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Nigeria needs $7.5bn for power transmission upgrade-Olotu
From Mohammed Shosanya, Lagos
The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) requires about $7.5bn toý improve its dilapidated transmission infrastructure, the Managing Director, Niger Delta Power Holding Company Limited (NDPHC),
Mr. James Abiodun Olutu, has said.
Represented by the Executive Director, Generation, Mr. Sanusi Garba in Lagos yesterday at the PwC Annual Power and Utilities Roundtable, Olotu said the $7.5bn investment in transmission upgrade was expected to be deployed over a five-year period at $1.5bn annually.
He however said lack of fund to execute the $1.5bn annual investment made the dream of transmission infrastructure upgrade unattainable.
He said hope was now in the offing as the National Assembly had given TCN the nod to use part of the expected $5.7bn proceeds from the sale of government’s 80 percent equity in the NIPP to fund the upgrade.
Meanwhile, PwC yesterday launched its Africa Power Survey (Nigeria Focus) with a verdict that population growth will have significant
impact on the Nigerian power sector.
The report also indicated that 69 percent of the Nigerian participants identified the emergence of megacities as the next most impacting megatrend after population growth of high or very high impact.
Military clerics hold training week, donate to IDPs
From Ibrahim Sawab, Maiduguri
Imams under the Directorate of Islamic Affairs in the Nigerian Army have donated food items to internally displaced persons (IDPs) as of part of their 2015 training week which ended in Maiduguri yesterday.
The Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai, who was represented by the ‘Operation Lafiya Dole’ Commander, Maj.-Gen. Yusha’u Abubakar, told participants that as agents of God, they occupy a significant position in the spiritual upliftment and we-being of officers and soldiers.
“This training week provides an opportunity for you to re-assess your performances in order to identify areas requiring improvement, especially in the face of current security challenges,” Buratai told the participants from different parts of the country.
Earlier in his welcome address, the Director of Islamic Affairs Nigerian Army, Col. Shehu Garba Mustapha, said considering the sacrifices made by the military in the North-east zone, the idea of Maiduguri as this year’s training week venue surpassed all other suggested venues.
“This is also our own additional way of showing concern to our brothers and sisters in the North-east and that of our colleagues who are currently at various battlefields, fighting the misguided elements of our society,” he said, praying that God accepts the souls of the departed, quick recovery for the injured and victory for their fighting forces over the insurgents.
Boko Haram kills 18 in Niger
Eighteen people were killed and 100 homes torched in an attack in the dead of night by Boko Haram fighters on a village in South-eastern Niger Republic, local authorities told AFP yesterday.
“The toll is 18 dead, 11 hurt, almost 100 homes burned down in the village of Wogom late Wednesday, the mayor of the nearby town of Bosso, Bako Mamadou, said.
A humanitarian worker said the attackers crossed the Komadougou Yobe River at the border between Niger and Nigeria.
Armed jihadists and suicide bombers from The United Nations has registered around 50 attacks and clashes between Islamist fighters and Niger troops since February.
The last came in late October when they shot dead 13 people in a village near Diffa.
Some 150 schools with more than 12,000 pupils have been forced to close due to the attacks in the southeast.
Police arrest dollar counterfeiters
From Femi Akinola, Lagos
Police detectives in Lagos have arrested five members of a syndicate who specialised in counterfeiting the US dollar and defrauding members of the public.
The Commander, Rapid Response Squad (RRS), ACP Olatunji Disu made this known yesterday while advising residents of the state on security measures in the Christmas and New Year.
Ade Oladele, 32; Friday Philip, 33; Israel Ibeh, 35; Oyewole Thompson, 30 and Onyegbuchi Godwin, 31 were arrested at Oko Baba Sule, off Wilma Bridge in Olodi-Apapa area of Lagos.
Daily Trust gathered that the gang, led by one Toronto, had defrauded one Chioma Anozie of N210,000 under the pretext of supplying her phones and laptops.
One of the gang members, Oyewole Thompson, was said to have met Anozie in Mile 2 and pretended to be a foreigner looking for a marketer to help him sell a huge consignment of mobile phones and laptops. She was then persuaded to bring money to get the consignment.
“They told me to bring money. I paid them N210,000 but they did not provide any consignment,” Anozie said.
The police found several denominations of fake US dollars and four mobile phones with the suspects when they were arrested. Disu added that the suspects would be charged to court.
Ambode to hand over patrol vehicles, helicopters to police today
From Femi Akinola, Lagos
Lagos State Governor Akinwunmi Ambode will today handover patrol vehicles including cars, motorcycles, Armoured Personnel Carriers (APC) and patrol helicopters to the state police command and the Rapid Response Squad (RRS).
A source at the Governor’s Office at Alausa Ikeja told Daily Trust that the government purchased the vehicles for the police to boost its fight against crime and as part of efforts to provide a secure environment for foreign and local investors in the state as well as secure lives and property of residents.
Last week, at a dinner organised by the state government for the outgoing Security Trust Fund (LSSTF) Board of Trustees and the new board, Governor Ambode said policing Lagos with over 21 million people required a lot more than just additional policemen but security equipment to make the job of policemen easier.
China to increase investment in Africa
China said yesterday it would increase investment in Africa and buy more non-resource products from the continent.
Vice Minister of Commerce, Qian Keming, said China would export advanced industrial production capacity to African countries.
“China will diversify imports from the continent and buy more products in addition to primary commodities, particularly natural resources, which account for the bulk of China-Africa trade‘’, Keming said.
He said China had deliberated for a year on the package of cooperation proposals that it had announced it would unveil at the Johannesburg meeting of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in December.
The package, according to Keming, is based around China helping African countries upgrade industrial structure, safeguard food security and build infrastructure.
The Johannesburg FOCAC summit would be a milestone in China-Africa ties and trade cooperation, the Vice Minister said.
“At the summit, Chinese companies will exhibit their competence in railway, aviation, electricity, telecom, machinery and smart manufacturing.
“To finance bilateral cooperation, China will set up funds and give African countries more low-interest bank loans‘’, Keming added.
China has provided African countries with loans worth over 20 billion dollars since 2012 to support infrastructure, investment, small and medium-sized enterprises, agriculture and manufacturing.
China also rolled out about 900 assistance programs in Africa covering agriculture, health, education and other fields and offered training to over 30,000 local people since 2012, he said. (Xinhua/NAN)