Vía Uzomedia http://ift.tt/2mE2UNT
Showing posts with label March 08. Show all posts
Showing posts with label March 08. Show all posts
Thursday, 9 March 2017
Wednesday, 8 March 2017
Smuggled cars: Customs approve 60% rebate on duties from 2015
By Kingsley Omonobi
Abuja—The Nigerian Customs Service, NCS, has approved a 60 per cent rebate for duties to be paid for cars smuggled into the country from 2015, even as it increased the number of payment points to enable auto dealers and private car owners pay duties on the vehicles.
A statement signed by Acting Public Relations Officer, Assistant Controller of Customs, Joseph Attah, said: “In response to public complains and suggestions, the Comptroller-General of Customs, Col. Hameed Ibrahim Ali (retd) has approved the adjustment of points of payment and 60% rebate across board from 2015 downward to ease the process and encourage all motor dealers in position of un-customed vehicles to come forward and pay duty.
“While the grace period remains Monday, March 13 to Wednesday April 12, the points of payments, with the exception of Lagos and Port Harcourt, will now be the nearest Customs Area Command.
“Motor dealers in Lagos are to pay their duties at Zone ‘A’ Headquarters, No. 1 Harvey Road, Yaba and Federal Operations Unit, Zone ‘A’, Ikeja. While in Port Harcourt, auto duty payment will be at Zone ‘C’ Headquarters, Nigeria Ports Authority.”
“In the same vein, private vehicle owners who know that duty has not been paid on their vehicles could take advantage of this grace period to do so. Therefore, owners of such vehicles or their representatives are expected to go to the nearest pay-point for assessment and payment.
“It should, however, be noted that the 60% rebate applies only within the grace period. For the avoidance of doubt, the decision to grant a grace period for auto duty payment was not a sudden and arbitrary one, but a product of consultations and long standing engagement with the leadership of Association of Motor Dealers of Nigeria, AMDON, who pleaded for a ‘window’ to pay duty on all un-customed vehicles within the country before the ban on vehicle importation through the land borders.
The post Smuggled cars: Customs approve 60% rebate on duties from 2015 appeared first on Vanguard News.
Vía Vanguard News http://ift.tt/2molKrR
Bold for Change: Celebrating women in 2017
By Josephine Agbonkhese & Anino Aganbi
IT is about the best time to be a woman, so much so that the menfolk across the globe are positively green with envy. So much honour and intervention have been conferred on the fair gender that it almost seems unfair.
Still, there is much ground to be broken, and broken it will be, because others have done it; and done so at a time when it was virtually unthinkable to be different.
The disruption caused by the digital world in this information age has brought about an unprecedented level of awareness of the dire need for social change, especially as it relates to contemporary times and not only women but the society at large.
We choose this period – the commemoration of the International Women’s Day, to celebrate a tiny but representative group of women who have broken social boundaries and opened the door to others by their boldness, simplicity and consistency.
Aisha Jummai Al-Hassan
EXCEPT for the sudden turn of events, Nigeria would currently be having in the Taraba State House her first-ever elected female governor in person of Aisha Jummai Al-Hassan, popularly known as Mama Taraba.
Yes, politics in Nigeria has always been dominated by men until a few years ago when women began to dare the terrain but there’s no denying the fact that Al-Hassan took it to a whole new level when in the 2015 elections, she contested for the governorship seat in Taraba State under the All Progressive Congress, APC, scaled through party primaries where many women complain of being cowed to dump their political ambition; and ran an energetic election campaign where others decry ‘money politics’. She also successfully garnered Christian support despite herself being Muslim.
Her efforts will forever inspire female politicians to doggedly aspire to become governors and perhaps president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on mainstream political platforms, in subsequent elections.
Previously a Senator representing Taraba North constituency of Taraba State, Al-Hassan is currently Minister for Women Affairs. A lawyer by training, she was the first female to be appointed Taraba State Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice, among many other firsts.
Kehinde Kamson
AT a time when the Quick Service Restaurant, QSR, industry was solely the preserve of foreign investors like the United Africa Company of Nigeria, UAC, which first brought the concept into Nigeria in the 1960s when it set up Mr. Bigg’s, Kehinde Kamsom saw a gap. She particularly noticed the approach to the QSR business didn’t quite reflect the Nigerian society.
Thus, in 1994, Kamson started Sweet Sensation, a QSR business, from a tiny guard house in Ilupeju, Lagos, after 10 years of running a small local food business.
Her approach to the business has been to combine local and international menus while constantly creating new recipes.In fact, Sweet Sensations is known for being the first outlet to feature local cuisine on the menu.
The business has since grown to become one of the most successful chain of QSR businesses in Nigeria with dozens of outlets across the country and thousands of employees.
While Kamson might be easily seen today as an outstanding female business leader, she wouldn’t matter much today if she wasn’t daring enough to delve into the QSR terrain while her contemporaries stuck to local food joint operation. Lady Kamson, with her sheer boldness, has since inspired other food businesses to evolve into QSR and provoked an unprecedented expansion and growth in the industry in Nigeria.
Otunba Bola Kuforiji-Olubi
THIS list cannot be complete without Otunba Bola Kuforiji- Olubi of blessed memory, a woman who demystified the corporate world and its boardroom, inspiring other women to follow suit. She is a woman of many firsts.
Born 82 years ago in an era where women were regarded as only good for the kitchen, Kuforiji-Olubi defied all odds to become one of the first women to make serious impacts in the highly male-dominated banking profession in the country.
She had become a headmistress at age 19 at Zawan Girls Catholic Primary School in Jos where she had started out a Grade-II teacher, but her thirst for knowledge made her abandon that job for a degree in Economics in 1963 at the University of London. While she later studied Accountancy, her name however did not strike any chords until 1977 when she became the first Nigerian female graduate of Chartered Accountant of England and Wales, as well as that of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria-ICAN.
Immediately after her degree in accountancy, she entered into the banking profession, aimed for the top, and through hard work and resilience, by 1984, she had become the first-ever female chairman of a leading financial institution, United Bank for Africa Plc. Kuforiji-Olubi was also the first Nigerian woman to be CEO of a multinational company; first female Chairman of a public company quoted on the Nigerian Stock Exchange; first woman to preside over the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, ICAN (from 1989 to 1990); and in 1993, she was appointed Minister for Commerce & Tourism.
Kuforiji-Olubi was in fact a boardroom guru extraordinaire—chairing and serving on the boards of several companies— and she played it out like a man, never succumbing to intimidation.
Dr Josephine Obiajulu Okei-Odumakin
A PROTEGE of Gani Fawehinmi and Beko Ransome Kuti, Odumakin is an activist with a rare personality. An enigma of some sorts who has traversed courageously where even men fear to tread, her foray into activism dates back to the era of military dictatorship in Nigeria. Despite her many travails, for Odumakin, there is no giving up. She’s been in an out of detention for about seventeen times, been severally beaten by soldiers and also stripped naked in some occasions.
In the course of her work during Ibrahim Babangidda’s regime, Odumakin had been urinated upon while lying still to evade arrest at the Police Headquarters where she had gone to place anti-Babangidda posters around 1am. She didn’t however escape that scene without being beaten to pop.
One of the most memorable accounts of her activism was of a day she was billed to address a press conference but went into labour the early morning the same day. When her doctor examined her around 7.30am, it was confirmed that the labour had advanced and seeing that it couldn’t be stopped for her to go ahead with her press conference, Odumakin patiently waited till 9.10am when she delivered the baby, and before even her mother could say Jack, she disappeared from hospital, went to the conference venue, did her thing and then returned to the hospital.
Odumakin was aptly honoured a couple of years ago in America with the Woman of Courage award. In fact, her consistency and unwavering determination for survival of democracy in Nigeria made Professor Wole Soyinka to describe her as “a tireless fighter…who remains an inspiration to men and women, old and young.”
Justice Mariam Muktar
JUSTICE Mariam Aloma Muktar had her primary education at the St. George’s School and St. Bartholomews’s school, Zaria between 1950-1957. She attained her GCE O’Levels in 1962 at Rossholme School for Girls in East Brent, Somerset, England and later attended Technical College, Berkshire England. She was called to the English Bar in 1967 after graduating with honours from Gibson and Welder college in 1966. She was also called to the Nigerian Bar in 1967 after she had attained her English Bar. She is the first woman from the North, who has set the trail for many women around Nigeria to look up to. Among many firsts which she has achieved, Justice Muktar made history for being the first woman to be appointed to the Supreme Court in Nigeria. She also made history when she was appointed as the Chief Registrar, Kano State Government Judiciary (1973 – 1977) and Judge, High Court of Kano State in 1977 and Justice, Court of Appeal in 1987.
Justice Mukhtar began her legal career as a pupil counsel in the Ministry of Justice of Northern Nigeria in 1967. She was later appointed Magistrate Grade I, North Eastern Government (1969 – 1973), thus scoring another first as the first female Magistrate in the Northern region.
The post Bold for Change: Celebrating women in 2017 appeared first on Vanguard News.
Vía Vanguard News http://ift.tt/2mo0Wkj
Rangers depart for Cairo as Al Merreikh storm Garden City
Nigerian champions Enugu Rangers will fly out of the country on Thursday for their CAF Champions League second round, first leg encounter with Zamalek FC of Egypt on Sunday.
The Confederation of African Football has appointed respected South African official, Daniel Frazer Bennett to be in charge of the clash at the Al Salam Stadium in Cairo. Kick off is 9pm Egypt time.
Bennett will be assisted by fellow South Africans Zakhele Thusi Siwela (assistant referee 1), Sandile Dilikane (assistant referee 2) and Tinyiko Victor Hlungwani (reserve referee). The match commissioner is former FIFA referee Mourad Daami from Tunisia.
Enugu Rangers’ chairman, ‘Chairman’ Christian Chukwu said on Wednesday that the ‘Flying Antelopes’ have the go-go spirit and the tenacity to dig their feet into the ground against the ‘Mediterranean Knights’.
“We will go to Egypt with a gameplan to get a favourable result ahead of the return leg in Enugu next weekend,” said the former Nigeria captain and coach.
Enugu Rangers eliminated Algerian debutants JS Saoura on the away goal rule in the earlier round, and must be at their best to overcome the experienced Egyptian campaigners to reach the lucrative mini-league stage of Africa’s prime club competition.
Rivers United, the second team flying Nigeria’s flag in the CAF Champions League, will host top Sudanese side, Al Merreikh at the Yakubu Gowon Stadium, Port Harcourt also on Sunday.
The ‘Pride of Rivers’ were in great form in the earlier round, pounding AS Real Bamako 4-0 at the same venue after both teams played a 0-0 draw in Bamako in the first leg.
Egyptian official Ghead Grisha, who was in charge when the Super Eagles defeated Zambia 2-1 in Ndola at the beginning of the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying series five months ago, will superintend proceedings in Port Harcourt. He will be assisted by fellow Egyptians Tahssen Abo El Sadat Bedyer (assistant referee 1), Ayman Degaish (assistant referee 2) and Mahmoud Zakaria Mohammed (reserve referee). The match commissioner is Mukaila Nassam Adam from Ghana.
The post Rangers depart for Cairo as Al Merreikh storm Garden City appeared first on Vanguard News.
Vía Vanguard News http://ift.tt/2nh0IsN
“I’m Not Interested In Playing His Father” – Aamir Khan On Sanjay Dutt’s Biopic…Read full details
One movie that has been in the news in recent times is Rajkumar Hirani‘s biopic on Sanjay Dutt starring Ranbir Kapoor. While Kapoor Junior has been working hard to ape Sanju’s physique from his younger days, Hirani is still finalising on the extended cast. While the movie is on Sanjay’s life, a major part of it explores his relationship with his father Sunil Dutt.
Fun fact for all you Aamir Khan lovers out there – he was first offered the role of Sunil Dutt. According to a report in DNA, the writers of the film first went to Aamir for a narration but he was rather surprised when he heard the part they’d come for. We hear he very politely told them, “I thought you were coming to narrate the role of Sanjay Dutt. I am not interested in playing the role of his father.”
The role will now be played by veteran Paresh Rawal. But can you imagine seeing Ranbir and Aamir in the same frame? That would’ve been be all sorts of amazing!
The post “I’m Not Interested In Playing His Father” – Aamir Khan On Sanjay Dutt’s Biopic is copyright of MissMalini.
Source: Miss Malini
Vía Uzomedia http://ift.tt/2m1s05b
“If A Woman Enjoys Sex, It Doesn’t Mean That She Is A Slut” – Randeep Hooda…Read full details
Actor Randeep Hooda is all set to make his TV debut with MTV’s latest reality show Big F, which explores the deepest and darkest fantasies and experiences of young Indians. Interesting! At the launch, he was asked about what he thought about slut-shaming, because let’s face it, almost every woman has been slut-shamed at some point in her life for the choices she makes.
Here’s what he said,
The show talks to men that women are not an object of your desire, she is a person. If a woman enjoys sex, it doesn’t mean that she is a slut.
AMEN!
The post “If A Woman Enjoys Sex, It Doesn’t Mean That She Is A Slut” – Randeep Hooda is copyright of MissMalini.
Source: Miss Malini
Vía Uzomedia http://ift.tt/2mDBQ1d
“Ranveer Singh Will Settle Down The Fastest” – Varun Dhawan…Read full details
Varun Dhawan is busy gearing up for the release of his big Dharma film Badrinath Ki Dulhania, and from the looks of it, this film is going to be one joy ride! After shying away from questions about his personal life for years now, Varun has slowly been talking about it. He recently accepted the fact that there is a special someone in his life aka Natasha Dalal, and he gave her full credit for sticking by him through thick and thin.
So, it’s obvious that people would want to know more. At a recent promotional event, VD was asked about his take on marriage and whether he plans to tie the knot some day.
Definitely! It is very different now. We discuss so much about live-in relationships and all that. Love is love. Marriage is something that cements people’s love and you should do it only if you want to, not because you are forced to. Yes, I believe in the institution of marriage and I feel that it totally works.
When asked who out of the younger lot of Ranbir Kapoor, Arjun Kapoor, Ranveer Singh, Sidharth Malhotra etc. would tie the knot, pat came the answer:
I think maybe Ranveer will settle down the fastest. I guess the naughtiest ones always go first.
Is he hinting at something here? Time will tell… We can only hope that’s true!
The post “Ranveer Singh Will Settle Down The Fastest” – Varun Dhawan is copyright of MissMalini.
Source: Miss Malini
Vía Uzomedia http://ift.tt/2m19Gti
Trump seeks to rally support for health reform as doubts grow
US President Donald Trump (R) speaks with US Congressman and Majority Whip Steve Scalise (L), R-Louisiana, during a meeting with the US House Deputy Whip team at the White House in Washington, DC, March 7, 2017.<br />JIM WATSON / AFP
US President Donald Trump’s deal-making was put to the test Wednesday in his first major legislative battle, as Congress hotly debated a health care replacement plan opposed by several lawmakers in his own party.
Two committees in the House of Representatives began reviewing a sweeping bill that unwinds and replaces the Affordable Care Act, the emblematic health care reforms implemented under Barack Obama.
After seven years of Republican efforts to rip up Obamacare, it remained unclear whether Trump has the necessary votes to get the controversial replacement measure across the finish line — even with Republicans controlling the White House and both chambers of Congress.
Trump and his team are “in full sell mode” regarding the plan, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said. Republican leaders indicated they want to get the bill to the president’s desk prior to the Easter break in early April.
Tempers flared in the House Energy and Commerce Committee as lawmakers clashed over how to proceed.
Democrats sought unsuccessfully to postpone the bill’s consideration for 30 days. They also threatened to introduce some 100 amendments to the measure. “If people didn’t like Obamacare, they’re going to hate this,” said House Democrat Eliot Engel.
The plan was crafted by Republican leaders and endorsed by Trump, who campaigned heavily last year on a pledge to repeal and replace Obamacare. But influential Republicans are hardening against the plan, arguing it is too similar to the law despised by conservatives.
Far-right lawmakers said the plan shuns conservative principles by maintaining government subsidies of the Affordable Care Act, under the guise of “refundable tax credits” for people to purchase their own health insurance.
“I don’t think the plan they introduced yesterday is going to bring down the cost for working-class and middle-class families,” House Republican Jim Jordan told MSNBC.
– Hard sell –
Under pressure to bring several Republicans back on board, Trump huddled with conservative leaders whose organizations have criticized the plan. Among them was Adam Brandon of FreedomWorks, who sought to cut through the tension.
“This is a great step in exchanging ideas to figure out a way that we can all be on the exact same page, and I’m confident in the process Obamacare will be gone and replaced with a much better alternative,” Brandon said at the White House.
Trump afterward dined with conservative Senator Ted Cruz, who has said the bill as written likely would not pass the Senate.
Many conservatives oppose using the tax credits, which would range from $2,000 a year for someone under age 30, to $4,000 for someone 60 or older. Democrats warn that those credits are on average less than the subsidies built into the Obamacare premiums.
The new plan “will cause millions to lose insurance as well as blow a gigantic hole in the federal budget,” top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer said, noting that congressional officials have yet to release a cost estimate for the legislation.
Energy and Commerce Committee chairman Greg Walden promised the new plan “will not pull the rug out from anyone as we transition away from this failing law.”
Democrats cautioned that Republicans were starting to ram the massive legislation through Congress just two days after it was introduced. “Withdraw this message bill, and work with us to improve the Affordable Care Act,” implored Democrat Jerry McNerney.
House Speaker Paul Ryan said he had “no doubt” the bill would pass his chamber. But he acknowledged there have been “growing pains” along the way as Republicans gained control of the White House and readied their bill.
Some House conservatives contradicted Ryan’s positive outlook.
“With the current bill, there’s not 218,” the votes needed to pass legislation in the House, congressman David Brat told reporters. No Democrats have expressed support for the plan.
With debate dragging late Wednesday in the Ways and Means Committee, chairman Kevin Brady said the panel “will work through the night, if that’s what it takes.” Democrat Engel warned that Republicans could face a brutal reckoning if their plan fails to improve on the current system.
If passage of Obamacare’s landmark reforms led to Democrats losing their majority in Congress, Engel told Republicans, “you guys are putting yourself in jeopardy of losing the majority because of this monstrosity.”
Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2mZSHfy
Makarfi denies pact with Sheriff, both disagree over Dickson panel report (Read full details)
Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State and PDP Factional Chairman, Ahmed Makarfi at PDP NEC Meeting.
• PDP senators to discuss out-of-court settlement with govs
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Caretaker Committee Chairman, Senator Ahmed Makarfi, yesterday declared that he had not entered into any agreement with the National Chairman of the party, Ali Modu Sheriff.
Makarfi in a statement by his personal assistant, Mukhtar Zubair Sirajo, described as untrue “reports of acceptance of certain conditions as a precursor to reconciliation within the PDP family.”
“Senator Ahmed Makarfi wishes to state categorically that even though his commitment to reconciliation in the party as well as that of the caretaker committee are total and unwavering, neither he nor the committee has given or accepted any terms to or from anybody,” the statement added.
Also, Sheriff and Makarfi have disagreed over the report of the Seriake Dickson-led reconciliation committee. While Sheriff accepted the recommendations of the committee, Makarfi rejected it, describing the report as a breach of the February 17 Appeal Court judgement, which reinstated Sheriff as the party’s national chairman.
The committee on Tuesday submitted a report to Sheriff with recommendations on how to reunite warring factions of the PDP and that the national unity convention be convened on or before June 30 this year.
Rising from a meeting of the National Working Committee (NWC) yesterday evening, the Sheriff leadership of the party disclosed that it had already given a directive to the National Organising Secreatary, Okey Nnadozie, to begin preparation for the event.
The communiqué issued at the end of the NWC meeting signed by the National Secretary, Wole Oladipo, commended the Dickson-led committee for the job.
But Makarfi in a statement yesterday stated that the National Caretaker Committee disagreed with the recommendations. He said: “I am shocked and disappointed that the Governor of Bayelsa made public presentation of a purported report approved or endorsed by us and other stakeholders as reported.”
“The committee did not see any draft report, although Dickson promised to come with it. In any case, as personal advice I referred him to the organs of the party and the Goodluck Committee,” he stated.
Meanwhile, the PDP caucus in the Senate acting on an invitation from Sheriff met yesterday after plenary and resolved to meet with the 11 governors from the party to discuss out-of-court settlement of the crisis in the party.
Briefing journalists after the meeting, the Senate Minority Leader, Senator Godswill Akpabio said the PDP senators felt there was need for them to meet the governors before honouring the invitation sent to them by Sheriff.
Vía Uzomedia http://ift.tt/2mljK1K
I left N20 billion in Ondo State coffers, says Olusegun Mimiko (Read full details)
Olusegun Mimiko
Rebuffs N150b debt claims by APC
The immediate past government in Ondo State led by Dr. Olusegun Mimiko said it left N20 billion in the state coffers, refuting allegations by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) that it inherited N150 billion debt.
It said the claim by the APC spokesperson, Mr. Abayomi Adesanya, that the new government met a debt profile of N150b, “is a lie from the pit of hell.”
It advised the APC to face the business of governance instead of indulging in cheap blackmail that won’t justify its mandate. The Commissioner for Information in the last administration, Mr. Kayode Akinmade, reacting to the debt profile claim in Akure yesterday, said the Mimiko administration which did not enter into any contractual obligation to warrant any increase in the external debt inherited by it when it assumed office eight years ago, was able to reduce the debt profile to $49.9 million.
He said Adesanya is obviously intimidated by the performance record of the past government and will rather continue with his pre-election falsehood and lie-selling to seek attention, than live with the reality.
Akinmade explained that the foreign debt were overseas contracted obligations initiated by the two previous governments before the immediate past one.
He put the domestic debts incurred by the last administration at about N53 billion with salary arrears of about N20 billion, submitting however that the Mimiko-led government left over N20 billion in the state’s coffers for the APC government.
Vía Uzomedia http://ift.tt/2mlcIu3
‘Nigeria not affected by United States’ new immigration policy’ (Read full details)
Nigeria's minister of foreign affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama. PHOTO: TWITTER/ GEOFFREY ONYEAMA
Italy deports 37 Nigerians
United States of America embassy in Nigeria yesterday denied claims that some Nigerians with valid travel documents were denied entry into the U.S and sent back on the next available flight.
It also stated that Nigeria was not in any way affected by the Executive Order on Immigration. While dismissing the allegation of refusal of entry into its country as untrue, the U.S urged Nigerians with valid visas, who intend to visit the country to feel free to do so and not postpone or cancel their planned trips.
The statement by the Information Office of the Embassy of the United States of America in Abuja, read in part: “The U.S. Embassy in Abuja wishes to clarify that there is no reason for Nigerians with valid visas to postpone or cancel their travel to the United States.
“Nigeria is not named in the Executive Order on Immigration issued on March 6, and there is no prohibition against Nigerian lawful permanent residents or persons with a valid visa or other U.S. government authorisation from entering the United States.”
Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora Matters, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, had on Monday, advised Nigerians without urgent reasons to shelve their visits to the U.S pending a clearer immigration policy.
She had hinged her advice on the reports received by her office to the effect that some Nigerians with valid travel documents were denied entry into the U. S.
This was however, refuted by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, on Tuesday that “We have absolutely no report whatsoever from the U.S. that our people are being turned back from the U.S. or any of our consulate or any Nigerian that any of our people are turned back.”
Meanwhile, the Italian government has deported 37 Nigerians over immigration-related offences. The deportees arrived at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMlA), Lagos, on Tuesday night. The deportees, who were all males, were brought back in a chartered aircraft with registration number OM-IEX.
Spokesman of the Lagos Airport Police Command, DSP Joseph Alabi, confirmed the development yesterday.
Vía Uzomedia http://ift.tt/2mlpjxe
Foreign airlines reconsider boycott of Kaduna airport (Read full details)
Ethiopian airlines
• Sirika, others welcome Ethiopian flight
• Reps task aviation officials on landing facility
Some foreign airlines have reversed their boycott of Kaduna International Airport as alternative aerodrome during the temporary closure of Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA) Abuja, for repair works.
The Guardian learnt that following an inspection of the refurbished Kaduna airport, carriers like Lufthansa have now expressed their intention to fly to Kaduna.
Meanwhile, Ethiopian Airlines’ Boeing 787 Dream Liner was welcomed to a ceremonial water shower Wednesday in Kaduna, to flag off the beginning of Abuja-bound flights diversion and closure of Abuja airport.
Ethiopian Airlines, which is the largest in Africa, had pledged to fly to Kaduna at a time foreign legacy carriers rejected the option, citing security and logistic concerns.
Minister of State for Aviation, Hadi Sirika, while welcoming Ethiopian Airlines and rounding off inspection of the new terminal, said: “I told Lufthansa in Frankfurt and British Airways that we are in the time of need but not stupid to close down Abuja and open Kaduna. It borders on safety.
“My disappointment was that none of them came to inspect the Kaduna airport to see what we have or don’t have. If they had done so, I would have provided for them what they need.
“Ethiopian Airlines are here today because they came here to inspect. They said, well, your fire cover is Category 7, you need to upgrade to Category 9. They said also your tower is obstructed where it is, is not fair enough, bring in the mobile tower. And I said done, to prove to them that we are ready to please back them.”
Sirika disclosed that the foreign airlines, however, came on March 1 to inspect the Kaduna airport and began to have a change of mind. “They visited Kaduna and saw the amount of work done. They saw the airfield lighting, runway markings and other things we have done. They saw the general ambiance of the security.
“They saw all these and said they would reconsider, sending reports to their headquarters. Most of them have called us that they have considered. One of the airlines (Lufthansa) has said that they will begin next week,” he said.
Managing Director of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), Capt. Fola Akinkuotu, said given the level of investment already deployed to Kaduna, “it is better for the airlines and also for commercial reasons, to operate from here.”
In a related development, the House of Representatives yesterday called for urgent acquisition and installation of Instrument Landing Systems (ILS) in all federal airports in the country.
Following a motion by Igariwey Iduma Enwo (PDP, Ebonyi), lawmakers maintained that the equipment would specifically help airlines and airports to continue operations in low visibility conditions such as heavy rain, very low cloud or harmattan haze and at night.
Vía Uzomedia http://ift.tt/2mliBar
Osinbajo assures Nigerian women of better protection (Read full details)
Key Speaker, Dorothy Udeme Ufot (left); Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Gambaraa Nigeria Limited, Hajja Amina Zanna Ibrahim and President, WISCAR, Amina Oyagbola, during the 2017 International Women’s Day celebration in Lagos…yesterday. PHOTO: AYODELE ADENIRAN
Dogara canvasses women, girls’ empowerment
As Nigeria joins the rest of the world to mark this year’s International Women’s Day, Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo, yesterday commended the contributions of Nigerian women to national development and promised that government would do more to ensure their safety.
He highlighted Federal Government’s intervention programmes aimed at empowering women and assured that the administration was committed to their protection from all forms of violence, especially those living in parts of the country with security challenges.
Osinbajo said government would strive to use its laws, cultural and religious institutions, as well as its resources to empower women, give them opportunity, and protect their rights to a safe, healthy, stable and quality life.
Meanwhile, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara canvassed the inclusion of women in politics and other fields of human endeavour in the country.
Dogara, who spoke as part of activities to celebrate the 2017 International Women’s Day, maintained that women deserve a better deal since they play pivotal roles in the society.
The Speaker maintained that gender should not restrict the dreams and aspirations of millions of women, adding that it behooves the authority not to relent in its effort to ensure promotion of the girl-child education in the polity.
“They are our daughters, and so we all must be bold for change and support the women around us to achieve their goals and maximise their potential and talents. A status quo that relegates women to the background is unhealthy for national development,” Dogara said.
Vía Uzomedia http://ift.tt/2mlneBo
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)