economic gains made by the present administration were particularly in sectors such as education, health, and the general welfare of the people.
The minister, represented by Dr Faniran Sanjo, the Director of the Social Development Department in the ministry, therefore urged Nigerians to focus on the successes recorded by the government.
He said the global and local shocks include COVID-19, the Russian-Ukraine crisis, security challenges and the climate change disasters of recent times.
Agba said it was important to disregard the negative opinion that the government had thrown more people into poverty or had done nothing to mitigate the effects of the global challenges.
“My advice, therefore, is to focus more on comparative analysis of the situation in other countries, particularly in Africa and Europe, to appreciate the efforts of the government of Nigeria.
“For example, in Ghana, Ethiopia, and Rwanda, inflation was reported at 40.4%, 31.7%, and 31.0%, respectively, in October 2022.
”While the inflation figure recorded in the UK was at its highest rate of 11.1 percent, the highest since October 1981\,” he said.
He stated that the high rates of inflation in the aforementioned countries could have a negative impact on household consumption and poverty levels in Nigeria.
GIK/APA