The statement by the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, that the Kano-Jibia Maradi railway line, when completed, would help to crash the price of cement in the country is one of the tending stories in Nigerian newspapers on Friday.
The Guardian reports that the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, yesterday, stated that the Kano-Jibia Maradi railway line, when completed, would help to crash the price of cement in the country.
According to him, the railway line will help reduce the cost of transportation and energy incurred by cement manufacturers since bulk of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) would be transported using railway.
One of the producers said that the price of cement currently being sold in the open market at N4000 is about 25 to 30 per cent higher than the ex-factory price.
He stated this during a facility tour of BUA’s Kalambaina cement plant in Sokoto State.
“By the time that section of the rail is completed, it will be cheaper to transport cement from Sokoto to all parts of Nigeria by rail. It will also help in bringing the cost of energy deployed in producing cement because it will bring bulk LNG to the plant. We are very confident that in a few years time, with the challenges in logistics addressed, we can be looking forward to a crash in the cost of cement.”
Meanwhile, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, BUA Cement Plc, Yusuf Binji, stated that cement producers are still under producing with a demand of 30 million tonnes far below Ghana, Egypt, Senegal and Ivory Coast in terms of per capita consumption.
The newspaper says that Nigeria’s future would be in jeopardy if we fail to fight for a better university system.
The above was the submission of University of Ibadan (UI) chapter chairman of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Prof. Ayo Akinwole, who during a live programme, yesterday, in Ibadan, urged Nigerians “not to be deceived by the antics of the Federal Government over the ongoing payment of minimum wage arrears.”
He said “N34 billion is being paid to lecturers and senior staff in universities, polytechnics and colleges of education, and not to ASUU.”
The don observed that in the last two decades, no administration has “willingly released money for the university system without strikes by ASUU.”
Akinwole said besides the fact that the Federal Government “is yet to provide concrete responses to the reasons why the union went on strike,” he added that those paid the consequential minimum wage adjustments ought to have got the entitlement since April 2019.
He reiterated that the industrial action was ongoing and comprehensive.
The union leader said Nigerians could now appreciate the sacrifices of university lecturers, “who are just being paid their arrears three years after they were supposed to have been paid,” adding: “The government owes us many debts.”
The Punch reports that the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Chief Adeniyi Adebayo, on Thursday, inaugurated a committee to examine and end rejection of Nigeria agro produce in the international market.
The committee is headed by the Director, Commodities and Export Department, Mr Suleiman Audu, who is charged with the responsibility of identifying the major causes of the rejection of the agro produce and proffering appropriate recommendations.
Inaugurating the committee, the minister, in a statement by his Special Assistant on Media, Ifedayo Sayo, said the Federal Government placed a lot of emphasis on the promotion of non-oil commodity exports, which had led to farmers and product aggregators partnering to explore the export market for their products.
He noted that in recent times, Nigeria agro-products had been suffering from export rejections by most countries of Asia, Europe and America.
This, he explained, had led to huge financial losses with its attendant negative impact on the supply value chain and job creation.
He stressed that the international market was competitive and welcomed products of high quality with relevant certifications and quality packaging that was environmentally friendly.
The newspaper says that the Nigerian Exchange Limited, on Thursday, said investors in the Nigerian capital market had earned over N1tn from dividend payout by companies listed on the NGX in the past year.
It said in a statement that year-to-date, Dangote Cement, MTN Nigeria and eight others emerged as the highest companies in terms of total dividends paid while Nestle, Total Energies Plc and eight others emerged as the highest in terms of dividends paid per share.
The NGX said dividend payment was one of the very few ways available for investors to earn a constant stream of income.
It stated, “It is also the main reason shareholders hold onto their shares in a company. It, therefore, brings great satisfaction to investors when these companies declare dividends to their shareholders.”
According to corporate action from the NGX website, 57 companies across 11 sectors of quoted companies on Nigerian Exchange Limited had so far paid out N1.107tn.
The data showed that 22 companies emerged from the financial services sector, nine companies from consumer goods and four emerged from industrial goods.
The Sun reports that the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) primaries scheduled to take place from Saturday, May 28 to Sunday, May 30, in Abuja, have caused a spike in flight ticket sales and hotel bookings, Daily Sun can reveal.
This development comes after airlines experienced a slump in air traffic in the first quarter of 2022 after the 2021 Christmas festive period boost. The President, National Association of Nigerian Travel Agencies (NANTA) Mrs. Susan Akporiaye, attributed the slump in the first quarter of the year to the decision that domestic airlines took to increase the flight tickets to a minimum of N50,000 on all routes across the country.
She confirmed to Daily Sun that there has been a spike in ticket sales to Abuja this week, but that it is not as much as it would have been in the past due to the high cost of fare. She said that in the past, individuals travelled very frequently but that it is no longer the case.
“We don’t have sales like we used to have in the past. The ticket sales for local travel has actually dropped because of the high cost. So now, we are not seeing much difference because it is only them that are travelling.
There is a spike in travel no doubt, but it is not as you would have experienced it before. You know, in the past, individuals who go about their business also travel and those coming from Dubai for instance also travel.
But now individual’s travelling has reduced drastically, so there is enough room for those traveling for the primaries.
“Flight to Abuja and back is N100, 000, so what you are going for has to really be very important before you can travel. If for instance, you used to travel to Abuja for event like wedding, these days, you would say it is better to give the couple the N100, 000 instead of travelling.
A look through the websites of some airlines where passengers can book online shows that many of the economy seats for May 27, 28 and 29 are sold out for flights from Lagos to Abuja and back.
GIK/APA