The report that petrol scarcity has hit different parts of Nigeria, forcing motorists to spend hours at filling stations while battling to get the product dominates the headlines of Nigerian newspapers on Wednesday.
The Punch reports that petrol scarcity hit different parts of Nigeria on Tuesday, forcing motorists to spend hours at filling stations while battling to get the product.
Black marketers had a field day, selling a litre of fuel at N300-N400 in many parts of the country. Many motorists were forced to patronise them as the unpalatable alternative was to wait for hours in filling stations.
Amid long queues and waiting hours in Lagos, some filling stations sold a litre of the Premium Motor Spirit at N200/litre as against the approved price of N180-N185/litre.
One of our correspondents who visited some filling stations around Ikotun, Egbeda and Ojodu Berger areas on Monday and Tuesday witnessed long queues at the few stations that managed to sell.
A businessman, Kayode Oloriegbe, said he could not wait to buy from filling stations, but had to patronise a black marketer who sold at N300/litre.
“I was lucky to buy a 10-litre gallon at N3,500. Others said they bought at higher prices from the black marketers,” he said.
The newspaper says that the Federal Government has stated that it has earmarked about $7 billion within the last seven years in its efforts to pull 100 million Nigerians out of poverty through its National Social Investment Programme in the country.
The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiyya Farouq, stated this in a keynote address during the flag-off of the N-Skills, Pilot 2, which held on Tuesday at the Professor Iya Abubakar Resource Center, Bauchi.
She said that President Muhammadu Buhari since assuming office in 2015, had given great priority to addressing the plights of the poor and vulnerable people across the country.
According to her, the N-Ship had become one of the largest social protection programmes in the African continent with $1 billion budgeted annually.
“Since the inception of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration in 2015, the Federal Government has paid more attention to promoting the plight of the poor and vulnerable in the country despite the economic slump the administration inherited.
“This informed the decision to initiate the National Social Investment Programme (NSIP) as a strategy for enhancing social inclusion. NSIP is one of the largest social protection programmes in Africa with about $1billion earmarked annually to cause positive change in the lives of the poorest and most vulnerable in the country.
“Since its introduction in 2016, the programme has impacted positively on the lives of the poor and vulnerable in Nigeria. I have personally witnessed the life-changing experiences of people who lived below the poverty line and those that are vulnerable to shocks,” she said.
The Guardian reports that the Nigerian Government has said clickbait might be what prompted the recent security alert by some embassies in Nigeria. Clickbait refers to content whose main purpose is to attract attention and encourage visitors to click on a link to a particular web page.
Nigeria’s Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Ali Pantami, has warned that fake news could trigger Third World War, noting that untrue reports pose a serious threat to the nation’s security and economy.
He pleaded with the media to be in the vanguard of fighting misinformation, disinformation and fake news.
Addressing a Ministerial Panel on Media and Information Literacy Framework at the ongoing Global Media and Information Literacy Week, yesterday, in Abuja, the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, who boasted that the country was safer, added that terrorists had been hard hit and bandits decimated.
He observed: “One would imagine that if indeed this kind of security alert was issued, it was for the attention of citizens of the issuing countries in Nigeria. Suddenly, this alert found its way into the media, both new and traditional, thus, creating panic in the polity. Schools were shut. Businesses were closed. Travel plans were altered. Lives were disrupted. No one cared to find out about the authenticity of these alerts. They just published, got the benefit of massive clickbait and damned the consequences.
“Our country is safer today than at any time in recent times, thanks to the sacrifice of our men and women in uniform. We do not discountenance the fact that terrorists, bandits and their kind would always want to do whatever it takes to disrupt our nation’s peace, security and stability. But our security forces have been proactive. Nigerians too should continue to be alert, but must not panic. Like I said in a recent statement, as far as insecurity is concerned, the worst is over for Nigeria.”
The minister noted that the deliberate spread of fake news has become more prevalent with the ease of access to connectivity over the digital space, stressing that there is available and affordable technology/software that can be used to distort digital content (audio, visual and images) such as Photoshop, deep fake and voiceover software readily available as open source/free or paid apps on the Internet.
The newspaper says that the United States Coast Guard (USCG) has proposed a US Coast Guard maritime adviser be deployed to Lagos.
The head of Delegation from the joint USCG/Department of State Team, Capt. Brian Lisko, stated this while on a fact-finding visit to the management of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) in Lagos.
Lisko said with the consent of relevant authorities, the person would be reporting back to the Coast Guard and advising on the deployment of technical experts and tools to assist NIMASA’s efforts.
He noted that the ultimate goal of the US Coast Guard is to help its partners by working hand-in-hand in the area of Port State Control and Maritime Administration.
“As we seek to commence this endeavour, we came to Nigeria to study the maritime stakeholders, among which NIMASA, through its reputation and scope of responsibilities, is foremost on our list,” he said.
He commended the efforts of the Nigerian government to suppress criminality in its maritime domain and by extension the Gulf of Guinea.
Lisko said the US Coast Guard desires improved collaboration with NIMASA and relevant agencies in maintaining the momentum of recent success that has resulted in recording one year of piracy-free Nigerian waters.
“We must commend the leading role, which NIMASA has played in reducing piracy in the region through the deployment of its Deep Blue project as well as its partnership with other maritime nations. The international community has taken note of this and we wish to encourage you to keep it up,” he said.
GIK/APA