The ruthless American proved one step too far for unseeded Croat Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, whose fairytale tournament was finally ended in a crushing 6-2, 6-1 defeat on Rod Laver Arena.
Serena to play Venus in Australian Open final
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An unstoppable Serena Williams zeroed in on a record-breaking 23rd Grand Slam title Thursday by setting up an Australian Open final against her sister, Venus.
The ruthless American proved one step too far for unseeded Croat Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, whose fairytale tournament was finally ended in a crushing 6-2, 6-1 defeat on Rod Laver Arena.
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By Levinus Nwabughiogu
ABUJA—In a bid to avert the looming scarcity of petroleum products, especially the Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, popularly called petrol, the Federal Government last night ordered the payment of the N150 billion Petroleum Equalisation Fund owed petroleum marketers.
The order followed a meeting between the Chief of Staff to the President, Mr Abba Kyari, and the stakeholders in the petroleum sector.
The money is understood to be subsidy on the cost of delivery of petroleum products across the country.
Yesterday’s meeting which held behind closed doors at the Conference Room of the Chief of Staff at the Presidential Villa, Abuja was the second and concluding part of the meeting that started on Tuesday on the issue.
Briefing newsmen, National Secretary of Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, Zarma Mustapha, said the approval was with immediate effect.
He said: “The meeting had nothing to do with increase in petroleum pump prices. We looked into the issue of diesel and kerosene and as a matter of fact government is tackling the issues.
“The other issue is franchise, which is the petroleum equalisation fund which marketers are owed to the tune of about N150 billion and now the issue has been resolved. The government has directed that our mony must be paid and I am assuring you that with the payment of this money, there is no cause for alarm.”
“We are assuring our marketers that they should go back to their normal business as their outstanding will be paid in some few days.”
The post FG orders immediate payment of N150bn to petroleum marketers appeared first on Vanguard News.
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By Gbenga Oke
Former Minister of Petroleum, Chief Don Etiebet, has called on the National Assembly to confirm the appointment of the Acting Chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ibrahim Magu.
Etiebet, yesterday, said since the office of the Attorney General of the Federation had given a clean bill of health to Magu, the Senate should dutifully confirm him to continue with his good works.
In a chat with Vanguard, Etiebet contended that Magu had been exonerated of any wrongdoing, saying: “The office of the AGF has investigated the allegations levelled against Magu by the Department of State Services, DSS, and he has been exonorated of any wrong doing, President Buhari has accepted the findings of the AGF and accordingly re-submitted Magu’s name to the Senate for confirmation as the Chairman of the EFCC. I believe President Buhari should always be commended for following due process in doing his things as in this case no matter whose ox is gored.”
The post Confirm Magu’s appointment as Chairman of EFCC, Etiebet urges NASS appeared first on Vanguard News.
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By Joseph Erunke & Ndahi Marama
MAIDUGURI—After three separate suspected suicide bomb attacks were foiled by the Military in Maiduguri on Tuesday and in the early hours of yesterday, the Borno State Police Command, yesterday, confirmed the killing of four persons.
Borno State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Damian Chukwu, who stated this at a briefing in Maiduguri, explained that the first attempted suicide attack took place around midnight on Tuesday, while the other two took place yesterday morning.
Meanwhile, yesterday, the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Tukur Buratai, appealed to the media to be cautious of reports capable of jeopardizing ongoing military operations in the North East.
On the failed suicide bombings, Borno State Police boss, Mr. Chukwu, said: “The first incident occurred around 12:45a.m., Tuesday, when a suspected suicide bomber tried to penetrate the metropolis through Usmanti village.
“As he tried to cross over near a military checkpoint, he was gunned down by the soldiers on guard and the shooting triggered the explosive he was carrying, killing him alone.
“The second incident happened this morning around 4:50a.m., when a group of suspected suicide bombers also tried to penetrate the metropolis through Kaleri village.
“Unfortunately for them, there was a vigilant military checkpoint in the place and one of them was sighted trying to cross the fence and was gunned down.”
The commissioner said police bomb squad was invited after the explosive on the suspect refused to detonate.
He added: “Unknown to anybody, the remaining bomber had scaled through and moved about 200 meters away. She met some people and detonated her explosive, killing herself and one other person.”
Chukwu added that two persons around the vicinity were also injured and taken to hospital. He urged residents to be more vigilant by reporting strange things to the police and other security agencies.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Head of Delegation of International Red Cross, ICRC, and Red Crescent Movement, Mr. Eloi Fillion, yesterday, visited Maiduguri, to commiserate with families of six volunteers killed in last Tuesday’s accidental air strike in Rann, headquarters of Kala Balge Local Government Area.
Buratai
Buratai tasked the media to see themselves as partners in the peace, progress and security of the country, saying the Nigerian Army in particular and the military in general have no monopoly of the total security in the defence of the country.
Buratai appealed to the media to work closely with the military to achieve the needed success in the fight against Boko Haram terrorists in the North-East, the militancy in the Niger Delta and other security threats across the country, saying the task was not only for security outfits alone.
Although he admitted that there were challenges in the Army’s operations in the ongoing fight against Boko Haram, the Army chief, however, said any action the military has taken so far was in the best interest of the country.
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By Monsuru Olowoopejo
Lagos—The Lagos State Government yesterday created a 12-member Economic Advisory Committee headed by renowned accountant and financial expert, Dr Bode Agusto to spearhead the State Government’s drive to improve the business environment and advance the economic development of the State.
This was disclosed in a statement issued by the Secretary to the State Government, Mr Tunji Bello after the State Executive Council meeting at the Lagos House, Alausa, Ikeja.
Other members of the Committee are Mr Kehinde Durosinmi-Etti, Mr Kenneth Igbokwe, Mrs Nimi Akinkugbe, Mrs Adenike Ogunlana, Dr Laolu Mudashiru, Mrs Omobola Johnson, Mr Moruf Oseni and Mrs Yetunde Akinluyi, who would serve as the Secretary.
The State Government would be represented on the Committee by the Commissioners for Finance, Mr. Akinyemi Ashade, Energy and Mineral Resources, Mr Olawale Oluwo, and Commerce and Industry and Cooperatives, Mr Rotimi Ogunleye.
According to Bello, the private sector members of the committee were carefully selected based on their known track record of integrity, independence of thought and outlook as well as diverse industry experience.
He added that members of the Committee would be expected to commit to serve for at least two year while they would meet regularly and send reports to the State Executive Council, adding that the team would be allowed to invite industry experts to provide support during its deliberations.
The post Bode Agusto, 11 others make Lagos Economic Advisory Committee appeared first on Vanguard News.
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Fossil fuel
World’s first commercial fusion reactor promises limitless energy in just 10 years
More bad news for Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) and other crude oil products as the quest to end the world’s reliance on fossil fuels advances: A fusion power firm has raised $500 million (£405 million) to develop commercial fusion power.
According to a detailed report in Science, Tri Alpha Energy has already developed a machine that can hold hot plasma steady at 18 million°F (10 million°C) for 11.5 milliseconds.
The firm will use the funds to extend this time further and at even higher temperatures, and believes that it could have the world’s first commercial fusion reactor by 2027.
It is predicted that the advance further lead to fall in oil prices. Federal Government of Nigeria please note.
Fusion involves placing hydrogen atoms under high heat and pressure until they fuse into helium atoms. When deuterium and tritium nuclei – which can be found in hydrogen – fuse, they form a helium nucleus, a neutron and a lot of energy. This is down by heating the fuel to temperatures hotter than the surface of the sun.
Strong magnetic fields are used to keep the plasma away from the walls so that it doesn’t cool down and lost it energy potential. These are produced by superconducting coils surrounding the vessel, and by an electrical current driven through the plasma. For energy production. plasma has to be confined for a sufficiently long period for fusion to occur.
The particular type of fusion power Tri Alpha is working on is based on heating hydrogen atoms to temperatures of 5.4 billion°F (3 billion°C) – which is hotter than the surface of the sun. The heat creates plasma that has a mixture of electrons and ions. When ions in a plasma collide, they fuse together to form new atoms and release huge amounts of energy. It is a relatively simple concept, but the trick is in heating the gas to such a high temperature. Currently no known material can hold this heat.
Over the years, scientists have come up with two main methods to overcome this; cause an implosion that occurs rapidly, or use a magnetic field.
Tri Alpha Energy is using the latter option, but says it has made its breakthrough with an unusual reactor design – a long, tube that collides pairs of plasma donuts to produce heat.
According to a detailed report in Science, the team has placed magnets around a cigar shaped configuration that allows for firing angled plasma beams at one another.
The plasma that forms from its hydrogen and boron sample is then stabilised with beams of high-energy particles.
Tri Alpha is keeping many details about its project under wraps.
But Science has confirmed that the company now plans to create a fusion tube that boasts even more power and can reach hotter temperatures for longer periods of time.
Using this approach, the scientists were able to reportedly heat the gas up to 10 million °C for 11.5 milliseconds, at which point the machine ran out of fuel.
This, however, is still short of the 5.4 billion °F (3 billion °C) temperature needed to achieve a fusion reaction.
The team now plans to use the $500 million (£405 million) funding to improve its machine, dubbed C-2U, to achieve a ten-fold increase in temperature needed to create a fusion reactor design.
Scientists near end to reliance on fossil fuels
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Fossil fuel
World’s first commercial fusion reactor promises limitless energy in just 10 years
More bad news for Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) and other crude oil products as the quest to end the world’s reliance on fossil fuels advances: A fusion power firm has raised $500 million (£405 million) to develop commercial fusion power.
According to a detailed report in Science, Tri Alpha Energy has already developed a machine that can hold hot plasma steady at 18 million°F (10 million°C) for 11.5 milliseconds.
The firm will use the funds to extend this time further and at even higher temperatures, and believes that it could have the world’s first commercial fusion reactor by 2027.
It is predicted that the advance further lead to fall in oil prices. Federal Government of Nigeria please note.
Fusion involves placing hydrogen atoms under high heat and pressure until they fuse into helium atoms. When deuterium and tritium nuclei – which can be found in hydrogen – fuse, they form a helium nucleus, a neutron and a lot of energy. This is down by heating the fuel to temperatures hotter than the surface of the sun.
Strong magnetic fields are used to keep the plasma away from the walls so that it doesn’t cool down and lost it energy potential. These are produced by superconducting coils surrounding the vessel, and by an electrical current driven through the plasma. For energy production. plasma has to be confined for a sufficiently long period for fusion to occur.
The particular type of fusion power Tri Alpha is working on is based on heating hydrogen atoms to temperatures of 5.4 billion°F (3 billion°C) – which is hotter than the surface of the sun. The heat creates plasma that has a mixture of electrons and ions. When ions in a plasma collide, they fuse together to form new atoms and release huge amounts of energy. It is a relatively simple concept, but the trick is in heating the gas to such a high temperature. Currently no known material can hold this heat.
Over the years, scientists have come up with two main methods to overcome this; cause an implosion that occurs rapidly, or use a magnetic field.
Tri Alpha Energy is using the latter option, but says it has made its breakthrough with an unusual reactor design – a long, tube that collides pairs of plasma donuts to produce heat.
According to a detailed report in Science, the team has placed magnets around a cigar shaped configuration that allows for firing angled plasma beams at one another.
The plasma that forms from its hydrogen and boron sample is then stabilised with beams of high-energy particles.
Tri Alpha is keeping many details about its project under wraps.
But Science has confirmed that the company now plans to create a fusion tube that boasts even more power and can reach hotter temperatures for longer periods of time.
Using this approach, the scientists were able to reportedly heat the gas up to 10 million °C for 11.5 milliseconds, at which point the machine ran out of fuel.
This, however, is still short of the 5.4 billion °F (3 billion °C) temperature needed to achieve a fusion reaction.
The team now plans to use the $500 million (£405 million) funding to improve its machine, dubbed C-2U, to achieve a ten-fold increase in temperature needed to create a fusion reactor design.
Vía The Guardian NigeriaThe Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2k2Wneq
The 2017 N7.29 trillion budget proposal was subjected to critical scrutiny at the Senate yesterday with senators picking holes in several sectorial allocations. Some lawmakers maintained that Federal Government’s plan to diversify the economy did not get the desired attention in the budget.
Many senators also observed that it might be impossible for government to get the projected borrowing to fund the budget, stating that similar 2016 projections were not realised.
Senate President Bukola Saraki, who presided over the debate, disclosed that the budget scrutiny would be concluded today and it would be committed to the Appropriation Committee.
The Guardian learnt that the Senate would suspend plenary sitting for two weeks to allow its standing committees carry out budget defence sessions with Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDAs).
Chairman, Senate Committee on Health, Lanre Tejuoso (APC, Ogun Central), lamented that 11 million Nigerian children have not been fully developed due to inadequate funds to the health sector.
Aliyu Wammako said the budget failed to adequately address the issue of diversification of the economy. “We have agriculture and solid mineral sectors. They have not been addressed well.”
Dino Melaye described Buhari’s government as visionless. “The government of Shehu Shagari built estates in all the states. Sani Abacha developed the Vision 2010. Olusegun Obasanjo, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and Goodluck Jonathan all had their agenda. What is the agenda of this current government? We need to define one.”
John Enoh from Cross River State urged the president to sustain the ongoing peace efforts in the Niger Delta region if enough funds must be generated from oil to fund the budget.
Deputy Minority Whip, Biodun Olujimi, said the budget failed to address how the country will be taken out of its current economic recession.
Solomon Adeola from Lagos State queried the non-disclosure of excess money realised from the sale of crude oil. He said since the 2016 budget was predicated on an oil benchmark of $38, the government needs to tell Nigerians how much it had realised from the excess money made.
Chairman of the Senate Committee on Gas, Albert Bassey Akpan, decried the borrowing plan of the Federal Government and disclosed that the deficit in the budget is the same as the amount budgeted for capital projects.
Gbenga Ashafa (APC, Lagos State) urged his colleagues to examine the performance of the 2016 budget before they give nod to the passage of the 2017 budget.
Vía The Guardian NigeriaThe Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2jzqMxI
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has developed a 10-year Regional Agricultural Investment Plan (RAIP), to address emerging issues, such as climate change, nutrition and gender aspects of agriculture, towards promoting food security in West Africa.
The Director of Environment, ECOWAS Commission, Dr. Johnson Boanuh, speaking at the two-day Consultative Regional Committee for Agriculture and Food workshop, said the new or second generation RAIP, precedes the commission’s initial five-year plan. This is aimed at identifying agricultural excesses in the region, and ensuring distribution of the excesses to areas within countries and the region that suffer food shortages.
With the 10-year plan, which will run from 2016 to 2025, the region has identified seven emerging global agriculture issues, new ideas, and aims to integrate these issues into the plan for perusal and adoption by ECOWAS member states.
According to Boanuh, “with the current plan, we will consider various gender groups, the nutrition aspect – an important aspect that will help us produce nutritionally balanced foods that address a lot of health challenges, ensuring people are fed at the right time, with the right food, which prevents diseases.
“It also factors in the effects of climate change on food production and availability. Climate Change has become an emerging global issue. Therefore, we are paying serious attention to climate smart agriculture – which looks at how to make our agriculture responsive to climate challenges.”
To guarantee an encompassing approach, ECOWAS has helped member countries in establishing National Agriculture Investment Plans (NAIP), which dovetails with the RAIP. Funds are mobilised by member states government, and with development partners within the states, as well as across the region.
Boanuh also said that ECOWAS has set-up a Regional Agricultural Agency, located in Lomé, Togo, where mobilised funds will be managed by the agency and made available to various national groups to assist in the improvement of their agricultural productivity.
Identifying the successes of the five-year RAIP plan, Boanuh added that there has been a general increase in cereal production, agriculture information systems, animal husbandry and animal health approaches.
He, however, noted that only member states can identify their peculiar successes, via productivity increase, within the last five years.
Vía The Guardian NigeriaThe Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2jrAzby
Many senators also observed that it might be impossible for government to get the projected borrowing to fund the budget, stating that similar 2016 projections were not realised.
Senate President Bukola Saraki, who presided over the debate, disclosed that the budget scrutiny would be concluded today and it would be committed to the Appropriation Committee.
The Guardian learnt that the Senate would suspend plenary sitting for two weeks to allow its standing committees carry out budget defence sessions with Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDAs).
Chairman, Senate Committee on Health, Lanre Tejuoso (APC, Ogun Central), lamented that 11 million Nigerian children have not been fully developed due to inadequate funds to the health sector.
Aliyu Wammako said the budget failed to adequately address the issue of diversification of the economy. “We have agriculture and solid mineral sectors. They have not been addressed well.”
Dino Melaye described Buhari’s government as visionless. “The government of Shehu Shagari built estates in all the states. Sani Abacha developed the Vision 2010. Olusegun Obasanjo, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and Goodluck Jonathan all had their agenda. What is the agenda of this current government? We need to define one.”
John Enoh from Cross River State urged the president to sustain the ongoing peace efforts in the Niger Delta region if enough funds must be generated from oil to fund the budget.
Deputy Minority Whip, Biodun Olujimi, said the budget failed to address how the country will be taken out of its current economic recession.
Solomon Adeola from Lagos State queried the non-disclosure of excess money realised from the sale of crude oil. He said since the 2016 budget was predicated on an oil benchmark of $38, the government needs to tell Nigerians how much it had realised from the excess money made.
Chairman of the Senate Committee on Gas, Albert Bassey Akpan, decried the borrowing plan of the Federal Government and disclosed that the deficit in the budget is the same as the amount budgeted for capital projects.
Gbenga Ashafa (APC, Lagos State) urged his colleagues to examine the performance of the 2016 budget before they give nod to the passage of the 2017 budget.
Senators scrutinise 2017 budget, list flaws, commit bill to committees
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The Director of Environment, ECOWAS Commission, Dr. Johnson Boanuh, speaking at the two-day Consultative Regional Committee for Agriculture and Food workshop, said the new or second generation RAIP, precedes the commission’s initial five-year plan. This is aimed at identifying agricultural excesses in the region, and ensuring distribution of the excesses to areas within countries and the region that suffer food shortages.
With the 10-year plan, which will run from 2016 to 2025, the region has identified seven emerging global agriculture issues, new ideas, and aims to integrate these issues into the plan for perusal and adoption by ECOWAS member states.
According to Boanuh, “with the current plan, we will consider various gender groups, the nutrition aspect – an important aspect that will help us produce nutritionally balanced foods that address a lot of health challenges, ensuring people are fed at the right time, with the right food, which prevents diseases.
“It also factors in the effects of climate change on food production and availability. Climate Change has become an emerging global issue. Therefore, we are paying serious attention to climate smart agriculture – which looks at how to make our agriculture responsive to climate challenges.”
To guarantee an encompassing approach, ECOWAS has helped member countries in establishing National Agriculture Investment Plans (NAIP), which dovetails with the RAIP. Funds are mobilised by member states government, and with development partners within the states, as well as across the region.
Boanuh also said that ECOWAS has set-up a Regional Agricultural Agency, located in Lomé, Togo, where mobilised funds will be managed by the agency and made available to various national groups to assist in the improvement of their agricultural productivity.
Identifying the successes of the five-year RAIP plan, Boanuh added that there has been a general increase in cereal production, agriculture information systems, animal husbandry and animal health approaches.
He, however, noted that only member states can identify their peculiar successes, via productivity increase, within the last five years.
ECOWAS advances 10-year plan to address agriculture issues
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Fitch Ratings
• Five banks dominate CBN’s $1.1b forex disbursements
International ratings agency, Fitch Ratings yesterday revised the outlook on Nigeria’s long-term foreign and local currency issuer default ratings (IDRs) to negative from stable, putting it at ‘B+’.
By this, Fitch is telling international investors that the country’s debt offer is subject to speculations (uncertainty) and moving towards non-investment grade.
A credit rating is used by sovereign wealth funds, pension funds and other investors to gauge the credit worthiness of a country, thus there is a big impact on the country’s borrowing costs.
The last time Fitch rated Nigeria this low was shortly after unveiling of the flexible foreign exchange policy by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) citing currency depreciation.
According to the agency, the revision of the Outlook on Nigeria’s Long-Term IDRs reflected tight liquidity and low oil production, which have so far led to the country’s recession since 1994.
While the economy contracted through the first three quarters of 2016, Fitch now estimates a growth of -1.5 per cent in 2016 as a whole and expects a limited economic recovery in 2017, with growth of 1.5 per cent, which it said is well below the 2011-15 annual growth average of 4.8 per cent.
It added that gross general government debt increased to an estimated 17% of GDP at end-2016, from 13% at end-2015, lending a support to the rating.
Meanwhile, the CBN has said its foreign exchange utilisation records for banks showed a disbursement of $1.1 billion in November 2016.
However, of the 4,328 transactions in the period under review, five banks dominated the deals with 2,892, representing about 67 per cent of the total activity.
The banks with highest utilisation were First Bank of Nigeria, with 1,039 deals; Zenith Bank, 706; Stanbic IBTC, 397; Standard Chartered Bank of Nigeria, 389; and First City Monument Bank, 361.
Out of 25 financial institutions- commercial and merchant banks involved in the transactions, only 1,436 deals were left for the remaining 20 banks.
The apex bank yesterday asked banks to bid in a special currency auction due soon, in efforts to clear backlog of demands from businesses.
The backlogs were particularly for fuel importers, airlines, raw-materials producers, and makers of agricultural chemicals and machinery for manufacturers.
In December 2016, CBN sold about $1 billion on the forward market to tackle the backlog of dollar demands, in an effort to support production and fulfill its pledge to the real sector operators.
Research analyst at FXTM, Lukman Otunuga, noted that CBN is aware that the nation still remains exposed to both external and internal risks, particularly exchange rate, despite improved outlook, which should keep the CBN on high alert.
“It must be understood that the cause behind the incessant rise in consumer prices is the disparity between the official and black market exchange,” he said.
Fitch downgrades Nigeria’s rating to negative
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Government says the situation is under control and efforts to curb joblessness will pay off in 2017. The country’s unemployment rate rose from 13.3 per cent in the second quarter of 2016 to 13.9 per cent in third quarter, according to the National Bureau of Statistics’ Unemployment/Under-employment Report released in October last year.
The rising rate of unemployment will enlarge existing risk of insecurity and militancy in major parts of the country and undermine government’s efforts at fighting insurgency in the Northeast, uprisings in the Southeast and other serious crimes in parts of the country. Past President of the Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA), Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa, in agreeing with the WEF/LBS’ report, said Nigeria is experiencing insecurity largely due to joblessness and perceived marginalization. He added that unemployment rate has been rising consistently since 2014.
The Nigeria Economic Transformation Map co-curated with the Lagos Business School (LBS), as written by Dr Franklin Ngwu, Ndidi–Edozien and Olayinka David-West — all of the LBS — insists that the high rate of unemployment “can be attributed to many factors such as high dependence on oil revenue and limited diversification of the economy.” It called for urgent action by government.
“The impact of unemployment is already evident, as we look at general levels of militancy in the South South, the problems with the Boko Haram and even some of the eruptions in other parts of the country, especially the IPOB and the MASSOB,” says Ohuabunwa who still sits in the NECA council. He argues that the country’s misery index has reached 50 per cent, meaning that more than half of Nigeria’s more than 180 million people “are miserable.” The Misery Index is a measure of unemployment in line with inflation rate — the average rate of increase in prices of good and services. Ohuabunwa explains that gross unemployment rate when factored with under-employment rate in the third quarter of last year for example, puts the unemployment rate at 50 per cent. “We are the third highest country with misery index, only behind Venezuela and Iraq. Recession has worsened our condition. Therefore, social stability and job creation should be at the core of our economic policy.”
But there is always the good side. Abiola Rasaq, an investment analyst with the UBA Capital, sees the challenge posed by youth unemployment differently. “It can either be positive or negative for the country,” he submits. “The rising youth unemployment reinforces the fact that Nigeria can become a manufacturing giant given the repository of labour force,” says Rasaq as he cites the productive activities of the Asian Tigers — China, Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia, among others — with relatively cheap labour. “If we can harness and drive productivity, then it will be a win-win.”
Rasaq agrees that failure to harness “this rich human capital resource can create social menace for us. There is potential that unemployed youths can become a social force for civil unrest; we need to ensure that we make our youths productive,” said Rasaq who cited the Tony Elumelu Foundation and the Dangote Foundation as exemplary initiatives driving entrepreneurship and job creation.
The Federal Government yesterday responded to The Guardian enquiry on the WEF/LBS report as Festus Akanbi, the media aide to the Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, said “government already has a lot of programmes to address unemployment this year.”
Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity in the office of the Vice President, Mr. Laolu Akande, also said government’s N-Power programme is already targeting unemployed graduates.
“Half a million people are being targeted but we have done 200,000. It is just for unemployed graduates. And we have already reached another 100,000 non-graduates as micro credit is being made available to young people who want to develop their businesses.”
Akande explained that the scheme is not limited to youths but they could get as much as N100, 000 business grant as part of government’s Social Investment Scheme. He also hinted of plans to create technology hubs in eight strategic centres across the country — one each in Lagos and Abuja, and the rest in the six geopolitical zones of the country.
The number of unemployed in the labour force, the NBS said, increased by 555,311 persons just as the underemployment rate rose from 19.3 per cent in second quarter to 19.7 in the third quarter.
Nigerians aged 15 to 64, who during the reference period were available and actively seeking work but were without work were categorised ‘unemployed,’ while underemployment occurs when a person works less than 40 hours, but works at least 20 hours a week. The NBS also explained that underemployment could occur when a person works full time but is engaged in an activity that underutilises his skills, time and educational qualifications.
According to Ngwu, a co-curator of the Nigeria Economic Transformation Map, “Nigeria is constrained by many challenges such as limited infrastructure development, youth unemployment, insecurity, human capital development and issues of good governance.
The report stressed that addressing the “youth unemployment is not only important, but also most urgent given the link between unemployment and other social problems such as terrorism, kidnapping, armed robbery, which are unfortunately becoming more common in Nigeria.”
Joe Ajero, who leads one of the factions of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), yesterday told The Guardian that the unemployment situation was a national emergency. “No one needs to tell us that this is a problem that will explode any moment from now, especially as those who are leaving school are not getting jobs,” he said. “Those who are working are not being paid salaries and those who had worked and are retired are not being paid their pensions.” Ajero called for urgent action to avert what he said could lead to civil unrest.
Rising youth unemployment puts Nigeria on ‘time bomb’
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