Month: May 2024

The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr Dele Alake, has unveiled the gender strategy document for Nigeria’s mining and steel sector.

He also launched the Women In Mining In Nigeria (WIMIN) strategy document.

During the event, Alake hailed the gender strategy as a significant milestone, underscoring the Ministries of Solid Minerals Development and Steel Development’s commitment to fostering diversity.

He noted that the strategy aims to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment, focusing on enhancing productivity for sustainable national development.

‘The strategy addresses gender equality and women’s empowerment across various levels – policy, regulatory, operational, and commercial, encompassing large scale, medium scale, small scale, and artisanal roles, as well as value and supply chain functions,’ Alake stated.

He stressed that the strategy serves as a blueprint for stakeholders to create a more inclusive and gender-balanced mining and steel sector, providing guidance for integrating gen
der equality priorities into policies, programs, and initiatives.

Alake acknowledged women’s indispensable contributions to the success and sustainability of the mining sector, highlighting the need to address biases against women in these sectors.

He said efforts have been made to prioritise gender mainstreaming in the sector in line with the Federal Government’s commitment to gender equity outlined in the ‘Roadmap for the Growth and Development of the Nigerian Mining Industry’.

Alake outlined plans to enhance institutional capacity for effective gender mainstreaming and increase women’s participation in leadership and governance roles within the mining sector and communities.

The minister emphasised the importance of promoting women’s economic empowerment and rights and eliminating barriers hindering their meaningful participation and access to mining resources and benefits.

Alake reiterated the commitment to building partnerships across various stakeholders to realise the vision of the strategy, sayin
g that the WIMIN strategy is rooted in the principles of equality, diversity, and empowerment.

Dr Janet Adeyemi, the National President of WIMIN, described the strategy’s launch as an opportunity to mobilise support and implement actions to address entrenched gender disparities within the mining and steel sectors.

Represented by the National Secretary, Mrs Emily Ofodile, Adeyemi highlighted the multifaceted barriers women face in these industries, hindering their full participation and advancement.

Dr Mary Ogbe, the Permanent Secretary of MSMD, urged women to be change agents at all levels and advocated for organisations to appoint gender focal persons to coordinate related matters.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulation Authority (NMDPRA) says consultation with stakeholders and public hearing must be conducted to review proposed draft regulations of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).

The Authority’s Chief Executive, NMDPRA, Mr Farouk Ahmed, said this on Tuesday in Abuja at its stakeholder’s forum on Midstream Petroleum Host Community Development Trust (MPHCDT) regulation.

Ahmed, represented by Mr Ogbugo Ukoha, Executive Director, Distribution Systems, Storage and Retailing Infrastructure, NMDPRA, said consultation was necessary to provide a platform for harnessing ideas for the HCDT implementation.

‘The regulation shall apply only to the Midstream Petroleum Host Communities and a holder of a license that is engaged in the midstream petroleum operation in accordance with Section 318 of the PIA.

‘This is a platform for us to deliberate and get feedback on the draft regulations that we publish,’ he said.

In an overview, Dr Joseph Tolorunse, the Authority’s Secretar
y and Legal Adviser, said the NMDPRA may by notice designate the facilities to which these regulations shall apply in accordance with the PIA.

He listed the objectives of the regulations to include the procedure for the establishment and administration of the Trust Fund for the midstream petroleum host communities and to establish parameters to safeguard the Trust Fund.

According to him, the regulation would also establish grievance resolution mechanism for the settlement of disputes between the host communities and licensees.

‘The regulation will make general rules for the implementation of the development of the midstream petroleum host communities. It is expected to promote social and economic benefits from petroleum operations to the host communities.

‘It will enhance peaceful and harmonious co-existence between the licensees, lessees and the host communities, as well as curtail pipeline vandalism and increase oil production,’ he said.

Also speaking, Chairman, House Committee on Host Communities, Dou
namene Dekor, said the committee had carried out a series of engagements to understand the current status of implementation of benefits to host communities.

He urged the Authority to expedite action to apply proactive and innovative mechanisms that would ensure the speedy and effective operationalisation of funding of host communities in the sector.

‘We have noted some of the challenges that the authorities face in the implementation of the PIA, particularly the omission of the mainstream petroleum operations in Section 240-2 that provides for the funding of HCPs.

‘Our committee is ready and already taking necessary legislative steps to address these gaps and challenges,’ he assured.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) Depot Chairmen Forum has exonerated its members from the current fuel scarcity in the country.

According to IPMAN, the scarcity is caused by its inability to source petroleum products.

The IPMAN Depot Chairmen Forum also threatened to withdraw its services over non-payment of N200 billion bridging claims by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) to its members, since 2022.

Alhaji Yahaya Alhassan, the Chairman, of the Forum said this while briefing newsmen on Tuesday in Abuja.

Alhassan said the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.) was the sole importer of the produc but the marketers could not source products from NNPC Ltd. deport, rather from the private depots at high rate.

‘We cannot buy fuel from the private depots at N950 and transport the product from Lagos to the North and other parts of the country with N2 million and still sell it at N900 or N1, 000.

‘It is expedient for
us to state that we are more pained by the non-availability of petroleum products in the country, which has given rise to another round of untold hardship for Nigerians.

‘Contrary to claims that IPMAN members are hoarding Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) known as fuel, we will like to categorically state that PMS scarcity is wholly triggered by inability to get fuel from NNPC and not IPMAN,’ he said.

Meanwhile, the NNPC Ltd. Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Olufemi Soneye said the disruption was due to logistical issues which had since been resolved.

‘We currently have an availability of products exceeding 1.5 billion litres, which can last for at least 30 days. Unfortunately, we experienced a three-day disruption in distribution due to logistical issues, which has since been resolved.

‘However, as you know, overcoming such disruptions typically requires double the amount of time to return to normal operations.

‘Some folks are taking advantage of this situation to maximise profits. Thankfully, product s
carcity has been minimal lately, but these folks might be exploiting the situation for unwarranted gain,’ Soneye said.

He however, said the lines would clear out soon.

On the non-payment of bridging claims, the IPMAN forum said it was distressed and depressed by the laidback attitude of the NMDPRA towards the survival its member’s businesses, arising from its refusal in paying the claims.

‘It is with deep frustration that we have assembled here today as the IPMAN Depot Chairmen Forum. It is also disheartening to note that some of our members have completely shut down businesses and retrenched employees.

‘As businessmen and women, our members acquired bank loans to keep their fuel retail outlets running on a daily basis across the nooks and crannies of Nigeria in order to serve the teeming population of Nigerians,’ Alhassan said.

He recalled that Sen. Heineken Lokpobiri, Minister of State Petroleum Resources (Oil), at a stakeholders meeting in February mandated the NMDPRA management to clear the entire de
bt in 40 days.

‘However, today, we have crossed the 40 days’ time lapse given to the NMDPRA to clear the debt, and it is shameful to state that only the paltry sum of N13 billion has been paid, ignoring minister’s directive.

‘We are not happy with the indiscriminate increment in the issuance and renewal of Sales and Storage Licence, by the NMDPRA, and the subsequent delays in acquiring the licence, which our members are recently subjected to.

‘We are also calling on President Bola Tinubu to look into this unwholesome figure which is highly detrimental to our business and reverse it forthwith, as it is bound to impact negatively on the masses.

‘We are poised to take far reaching decisions that may cripple the supply and sales of petroleum products across Nigeria if our demands are not met within the shortest period of time.

‘We are collectively prepared to withdraw our services, shut down every single outlet, and suspend lifting of products forthwith till our demands are fully met, and the consequences wi
ll be terrible.

‘We call on our members to however remain resolute and law abiding, even as we draw close to the immediate ultimatum for our demands to be met by the NMDPRA,’ the chairman said.

Reacting to the IPMAN’s claims, the Acting Head, Corporate Communications, NMDPRA, Seiyefa Osanebi said the bridging claims payment was ongoing.

‘The bridging claims payment is always an ongoing process,’ she said.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

The Managing Director of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Malam Ali Muhammad Ali, says the initiatives put in place by his administration to boost the welfare of workers are already yielding results.

Ali said this on Wednesday in his congratulatory message to the agency’s workers on the occasion of this year’s International Workers Day with the theme: ‘Ensuring Safety and Health at Work in a Changing Climate’.

The managing director acknowledged the diligence, passion and contributions of the workers in the agency striving in diverse ways to create an agency we all desire.

Ali described this year’s theme as apposite, saying that his administration would continue to create a safe and conducive atmosphere for NAN workers to unleash their creative energy in order to attain the zenith of their full potential.

‘Let me also restate management’s avowed commitment to repositioning the agency to meet up with global best practices and realisation of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda,’ he added.

He
expressed optimism that NAN would achieve the vision of its founding fathers with the management and staff members collaborating in its institutional interest.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

Eighty paramedics and Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) patrol operatives from the North-East and North West are currently undergoing capacity building training on saving lives and reducing road crashes.

The FSRC Corps Marshal, Mr Dauda Biu, while declaring a three-day capacity- building training opened in Kano on Tuesday, said the objective was to retool knowledge and zeal of personnel in life-saving rescue operations.

Biu said the training would focus on strengthening the capacity of FRSC paramedics, operational personnel and officers to meet the goals of the United Nation’s Decade of Action for Road Safety, in saving the lives of crash victims on Nigerian roads.

The FRSC boss, represented by Assistant Corps Marshal, Corps Project Implementation, Clement Oladele, said the training would bridge the gaps in the Corps rescue operations.

‘This training is to enhance capabilities of FRSC personnel in two crucial areas – crash scene management and administration of cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

‘Our main go
al is to save lives and prioritise how casualties and injured victims are professionally evacuated to hospitals for immediate medical attention.

‘The corps has long been at the forefront of efforts to rescue crash victims and create safer roads in Nigeria.

‘We have also partnered with Ford Foundation and this invaluable support has availed personnel the opportunity to receive world class training and acquire essential skills,’ he said.

Biu explained that the training covered a comprehensive curriculum reflecting commitment of corps to equip its personnel with knowledge, skills and confidence to excel in demanding field of road safety and crash response.

He added that the training also included the female personnel, who as part of the consideration for selection, were nominated to enable them to attend more professionally, to children and women victims of crashes on the road.

‘We put into consideration woman’s dignity that needs to be more protected when our female personnel attend to female crash victims
.

‘The impact of this training on participants will undoubtedly be profound in enhancing their ability to administer life saving measures promptly and effectively, ‘ he said.

The FRSC boss advised participants to key into the training and use same knowledge practically in their various commands and units in the zones.

‘We are charging the participants to take the training seriously and put to practice all they have learnt as the corps expects to see renewed zeal to attend to rescue and doing it professionally.

‘The corps is grateful to Ford Foundation for supporting FRSC in this important training, which will involve all the units and commands within the zones in the country,’ he said.

The Regional Director, Ford Foundation, West Afica, Dr. Chichi Aniagolu-Okoye, said the Foundation valued the works of the FRSC and recognised that the work coul not be done by government agencies alone.

He said it required support like the capacity building initiative to improve quality of first responses in emergencies.

One of the paramedics and patrol operatives undergoing the training, Dalhatu Hussaini, from Taraba Command, thanked FRSC and Ford Foundation for the exercise and promised to make use of the skills being taught, when he returned to his command.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) has completed the installation of transplant and urology equipment for the treatment of prostate and kidney stone worth N250 million in seven hospitals.

Alhaji Umar Ali, the contractor handling the supply, who also represented Tetfund, told newsmen shortly after the installation of the equipment at the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano (AKTH).

He described the gesture as the first in seven government hospitals at a time for the benefit of those seeking health assistance.

He listed other benefitting health institutions to include: Aminu Kano (now Bayero Teaching Hospital University) (BUK), Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Bauchi, Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria, University of Abuja, University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin.

Others are: University of Jos Teaching Hospital; and University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, Maiduguri.

He said that those seeking treatment for kidney stone, and kidney failure are on the increase on daily basis, hence intervention by TE
TFund to find a lasting solution to their health challenges.

According to him, the fund has installed the equipment, tested and discovered to be in good working condition.

He added that ‘doctors have started using the equipment for research and practicals in the university, but all credits go to TETFund, because without their intervention, it may not have been possible.’

Prof. Sani Aji from Bayero University, Kano, said with the modern technology, there may not be any need to cut open any patient.

He said that ‘before now, after patients have been operated on, they will stay in the hospital for like between 10-12 days before discharge, but now, they can go the same day of the operation if there is no complications.

‘Very few centres have the facilities and they are all private, but with TETFund intervention, this laser surgery will help a lot.’

On his part, Dr Przemyslaw Zugaj, one of the medical personnel invited from Poland to train doctors on how to handle the laser equipment on patients when conduct
ing surgeries.

Zugaj explained that the surgery will destroy stones in the kidney and patients are checked properly, while it may not be necessary to repeat the surgery and it is cheaper.

He said with proper handling of the laser machine, there will not be need to open up patients, but carry out the operation successfully without bleeding.

One of the participants, Prof. Samuel Osaghae, also a Consultant Urologist from University of Benin, described the intervention as a special project.

He said the installation would facilitate indoor urology centre for kidney, urethra bladder and prostate, which would impact healthcare delivery in Nigeria positively.

Dr Haruna Usman from Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Bauchi, said the gesture would be extended to other communities.

‘This will reduce waste of resources and people will no longer need to travel out for surgeries,’ he said.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria