The conferment of national honours on 450 Nigerians and non-Nigerians, who have distinguished themselves in the service of the nation and humanity by President Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday, in Abuja, dominates the headlines of Nigerian newspapers on Wednesday
The Guardian reports that President Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday, in Abuja, conferred national honours on 450 Nigerians and non-Nigerians, who have distinguished themselves in the service of the nation and humanity, saying that citizens who contribute to nation’s development deserve to be encouraged and appreciated.
Leading the 2022 National Honours Award recipients in the category of Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON) were Senate President, Ahmed Lawan; acting Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Olukayode Ariwoola; immediate past CJN, Justice Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad; Director-General, World Trade Organisation (WTO), Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala; Deputy Secretary-General of United Nations (UN), Amina Mohammed and Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Prof Tijjani Muhammad-Bande.
Speaking at the event, the President commended the national awards committee, headed by Justice Sidi Bage Muhammad, a retired justice of the Supreme Court and Emir of Lafia, for his patriotic duty by diligently going through over 5,000 submissions and coming up with the recommendations.
The President noted that the screening and selection of nominees for this year’s award as always, followed established broad criteria, in accordance with the National Honours Act CAP.N43 of the Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004.
They include but not limited to consistent and meaningful participation in community and/or national development; rendering unsolicited, selfless and philanthropic services to humanity; outstanding sacrifice in the defence of a cause popularly adjudged to be positive, relevant and beneficial to the nation and community.
Other criteria were distinct act of bravery in the protection and/or defence of national interest, public peace, safety of life and property, and remarkable achievement in any field of expertise where the person’s activities in that field have made significant contributions to the attainment of national goals and objectives.
Emphasising that nation building involves a lot of sacrifice by citizenry, the President declared that citizens who contribute to national development deserve to be encouraged and appreciated.
The newspaper says that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has downgraded Nigeria’s economic growth prospect by 0.2 percentage points to 3.2 per cent in the face of rising uncertainty across the globe.
In its October World Economic Outlook (WEO) update released yesterday, the Fund projected the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) to grow at 3.2 per cent this year and slope downward to three per cent in 2023. Both estimates are 20 basis points (bps) behind July forecasts.
The Institution had, in July, retained the April forecast for this year at 3.4 per cent. The country’s GDP grew at 3.4 per cent in the first quarter of the year (Q1 ’22) but slowed to 3.1 per cent in the second quarter (Q2 ’22).
The average performance so far is short of the Federal Government’s projected growth for the year.
IMF also cut sub-Saharan Africa’s growth from 3.8 to 3.6 per cent, while the global economy, which is strained by the cost-of-living crisis and geopolitical tensions, is projected to expand by 3.2 per cent this year and 2.7 per cent next year, a steep dive from six per cent increase recorded last year.
“The global economy is experiencing a number of turbulent challenges. Inflation higher than seen in several decades, tightening financial conditions in most regions, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the lingering COVID-19 pandemic all weigh heavily on the outlook. Normalisation of monetary and fiscal policies that delivered unprecedented support during the pandemic is cooling demand as policymakers aim to lower inflation back to target.
The Punch reports that stakeholders have continued to condemn the recently announced stake of Ethiopian Airlines in Nigeria’s national carrier, Nigeria Air.
The Federal Government recently announced the choice of Ethiopian Airlines as the core investor and technical partner in the Nigeria Air project, a move which many persons described as a win for the East African carrier and a huge loss to Nigeria.
A team from the Federal Ministry of Aviation met with Ethiopian Airlines management in Addis Ababa last week over its selection as the core investor for the national airline and being the only airline that bided after the ministry advertised for bidders.
Though talks have been ongoing about the birth of the national carrier, the Federal Ministry of Aviation and Ethiopian Airlines are yet to sign any agreement for the kick-off of the partnership.
The Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, had promised to engage the media when the time is set.
He had explained that the proposed national carrier, Nigeria Air, would be driven by the private sector.
He said the Nigerian government would retain five per cent stake while Ethiopian Airlines would have a 49 per cent stake and 46 per cent of the airline would be owned by Nigerian investors. The Nigerian government anticipates raising $250m from the private sector.
Ethiopian Airlines is the largest aviation group in Africa registering a 20-25 per cent annual growth. It is one of the most profitable airlines in the world. In the 2021-2022 budget year, the national flag carrier made a net profit of $937m. The airline generated $5bn dollars revenue, a 79 per cent growth from the previous year. The airline marked its 76th anniversary last April.
However, a lot of reactions have followed the announced partnership. While many industry stakeholders applauded the plan, others criticised it, saying that Nigeria should have partnered a carrier outside Africa. The critics talked about Nigerian pride and how Ethiopian Airlines might not provide the support Nigeria Air would need.
Some critics also said that instead of giving Ethiopian Airlines 49 per cent stake, there could have been better partnership arrangement that would benefit Nigeria more.
But an industry consultant, Marketing and Public Relations Strategist, Sindy Forster, observed that a national carrier without a change in Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority rules would not be able to gain optimal benefits from Bilateral Air Service Agreement for two years.
She said, “We already have flag carriers that need support with BASA, what support have they been given? What BASA support will existing airlines continue to receive? An airline alone cannot take full advantage of SAATM (Single Air Transport Market), a lot will be missing before SAATM can be fully utilised.
“What ‘competition’ when they are selectively supporting one private foreign airline over the privately owned domestic airlines. This is unfair competition, and market distortion, having three additional aircraft when we may lose more aircraft from unsupported airlines that will not lead to competitive fares.
The newspaper says that the Independent National Electoral Commission on Tuesday said it detected 2.7 million cases of double registration carried out during the last Continuous Voter Registration and that the affected persons have been deleted from the voter register.
The INEC Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, disclosed this at a National Endowment for Democracy event in Washington DC in the United States.
The spokesperson to the Chairman, Rotimi Oyekanmi, confirmed the development to our correspondent.
The chairman, who raised concerns about security challenges across the country, assured stakeholders that the commission will do its best.
He said “It is a perennial issue because, at the end of the day, it is not new but the dimension of the insecurity is new in the sense that in the past, it was localised or confined to a particular part of the country – the North-East but now, it is more widespread.
“We are keeping our eyes, particularly, on the North-West and the South-Eastern part of the country. Elections are conducted by human beings. We worry about the security of our officials, materials, and even the voters themselves. Without them, elections cannot be conducted.”
GIK/APA