A U.S. envoy addressed journalists in Abuja on Tuesday.
The U.S. said it will welcome “any agreement’’ between Nigeria and extremist organisations to ensure peace and security of all Nigerians.
The Acting Assistant Secretary for African Affairs, Donald Yamamoto, gave the indication in an interview with journalists on Tuesday in Abuja.
Mr. Yamamoto, who completed a two-day official visit to Abuja, strongly condemned the recent killings of school children in Yobe and Borno by extremist groups in Nigeria.
On the reported “ceasefire agreement’’ between Federal government and members of the Boko Haram, the U.S. official said: “if there are any agreements or movements, we welcome it.
“What we want for the people of Nigeria is to have peace, stability and freedom from the threat of violence from extremist groups that seek to undermine the stability of the people of Nigeria,’’ he said.
Mr. Yamamoto reiterated the commitment of the U.S. to work with the government of Nigeria to ensure the protection of civilians during conflict. He said the U.S. was willing to work with community leaders and the government to assist victims of extremist attacks including internally displaced persons and refugees.
Earlier in a statement on the killings in Yobe and Borno, the official said the U.S. would “stand with Nigeria in opposing those who seek to harm innocent people’’.
“The U.S. extends its deepest sympathies to the people of Nigeria, especially relatives and friends of those who have lost their lives during the recent attacks.
“No single issue defines our relationship and there is no single issue that separates our strong bond of partnership.
“We stand together in advancing our common agenda that will benefit Nigeria, its people, its future and all of Africa,’’ he said.
Providing details on his lowly-publicised visit to Nigeria, the top U.S. envoy to Africa said he met with Nigeria’s security officials to discuss ongoing security challenges in the country.
“We want to share ‘ideas experiences’ and work together to meet those challenges,” he said.
Mr. Yamamoto noted that the U.S. was concerned about the fragile nature of democracies of countries in the Sahel region and the impact of the Libyan conflict on the stability of African countries.
He said the U.S. was working in partnership with countries in the region to increase their “capacity and capability” to effectively secure their borders.
(NAN)

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Nigeria and global economic growths will be lower than previously expected as economies struggle with appreciably weaker domestic and external demand, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said.
In its latest ‘World Economic Outlook (WEO) Update’ entitled ‘Growing Pains’ released yesterday, IMF revised downward growth forecasts for the global economy and all other segments of advanced and emerging economies citing continuing old risks and emerging new downside risks.
The IMF reduced earlier growth projections for 2013 and 2014 for Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), contained in its April 2013 WEO, by 0.4 per cent and 0.2 per cent.
According to the report, growth in sub-Saharan Africa will be weaker, as some of its largest economies including Nigeria and South Africa struggle with domestic problems.
The report noted that at 5.0 per cent in 2013 and about 5.5 per cent in 2014, growth in emerging market and developing economies is now expected to evolve at a more moderate pace, some one-quarter percentage points slower than in the April 2013 WEO.
“Global growth is projected to remain subdued at slightly above 3 per cent in 2013, the same as in 2012. This is less than forecast in the April 2013 World Economic Outlook (WEO), driven to a large extent by appreciably weaker domestic demand and slower growth in several key emerging market economies, as well as a more protracted recession in the euro area,” IMF noted.
It indicated that global growth will recover from slightly above 3.0 per cent in 2013 to 3¾ per cent in 2014, a quarter per cent weaker for both years than the April 2013 projections.
The report stated that downside risks to global growth prospects still remain dominant pointing out that while old risks remain, new risks have emerged including the possibility of a longer growth slowdown in emerging market economies, especially given risks of lower potential growth, slowing credit, and possibly tighter financial conditions if the anticipated unwinding of monetary policy stimulus in the United States leads to sustained capital flow reversals.
It noted that stronger global growth will require additional policy action, which will require major advanced economies to maintain a supportive macroeconomic policy mix, combined with credible plans for reaching medium-term debt sustainability and reforms to restore balance sheets and credit channels.
It advised that while many emerging market and developing economies face a trade-off between macroeconomic policies to support weak activity and those to contain capital outflows, macro prudential and structural reforms can help to reduce the stark consequences of this trade-off.
The report underlined the excruciating impact of weak global economy on the emerging market economies with recent increases in advanced economy interest rates and asset price volatility and weaker domestic activity leading to some capital outflows, equity price declines, rising local yields, and currency depreciation. It should be noted that Nigeria’s stock market and Forex exchange had witnessed steep declines in June 2013.
According to IMF, weaker growth prospects and new risks raise new challenges to global growth and employment, and global rebalancing and policymakers everywhere need to increase efforts to ensure robust growth.
It emphasized that key advanced economies should pursue a policy mix that supports near-term growth, anchored by credible plans for medium-term public debt sustainability and allowance for more gradual near-term fiscal adjustment.
“With low inflation and sizable economic slack, monetary policy stimulus should continue until the recovery is well established. Potential adverse side-effects should be contained with regulatory and prudential macroeconomic policies. Clear communication on the eventual exit from monetary stimulus will help reduce volatility in global financial markets. Further progress in financial sector restructuring and reform is needed to recapitalize and restructure bank balance sheets and improve monetary policy transmission,” the IMF stated.

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Acting Director-General, PenCom, Mrs. Chinelo Anohu-Amazu

Pension Fund Administrators will invest part of the growing pension funds in infrastructure after the Pension Reform Act 2004 must have been replaced with a new act.

This was contained in a memorandum submitted by the National Pension Commission to the Senate Committee on Establishment and Public Service and the House Committee on Pensions at the joint public hearing for the proposed enactment of the Pension Reform Act 2013.

Acting Director-General, PenCom, Mrs. Chinelo Anohu-Amazu, said the commission proposed that the funds should be utilised for national development.

The bill states, “There is a consensus among stakeholders that the PRA should facilitate the optimal utilisation of pool of funds generated by the Contributory Pension Scheme towards national development.”

It added that provisions had been made in the bill for the expansion of permissible investment instruments to accommodate initiatives for national development, such as investment in the real sector.

Although the memo stressed the investment in infrastructure, PenCom insisted on the safety of pension fund assets.

The latest investment guideline by PenCom, however, stated that without the Federal Government floating an infrastructure bond, the PFAs could not be allowed to invest the funds in infrastructure.

PenCom also noted the funds could not be invested in electricity without the issuance of government or private bonds, which must align with Pencom’s requirements for investing the pension funds.

Based on the current investment regulation, the commission said the pension funds could be invested in infrastructure bonds registered by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

“No investment has yet been made on such securities largely because they are not available in the market,” it added.

In December, due to the changing dynamics of the financial environment, PenCom reviewed the investment guidelines for the growing pension fund to safeguard the assets.

Major highlights of the guidelines are the consent of pension operators to invest the assets in Exchange Traded Funds; introduction of guidelines for global depository receipt, notes and eurobonds and maximum restriction of transactions done by PFAs with related parties such as stockbrokers to 30 per cent.

According to PenCom, the new multi-fund structure will be incorporated into the amended regulation in the first quarter of 2013.

The Pension Fund Custodians are mandated to only take instructions from the PFAs on the investment, as they must not contract out the custody of pension fund assets to third parties, except for allowable investments made outside Nigeria.

The Chairman, Pension Fund Operators Association of Nigeria, Mr. Dave Uduanu, said the pension assets were safe and being effectively managed by the PFAs.

According to him, the funds are not left idle and there are regulatory guidelines to monitor the investment of the money.

He explained that PFAs were not investment banks or charity institutions, but were buyers of securities and investment instruments and must therefore be prudent with their investment.

According to Uduanu, the assets are not there to provide mandatory infrastructure as that is the duty of the government. For this reason, he said, the PFAs could only consider investments that would yield returns. This, he stressed, would enable the pensioners to always get their entitlement when needed.

The Chief Executive Officer, Riskgaurd Pension and Insurance Consultant, Mr. Yemi Soladoye, also said the initial investment guidelines introduced when the CPS started were quite narrow as they did not take care of some relevant issues.

This, he said, was changing as the operators were seeing the need to consider not only the safety of the funds but the yield and diversification.

Soladoye added, “Pension funds are long-term funds where people contribute for years, such funds are usually directed to projects of national development, especially, provision of infrastructure.”

The Punch

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Coordinating Minister for the economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has said the spate of unemployment in the country is giving her sleepless nights.

Okonjo-Iweala said this while inspecting an ultramodern Information and Communications Technology factory of Omatek Nigeria Plc in Lagos on Friday.

She said, “According to the National Bureau of Statistics, each year, about 1.8m young Nigerians enter into our labour market and we need to ensure that our economy provides jobs for them.

“In fact, some people ask, ‘What keeps you awake at night, with regard to this economy?’ I say it is the issue of job creation. And I know this is what keeps Mr. President (Goodluck Jonathan) awake at night as well.

“That is why we have responded to the challenge of creating jobs by trying to transform several sectors of the economy; from agriculture, where we’re expecting to create 3.5m jobs and where the progress of reaching our goal of feeding this country is already well advanced.”

The minister said Nigeria lacked institutions on which to build its developmental programmes.

“When you look at Nigeria, for over 50 to 60 years, we’ve been working without the key institutions that some other people have. We keep making stopgap solutions. For 50 years, we didn’t have a Bureau for Public Procurement; for 50 years, we didn’t have a Debt Management Office.

“So many of the institutions that we have now are new and if you stand back, you’ll see there are still many gaps. It is now our job to try to fill those gaps.”

Okonjo-Iweala said the Federal Government was putting in place more initiatives to encourage small and medium scale enterprises.

She noted that the Central Bank of Nigeria had put in place a N200bn guaranty fund for SME’s to access bank loans.

Okonjo-Iweala said, “Let me mention that the Minister of Information and Communications technology has started a Venture Capital Fund with about $15m, which is being financed by the government and other donors.

“The idea behind it is to help support innovative enterprises in the field of ICT. This is designed to lift up some of the young people in Computer Village doing all sorts of innovations.”

She asked investors to encourage public investment in their businesses and to list their companies on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

The minister said the capital market had been revamped to allow the listing of SMEs through the Alternative Securities Market.

According to her, the platform has made it easier for SMEs to list their companies and to raise additional resources from the capital market.

She added that there were advisers to help small scale investors meet their listing requirements and to help them on how to get listed.

The minister, who described the stock market as a challenging one due to “infrastructural bottlenecks,” said in spite of the challenges, companies had kept growing and maintained high quality standards.

She noted that ICT remained one of the main platforms for the creation of jobs, adding that e-commerce was striving in Nigeria, while more companies were carrying out transactions online.
The Punch

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Despite the 6.5% stock market rally over the last three months, a handful of billionaires are quietly dumping their American stocks . . . and fast.

Warren Buffett, who has been a cheerleader for U.S. stocks for quite some time, is dumping shares at an alarming rate. He recently complained of “disappointing performance” in dyed-in-the-wool American companies like Johnson & Johnson, Procter & Gamble, and Kraft Foods.

In the latest filing for Buffett’s holding company Berkshire Hathaway, Buffett has been drastically reducing his exposure to stocks that depend on consumer purchasing habits. Berkshire sold roughly 19 million shares of Johnson & Johnson, and reduced his overall stake in “consumer product stocks” by 21%. Berkshire Hathaway also sold its entire stake in California-based computer parts supplier Intel.

With 70% of the U.S. economy dependent on consumer spending, Buffett’s apparent lack of faith in these companies’ future prospects is worrisome.

Unfortunately Buffett isn’t alone.

Fellow billionaire John Paulson, who made a fortune betting on the subprime mortgage meltdown, is clearing out of U.S. stocks too. During the second quarter of the year, Paulson’s hedge fund, Paulson & Co., dumped 14 million shares of JPMorgan Chase. The fund also dumped its entire position in discount retailer Family Dollar and consumer-goods maker Sara Lee.

Finally, billionaire George Soros recently sold nearly all of his bank stocks, including shares of JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, and Goldman Sachs. Between the three banks, Soros sold more than a million shares.

So why are these billionaires dumping their shares of U.S. companies?

After all, the stock market is still in the midst of its historic rally. Real estate prices have finally leveled off, and for the first time in five years are actually rising in many locations. And the unemployment rate seems to have stabilized.

It’s very likely that these professional investors are aware of specific research that points toward a massive market correction, as much as 90%.

One such person publishing this research is Robert Wiedemer, an esteemed economist and author of the New York Times best-selling book Aftershock.

Editor’s Note: Wiedemer Gives Proof for His Dire Predictions in This Shocking Interview.

Before you dismiss the possibility of a 90% drop in the stock market as unrealistic, consider Wiedemer’s credentials.

In 2006, Wiedemer and a team of economists accurately predicted the collapse of the U.S. housing market, equity markets, and consumer spending that almost sank the United States. They published their research in the book America’s Bubble Economy.

The book quickly grabbed headlines for its accuracy in predicting what many thought would never happen, and quickly established Wiedemer as a trusted voice.

A columnist at Dow Jones said the book was “one of those rare finds that not only predicted the subprime credit meltdown well in advance, it offered Main Street investors a winning strategy that helped avoid the forty percent losses that followed . . .”

The chief investment strategist at Standard & Poor’s said that Wiedemer’s track record “demands our attention.”

And finally, the former CFO of Goldman Sachs said Wiedemer’s “prescience in (his) first book lends credence to the new warnings. This book deserves our attention.”

In the interview for his latest blockbuster Aftershock, Wiedemer says the 90% drop in the stock market is “a worst-case scenario,” and the host quickly challenged this claim.

Wiedemer calmly laid out a clear explanation of why a large drop of some sort is a virtual certainty.

It starts with the reckless strategy of the Federal Reserve to print a massive amount of money out of thin air in an attempt to stimulate the economy.

“These funds haven’t made it into the markets and the economy yet. But it is a mathematical certainty that once the dam breaks, and this money passes through the reserves and hits the markets, inflation will surge,” said Wiedemer.

“Once you hit 10% inflation, 10-year Treasury bonds lose about half their value. And by 20%, any value is all but gone. Interest rates will increase dramatically at this point, and that will cause real estate values to collapse. And the stock market will collapse as a consequence of these other problems.”

See the Proof: Get the Full Interview by Clicking Here Now.

And this is where Wiedemer explains why Buffett, Paulson, and Soros could be dumping U.S. stocks:

“Companies will be spending more money on borrowing costs than business expansion costs. That means lower profit margins, lower dividends, and less hiring. Plus, more layoffs.”

No investors, let alone billionaires, will want to own stocks with falling profit margins and shrinking dividends. So if that’s why Buffett, Paulson, and Soros are dumping stocks, they have decided to cash out early and leave Main Street investors holding the bag.

But Main Street investors don’t have to see their investment and retirement accounts decimated for the second time in five years.

Wiedemer’s video interview also contains a comprehensive blueprint for economic survival that’s really commanding global attention.

Now viewed over 40 million times, it was initially screened for a relatively small, private audience. But the overwhelming amount of feedback from viewers who felt the interview should be widely publicized came with consequences, as various online networks repeatedly shut it down and affiliates refused to house the content.

“People were sitting up and taking notice, and they begged us to make the interview public so they could easily share it,” said Newsmax Financial Publisher Aaron DeHoog.

“Our real concern,” DeHoog added, “is the effect even if only half of Wiedemer’s predictions come true.

“That’s a scary thought for sure. But we want the average American to be prepared, and that is why we will continue to push this video to as many outlets as we can. We want the word to spread.”
MoneyNews

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Nigeria's Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

The Federal Government yesterday announced that its $1 billion Eurobond has been over-subscribed by international investors to the tune of 400 per cent, exceeding the expectations of analysts.

According to the Federal Ministry of Finance, the positive response to the bond is anchored on a strong perception that the fundamentals of the Nigerian economy remain strong despite some recent challenges. “This positive reaction is an improvement on investor response to the first bond floated in January 2011.

It is especially significant coming at a time of increasing turbulence and uncertainty in the global market which has witnessed an exodus of investors from other emerging markets”, the Ministry said. Reacting to the development, the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Mrs Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, said: “This is very good news for the country.

It shows that the international investors are confident that the Nigerian economy is being well managed and that its future remains bright.” “Investors are not sentimental people. They vote with their pocket. So, if they are responding this way, then it is really significant.

At a challenging time for the global economy like this when investors are running away from other emerging markets, this is a source of encouragement and a vindication for the manner the economy has been managed by the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan”, she said. Maryam Khosrowshahi, who runs sovereign debt origination for Central and Eastern Europe in the Middle East and Africa at Deutsche Bank, in her own reaction said, “It was a bold move.

The transaction went extremely well, which demonstrates that there is still demand and liquidity.” Also reacting, the Director-General of the Debt management Office, Dr. Abraham Nwankwo described the bond as a testament to sound economic management and hard work by the Federal Government.

Meanwhile, yields on Nigeria’s $500 million Eurobonds due January 2021 rose 11 basis points, or 0.11 basis points to 6 percent Monday in London, where they are listed, though they declined 14 basis points to 5.86 per cent yesterday.
The Sun

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Dr. Nasir Fagge, ASUU President

Once again, the Federal Government’s refusal to honour an agreement it reached with lecturers of public universities has forced the Academic Staff Union of Universities to embark on industrial action on Monday, SEGUN OLUGBILE reports

When the Academic Staff Union of Universities suspended its two-month strike in February 2012, many had thought that the last had been heard of national strikes in public institutions. This optimism was hinged on the Memorandum of Understanding signed by the Federal Government and the lecturers on how to resolve funding challenges, infrastructural decay and welfare problem in the nation’s public universities.

But this is not to be, as the union on Monday stated that it has returned to the trenches to fight government for its alleged refusal to honour an agreement it reached with lecturers. Specifically, ASUU said it has resumed the suspended strike from Monday (yesterday). This action, the union’s National President, Dr. Nasir Fagge, said was taken after the Federal Government allegedly failed to implement the agreement.

Fagge said the action, though painful, would be total, comprehensive and last for as long as the government implements the details of the Memorandum of Understanding that both parties signed in 2011. Consequently, the semester examinations going on in some universities would be disrupted, while admission processes would be put on hold. Final year students writing their projects would be hit hard, as their supervisors would not attend to them. By this, academic activities in public tertiary institutions, particularly in universities and polytechnics, which had been on strike in the last three months, would be paralysed.

The decision to embark on the action was taken during the National Executive Council meeting of ASUU at the Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State between Sunday and Monday. All the 53 chapters of ASUU were represented at the meeting, during which 51 chapters of the union overwhelmingly voted in support of the action.

Briefing the press about the outcome of the NEC meeting at the University of Lagos on Monday, Fagge said the union decided to suspend the action in January 2012 after the Federal Government and ASUU signed the MoU, which contained how all the issues of funding, pension scheme, retirement age and payment of earned allowance for qualified lecturers would be handled.

The Federal Government, the union stated, had only implemented the extension of the retirement age of professors to 70, but had failed to pay the earned allowance for lecturers who are assigned other duties apart from teaching, research and community service. The earned allowance is the money paid to lecturers who are assigned to administrative duties such as heads of department, hall wardens, student project’s supervision and examination duties and pay for extra workload on lecturers.

Under the student projects’ supervision allowance, a professor is expected to be paid N15, 000 per theses. Also, under the extra workload category, the lecturer/student ratio in Arts, Social Sciences and Education faculties is one lecturer to 50 students, one to 35 in Faculty of Sciences and one lecturer to 25 students in Colleges of Medicine. Lecturers are supposed to be paid if they have more than the national lecturer/student ratio.

“When we signed the MoU, it was stated that N100bn had been set aside to pay the earned allowance. But I can tell you that no lecturer has been paid since 2009. Yes, the government has extended the retirement age of professors to 70 as agreed, earned allowances have not been paid while little has been done to raise the level of infrastructure in universities,” he said.

Although he explained that the union had met with government over the matter many times, government has refused to respect the agreement. Rather, he said, ASUU was told that the government forgot to include the earned allowance in the budget.

The Chairman, ASUU, UNILAG chapter, Dr. Karo Ogbinanka, who had earlier briefed the press about the readiness of his chapter to start the strike after a congress on Monday, explained that the strike was called because government had never shown enough commitment to the development of the sector.

He explained that after the MoU was signed, a NEEDS Assessment Committee on the State of Public Universities was set up to look at the state of infrastructure of the institutions.

“The report has been submitted and all of us know that our universities fall short in physical development, but our concern is government has not done enough to revamp these institutions and the modalities for the injection of funds into these universities have not been followed. That is why there has been increase in the rate of agitation for improved municipal facilities in our universities which has unfortunately been leading to the deaths of innocent students,” Ogbinaka said.

But why is the union embarking on strike when it has not given the government the required ultimatum, Ogbinaka explained that the union had done a warning strike before now.

“Anyway, we don’t even need to give them ultimatum because it is clearly stated in the MoU that we signed with them that we (ASUU) will go on strike without warning should they fail to honour the agreement. They have reneged on the agreement and so there is nothing that can stop us from embarking on this comprehensive and total strike,” he said.

On when UNILAG would join the strike, Ogbinaka said that immediately after the press briefing, a congress would be called and the university management would be informed. “It’s a national strike and UNILAG has joined the action,” he said.

Also the National Treasurer of ASUU, Dr. Ademola Aremu who is also the former Chairman, University of Ibadan chapter of ASUU said the action, being a national one, would be fully supported by lecturers at the premier university. “We are not fighting management of the university, it is the Federal Government that should be blamed for pushing us to the wall to make this painful decision,” Aremu said.

Most of the students our correspondent spoke to on this new development expressed sadness at the action. They called on the Federal Government to honour the agreement by giving their teachers their due. “I’m in the final year, if this crisis is not urgently resolved, it will dislocate my career and that of the other students,” Wale, a student of Political Science at UNILAG said.

But before ASUU finally resorted to go on strike, the House of Representatives had few weeks ago summoned the Minister of Education, Prof. Ruqayyatu Rufa’i and officials of the union with a view to ensuring that the crisis did not degenerate. The duo were invited to meet with members of the House Committee on Education as part of the moves by the legislature to avert the looming strike.

It followed a motion of urgent public importance sponsored by Mr. Bashir Babale (PDP/ Kano) and unanimously endorsed by his colleagues.

Babale said it had become worrisome that university lecturers frequently embark on strikes to compel the government to meet its obligations.

This, he noted, was not good enough as the issues at the root of the crisis were matters that had been agreed upon by both parties.

The lawmaker urged the House to intervene in the crisis and avert the impending strike.

Other lawmakers who contributed to the debate, argued that democracy cannot survive without good education.

They warned that it would be wrong for the government to continue to treat its 2009 agreement with ASUU with levity. But this intervention was fruitless, as government said it had no money to pay the earned allowance.

“We even agreed to sacrifice 20 per cent of the earned allowance but government said it could only pay 50 per cent. We were even shocked when they said they had forgotten to include the money into the budget. So, since 2009 no lecturer has been paid the earned allowance and all of us can testify to the fact that our universities whether old or new are still being underfunded,” Ogbinaka said.

The ASUU officials, however, pleaded with students and parents to bear with the union as they could no longer stand government’s lack of commitment to education.

The last time ASUU embarked on a national strike over the same issue was December 5, 2011. The union was prevailed upon to suspend the strike in February 2012 after the Federal Government signed the now contentious MoU with ASUU with a promise to accede to the lecturers’ requests. President Goodluck Jonathan hurriedly signed into law a bill that sought to extend the retirement age of professors to 70. But after that not much had been done to make the system better than it was in 2009.

Efforts to speak with the minister failed, as a top official in the ministry, who pleaded anonymity, said she was not available for comments.

The source, however said the ministry would comment on the new development on Tuesady (today).
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Steve Oronsaye, Nigeria's former Head of Service  

The Nigerian government appears set to scrap at least eight federal agencies, commissions, and parastatals out of about 220 recommended for abolition in the report of the Stephen Oronsaye-led Presidential Committee on the Rationalisation and Restructuring of Federal Government Parastatals, Commissions and Agencies, PREMIUM TIMES has learnt.

As part of the rationalisation, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Commission are to be merged into a single entity.

PREMIUM TIMES learnt that a White Paper on the Orosanye-committee report was extensively discussed in at least three meetings of the Executive Council of the Federation, otherwise known as FEC.

As part of the deliberations on the report, a review committee on the draft White Paper, chaired by President Goodluck Jonathan, approved that some agencies be either scrapped completely or merged with those performing similar functions.

PREMIUM TIMES findings reveal eight of those agencies.

The agencies to be scrapped completely include the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE); Fiscal Responsibility Commission (FRC); Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC); National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission (NSIWC); National Poverty Eradication programme (NAPEP); Utilities Charges Commission (UCC); the National Economic Intelligence Committee (NEIC) and the Public Complaints Commission (PCC).

Affected Agencies

Bureau of Public Enterprises

The BPE was established with the mandate of implementing the Nigerian government policy on privatization and commercialization and preparing public enterprises for privatization and commercialization.

The government has already “directed that a “Sunset Clause” should be introduced to the BPE to conclude its assignment and wound down,” according to the review committee’s conclusion.

This implies that the BPE would wind up once it concludes its assignment of privatization of public enterprises.

Fiscal Responsibility Commission

Another agency that has been recommended to be scrapped is the Fiscal Responsibility Commission, FRC, which was established to help monitor government financial activities and enthrone a regime of prudent, ethical and effective management of public monies and resources by the tiers of government.

Already, the Jonathan-headed review committee has directed the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke, to initiate the necessary actions to give effect to the decision to abolish the FRC.

A third agency that could be scrapped is the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) established in 1977 to help minimize the bureaucratic bottlenecks and increase autonomy in dealing with members of the organised private sector to promote the export of Nigerian goods and commodities.

The fourth agency that may be scrapped is the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission (NSIWC), which was established by Act 99 of 1993 charged with the responsibility of managing all issues pertaining to compensation and renumeration in the the public service.

National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP), which the committee said might be scrapped, was conceived in 2001 by the Federal Government to help address poverty in the country and related issues, while the Utilities Charges Commission (UCC) was established to help evaluate trends in tariff charged to provide the government with information relating to the scheduled utilities and their tariff charges.

The other agencies that might be affected include National Economic Intelligence Committee (NEIC), which was established to serve as a vehicle for effective monitoring of the implementation of government’s national economic policies and programmes for the overall development of the country, while the Public Complaints Commission (PCC) was established to help bridge the gap between the elite and the down-trodden in the society.

Under the new arrangement, the NEPC will merge with the Nigerian Investment Promotions Commission (NIPC), which is currently domiciled in the Presidency, while the new organization will relocate to the Federal Ministry of Trade and Investment for effective synergy and utilization of resources.

Similarly, the PCC is to merge with the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC, which is currently performing the PCC functions, while the enabling Act establishing the PCC is to be removed from the Constitution of the Federal Republic through the amendment of sections 153 and 315.

The law establishing the NSIWC is to be repealed to give effect to the transfer of the agency to the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), while the functions of NAPEP are to be merged with the National directorate of Employment (NDE).

Civil servants on the staff of the UCC, which is to be scrapped, have been directed to be redeployed to the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation.

On the other hand, parastatals, commissions and agencies the presidential review committee accepted should be retained include the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB); Council of States (COS); Federal Character Commission FCC); Federal Civil Service Commission (FCSC); Federal Judicial Service Commission (FJSC); Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC); National Defence Council (NDC); National Economic Council (NEC); National Judicial Council (NJC), National Population Commission (NPC); National Security Council (NSC); Nigeria Police Council (NPC) and the Police Service Commission PSC), whose law is to be amended to make the Minister of Police Affairs its head.

Other agencies and parastatals to be retained include Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP); the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN); Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT); Infrastructure Concessionary & Regulatory Commission (ICRC); National Pension Commission (PENCOM); Ministry of Special Duties; National Sports Commission (NSC); National Institute for Sports (NIS); Nigeria Football Federation /Nigeria Football Association (NFA), whose enabling law is to be amended to reflect the directive by the Federation of International Football Association (FIFA) that the organization should be named a federation.

The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) is to be retained, but with a new structure to reflect a framework to cover critical areas of national socio-economic development that corps members should be deployed for their primary assignments, while the Citizenship and Leadership Training Centre would focus on the promotion of moral values and ethical re-orientation among Nigerians.

The Council for Registered Engineers (COREN) and the Surveyors Registration Council (SRC) are to be retained, although they would henceforth not receive budgetary allocations from government from the 2015 fiscal year, while the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) and the Federal Highway department of the Federal Ministry of Works are to be transformed into an inter-ministerial department after the amendment of their enabling laws.

The Committee also approved the retention of the Office of the Surveyor General of the Federation (OSGOF); National Boundaries Commission (NBC); Border Communities Development Agency (BCDA) which is to be relocated to the Presidency; National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS); National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA); National Commission for refugees (NCR); Debt Management Office (DMO); Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC), National Planning Commission (NPC); National Bureau of Statistics (NBS); Centre for Management Development (CMD); National Institute of Social and Economic Research (NISER) and the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC).

The committee also resolved to retain the Nigeria National Merit Award (NNMA); the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD); the National Agency for the Control of HIV/AIDS (NACA); Nigerian Christian Pilgrims Commission (NCPC); National Lottery Regulatory Commission (NLRC); National Lottery Trust Fund (NLTF); Service Compact with all Nigerians (SERVICOM), Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI); National Centre for Women Development (NCWD), and Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC).

The government had earlier announced that some unproductive research institutes would be scrapped while some others would be merged with relevant research units in universities.
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The lecturers accuse the government of violating an agreement.

Nigerian University lecturers, under the Academic Staff Union of Universities  (ASUU), on Monday began a nationwide indefinite strike.

The ASUU National President, Isa Fagge, told journalists of the development at a news conference via telephone at the University of Lagos.

He said that the decision to have the strike was reached at the National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of ASUU held at the Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago Iwoye, on Monday.

Mr. Fagge told journalists that the strike, which takes immediate effect, will be comprehensive, total and indefinite’’. He said that the action was as a result of the inability of the Federal Government to implement some of the issues contained in a 2009 agreement it had with ASUU.

The unionist said that the government had also reneged on the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) it entered into with the union in December 2011.

“Before now, there has been this issue of the implementation of the key issues contained in the 2009 agreement we entered into with the Federal Government.

“We have had several meetings and deliberations to let government understand why these issues must be resolved but it is like the more we meet and deliberate, the messier the issue gets.

“One of the issues that needed to be addressed was basically that of the Academic earned allowance. This earned allowance, and other issues, had dragged on until government then agreed to write an MOU with the union.

“But as we speak, there has been nothing to show that government was committed to an MOU it also willingly wrote to better the university sector.

“It is in this regard that we are embarking on an indefinite strike,” he said.

Mr. Fagge said that having waited patiently for the government to swing into action to no avail, the NEC of the union decided to meet, deliberate and come up with the action.

Karo Oghenekaro, the Chairman of the University of Lagos chapter of the union, told journalists that government’s penchant for reneging on agreements was not acceptable.

He said that government entered into the MOU with ASUU after the union suspended its strike two and a half years ago.

Mr. Oghenekaro explained that the government had made essential laws on some of the burning issues such as the 70 years retirement age of lecturers as well as the pension commission.

According to him, government, however, is not forthcoming with other pressing demands such as the earned allowance.

He noted that the academic earned allowance was expected to take care of excess work load carried out by the lecturers such as examination officers, deans and supervision of post graduate, masters and other programmes.

“I want to say that not all lecturers are entitled to this allowance, but as we speak, not a single lecturer under the aforementioned categories has received any such allowance.

“What we are demanding as the earned allowance is not more than N12, 500 per person, yet government is saying it cannot afford such.

“Government was actually thinking of the cost implication of everything but after much deliberation, government agreed to sign the MoU and said it had set aside N100 billion to take care of all the burning issues.

“However, government came back to us and pleaded for a reduction and we decided to step the cost down to 80 per cent. That not enough, it also appealed for another reduction to 50 per cent.

“This 50 per cent, government said, will be a one off payment; that it was from that 50 per cent that we shall take care of everything, including the earned allowance.

“This did not go down well with us and so we decided to meet and take the decision we have just taken,” he said.

According to him, the Nigerian tertiary education sector is where it is because of inadequate funding. He said that one of the reasons why there were no foreign scholars in the system was because of the poor wages.

“When we agitate about earned allowance, we are also using it to as a means of attracting foreign scholars so it is not all about our personal interest.

“We are also using it to address the issue of brain drain in the system. As it were, our best brains are all drifting into industries and other sectors that will pay them better, rather than ploughing back into the academic sector.

“To us, it is all about looking at a bigger picture and putting things in the right place,’’ he said.

The union leader said that the decision to embark on the strike was painful but that there was no going back until government took a positive step to address their demands.

The ASUU strike occurs two months after polytechnic lecturers, ASUP, embarked on their own national strike, which is still ongoing.

(NAN)

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The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, LCCI, has declared that the extreme dependence of government finances and externaltrade balances on proceeds from the sector exposes the nation to significant risks from oil price and production shocks.

The President of LCCI, Mr. Goodie Ibru, said the evolving global energy market dynamics suggest an urgent need to take a sober look at the Nigerian oil and gas sub-sector in particular and the energy sector in general, especially given the importance of the sector to the Nigerian economy.
“Despite the declining contribution to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) – currently at 14.7 per cent, the extreme dependence of government finances and external trade balances on proceeds from the sector exposes the nation to significant risks from oil price and production shocks.
“There are profound concerns over dwindling performance of the sector which has been attributed to the structural gaps in its regulatory, fiscal and business practices which have supported highinefficiencies” he said.
Unfortunately, he said, the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) which was adjudged the most significant attempt to address these challenges through the reform of the governance and business structure of thesector as well as resolution of fiscal issues is yet to see the light of the day. “From 18.89 per cent in the first quarter of 2009, the year after the PIB was first presented to the national Assembly, oil contribution to GDP has fallen to 14.7 per cent by the first quarter of 2013.
“The international oil market landscape is changing very fast and eroding the competitive value of Nigeria’s oil and gas. “First, the number of countries discovering oil and gas reserves within their national boundaries is increasing; thus expanding the supply base of oil and gas products in the international market.
Also, improvement in refining technology is helping to eradicate the difference between the Nigeria light crude and the other types of crude oil; a feature that reduced the price premium on Nigerian’s bonny light for many years” he said.

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