APA – Lagos (Nigeria)
The report that the first batch of 376 Nigerian evacuees were airlifted by the Nigerian Air Force on the NAF C-130H aircraft and Air Peace from Aswan, Egypt, on Wednesday dominates the headlines of Nigerian newspapers on Thursday.
The Guardian reports that the first batch of Nigerian evacuees returning from Sudan has arrived in Abuja.
The 376 returnees were airlifted by the Nigerian Air Force on the NAF C-130H aircraft and Air Peace from Aswan, Egypt, on Wednesday.
They landed in the country’s Federal Capital Territory at 11:35 p.m., against the 11:23 p.m. scheduled for a touchdown at the Nnamdi Azikiwe airport.
According to the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Sadiya Farouq, Air Peace conveyed 282 evacuees, and NAF conveyed 96 evacuees.
Farouq stated that the government of Nigeria is excited that all of them are back safely, noting that no lives were lost in the process.
She added that the evacuees will receive dignity packs and 100,000 naira transportation fare, and they will also receive N25,000 worth of call vouchers and a 1.5 GB data bundle (1.5 GB).
The Sudan Ambassador to Nigeria, Mohamed Yousif, was also present at the airport to receive the evacuees.
Yousif stated that he is sorry about the situation in Sudan but also happy to have the evacuees back in Nigeria safely.
The newspaper says that the Senate, yesterday, abandoned its previous hard line stance and approved the conversion to a 40-year bond of the N23.72 trillion Federal Government’s unappropriated expenditure funded by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) through its ways and means (W&M) window.
President Muhammadu Buhari, last year, wrote the National Assembly to approve the amount alongside a fresh N1 trillion it planned to take from the window (bringing the total value earmarked for securitisation to N23.72 trillion) for conversion to a 40-year tenure bond priced at nine per cent.
The bond conversion, which would ultimately move the amount from the balance sheet of the CBN to the Debt Management Office (DMO) for management, has a three-year moratorium, the Buhari administration disclosed.
The Senate and the House of Representatives had at several times turned down approval for lack of proper explanation on how proceeds of the loans would be spent.
With the Senate’s approval, the President’s efforts to push through has now narrowed to the House of Representatives, which had rejected the plea for lack of sufficient explanation of the utilisation of the facility. Sources said the Reps might discuss the request for possible approval when they convene next week.
The lower chamber would have approved the fresh additional borrowing of N1 trillion before proceeding on election recess but held back its approval for the restructuring of the controversial N22.72 trillion, seeking further explanation on the accumulation.
When the lower chamber of the National Assembly approves the request, the amount would be moved from the CBN book where it is currently being serviced at 21 per cent interest. The Federal Government said it agreed to an interest rate payment of the going monetary policy rate (MPR) plus 300 basis points (bps) as the price of the loan. MPR is currently 18 per cent with the possibility of a further upward review.
Buhari hinted late last year that the Federal Government would spend an additional N1.8 trillion servicing the debt except it is converted to a sovereign bond priced at nine per cent.
The Punch reports that President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday in Abuja, launched the Nigeria Agenda 2050, declaring that its implementation would “ensure that Nigeria attains a per capita GDP of $33,328 per annum to place her among the top middle-income economies globally by 2050.”
Buhari said the plan would also increase real GDP growth by seven per cent, create 165 million new jobs and reduce the number of Nigerians living in poverty to 2.1 million in 2050 from the 83 million estimated in 2020.
The launch occurred shortly before this week’s Federal Executive Council meeting held at the Council Chambers of the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
It comes about seven weeks after FEC approved the policy document on March 15 and nearly three months after the National Economic Council endorsed the agenda.
At the launch, Buhari said, “The plan we are launching today has a vision of a dynamic, industrialised and knowledge-based economy that generates inclusive and sustainable development for the country.
“The broad target is to ensure that Nigeria attains a per capita GDP of $33,328 per annum that will place her among the top middle-income economies in the world by 2050.
“I am confident that given the measures already in place for continuous planning implementation, successive administrations will find the document useful in delivering electoral promises.”
Buhari had in September 2020 inaugurated the National Steering Committee to prepare the Medium-Term National Development Plan 2021 – 2025 and Nigeria Agenda 2050.
The newspaper says that the International Press Institute in Nigeria has urged the incoming administration to commit to creating a better operational environment for journalists and media organisations.
The group made the call in a press statement signed by its President, Musikilu Mojeed, in commemoration of the 2023 World Press Freedom Day on Wednesday.
Mojeed noted that cases of arrests, threats, destruction of equipment and general harassment of journalists remained rampant, calling on the incoming government to “embrace a new attitude.”
“On the occasion of today’s commemoration of the 2023 World Press Freedom Day, the Nigerian National Committee of the Vienna-based International Press Institute is asking the new government that will be inaugurated in Nigeria on May 29 to commit to creating a better operating environment for journalists and media organisations.
“There are still a number of oppressive and media-unfriendly laws, such as those on criminal defamation and cybercrime that need to be amended. The government should also begin widespread sensitisation of its security operatives, who must understand that journalists and the media are key elements of democracy,” the IPI said.
Similarly, in commemoration of the World Press Freedom Day, the National Human Rights Commission lauded Nigerian journalists for their critical role in advocating the realisation and enjoyment of democracy in the country.
In a statement signed by its Director of Corporate Affairs and External Linkages Department of the commission, Agharese Arase, through its Executive Secretary, Tony Ojukwu, the NHRC said society should see journalists as “agents of change, bearing in mind the various contributions and sacrifices they make daily to ensure the emancipation and liberation of the common man who had needlessly suffered deprivations, discrimination and other forms of human rights violations in the society.”
GIK/APA