Police Headquarters’ blast: An insecurity of the highest order

By Sulaimon Salau 

Three bombers yesterday drove an explosives-laden vehicle into the car park of the Louis Edet building of the Nigerian police headquarters in Abuja and set it off at about 11: 00 am local time.

The three, reportedly men, died in the explosion. Police authorities have not released any information regarding any other casualties that may have occurred as a result of the incident.

Briefing the press about the incident, the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Hafiz Ringim, said that it was apparently a suicide bombing involving a lot of militants. He said some of the attackers were apprehended, and confirmed the three who died in the blast.  Mr. Ringim said the bombers had carefully followed the convoy of a police DIG into the police headquarters and set off their explosives as soon as they arrived in the car park.

According to reports from SaharaReporters, the vibration occasioned by the blast shattered the windows of the police headquarters as far away as the offices of the IG on the 11th floor, as well as several buildings in the vicinity of the police headquarters.

All roads leading to the scene were condoned off by security agents. Firefighters on the scene put off the fires arising from the explosion while anti-bomb units examined debris from the scene.

No one has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, but only yesterday, members of the Boko Haram Islamist group threatened to escalate attacks across Nigeria over statements credited to the IG that their days were numbered.

The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) in a statement yesterday said, it was saddened by this grave development. “Though no group has claimed responsibility for this gruesome attack, it is nonetheless the handiwork of disgruntled elements who have one or two grudges against the police,” it stated.

“MURIC asserts that life is sacred and nobody except Allah has the right to take the life of another fellow homo sapien. It is clear that this attack was aimed at the heart of the police force thereby implying a desire for vengeance or a demonstration of dissatisfaction with certain operations of the Nigerian police. We strongly condemn this violence outburst in its entirety. It is high time Nigerians realized that violence cannot solve the nation’s problems. We call upon Nigerians to embrace dialogue as the ultimate panacea for resoving differences. Dialogue builds. Violence destroys.  

“MURIC urges the security agencies to fish out the culprits of this barbaric act. We appeal to the Federal Government to immediately engage all groups and different shades of opinions in dialogue. We advise the youth to shun violent propensities.” 

High kerosene price: Avoidable albatross to Nigeria’s economic growth

By Sulaimon Salau
FORMER President Olusegun Obasanjo took the nation by surprise when he declared that he was unaware that kerosene price was higher than that of petrol. It is hopeful that the present situation will not be a replica of what Nigerians experienced during that regime.
Irked by the lingering scenario, concerned Nigerians have therefore appealed to President Goodluck Jonathan to intervene in what looks a no-end saga of kerosene price hike.
Dual Purpose Kerosene, otherwise known as DPK is a product that serves the household, particularly middle and lower class citizens of Nigeria. The scarcity of the product, which culminated into higher price has posed untold hardship on the livelihood of the consumers who found it tough to afford.
Efforts to normalise the situation through the major importer of kerosene, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the petroleum marketers has proved abortive as they continue to trade blames, leaving the masses to the wraths.
As this lingers, consumers’ swift move to adopt alternatives like firewood and coal, the prices of these commodities have also been artificially hike. Where a liter of kerosene goes for N200 and five litters goes for N1000, a bunch of firewood costs N300, while a bag of coal costs N1500.
This represents a significant increase from the former price where Kerosene goes for N50 per liter, firewood N200 per bunch and coal N1200. Other alternative lies in Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), popularly known as cooking gas and electric cookers. However, the problem of power supply has stalled the effective utilisation of electric cookers.
Having prolonged since January this year, the scarcity has spread across the country, leaving about 90 per cent of the petroleum filling stations out of stock. Instead the kerosene dealers, who now have an association have took over the market from the licensed dealers and manipulate prices to their taste.
Tensed with the uncomfortable situation, the stakeholders in the petroleum sector and the consumers have called for the intervention of Jonathan, whom they said should leave up to his promises by not leaving the masses to suffer.
As speculations begin to ripe on the real cause of the scarcity, some concerned group said the government may have secretly privatised kerosene, just like petrol and diesel, while others alleged that the NNPC has failed in its responsibility as the major importer of the product. The simple fact remains that the demand is higher than supply. Since our dilapidated refineries in Warri, Port Harcourt and Kaduna have stopped producing kerosene for a very long time, importation has also been inadequate.
A reliable source in the Nigerian Independent Petroleum Company (NIPCO), which does throughput arrangement for the NNPC, told The Guardian that the problem is caused by shortage of supply.
“We cannot rule out short of supply, although NNPC has been importing but I feel there is a shortage somewhere because if the product is enough, nobody will hoard it, and it will be duly circulated. You can imagine, the Independent marketers comprising of 16 companies are allocated only15,000 liters from the latest received cargo, so you can see it is a problem of shortage,” he said.
The marketers distanced themselves from alleged hoarding of products for profiteering, alluding the price hike to shortage of product.
The General Secretary of Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Mr. Mikelyne Osatuyi said: “I can tell you categorically that IPMAN members don’t hoard  product, what do we stand to gain from hoarding, it is a deliberate suffering of Nigerians and we don’t engage in such act, IPMAN is a reputable association and we are committed to the welfare of the citizenry in terms of effective product distribution.
He equally agreed that there is a huge gap between demand and supply of the product. “The problem is that there is no enough supply, what is being imported is far cry from the demand, so, we have the responsibility to duly distribute what is being allocated to our members. It is unfortunate that government is paying so heavily on subsidy and yet the products are not available.”
Osatuyi maintained that it only the government that is importing, (NNPC is importing on behalf of government), because kerosene is not under reimbursement like petrol, so the marketers are totally out of the import schedule.
He said the importers needed to realise that the demand for kerosene is increasing, while the industries are equally using it for certain production processes, hence demanded for immediate increase in the import quota.     “IPMAN is calling on the government and the NNPC to kindly increase the supply of kerosene, so that it will be available at every nook and crannies of the country, and it will be affordable to Nigerians.”
Reacting to the allegations of inadequate supply, the NNPC has boldly dissociated itself from the situation, pushing the onus to the petroleum marketers.
The Group General Manager, Public Affairs, NNPC, Levi Ajuonoma in his numerous statement said, NNPC is committed to importing products that would meet the national demand. He sees no reason why the product should be scarce unless due to malpractices by marketers.
Early February, the NNPC pumped 37 million litres of kerosene into the market through its subsidiary, Pipelines and Products Marketing Company (PPMC).
The supply, which was claimed to be far above the national demand of 10 million litres per day, is to check the scarcity of kerosene, which has made cooking difficult for many families since the beginning of the year.
Ajuonoma then said the market was well supplied with kerosene and that there was no need for members of the public to resort to panic buying.
Not quite long, the corporation injected additional 50 million litres into the market. At that time, Ajuonoma revealed that 18 million litres of kerosene was loaded out of NIPCO for the Independent Marketers, 12.2 million litres out of Capital Oil for the NNPC Retail stations and 17.4 million litres were being pumped to Mosimi depot from Atlas Cove for onward supply to Ibadan, Ore, Ilorin and its environs.
After it was obvious that these supplies were not capable of rescuing the situation, the group came out with an allegation that marketers are engaged in sharp practices, thereby making the product unavailable at expected or designated points.
NNPC decried the situation, threatening to investigate them through the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR).
“The nation’s refineries are working fine and producing kerosene. We give the marketers the same kerosene we are supplying the NNPC Mega stations. Very soon, the marketers will have to tell Nigerians what they are doing with the kerosene. This is a stern warning we are giving to the marketers,” Ajuonoma said.
The situation has, however, opened door for the opportunities in gas exploitation, as some consumers now see gas as a better alternative. A 25kg of gas is being filled up at N2,700 and the bigger cylinder costs N10,800 to be filled up.
According to Joseph Ozeigbe, “gas cooker is the best bet because what we are witnessing can be described as pure exploitation. This is a country where we claim to be practising pure democracy; where government claims to be caring for the teeming masses, yet, kerosene, an essential commodity for every household, tends to have gone beyond the reach of the common man.
It is a big shame. The Federal Government should act on time and arrest the situation by checking the excesses of the markers who are perpetrating this dastardly act.
The dealers hinged the price hike on the importers and depot operators, which they claimed ration the product allocation to various dealers.
Mr. Ayodele Ajayi, who is an independent dealer in Lagos, said kerosene is sold at N135 per litre from the depot, but the additional logistic charges made by the retailers automatically increased the price to about N200 per liter.
“It is not our fault, I can boldly tell you that the independent kerosene dealers are not happy with this situation, because it has equally affected our sales, the price was increased from the depot without any reason, so, by time we add the transportation and other logistics, it further go up,” he said.

Nigeria to float first FPSO integration facility in Africa

By Sulaimon Salau

Another landmark was yesterday heralded at the Ladol Free Zone, Lagos as the indigenous firm and the Korean engineering giant Samsung Heavy Industries Company Limited (SHI), unveiled plans to float a massive ship building yard in Nigeria.

  The multi-billion dollar facility planned to be built at Ladol base in Lagos would emerge the first Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) integration facility in Africa. The project is estimated to gulp a whooping sum of $250 million (about N37.5 Billion).

  The Vice President of Samsung (Offshore Business Development Team 2 Shipbuilding and Offshore Marketing Division), Harris Lee, during a visit to Ladol facility in Lagos yesterday said the project would be undertaken within 18 months period.

  He said the project would make Nigeria the central hub for oil and gas engineering and fabrication in Nigeria, and ultimately buoy the development of Nigerian economy.

According to him, all arrangements have been finalised with Ladol, while they are currently in talks with Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Nigerian Port Authority and other relevant agencies to sort out all legal and technical issues regarding the project.

  The project layout indicated that certain programmes involved in building FPSO would be undertaken in SHI yard in China while others would be cited in Ladol yard, Lagos.

  Lee, who said about 150,000 man hour human capital capacity would be required in the project, pledged to meet the local content, noting that it would give first consideration for Nigeria with respect to goods, services, employment and training.

 The new development is therefore, described by operators, as a giant stride for the success of the Local Content Agenda of the Federal Government.

  The Chairman of Ladol, Ladi Jadesimi said project would commence before the end of this year, as the engineering designs and details engineering including training of officials are at advanced stage.

  He said: the cost implication of the project will be about $250 million, that will be invest in the deep jetty, the massive cranes and other infrastructure required. But the revenue stream it will bring to Nigeria will be in billions of dollars while the employment opportunities abound are numerous.

 He stressed: “the importance of this project can never be exaggerated, the FPSO, which is the production platform on the offshore. Till now, this ship is built and completed in abroad and for the first time, Nigeria has decided that the next FPSO must be “integrated”, meaning that the shell of the FPSO will be built and brought to Nigeria for all other processing units and components will be fabricated locally and installed locally.”

 This according to him would significantly reduce the cost of acquiring FPSO while the capital flight will be reduced. “All the money that will be inflow through the economy, employment training, capacity building among other. All the offshore oil and gas acreages throughout the continent FPSOs, but unfortunately, there is no country in Africa that has the facility to integrate, so if we build this facility, all future FPSOs will be integrated here and all the monies, jobs and technology transfer will flow through Nigeria.”

   Apparently satisfied with the project, the officials of the Nigerian Content Development Monitoring Board (NCDMB) and the Nigerian Port Authority (NPA) and the National Petroleum Investment and Management Services (NAPIMS) among other agencies at the forum applauded the development and pledged to support the project as may be required.

  The project would  occupy a land mass with the length of about 480 meters, specialised quay of above 30ton/m2 load bearing, draft is above 10m, and 500ton crawler crane among others.

 

 Even some men don't enjoy this much.....

Govt's bid to increase oil output quota failed

By Sulaimon Salau

 

NIGERIA’S move to secure an increase in the oil output quota set by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) yesterday failed for the second time, as the cartel agreed to leave its existing quotas unchanged.

The decision confounded the wide speculations on the possible decision of OPEC to review oil output quotas, and hope of some of the member countries that desire output hike.
Nigeria had in 2010 pushed for the output increase, which failed, owing to OPEC’s decision to maintain output quota at its December meeting.
At the 159th meeting of OPEC conference in Vienna yesterday, ministers decided to maintain the status quo after tough deliberations that lasted for hours.
The Secretary General, Abdullah El-Badri, said immediately after the meeting: “Unfortunately we are unable to reach a consensus this time to reduce or raise our production.”
The current official output target stands at 24.84 million barrels per day (mbpd).
Nigeria would now need to wait till the next meeting, which El-Badri said would hold in mid-December in Vienna, for the situation to be reassessed.
The nation, which is basking in the euphoria of the success of the amnesty programme, has called on OPEC to increase its quota from about 1.87 million due to the relative peace in the oil-rich Niger Delta region.
The former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, had said she expected the country’s quota to be increased at the OPEC.
OPEC cut quotas sharply, effective January 1, 2009, to combat a drop in demand as recession bit, but has since left those formal targets unchanged, which has resulted in a large discrepancy between official and actual output.
Meanwhile, the Acting Minister of Petroleum of the Islamic Republic of Iran, who was the President of the Conference, Mohammad Aliabadi, in his opening address obtained by The Guardian said: “Oil market stability is the responsibility of all parties – producers and consumers alike.  We all benefit from stability, and so we must all contribute to it. OPEC plays its part to the full, by ensuring that there is always enough oil to fuel the world economy and support growth. Other stakeholders must cooperate with us in achieving lasting stability, from which the world community at large will benefit.”
Crude oil price has continued to soar above $100 for quite some weeks. This is attributed to security concerns in the Middle East and North Africa, but some in the cartel have seen the need for a review in the quota

X-raying the hurdles to light up Lagos

By Sulaimon Salau

The quest to build an Independent Power Project (IPP) in Lagos State begun in the administration of Former Governor Bola Ahmed Tinubu, when he invited the Enron Power Company to construct a 270mega watts power plant in Ikorodu area of Lagos.

  The project, being the first of such initiavite by any state government in the country, generated so much controversy, as to its legality and finally became a mirage, through a well-synchronized political antics of the then federal government.

   This heralded the interest of some other state governments that are quick to reckon with the insignificant impact of regular power supply to the economic base of their territory to adopte the independent power project formula.

    In good faith, the states have put in place facilities that could foster their agenda and deliver their people from the wrath of the national power grid, even though the Federal Government has not relented in dolling out promises to revitalize the ailing sector.

   In December 2010, the federal government, through the Minister of State Power, Mr. Nuhu Somo Wya, came out in clear terms to make a strong case for states and local governments to take advantage of the power sector reforms to embark on self power generation projects.

    Wya said: “when local and state governments are allowed to generate and distribute electricity, at that level, the reform that we are pursuing will make life much more meaningful. The more energy we have, the more employment we will have.”

   Some of the states that have put power projects in place includes; Cross River, Edo, Akwa Ibom, Rivers, Lagos and Ogun States, among others, which have also expressed the challenge impose on them by the monopoly of distribution owned by the Power Holding Company of Nigeria.

    As good the moves are, this major part of the power chain has remained a great challenge for them to get the power generated from the facilities to the required destination, hence the need to strategize for proper distribution of power, which has recently caught the attention of the government.

   Redefining its strategies, the Lagos State government has blaze the trail by erecting IPPs close to the deserved network, in other to harmonise the system for a smooth distribution of power.

   One of such move was recently switched on in Lagos Island last week to generate 10 mega watts of electricity to power some public utilities on Lagos Island, while plans at advanced stage to proceed to mainland.

   The plant will generate power by utilizing Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), which is a purer and cleaner alternative to diesel-powered Plants. It is the first of its kind in Lagos and has been built to the highest global thermal operating standards aimed at delivering uninterrupted supply of electricity to street lighting on 20 streets, the Lagos High Court as well as Island Maternity, General Hospital and some other facilities within the Lagos Island Central Business District (CBD).

    Already, it was estimated that the state would require between 12,000mega watts (mw) to 14,000mw of electricity in short term, and expected to rise geometrically owing to the booming commercial activities in the state.

  Governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Raji Fashola said that his administration has taken up the responsibility of electrifying the nook and crannies of Lagos State through its “Light up Lagos” agenda.

  As part of this measure, the governor said he has commenced a power audit on the whole state which has been concluded in some locations including  Shomolu, Matori and Lagos State Secretariat, Alausa, Ikeja among others.

  Relating the moves to the national power aspirations, Fashola said:  “We intend to embrace the power sector reforms programme driven by Mr. President, we hope that those entrusted with the responsibility of driving that reform will have the courage, the sense of urgency and the dedication that is necessary to finally free-up the sector and let private capital come in. The possibilities have already become manifest in Lagos State.”

     “Already, we have received many entreaties to expand the project. And we are committed to do so. It is not the Island alone that we are concerned about, but the whole of Lagos State. We have completed the power audit of at least 500 buildings on the central business district of Lagos Island in the axis of Broad Street, Marina and its immediate environs.

  “And that indicates to us that we will need a 114mw of power to power the entire Lagos Island Central Business District. The experts told me that it is possible to deliver this in 24 months. The only problem that stands on our way is to get gas across from to the Lagos Island. There is a group that is already showing interest, but whatever it takes, I intend to leap from the front to take that gas across the Lagoon.

  “The short term benefit of this project, apart from providing electricity uninterrupted and in an efficient manner, it saves Lagos state at least 46 per cent of the revenues that it spent currently on diesel and on generators over the life of this project. Secondly, it reduces the emission and the noise that has a very adverse impact on our life expectancy.  In a short term, we will be taking off at least 30 generators, out of the system.

   On the mainland, Fashola said his government has completed the power audit for Shomolu, which is a hub of printing business in Nigeria. “Power audit has been completed, our biggest challenge now is land. Im told that we need nothing less that a 4,000 square meters of land.”

   He therefore appealed to any public-spirited person in Shomolu area to lease or sell the land, indicating the government’s interest in buying without any delay.

  “We have also completed the power audit for the Lagos State Secretarial in Alausa and we are rising very quickly now to procurement, in other to build an independent power plant for the whole of the secretariat in Alausa and take our government off the power grid. In that way we expect that the power that we do not take would be available to PHCN to feed consumers who are yearning for power.

  “So, in every place where we find it possible to generate power without necessarily distributing it and there is stock of off-takers in that environment, our government will be ready to pursue projects like this.  Also the power audit is almost completed in Matori industrial estate so that we can also provide power to help entrepreneurs and manufacturers.”

   Lagos State, given its peculiarity, as the economic hub of Nigeria and the West African sub-region,  with a population of 18 million people is projected to emerge  the third largest mega city in the world after Tokyo (Japan) and Bombay (India) by year 2015 (UN-Habitat).

    In addition, the state accommodates 22 industrial Estates, 2,000 Industrial complexes, 10, 000 Commercial Ventures, Sea and Air ports. It also serves as host to Head Offices of Financial Institutions, Telecommunication Giants, Oil Companies and upcoming Information and Communication Technology Players.

    Permanent Secretary, Office of Works, Lagos State Ministry of Works and Infrastructure, Engr.  Bambgose-Martins said:  “It is therefore pertinent that an efficient and reliable power supply network will serve as key infrastructure needed to revamp the economy, alleviate poverty through the creation of wealth and job opportunities, increase productivity as well as enhance security. In addition, a healthier environment and improved quality of life is guaranteed through a drastic reduction in the greenhouse effect arising from the air pollution emitted from the extensive use of Power Generating Sets as a secondary means of providing power to our homes, places of work and industries.”

    Investors have however continued to scramble to secure such humanitarian projects to boost their corporate profile. This was obvious between the First Bank and Fidelity Bank bosses, as they jokingly sought for stakes in similar projects planned for the state.