The Africa’s richest man and chairman of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, says with the plan by the Dangote Refinery, Nigeria will not need to import gasoline by June, this year.

Speaking at the Africa CEO Forum Annual Summit in Kigali on Friday, he said the refinery had started supplying diesel and aviation fuel in Nigeria.

According to him, the refinery has the capacity to meet the diesel and petrol needs of West Africa and the aviation fuel demand of the entire African continent.

“Right now, Nigeria has no cause to import anything apart from gasoline and by sometime in June, within the next four or five weeks, Nigeria shouldn’t import anything like gasoline; not one drop of a litre.

“We have enough gasoline to give to at least the entire West Africa, diesel to give to West Africa and Central Africa. We have enough aviation fuel to give to the entire continent and also export some to Brazil and Mexico.

“Today, our polypropylene and our polyethene will meet the entire demand of Africa and we are doing base oil, which is like engine oil, we are doing linear benzyl, which is raw material to produce detergent. We have 1.4 billion people in the population, nobody is producing that in Africa.

“So, all the raw materials for our detergents are imported. We are producing that raw material to make Africa self-sufficient.

“As I said, give us three or a maximum of four years and Africa will not, I repeat, not import any more fertilizer from anywhere. We will make Africa self-sufficient in potash, phosphate, and urea, we are at three million tonnes and in the next twenty months, we will be at six million tonnes of urea which is the entire capacity of Egypt. We are getting there.” Dangote said.

He added: “Our refinery is quite big, it is something that we believe that Africa needs. If you look at the whole continent, there are only two countries that don’t import petroleum products, which is a tragedy. They are only Algeria and Libya. The rest are all importers. So, we need to change and make sure that we don’t just go and produce raw materials, we should also produce finished products and create jobs.”

[DailyTrust]

• Pressure on Labour to resume talks

The Federal Government is wooing labour for fresh talks over the proposed new minimum wage after workers’ representatives called off their participation in the last round of negotiation on Wednesday.

Government, The Nation gathered yesterday, is determined to resolve the impasse over the new minimum wage as soon as possible, although it was unclear last night whether the matter could be resolved before the May 31 deadline given by labour for conclusion of the deal.

Government had tabled N48ooo as the new minimum wage during the Wednesday meeting of the Bukar Goni Aji-led 37-man Tripartite Committee on National Minimum Wage.

The figure was considered way off  the N615,000 demanded by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) prompting the representatives of the unions to walk out of the meeting.

However, Alhaji Goni Aji has now scheduled another meeting of the committee with labour leaders for Tuesday, May 21 to wrap up their negotiation.

He said government was willing to shift grounds on its N48,000 offer.

The committee chairman, in a May 16, 2024 letter inviting the unions to the meeting said: “You will recall that the organised labour representatives walked out of the tripartite committee meeting of yesterday, Wednesday, May 15, 2024, after the presentation of the position paper by the government side.

“However, as earlier discussed, we need to all sit back on the negotiation table to analyse the tripartite position and shift grounds by all sides to enable us to conclude the assignment before you travel to the ILO (International Labour Organisation) Conference to be held in Geneva, Switzerland.

“This is to give assurance to our teeming workforce that the tripartite Committee would do all that is possible to reduce the waiting time in concluding this assignment.

“I have had discussions with our members and there is a willingness to shift ground as soon as we start the negotiations.

“Kindly consider this appeal and talk to your other members too. We look forward to reconvening on Tuesday, May 21, 2024, next week to continue negotiations.”

A Presidency source said yesterday that it was difficult to determine yet whether the proposed minimum wage will be ready before the May 31 deadline given by labour.

“Not sure. The negotiation is still on. The negotiation team will meet again next week,” the source said.

A separate source at the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission said the negotiation was “work in progress.”

President Bola Tinubu had, on the last Workers Day, pledged his administration’s readiness to consider a national living wage that would address workers’ living conditions instead of a minimum wage, if suggested by the Goni Aji Committee.

He said the matter would be “resolved soon and I assure you that your days of worrying are over. Indeed, this government is open to the committee’s suggestion of not just a minimum wage but a living wage.”

He told organised labour that he had not taken their understanding, patience, commitment and support in the course of implementing his administration’s policies and programmes for granted.

“Your role as an indispensable component of the nation’s engine cannot be overstated by any government if the quest for a just and progressive society is to be realised,” he said in a solidarity speech delivered by Vice President Kashim  Shettima.

He added: “I do not take for granted the understanding, patience, commitment, and support you have shown throughout the implementation of this government’s policies and programmes aimed at positively transforming our great nation.

“Your contributions have played a significant role in our efforts to rescue the economy since we came on board.”

Also speaking at the rally, Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Hon Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, said  the Tinubu administration “empathises with the plight of workers and will do all it can to address these issues,” urging the organised labour “to maintain social dialogue in resolving disputes.”

President of the NLC, Joe Ajaero, during a recent visit to The Nation, explained how labour arrived at the N615,000 it is demanding.

His words: “In arriving at N615K, we allocated N40K for accommodation. Whether you stay in Orile (a suburb of Lagos) occupying a room and a parlour, for a family of husband and wife and four children, that’s what the federal government approved.

“So if you have a grandmother or mother-in-law, you’re on your own because we didn’t factor in those ones.

“And we assigned N500 per person for that family of six per meal. I want somebody to tell us that if you eat at mamaput there, let’s assume you eat without meat. So that N500 per person is N1, 500 per person in a day for six persons, and in a month, you are going to have N270K for feeding.

“We looked at medicals. We said assuming that there is not going to be surgery or anything complicated, let’s put N50K.

“We looked at education. Let’s hope that you don’t send your children to private school. We put N50K.

“We then looked at utilities as in the electricity bill, we said N20K. And that was before the tariff increase. But if you buy a unit of N20K now, for those of you that use it, you know how long it would last.

“We now looked at gas, kerosene energy components. If you pay N15K or N17K to fill a gas cylinder now, within two weeks, it’s gone and in a month you fill your cylinder twice. So we allocated about N30-35K.

“So that is the breakdown. We didn’t make provisions for communication because you are not supposed to use GSM. So, your boss can’t even call you.

“You’re not supposed to take any form of refreshment or even buy soda. Or even pay offering in the church or tithe.

“In this our calculation, you’re not supposed to have a car because you cannot fill a tank with N30K or even service the vehicle; not even a motorcycle.

“So those are some of the things that make up this N615K.”

The Goni Aji committee was inaugurated on January 30, 2024 by Vice President Kashim Shettima to come up with a new minimum wage ahead of the expiration of the current N30,000 wage on April 18.

The committee draws its membership from government, the private sector and organised labour.

[TheNation]

Wigwe University, Isiokpo, Rivers State, tops the list with a tuition fee of N12m, including accommodation fees.

Nile University, Abuja’s most expensive programme, Medicine and Surgery, costs N5.95m, according to the school’s website. Fees only cover tuition; accommodation is not included. Tuition for returning students is the same as stipulated in their admission letters.

Lead City University, also known as LCU, is a private university in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. Their MBBS Medicine and Surgery programme, according to the school’s website, costs N5.5m per session. Other expensive programmes are their Nursing, Dentistry, and Pharmacy programmes which cost N2.5m each per session.

Afe Babalola University, founded by legal luminary, Chief Afe Babalola (SAN), is another expensive university in the country. First-year students of Medicine are to pay N4,567,500 while final-year students will pay a total of N5,586,000. This excludes accommodation which costs N850,000 for the Super Deluxe one-person room, and other fees [Students Association fees, medical screening, ABUAD souvenir (fresh students)] which cost around N70,000.

Pan-Atlantic University, Lagos, charges between N3.9m to N4.4m for its most expensive programme, B.Eng Mechatronics. The fee covers reading materials, and academic facilities, among others. This does not include the non-refundable acceptance fee of N250,000 to be paid on admission.

Igbinedion University, Okada, Edo State, is Nigeria’s first private university, known for its commitment to quality education and academic excellence. According to the school’s website, final-year medical students can pay as much as N4m as tuition. This excludes other sundry levies.

Bowen University, Iwo, Osun State, a private Baptist Christian Nigerian university located at Iwo in Osun State, Nigeria, is also another university with expensive fees. It is affiliated with the Nigerian Baptist Convention. According to its website, the most expensive programme, the Medicine and Surgery (pre-clinical) programme, costs around N3.8m. Other Fees of N84,000 per session are made up of BBSF – N4,000, Entrepreneurship and Soft Skills – N20,000, Internet Access and Portal Management – N40,000, and Health Care – N20,000.

All new and returning students are required to pay N20,000 and N10,000 respectively to Bowen University Parents Association Forum in the first semester and present a receipt of the same for clearance. Also, 70 per cent payment of school fees is expected to be paid at the commencement of the session while the balance of 30 per cent is expected to be paid at the commencement of the second semester.

American University of Nigeria, Adamawa State, founded by former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, in Yola, the capital of his home state of Adamawa, North-East Nigeria, charges N3.511m as its highest fee for its undergraduate engineering students. This excludes accommodation which costs N432,000 for its triple-room apartment, and feeding which costs N813,960 for 21 meals.

Benson Idahosa University, Benin City, Edo State, is a private, Christian university. Previously named Christian Faith University, it was renamed in honour of the late Archbishop Benson Idahosa, a charismatic Pentecostal minister from Benin City, Nigeria, and is said to reflect his evangelical beliefs. Its Medicine and Surgery programme costs between N3.3m and N3.5m per session, according to its website. This is closely followed by its Nursing, Medical Laboratory Science, and Law programmes which cost N1.8m, N1.5m, and N1.2m respectively per session.

Babcock University, a private Christian co-educational Nigerian university owned and operated by the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Nigeria, is located at Ilishan-Remo, Ogun State, Nigeria, equidistant between Ibadan in Oyo State and Lagos. The most expensive programme, which is the LL.B in Law programme, costs N1,539,990, according to the school’s website. This excludes feeding which costs N523,600 (two-meal option) or  785,400 (three-meal option).

Redeemer’s University is a private university in Ede, Osun State, and prides itself as one of the most cost-effective, top private universities in Nigeria. Their fee structure, according to their website, is flexible and can be paid in three installments. The most expensive programme, which is their undergraduate Law programme, costs N1.447m followed by their Bachelor in Nursing programme which costs N1.1m per session.

Caleb University, Imota, Lagos, is a private university that is also one of the most expensive in the country. The highest fee, paid by law undergraduates, costs N1.4m, according to the fee tracker available on its website. This excludes matriculation fees, ICT and global certification, and parents forum which cost N65,000 in total.

Ajayi Crowther University, founded in 2005, is a private faith-based university located in Oyo State, Nigeria. Its Law programme costs N1.7m while its Nursing programme costs N1.4m.

Joseph Ayo Babalola University is a private Nigerian university located in Ikeji-Arakeji, Osun State, Nigeria, established in 2004 by the Christ Apostolic Church Worldwide. The most expensive programmes are the BSc Nursing, Medical Laboratory Technology, and Law programmes which cost between N1.3m and N1.5m each per session.

 Covenant University, Otta, Ogun State, affiliated with the Living Faith Church Worldwide, is a member of the Association of Commonwealth Universities, Association of African Universities, and National Universities Commission, and is one of the most expensive universities in the country. Most of the university’s programmes range between N1.1m to N3m, according to the university’s website. This includes feeding but excludes accommodation.

 Notable mentions include Achievers University, Novena University, Adeleke University, Rhema University, Lagos State University, Obong University, and Oduduwa University.

[Punch]

Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has filed a lawsuit against Nigeria’s 36 governors and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Mr Nyesom Wike “over their failure to account for the spending of trillions of FAAC allocations collected by their states and the FCT since 1999.”

The suit followed reports that the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) disbursed N1.123 trillion to the federal, state, and local governments for March 2024. They shared N1.208 trillion in April. States collected N398.689 billion in March while they collected N403.403 billion in April.

In the suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/666/2024 filed last Friday at the Federal High Court, Abuja, SERAP is asking the court to “direct and compel the governors and Mr Wike to publish spending details of the FAAC allocations collected by their states and the FCT since 1999 including the list and locations of projects executed with the money.”

SERAP is also asking the court to “compel the governors and Mr Wike to invite the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission [EFCC] and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission [ICPC] to probe any allegations of corruption linked to the allocations and to monitor how the money is spent.”

In the suit, SERAP is arguing that, “Nigerians ought to know in what manner public funds including FAAC allocations, are spent by the governors and FCT minister.”

According to SERAP, “Opacity in the spending of the FAAC allocations collected by the governors and Mr Wike would continue to have negative impacts on the fundamental interests of the citizens.”

SERAP is arguing that, “trillions of FAAC allocations received by Nigeria’s 36 states and the FCT have allegedly gone down the drain. The resulting human costs directly threaten the human rights of socially and economically vulnerable Nigerians.”

SERAP is also arguing that, “Without the information on the spending details of the FAAC allocations, Nigerians cannot follow the actions of their states and the FCT and they cannot properly fulfill their responsibilities as citizens.”

SERAP is also arguing that, “Directing and compelling the governors and FCT minister to provide the information sought and widely publish the spending details of the FAAC allocations collected by them would serve legitimate public interests.”

According to SERAP, “The failure by the governors and the FCT ministers to account for the spending of the FAAC allocations collected by them is entirely inconsistent and incompatible with the Nigerian Constitution 1999 [as amended] and the country’s international anti-corruption obligations.”

The suit filed on behalf of SERAP by its lawyers Kolawole Oluwadare, Kehinde Oyewumi and Andrew Nwankwo, read in part: “States and the FCT should be guided by transparency and accountability principles and proactively account for the spending of the FAAC allocations collected by them.”

“Secrecy in the spending of FAAC allocations collected by the governors and the FCT minister also denies Nigerians the right to know how public funds are spent. Transparency in the spending would allow them to retain control over their government.”

“The governors and FCT minister have a legal obligation to provide the information sought including the list of specific projects completed with the FAAC allocations collected, the locations of any such projects and completion reports of the projects.”

“The information sought should also include details of the salaries and pensions paid from the FAAC allocations collected, as well as the details of projects executed on hospitals and schools with the FAAC allocations.”

“Despite the increased FAAC allocations to states and FCT, millions of residents in several states and the FCT continue to face extreme poverty and lack access to basic public goods and services.”

“The reported removal of petrol subsidy and the floating of the exchange rate by the Federal Government has translated into increased FAAC allocations to states and the FCT. However, there is no corresponding improvement in the security and welfare of millions of Nigerians.”

“FAAC allocations received by the states and the FCT are reportedly characterised by mismanagement, diversion of funds, and abandoned projects. FAAC allocations have also been allegedly spent for other purposes such as election campaigns and political patronage.”

“Publishing the documents on the spending of FAAC allocations by the states and the FCT would promote transparency, accountability, and reduce the risks of corruption in the spending of the funds.”

“Publishing the documents would also enable Nigerians to meaningfully engage in the implementation of projects executed with the FAAC allocations collected.”

“The report that some 140 million Nigerians are poor suggests corruption and mismanagement in the spending of trillions of naira in FAAC allocations collected by the states and the FCT.”

“According to our information, the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) disbursed N1.123 trillion to the federal, state and local governments for March 2024.”

“State governments got N398.689 billion while local government councils got N288.688 billion. The mineral-producing states received an additional N90.124 billion (13% of mineral revenue). In February, states collected N336 billion.”

“According to the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), the federal, states and local governments shared N10.143 trillion from the Federation Account as statutory revenue allocations in 2023, with states collecting N3.585 trillion.”

“Section 15(5) of the Nigerian Constitution requires public institutions to abolish all corrupt practices and abuse of power.”

“Section 16(2) of the Nigerian Constitution further provides that, ‘the material resources of the nation are harnessed and distributed as best as possible to serve the common good.’”

“Section 13 of the Nigerian Constitution imposes clear responsibility on the states and FCT to conform to, observe and apply the provisions of Chapter 2 of the constitution.”

“Nigeria has also made legally binding commitments under the UN Convention against Corruption to ensure accountability in the management of public resources.”

“Nigerians are entitled to the right to receive information without any interference or distortion, and the enjoyment of this right should be based on the principle of maximum disclosure, and a presumption that all information is accessible subject only to a narrow system of exceptions.”

“The Freedom of Information Act, Section 39 of the Nigerian Constitution, article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights guarantee to everyone the right to information, including the documents on the spending of FAAC allocations.”

No date has been fixed for the hearing of the suit.

[Vanguard]