lHE GOAJU)JAN, Friday. May2o,ioll
BUSINFSS 119
Alison -Maduel<e gives NNPC, DPR ultimatum on l<erosene ETERM INED to halt the artificially o ngoing D induced scarcity and hike in the price of House Hold Kerosene, (HHK) noticeable in most part of the country, the Minister of Petroleum Reso urces, Mrs. Dieza ni Aliso n-Mad ueke yesterday, issued matching orders to the managements of the National Nigerian Corporation Petroleum (NNPC) and the Department o f Petroleum Reso urces, DPR to sanitise the situatio n as soon as possible. Spea king during an interactive session with journa l'ists in Lagos, Mrs AlisonMadueke noted that tho ugh the coun try operates a free market economy, the Federal Government ca nnot watch and fo ld its arms while innocent Nigerians go through hardship in accessing t he vital cooking fuel d ue to the profitee ring activities of some "middlemen".
- -Checks at the NNPC and its subsidiary the Pipelines and Products Marketing Company, PPMC indicate that that we have enough in terms of product suffIciency. Our investigation s hows tbat kerosene lias however
become scarce and 'Selling at high price due to distribut ion problems ca used by middlemen who have made it their vocation to profiteer from the product," Mrs . A1ison-Madueke stated. As a way out, the Minister charged the managements of the NNPC and the DPR to bring to an end the ugly situation within the next few days. Under the arrangeme nt, the NNPC, through its subSidiary- PPMC, will ensure that products are loaded out from the three refineries and the coastal jetties to all the nooks and crann ies of the country while DPR has the mandate to activate compliance measures and all necessary control strategies to squelch the incidents of arb itrary pricing and sharp practices. Already the corporation has swung into action by increasing the vo lume of HHK allocation from 10 million Iitres to record 12 million Iitres per day to guarantee that the country is wet with kerose ne. The 12 million figure is in excess of t he nationa l consumption level of aboutlO million Iitres per day. Group Managing Director
of the NNPC,Austen On iwon stated during the forum that apart from increasing the daily vol ume oT kerosene, the NNPC in concert with the PPMC has put in place a special Monitoring Co mmittee on kerosene distribu tio n. Throwing more light on t he operatio n of the task force, Managing Director of the PPMC, Prince Haruna
Momoh, stated that members of the commi ttee traverse t he length and breadth of the nation tracking the movement of kerose ne from the refineries and coastal depots - the point of discharge through the tank farms. Also A1ison-Madueke clarified issues relating to the reported revocation of oi l leases renewa l granted
ExxonMo bii in 2009. The Minister noted that review of the process revealed that the renewal was not properly executed and was therefore not in compliance with t he provisions of the Petroleum Act of1969. The Act empowers the Minister of Petroleum Resources to cancel leases that are not properly executed.
However, the minis ter
noted that in view of the harmonious relatio nshi p with ExxonMobii over the years and t he su bstantial investments the compa ny has mad e in Nigeria, - -Gove rnm ent has taken the decision to invite Mobil Prod UCing Nigeria Unlimited to express interest in the grant of fresh leases."
Fan Milk backs development initiative CAN Milk Plchas again Cbu oyed its corpo rate social responsibility profile by su pporting the year 2011 Children's Develop ment Centre' (CDC) cycling competition tagged: "Ride for li fe." The "Ride for Life" cycle ride o rga nised by CDC and supported by the 50 year old dairy firm. Yearly event created by the CDC, an NGO under the leaders hip of Dr. Yin ka Akindayom i to save human existence in a bid to raise fund earmarked to rescue the on-goi ng Lagos Leving and Learning Centre capita l project (Tripple LC Ce ntre). The cause for wh ich the CDC is known for is "everyone deserves the "Right to Life" regardless of their abilities, talents, capacities o r
even the lack of these within o'u r SOCiety. The event invo lved riding of bicycles from ...rhe Chevron Ro undabout to the CDC Site (40 kilometres , Ibej u Lekki). The essence of rhe cycling competition is also to aid children with autism in order to have them live a balanced and normal life. Various supports have been g iven to CDC by Fan Milk, which includ e cash gift for procuring T-sh irts and fez caps for the riders,
provision of Fa n Milk products were also provided free at the eight-branded reststops cou pled with catering for 1000 people at t he venue. In a si milar development, t he dairy firm recen tl y bagged an award from the Rea Cross Soc iety of Nigeria for its humanitarian support in all ramifications.
Indu stry Minister of State, Mrs. Josephin Tapgun (left) ; Managing-Director, Bank of Industry, Ms. Evelin Oputu; Director-General, National Agency for Food, Drugs Administration and Control. Prof. Paul Orhi; and Health Minister, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, after th e meeting with President Good luck on the
proposal for the estab lishmen t and management of a N200 billion Pharmaceutical Developmen t Fund, at the House, Abuja, yesterday.
Edo farmers lament non-disbursement of FADAMA fund From Alemma-ozioruva-Allu, Benin City
A S the supervision of the nthird national FADAMA deve lopment project (FADAMA III) in South-South Nigeria end ed in Be nin on Tuesday, farm ers under the various Fadama Users Groups (FUG) recently lamented that lack of further disbursement of fund to the va rious groups under the project was a big threat to the project. The farmers gave th is indication when members of the FADAMA 1lI proj ect supervision team, led by the South SO Udl Zonal Co-ordinator of the project, Isaia h Foby visited the groups in Orh ionmwom Local Government Counci l of Edo State. But Foby stated that about
N800 million to beneficiaries in the region for the FADAMA III but lamented that Edo State sta nd the risk of losing about N87 million if the embargo placed o n its disbursement by the state government
was
not
liFted. The farmers lamented that most of the project they started with the first disbursement of credit facili ty in March 2009 have bee n sta ll ed beca use additional fund s have not been disbursed since then. The farmers said the FADAMA 1lI project was capable of redUCing poverty in the rural areas if properly funded. "We want the government to continue with the disburseme nt and also pay counterpart fund for the
project in order to keep this smil e permanently on our faces," one of the farm ers, Hi tler Onioza has said . But Foby assured the farmers that their fears wo uld be addressed as the state government has p'romised to look into it. ' I am here to douse your fea r over fund becau se the governor has . perso nally assured that his governme nt wo uld not stand in the will of progress in the state. "And by his assurance, we are horing that disbursement 0 fund for the project will resume soon," He sard the supervision mission was assess the extent of progress so far made in t he project in So uth-So uth Nigeria to ensure that the project was on course to reduce the level of poverty in rural areas by
at least 40 per cent by 2020 as prescribed by the World Ba nk, who are tile majo r financ iers.
Whi le commending the state government for the payment of its counterpart fund for 2011, Foby sa id the exercise was not for witc h路
hunting as being insinuated in so me quarters but "to ensure that all our disbursement are meticu lously utilised and monitored. " We are here to see things for o urselves and this is being done in all the zones Si multaneously, sha re ideas and make corrections were necessary beca use the D-Day will 路 come when the World Bankwill come for its assessment." The development objective of Third National
Fadama Development (FADAMA III ) Project for Nigeria is to sus tain ab ly increase the incomes of Fadama users. By increasing their incomes, the project wi ll help reduce rural poverty, increase food security and contribute to the achievement of a key millennium development goal. The project aims at sustainably increa sing the incom es
of
Fadama
resource users by directly delivering resources to the benefiCiary rural communities, effiCiently and effectively, and empowering t hem to coll ectively decide on how resources are allocated and managed for their live lihood activities and to participate in the design and executio n of their sub-projects.
Sanusi was right on legislators' assessed profligacy, says Arernu From: Saxone Akhalne, Kaduna HE Vice-President of t he Labo ur Nigeria Congress (NLC), Alhaj i Issa Aremu has said the allel;:ed scan dalous NI0 billion naira bank loan trailing the leade rship of the Ho use of Representatives ha s now vindicated the Governor of the Centra l Bank of Nigeria (CBN), ~'Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sa nusi's claims on how the National Assembly legislators have allocated much of
T
the nat ion's resources for
the nation's annual recur路
themselves. Aremu, in a state ment l..esterday, arl;:ued that 'the ongoi ng cnsis in the House of Represen tatives over NIO billion bank loan by the House leadership to ostenSibly enable it settle unpaid sa laries and allowances of House Members has concl usive ly proved that the CBN) Governor, Sanusi was right when he earlier raised alarm about the ind ulgence and intolerable pay of the legis lators", while also claiming that "25 percent of
rent overhead was spent on lawmakers". He po inted out that "whatever the eventual resolution of the recent financia l sca ndal in the House, increasingly the greatest threat to Nigeria's democracy is the seemingly exhibited greed and arbitrary se lf-help of public office holders especially the legislators". Besides, Aremu argued that "the incoming lawmakers must look at bigger picture of Nigeria's unde rdevelopment and poverty
not petty, selfish personal picture that p reoccup ied the outgoi ng Assembly", addi ng that "It is nypocritical for some Members of t he House to repeat a common knowledge that N5 million was too small for the slain corps members". Sa id he: "It is sad however that they cannot see the lin kage between heir da ily self-help through generous allowances and aWindling national scarce resources. What is gulped by the legislators can cer-
tainly not be avai lable to bury dead yout h corpers, victims of violence and take care of their dependants". Scarce resources arbitrari路
Iy appropriated by rew political office holders will certainly not be availab le for mass job creation and industrial revival. In a ny case what will prevent future crimina l murder of youth corpers and ind eed innocent citizens are good laws (which this Assembly is not known for) that create jobs, prevent crises and apprehend murderers"_
"The latest NlO bill ion loan sca ndal is one financial scandal too m uch for a 4year tenure House. When the history of the outgoing House is w ritten, financial
scandals would be credited to it than notable progressive legislations for good governan ce."
Aremu stated: "10 billion naira for Bank of Industry (BOI) in particula r will help strategic sectors to refinance t heir debt, re-capitalise their operation and retool fo r operation".