The report that while the International Oil Companies are planning to divest from Nigeria, concerns are beginning to mount over growing cases of oil spillage in the Niger Delta region and the N800 billion court judgment between Shell Nigeria and some communities in the region is one of the leading stories in the Nigerian newspapers on Friday.
The Guardian reports that as International Oil Companies (IOCs) are planning to divest from Nigeria, concerns are beginning to mount over growing cases of oil spillage in the Niger Delta region and the N800 billion court judgment between Shell Nigeria and some communities in the region.
In less than three years, weak infrastructure, especially pipelines, according to stakeholders, has led to the spillage of 14 million litres of crude oil, worth N2.8 billion coupled with cascading environmental dangers and health burden, leading to increase in cases of infant mortality and cancers.
In fact, fresh intrigues are beginning to emerge ahead January, when the court would decide the fate of Shell Nigeria in an N800 billion damages earlier awarded by the Federal High Court in Owerri for the 2019 spillage in Eleme communities of River State.
The jury is nearly out in the biggest dispute award ever in Nigeria’s volatile oil industry. But whether Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) Limited, along with its two parent companies in the United Kingdom and The Hague, Netherlands, can come clean of culpability in a historic dispute debt awarded against it in a spill that occurred on swamp farmlands in Egbalor, Ebubu in Eleme Local Government Area of Rivers State, is what industry watchers are waiting to see next month.
Shell, using all its legal resources, is seeking to convince the judge at the Court of Appeal to obviate payment of damages to some 88 persons, who got judgment in November 2020 from a Federal High Court in Owerri over spillage on their fishing facilities in Ejalawa community, Oken-Ogogu swamp farmlands.
The newspaper says that the Federal Government, yesterday, attributed the prevailing epileptic power supply in the country to neglect by past authorities that paid scanty attention to the development of the sector.
The Minister of Power, Abubakar Aliyu, made the assertion at the end of the extraordinary meeting of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the presidential villa, Abuja.
The minister, who presented 16 memos from his ministry and got council approval for all, said the present administration had done more than previous governments to ensure that Nigerians began to enjoy improved power supply.
He explained that the government was doing a lot to remedy the situation with more investments in the sector in order to reverse the system collapse being witnessed in the country.
While noting that the government has placed order for power equipment, the minister assured that Nigerians will in no distant time, begin to witness the outcome of the ongoing investments. Aliyu maintained that the present power generation in the country is about 5,000MW, just as he decried what he described as the weak transmission grid.
The Punch reports that the Federal Government has said that it expects Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product per capita to rise to $3,706.29 by 2025.
This represents about 61 per cent projected growth from the $2300 GDP per capita growth forecast for 2021.
This was stated in the National Development Plan 2021-2025. The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investments, Niyi Adebayo, had said the country’s GDP which currently hovers around $500bn was experiencing steady growth, projecting that the GDP per capita would rise to $2,300 by the end of the year.
He said, “The GDP per capita is expected to reach $2,300 by the end of 2021, this is over 84 per cent higher than the African average.
“Despite the view that Nigeria’s economy has historically been driven by oil, recent growth has been driven primarily by the non-oil sectors, such as financial services, telecommunications, and entertainment.
“This shows that our diversification agenda is working, the oil sector now only contributes to approximate 14 per cent of the GDP. He added that investors from places as diverse as Europe, China, Morocco, and the United Kingdom were making strong commitments to the country.”
The newspaper says that the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting has approved N65.39bn in foreign and local denominations to execute power projects in the country.
The Minister of Power, Abubakar Aliyu, disclosed this to State House Correspondents on Thursday at the end of an extraordinary meeting of FEC presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
He said the extraordinary session was to ensure the country begins 2022 on a clean slate in the area of electricity supply.
Aliyu, who presented 16 memos which were all approved by the council, said the Buhari regime had done more than its predecessors to ensure that Nigerians experience improved electric power supply.
ThisDay reports that in order to maintain uniform charges for their services, as approved by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Chief Executives of five ground handling companies operating in the country, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to guard against economic sabotage amongst its ranks.
A joint communiqué signed by the acting CEO, Nigerian Aviation Handling Company (NAHCO) Plc, Olumuyiwa Olumekun; the CEO, Skyway Aviation Handling Company (SAHCO) Plc, Mr. Basil Agboarumi, Director, Aviation Handling Service (AHS), Mr. Samuel Oluwole, CEO, Butake Resources Ltd (BRL), Alhaji Bello Salihu; and the CEO, Swissport Nigeria, Mr. John Adebanjo, agreed that all handling companies must abide by the new price regime while charging their clients for their services.
The communiqué, according to the signatories, would enable sustainable and profitable ground handling rates, while also maintaining the highest standards of safety operations in the sector in Nigeria.
Speaking on the development, Chairman, Precision Handling Company, Mr. Samuel Oluwole, said the handling companies have to hold themselves accountable because the current misnomer affects them all.
The Sun says that drawing strength from the Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP), the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) and the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) are set to unveil over 200,000 Solar Home Systems under the “Solar Power Naija” deal.
The Solar Power Naija Programme is being launched under the ESP and will be supervised directly by the Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.
The NSIA-REA partnership will see the NSIA creating an initial revolving fund of N10 billion for qualified developers to distribute and manufacture Solar Home Systems.
The fund will be accessible by Nigerian Electrification Program qualified developers under the existing REA and World Bank scheme that guides technical qualification and provides grants for developers to invest and participate in off-grid electrification projects.
The REA under the Ministry of Power will provide technical and advisory support to the NSIA as it rolls out the program.
This investment by NSIA is targeted at catalysing 200,000 off-grid connections in the first instance with a goal of reaching over 500,000 systems as the fund revolves and is expanded through to 2023.
GIK/APA