Tonye Cole, the chief executive of energy company Sahara Group, explained three main reasons why fuel scarcity is unlikely to end soon. He thinks ordinary Nigerians should prepare to hard times in the nearest future.
Fuel scarcity not to end soon, Tonye Cole warns.
Fuel scarcity crisis in the country is unlikely to end soon, warns Nigerians Sahara Group chief executive.
Tonye Cole explained his expectations that fuel shortages in the country are unlikely to come to an end soon. The main three reasons for that are change of government, prospects for removal fuel subsidies and weakening naira. According to Mr. Cole, the combination of these factors will affect ordinary Nigerians in the nearest future.
Despite being biggest oil producer in Africa, Nigeria is heavily dependent on gasoline imports to meet domestic demands. Gasoline subsidies incurred by the government on every litre of the product had to be cut by the cash-strapped government recently by 90 per cent and it is expected that they are going to be totally phased-out soon.
Sahara Group supplies gasoline through a crude processing agreement. It was asked by the state regulating body to “pre-deliver” gasoline ahead of receiving crude allocation to cover the lack of subsidised fuel.
Dino Melaye, senator-elect representing Kogi West Senatorial District, once told on his twitter page – “I destroy the poverty of ideas in your home”. But it seems that he rather likes the idea of destroying poverty in his own home primarily – otherwise he wouldn’t post his Lamborghini, his Harley Davidson, his fancy sun glasses and his mansion on social networks.
It’s easy to praise the Lord sitting inside Lamborghini Gallardo worth $200,000 in fancy sunglasses. And that’s exactly what Dino Melaya does on his twitter page.
It’s easy to praise the Lord sitting inside Lamborghini Gallardo worth $200,000 in fancy sunglasses. And that’s exactly what Dino Melaya does on his twitter page.
Dino Melaye’s mansion
However, many Nigerians are not so happy to see all this luxury, posting comments like this one: “See what Nigerian senators are enjoying and masses are dying of hunger”.
It really raises questions about the source of his wealth. How many years of official remuneration are needed to afford this level of prosperity?
Media captionPM David Cameron says uncontrolled immigration can damage the labour market
David Cameron says he will not give up on his immigration target despite net migration to the UK reaching its highest level for a decade.
Net migration rose by 50% to 318,000 last year - with sharp increases from inside and outside the EU.
A total of 641,000 people moved to the UK in 2014, the Office for National Statistics said.
But the PM said he would not "cave in" and abandon his target of reducing net migration below 100,000.
In a speech at the Home Office, he said the Liberal Democrats had held back Conservative attempts to reduce numbers during the last parliament and unveiled a string of measures aimed at curbing illegal working.
Central to these are new plans to seize the wages of illegal workers as proceeds of crime in an attempt to reduce the numbers.
However, the scale of the challenge facing ministers in reducing levels of legal immigration was highlighted again by a net migration rise the size of the population of Coventry.
The figures measure the difference between the numbers of people moving the UK for a year or more and those leaving the UK for a year or more.
They reveal:
641,000 people moved to the UK over the period, with 323,000 going the other way
284,000 people immigrated for work, a 70,000 increase
The number of Romanian and Bulgarians moving to the UK doubled to 46,000 in 2014
Employment of non-British EU nationals in the UK in January to March 2015 was 283,000 higher than the previous year
The Conservatives pledged before the 2010 election to reduce numbers to less than 100,000, a target they acknowledge they have failed to meet.
"There is no good news here for David Cameron," said BBC assistant political editor Norman Smith.
He said ministers were shifting the emphasis of the immigration debate away from numbers towards "blue collar concerns" like jobs, pay and housing.
In a speech at the Home Office, Mr Cameron said: "Today's figures show how far we have to go to reach our goal."
Taking questions from journalists afterwards, he said: "There is the approach of just give up, cave in and forget about it.
"But that's not my approach."
He said a growing economy could be combined with lower immigration levels as it had been in the 1990s.
Media captionHome Secretary Theresa May: "We want to crack down on those who have no right to be here"
Earlier, Mr Cameron visited a premises in Ealing, West London, shortly after it had been raided by immigration officials.
In his speech he said the government was determined to "control and reduce" immigration, saying criminalising illegal workers must go hand-in-hand with other measures to lower demand for migrant labour, such as boosting the skills of UK workers.
The Conservatives acknowledge they failed to meet a target for reducing net migration since 2010
The government says depriving illegal migrants of their wages will make it harder for them to remain in the UK.
A new criminal offence of illegal working will apply to migrants who have entered the country illegally and also those who came to the country legally but are in breach of their conditions or have overstayed.
At the moment, migrants with current leave to remain who are working illegally in breach of their conditions may be prosecuted and are liable, if convicted, to a six months' custodial sentence and-or an unlimited fine.
But migrants who entered the UK illegally or have overstayed their leave are not subject to the same sanctions, and the police do not have the same powers of confiscation in all cases.
'Less attractive'
Mr Cameron said that "making Britain a less attractive place to come and work illegally" is a crucial part of a fair immigration policy - adding that a "strong country is one that controls immigration... not one that pulls up the drawbridge".
"The truth is it has been too easy to work illegally and employ illegal workers here," he said.
"So we'll take a radical step - we'll make illegal working a criminal offence in its own right.
"That means wages paid to illegal migrants will be seized as proceeds of crime… and businesses will be told when their workers' visas expire… So if you're involved in illegal working - employer or employee - you're breaking the law."
Analysis by Dominic Casciani, home affairs correspondent
The police will be given enhanced powers under the government's proposals
If the government is going to clamp down on illegal workers, it needs to find them.
So how many illegal migrants are there in the UK? The simple truth is - nobody knows.
The best that we have are a series of academic guesses using various competing techniques of estimating what's going on.
The problem with all these estimates - and comparable calculations carried out by other big nations - is that nobody can really say whether they mean anything at all.
In 2012, the Home Office came close to nailing its colours to the mast when it published a paper on the subject. That analysis suggested the best guess is probably around 618,000 - but there is a huge range either side. It could be much lower - or much higher.
Among other proposed measures are new powers for councils to deal with unscrupulous landlords and to evict illegal migrants more quickly, while all foreign criminals awaiting deportation will be fitted with satellite tracking tags.
It will also become an offence for businesses and recruitment agencies to hire abroad without first advertising in the UK - a policy which featured prominently in Labour's election manifesto.
'Tackling exploitation'
Ministers say the package builds on the progress made over the past five years but critics say the Conservatives' tough rhetoric has not been matched by action on the ground, either in tackling illegal immigration or curbing legal immigration.
Labour welcomed the action but said it did not go far enough.
"A lot of this will look very familiar to anyone who read Labour's manifesto," shadow immigration minister David Hanson said.
"It is clear the measures outlined here will not be sufficient to tackle exploitation. There needs to be a clear offence of exploitation that undercuts local jobs and wages, which the police and other experts have called for."
Liberal Democrat peer Lord Paddick said: "Theresa May needs to get it into her head - not all immigration is bad. If she was serious about cracking down on illegal immigration she should concentrate on what works and not tar all immigrants with the same brush."
UKIP immigration spokesman Steven Woolfe said the new announcements were a "smoke screen to mask today's appalling immigration statistics".
Don Flynn, of the Migrants' Rights Network, said seizing wages would force some people into "systems of modern slavery without hope of protection from the law".
"Irregular migrants in the UK fit no one's image of a law-breaker living on the proceeds of crime," he said.
"Their vulnerable status means they are confined to the most insecure and exploitative forms of employment, usually earning scarcely enough to maintain themselves on a day-to-day basis."
The Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants said the measures would do nothing to ease the pressure on public services.
Madeleine Sumption, of Oxford University's Migration Observatory, said the latest immigration figures showed how hard it would to reduce net migration to below 100,000.
"Net migration has risen even despite new restrictions on family, work and student visas that were introduced during the last Parliament," she added.
Lord Green, of Migration Watch, said: "We need to stop and think where this mass immigration is leading. It points to a probable increase of three million in the UK population over the next five years in the face of very strong public opinion."
That President Goodluck Jonathan lost the presidential elections is no more news. What is news is that some of his aides who paraded themselves in the public sphere like untouchables, contributed to the political down-fall of their principal.
Naij.com has compiled this list of Jonathan’s aides who were partly responsible for his loss. Read below:
1. Dr. Doyin Okupe: The administration’s attack dog was a disaster. His contributions to Jonathan’s loss will take a whole book to write down. He courted many enemies for the president rather than friends. Okupe’s temperament and inability to soak in criticisms were his greatest undoing. President Jonathan would have long wielded the big stick on the Ogun State born medical practitioner turned politician. His childish rants on twitter, uncivilised arguements with opposition leaders on television and insult-filled press statements were a public relations disaster for President Jonathan.
Dr. Doyin Okupe
2. Professor Ahmed Rufai Alkali: How do you employ a political liability as your political adviser? That was the question on the lips of political observers after Prof. Alkali resumed office as the political adviser to Jonathan some years back. Alkali has never won an election in his political life. He has only had appointments from government and has relied heavily on propaganda in staying on course in the political sphere. Alkali no doubt contributed to the failure of Jonathan at the polls because he wasn’t effective in his role, he lacks the political sagacity to mobilise people and failed woefully to galvanise support for the president.
Professor Ahmed Rufai Alkali
3. Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd): Dasuki is one aide anyone should not pray to have. As the National Security Adviser, he was a a ticking time bomb. As an aide to the president, he was more of a curse than a blessing. A rabble rouser, the Sokoto-born prince did more harm to Jonathan’s campaign than good. His careless statements, security blunders and silence on major national issues bordering on security was to say the least damaging to the president’s image.
Col. Dasuki Sambo (rtd)
4. Kingsley Kuku: Kuku who started on a good note in his position, was at some point carried away. He joined the infamous gang of Jonathan’s political ‘mercenaries’ whose brief seemed to be “Defend the president at all cost whether right or wrong”. His role in the Ekiti elections also dented his soaring image and that of his boss. He also went on a talking spree that made him goof severally while trying to justify the government’s failures. He was criss-crossing round the world telling all that cares that President Jonathan was the best thing to happen to Nigeria while the gale of unmitigated disasters at home continued unabated. Kuku is one man the president should have called to order long before he lost it completely.
Kingsley Kuku
5. Reno Omokri: Nigeria’s social media community will never forget Pastor Reno Omokri. From the Wendell Simillin saga to his retweet or favourite series to his dramatic demotion towards the end of the Jonathan’s administration, Omokri was a combination of cluelessness and incompetence. Why he left the pulpit for politics is not yet clear, but Reno should have stayed back. His contributions to Jonathan’s loss are enormous, gigiantic and un-quantifiable. He turned a vibrant youth population in the new media against the president through his unnecessary tweets and black propaganda which backfired at the end.
It is considered that the APC will put to rest the matter of the zoning of the senate president post at the retreat.
George Akume (Benue), Bukola Saraki (Kwara) and Ahmed Lawan (Yobe) are those senators who have shown interest in the top position of the upper chamber.
Lai Mohammed, party’s spokesman, released a statement in Abuja, May 21, Thursday.
According to which the party said the retreat would be held at the Ibeto Hotel in Apo area of the city.
It advised the senators-elect to arrive at the place, where accommodation arrangements have been made for them, by 6 p.m. on Friday as there would be a closed-door meeting between all senators-elect and party chieftains at 8 p.m. on the same day.
The statement reads: “The two-day retreat is part of efforts being undertaken by the party to ensure that the legislators hit the ground running for the benefit of Nigerians.”
It was earlier said that APC does not dismiss this principle, but assured Nigerians it will not impose anybody for the positions of Senate president and speaker of the House of Representatives.
The recent resignation of Chief Anthony Anenih as the Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party’s Board of Trustees is an indication that the outgoing ruling party has decided to rebuild the party.
Anenih’s sacrifice is a pointer to the fact that the chieftains of the party are aware of the enormous task ahead of them and are ready to make individual sacrifices to ensure that the party bounce back to reckoning in Nigeria’s democratic journey.
As it is, following Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu’s resignation as the party’s chairman, a South-South chieftain of the party is expected to take over. This is against the backdrop of the fact that the party will field a Northern candidate in the 2019 presidential elections to challenge President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, incase he decides to re-contest for the office of the presidency.
Given this scenario, the PDP is likely to elect a northerner as its BOT Chairman, despite Anenih’s claims of stepping down for President Goodluck Jonathan. Not known as a typical politician, Jonathan is widely expected to reject the offer.
Naij.com has therefore compiled a list of 5 PDP chieftains that will likely clinch the coveted position.
Read below:
1. Alhaji Sule Lamido: He has the brightest chance among the lot. Everything favours him; he is a founding member of the party, at 66 years, he is matured, he is popular in the north and he can be a rallying figure for the party in the region and beyond. A seasoned politician, the outgoing Governor of Jigawa State definitely fits the bill and has all the qualities to fill the big shoes of Chief Anenih.
Governor Sule Lamido
2. Ambassador Aminu Wali: If President Jonathan is interested in influencing who emerges the BOT Chairman of the PDP, Ambassador Wali is one of those who might come top in his list. A trusted ally of the President, Wali has the experience and maturity to galvanise the downtrodden members of the party nationwide for the task ahead in 2019. The current Minister of Foreign Affairs might just be the man the party need to kick-start a fresh onslaught to re-take its lost glory.
Aminu Wali
3. Dr. Dalhatu Tafida: Adamawa-born Tafida is one politician who commands respect across all political divides. Another trusted ally of Jonathan, the current Nigerian Ambassador to the United Kingdom was brought back to Nigeria before the 2011 general elections to head the president’s campaign organisation. A loyal party man to the core, he was one of those fingered championing the third term agenda of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, during his time as the Senate Majority Leader.
Dr. Ddalhatu Tafida
4. Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau: A decent politician, Shekarau is known for his gentle nature, calmness, humility and political maturity. The former Governor of Kano and the current Minister of Education is one man whose emergence will thoroughly set the PDP to its right path. A progressive politician, his antecedents as a proven performer gives him an edge over other candidates.
Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau
5. Alhaji Bamanga Tukur: Many of the PDP faithfuls loyal to Tukur during his controversial removal as the PDP Chairman last year might drag him into the race. President Jonathan might also be interested in compensating the octenagerian whose removal wasn’t initially approved by the President until his hands were tied by the powerful PDP Governors Forum. As the PDP moves towards reconciliation and rejuvenation, they might have to look in the direction of the elder statesman to lead them in forging ahead for the titanic political battle that awaits them in future.
With just over a week before his official handover, the outgoing President, Goodluck Jonathan, has approved the sum of N4.5 trillion ($22.6 billion) budget for 2015.
According to a statement credited to the president’s spokesman, Dr. Reuben Abati, the budget, which was by the National Assembly in late April, was approved by the Nigerian president on Wednesday, devoid of the usual fanfare.
It was also reported that the budget is 3.2% smaller than last year’s, following the issues associated with global crude prices which are responsible for the cash crunch in the country.
Abati said: “I can confirm to you that Mr. President had signed the 2015 budget into law some days back without the usual fanfare”.
Vanguard reports that Muhammadu Buhari’s imminent take-over next week may also mean a budget supplement since he is yet to outline his economic policy, although it is expected that the former head of state will crack down on excessive spending by government officials, including the use of official cars.Earlier this month, the finance ministry lamented that it had already been forced to use up half of its budgeted borrowing allowance to pay overheads and salaries, and is yet to release any funds for capital expenditure this year.
It was also reported that the budget is 3.2% smaller than last year’s, following the issues associated with global crude prices which are responsible for the cash crunch in the country.