~news
Novembet' 10. 2012
Task force to distribute abandoned power equipment Kurue Falayi he Presidential Task force on Power has co nc::luded plans to lqin Ihe distribution of the 314 container-load of new power equipment ab,mdoned at Lagos pam to differen t project sites aCr1)55 the country. Minister of State for
T Power.
..trs.
Kuehi.
staled
dispatched on need basis to different parts of the country. ·YOII will recall that a few weeks ago, the FedcI01.1 Ministry of Power announced the discovery of hundreds of abandoned containers of pcl'WU
equipment in our seaports and also at the PHCN store; she told reporters. Ihe report of an inventoryofthcequipmenl recommended the urgent remO'"a1 of the items from the pons and stores fOf their errec:tive use in the
impfO\'cment ofthe power supply In lhecountry. -Members of the di5tribution team are already in Lagos sorting and isolating the materials/equipment in readiness for trnnsport to projects sites under
the Nigerian Army Engmeering Corps for immediale installation.The minister also inspected prepaid e:nergy meiers, which she said would be installed in all households in the country within the next 18 months.
Zainab this
in
Lagos on Friday, during an inspection tour oC the: Ikorodu ughte:r Terminal Command of the Nigeria Customs Service imd the Power 1I0lding Compa ny of Nigeria's Centl1ll Store, OshOOi. where: many of the equipment are. She expressed shock thai such a large amount of equipment remain unattended to despite the power problems across the counl.ry. Kochi said the distribution of the equipment, made up mostly of transformers. would greally improve the power distribution. AI the Ikorodu terminal. there were 17 transformers with 2000KVA capacity each, uposed to the: e1eme:nl and rusting away. while cables and other acces50ries were locked up in containers, which the minister orde.-ed 10 be opened for inspection. ~ H ow can we have good power with Ihis kind of situation?· she said. The vice~hairman of the task foree, Maj.Gen. Adebayo Olaniyi, said findings by Customs showed that some of the: equipment had been at the. terminal for four years, some 10 years. insulators, New underground cables and scores of 300KVA transformers were seen when the containers were opened. AI Oshodi. the: minister inspected new lransformers stored al the PIICN ston: lind Illter promised that all of the equipment would be
T
gas giants in the
counllyonThursday~ing
boyrotted
a
fundrnising
dinner orpoised by the Presidenlial Committee on F100d Relief and Reh.,bllilatioll. The committee, aKhaired by business mogul. Alhaji A1iko Dangote, and a fonner prt:SKient of the Nigerian Bar Association, Chid
Olisa Agbakoba
(SAN),
was
inaugurated by President Goodluct Jonathan in the
Fe.mi Makinde, Ado-Ekiti QalI lto\-rrnmC!1I1 .....orkers in EkitiSlate n Friday suspended their two-mon I h.-old strike RlId ruoh'w to resume .....ork on l'tIolldar. 1111~ decl$lon to slispend the strike Wall announad by the s late teadership or the Nlgeri.n Union ofLoc:al ~-ernll1enl Employees in Ado-Ekili. NULGE pruldent in the state, Mr. Dele AJayi. read the .gree.menl re.ehw bel ......e~ the ullion and theslaleAO''f!rnmenlleam 10 journatisu ane.- the medinslie A .l d the nq;oliation team indllded the Commi.uionl!r5 ror Labour, Mt. Wole Adewuml. .nd Ministry or LooJI Government, Chief Dayo ..·.dipe.
U
J onathan postpones meeti.ng wi tJil>ickson, Amaechi Olalekan Adela)..,. Abqja
· President Goodlude Jonatha n (4th left); with JUin~ter of Heotlh, Prof. Onyebuchi Chl/kwu (3m right), leader of delegation/rom Merdc PharmaC1!utirol Group o/Compcmies, Mr. Row,.t Blum (yd left), and others n/tu a meeting with the President at the Presidential Villa. in Abujo.•. OF! Friday. Photo: NAN
Flooding: Nigeria won't experience food crisis - FG Ifeanyi Onuba, Ahuja
he FOO=1 Gove rnm ent gave an assurance on Friday that the flooding, which destroyed farmland in 12 sta tes, ....·ould not lead 10 rood cmill. Minister of Agnculture and Rural {)e\-eIopment, Dr. Akin .....unmi Adesina, stated this dLlriog an emergency meeting witb state mmmissioners for agriculture. The meeting WAS com'ened to discuss the national flood recoveryfood production programme. "LetmeassureNigerians, we shall not have a rood crisIS Of famine. We will
T
recover from the flood," Adesilla said. Adesina took a swipe on people who had raised the alann that the floodilll would result into food crisis, adding that their arsument wall ~doomsdllY predictions thll t is simply not COrTI!Cl. " He saki. '"When we started. we informed the country that we will add 20m MT of food to our domestic food supply by
201S-
*Today, from ollr effor1s thisyearalone (from maize. rice. C2SSII\'lI. 5OfJhum)......e 1Irt' adding a total of 8. lm MT orfood." Adesinasaiclimmedialely I he floods sla ned, the ministry brought in the International Water Management Institute 10 help use sopbisticated remolesensingandsateUite imagery to detennine: the extenl of Ihe flood ; the
Frid ny Olo kor, Ahujll neulllonia kills an estimated 130,000 children e\"ery year in Nigeria, a number t.hoo&ht to be the second highest. deaths from the.
P
· Committee rakes in Nll.3sbn wake of the floods that rl'waged most parts of tbe counlly to rnise fund iO(" the needs of the victims.. At the dinoer which saw construction rompanies and !iIOIT1e other business concerns and individuals donatilll generously to help the \ictimsofthe Roods. none
of the tclecommunications fim\5 Wi\5 represented. After making ge\ual IlnnotlllC1!lnents ....ithout rtSPOnse from the firms. Oangote. who anchored the donation segment of the ,,~rnl1l1ne. had to exl:ntct
extent of the inundation and how soon the flood waler wouhl recede for us to cart!Cully plan our postflood food production stra1e&r. Also used were satellite images to measure crop land IInd;!r inundation to determine crop loss estimates. The result of their findings, he said. was "that ~ is a big divergence bet.....een the areas flooded and crop loss."
'Pneumonia kills 130,000 Nigerians yearly' disease globally. Director of National Primary Health Care De\-elopment i\&enc)" Dr. Ado Muhammad. staled this al a news briefing on Friday in Ahuja ahead of the. Work! Pneumonia Day on Nov. 12 and called fOf" II nle
E:ceCIlIivt!
Telecoms, oil firms boycott fundraising for flood victims Olalekan Adelayo, Ah uja elecommunications senice provKler! as well as 011 and
EkitiLGworkers suspeud strike
II COlllmitment from dIe Minister of Commllnicatiol\5 TeclmoklS)', Mrs. 0m0b0Ia Johnson. UlBt she woold reach out to U"Ie rlftT1S and ooIled their donations. Dangote extr.tcted the same mmmitment £rom the Minister of Petroleum Resources. Mn>. Diezani who Alison-Madueke, promised to reach Ollt 10 oil and gas fimlS. None of all the banks in the country also made donation at the evenL lnaJl,about NII.J5hn ......as realised al the event, ...... hich
saw Dangote emergmg as the highest indlVldual donor with N2.lsbn. TIle bu...iness mogul said he had earlier dou31ed N:zoom to Kegi Stale lind had made NIsom a\'3ilable to the rommitl~ to ron its secretariaL Thursday's gesture brought its totll\ donation toN:z.sbn. Jonathan announced It donlltion of N2.sbn on behalf of the Federal Go\·emment. while Go\'ernor Peter Obi or Anambra State a nnounced a donation of NL8bn on behalf of the 36 gc....ernors.
~stronger coalition against the disease. "I..e:ss than half of all children v.ith suspected pneumonia Ire IJ!Iken for treatment and just 23 per cenl (of the children) get treatment ....ith antibiotics. Among families on \"eIY low Incomes where the risk of child dealh from pneumonia i:s the highe.-;I, 1M numbers are drama tically IQ\\o-er.~ he P
~d .
The disease is still the number one killu of children aged under fi\'f! lind many child deaths have gone unnoticed because of w;J.llilll attention on pneumonia. Stakeholders will meet next "''f!I'!k to 'build a stronger coalition against the soourgc of pneumonia. ~ But the agency is still "on the \-erge- of inlroducing pneumonia conjugate \'1Iccine which targets the leadingcausesofpneumonia in children, but the exact time Ls uncertain.
e peace m«ting summoned by P~itlenl Goodluck Jonalhan o'·er the oil ...... et! dl$pute between JUs home stale. Ba)""elsa. .nd neishoouring Rh-us r-.lled 10 hold on Frida}· &5 .sdJeduJro. The hm !;lale AO'""erTlmenb ha\-""e ken al I~ethnoch O\""er the o ...nC!nihip or some oil ....~lJ5ln K.labari. Kal.hari e.ltlers from Rh·~rs hlld acc:used .Ionathan or complicity in an IIlleged plot to c:cde oil
Ti
.....e.llsin50lI1 ccommunilies in the slnle 10 Bayels.
in onler to !;hllte op thc earninp orthe Praident's humesl.le. The Pt6ide.ncy has since denllonad thc aUeplion, d~bing il.!I blackmail. Concerned b) the neptn""e publicity the diY~nu:nl had bt:c.n attndinlt in the media. IJu: PTe5idclIl on Monday summolled (;Q\""ernor SeriakeOIek..'Wnomayeisa;
hls Rlvt'n counterpart,
ROlimi Amacc:hi, and olher li'Cakeholders to a mttlinA rucd ror Frida)· at the Presidential \'illa. Ahuja.
Winners Chapel holds pre-Shiloh senrices
m
e U';lIg Faith Church \\'orld\,;dc. popul nrly kIIn .....n &$ \Yinnc.r5 Ch.pc.t, has bqlln ....·hat It ealls pre-
Shiloh servicu.
The
ftOolce..,
.....hich
~nsollle 1I.1"""e
SUllday!! hade.. 10 herald this )--ear.....
edition or Shiloh.. whkh holds rrom Dec. 4 to I)cc.. 8 . 2012-
The Shiloh C"\""enl is an Ilflnual IC()m"OClltion or.1I thc membersorthedJute:h rrum .U (wer the .....orld at the he.dltuarters in Ota. OgulIStalc. the ulfUal Already, four service,." havc been rcdu~ to three in Ihe meAn time to .110"" more tinte ror e.ch sco·ice.