Borno: Aliko Dangote Foundation donates N1bn to Maiduguri Flood Victims

…Presidential Committee on Flooding also donates N1bn

Chairman of Aliko Dangote Foundation (ADF) and Chairman, National Committee on Flood Relief and Rehabilitation, Mr. Aliko Dangote, has donated a whopping sum of one billion Naira to help assuage the pains of the Maiduguri flood victims in Borno State.

The Presidential Committee on Flood Relief and Rehabilitation (PCFRR), which Dangote heads, also donated another sum of one billion naira to the cause, to help the Maiduguri victims of the flooding.

During an on-the-spot inspection of the disaster-stricken areas on Friday, Dangote, who is also the President and Chief Executive of the Dangote Industries Limited, empathised with the victims and rallied for support from other Nigerians and willing stakeholders.

Speaking on the flooding incident, Dangote described the sight as “mindboggling”, and exclaimed that he has “never seen a disaster of this scale before.”

He said, “I am moved with pity; I have never seen a disaster of this magnitude before. The state needs urgent help and intervention from well-meaning Nigerians and stakeholders.

“A lot of infrastructural development needs to be done; the houses and roads need urgent attention for people to get their lives back. Again, we are asking that corporate organisations need to intervene and provide succour in every way possible as the government cannot do it alone.”

In his remarks, Borno State governor, Babagana Zulum, appreciated Dangote’s support, stating that he has contributed immensely into the development of the state.

He added that he was not surprised to see the business mogul visit the disaster area as a solidarity gesture. He called on well-meaning Nigerians to emulate Mr. Dangote in his charitable contributions.

Recall that the flood, has displaced over a million residents and about 30 persons have been confirmed dead.

The Director-General of the Borno State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Mr. Barkindo Mohammed, stated that “As of 5pm on Thursday, SEMA evacuated 3,683 persons from their homes in a rescue operation. The search and rescue operation is still ongoing.

“The mode of rescue involves motorists, boats, canoes, divers, military, and fire service trucks, among others. As the water continues to recede, we are concentrating on those who make distress calls and will start search and rescue today and tomorrow,” Mohammed said.

According to him, about two million people were affected, and so far, SEMA has opened 14 official camps and many informal camps where displaced persons can go. He said that the Federal Government has supported the state with N3 billion and food consignments.

“President Bola Tinubu has supported Borno and other states with N3 billion each. Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State has forwarded the money to SEMA, and he has added more on what the federal government gave. We are not only responding to the flood victims in Maiduguri but also in Local Government Areas across the state,” Mohammed said.

In early December 2022, the Dangote-led Presidential Committee on Flood Relief and Rehabilitation (PCFRR), known as Dangote Flood Committee had commenced the distribution of relief materials, worth N1.5 billion to victims of flooding nationwide. The PCFRR, which was established by the Federal Government following the 2012 flooding, is co-chaired by Aliko Dangote and renowned legal giant, Dr. Olisa Agbakoba.

**NNPC Ltd and challenges in the oil sector: Banire misconceives the facts, promotes biased views**

By Olufemi Soneye

In the face of the challenges in the oil sector, particularly the current tightness in the supply of petrol, it has become fashionable to blame the national oil company, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd (NNPC Ltd), for everything. Last week, it was Prof. Pat Utomi who railed and fumed at the NNPC Ltd calling it one of the most opaque and unreliable companies in the world. Before then, The Punch had published an editorial in which it described the NNPC Ltd as a danger to Nigeria. The latest of these vitriolic attacks is by Dr. Muiz Banire, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), and former Commissioner of Transport and Environment, Lagos State, who contended in his column in The Sun that NNPC Ltd is the black hole of Nigeria.

Considering all that is going on in the petroleum sector, it would appear justifiable to call out the NNPC Ltd as some people have been doing in recent times. But most of the diatribes have been based on sentiments that are not rooted in facts. Railing at the NNPC Ltd without a thorough understanding of the issues that threw up the current challenges in the oil sector, as most of the commentators have been doing, will yield no good for the country. At this critical intersection, the task for all well-meaning Nigerians should be how to find lasting solutions to the mischiefs in the oil sector and not to look for scapegoats, as Dr. Banire has done.

According to Banire, Nigeria has been experiencing fuel scarcity since 1973 on the back of fuel subsidy and the NNPC Ltd is responsible for it. The assertion that the NNPC is responsible for this state of affairs is moot. The policy of fuel subsidy is not the preserve of the NNPC. Various administrations over the years have thought it wise to subsidize the cost of petroleum products for citizens. They came up with different methods of doing that. The role of NNPC Ltd has been to implement the policy as decided by government. At a point when the various administrations felt that the fuel subsidy policy had become a burden that should be done away with, they made it known. NNPC Ltd, as the national oil company, implemented it. This was the case in 2012 when the nation went up in protest against the decision of government to remove fuel subsidy. The same scenario repeated itself in 2019 when the then administration came up with the policy to remove fuel subsidy. NNPC Ltd is neither responsible for the policy of fuel subsidy or its removal.

It is very unfortunate that Dr Banire would descend to the level of castigating the NNPC Ltd for the fuel subsidy debacle that has plagued Nigeria and on the basis of that label the Company that has over the years patriotically borne the brunt of the fuel subsidy policy as a black hole. His analysis fails to take into consideration the huge challenges of products smuggling, pipeline vandalism, and crude oil theft that the company contends with daily, and in spite of which it manages to keep the nation going with crude oil production and fuel supply.

Barely three months after the Federal Government announced the removal of fuel subsidy, it became difficult for both major and independent petroleum products marketers to import petrol because of the foreign exchange policy. They could not source forex to continue to bring in petrol. Since then, NNPC Ltd has been importing the product and selling at almost half price in keeping with the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) which designates it as the fuel supplier of last resort. Yes, there have been supply hiccups here and there because of the financial constraints imposed by the transaction. Just imagine the hardship the nation would have suffered if NNPC Ltd was not there to play the role of supplier of last resort! NNPC Ltd is the reason Nigerians continue to enjoy lower pump price for petrol than they would ordinarily pay for the product. How then does such a company become a black hole?

For Banire, NNPC Ltd is responsible for everything that is wrong in the oil sector. He even blames smuggling and the unauthorized sale of petroleum products to street urchins who in turn trade it in the black market in jerrycans on the NNPC Ltd. But does he have evidence that the unpatriotic marketers who divert petroleum products meant for local consumption to neighbouring countries are staff members or representatives of the NNPC Ltd? Does he have any shred of evidence that the boys who sell fuel in the black market in jerrycans source their products from NNPC Retail Ltd.’s stations? The least one would expect from a lawyer of Banire’s standing is a fact-based and not speculative commentary.

The NNPC Ltd has turned a corner since 2018 when it began to prepare for the enactment of the Petroleum Industry Act, which was eventually passed into law in 2021. Apart from deepening its commitment to accountability and transparency by regularly publishing its audited annual financial statements, it has become a profitable company with undisputable growth trajectory. It recorded an unprecedented N3.29 trillion profit in its recently released 2023 audited financial report. But this fact is conveniently lost on Dr. Banire who insists that he has not seen any difference between NNPC as corporation and the commercially focused NNPC Ltd that was incorporated in 2021. Fortunately, it does not take Banire to see or believe that NNPC Ltd, as presently constituted, has broken away from its debilitating past for it to be true. He is at home with the legal maxim: “Res Ipsa Loquitur”, meaning the facts speak for themselves.

While one cannot dissuade people like Dr. Banire from criticizing the NNPC Ltd, they must refrain from standing facts on their heads all because they want to be populist or be in the good books of the public. Besides, the Banires of this world should also not be intentionally mischievous in their assertion that the NNPC Limited is exercising an overbearing influence on the regulators. One expects that given the level of their educational accomplishments, they should have the capacity to research very well into the subject matters of their editorial interventions so that they do not argue, assert and progress in error(s). In the corollary, it is either Banire is mischievous or ignorant about the assertion he made in his write-up that the NNPC influences the NUPRC and the NMDPRA who are the two independent regulators. If he lacks a clear knowledge of the workings of the sector, he should be humble enough to seek clarifications so he could be well informed. NNPC Limited is an operator-with a number of refineries under its purview. The Port Harcourt refinery will soon take off. As a matter of fact, the refineries under the NNPC are operators and are therefore subject to the regulatory framework and regulations set out by the NMDPRA. The operator(s) cannot, therefore, exercise overbearing influence on the regulators. This is commonsensically impossible. Pure and simple.

Soneye, is the Chief Corporate Communications Officer of the NNPC Ltd

*Signal Media Links CEO, Olanrewaju Olasunkanmi Stages All African Festival In US

The Chief Executive Officer Signal Media Links, Asiwaju Olasunkanmi Olanrewaju said that the hosting of the annual All African Festival in the United States is a platform which helped Africans in diaspora to promote their unique cultural heritage while also helping their children to appreciate the pride of their black root.

Asiwaju Olanrewaju said that he decided to come up with the international festival to showcase genuine and indigenous African rich culture other than some copycats and non-indigenous moves some are trying to dubbed African culture.

The cultural ambassador from Ibadan, Oyo State and alumnus of Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State said that the maiden international festival held recently in the US holds a very promising future as the participants were thrilled to various African electrifying performances, dances, cuisines, displays by the masquerade (Egungun) among other captivating performances.

Speaking during the festival, Olanrewaju in a statement said with the continuous increment in population of the African immigrants in the United State of America, it is very important we have develop a project like this, to remind ourselves of where we came from and provide our children with a glimpse of their ancestral roots, beyond what they are reading on internet..

“This would serve as a mirror of reflection on our indigenous socio-cultural value and uniqueness, and also orientate and imbibe in our kids the importance of mastering their history and know true story of their origin.

“We have various and related African cultural events in the United State, but what makes All African Festival unique, is the genuinely and indigenous showcase of Africa artifacts and working with all African departments to make it inclusive and the interactive session with our children is something that is very significant to the project.

“While I was in NBC media school in the USA, I was opportuned to witness different African events across the country and I found out that most of these events and festivals, are not really indigenous as titled.

“However, the All African Festival is here, to work with all African communities or groups, in showcasing, and continuous promoting our socio-cultural heritage value, by re-affirming to the global community, that African culture is the best in world.

“It would also serves, as an opportunity for the African immigrants and US-born alike – to come together, share their experiences, and support each other year after year.

“This maiden edition allowed the African children to demonstrate their talent in music, dance, art and crafts as a means of “stepping into the future, dismissing racial barriers” that hold them back in the reality of race relations in the United States.

“Lastly, we believe that the All African Festival 2025 would be bigger, greater and better, as we intend to work with various reputable private and government cultural department, to make it more reality”.

For more information on All African Festival, visit their website at http://www.allafricanfestivalusa.africa.