Oando Plc Favour Ifeoluwa & Akinola Ajibade Oando Plc says it has completed and won the bid for the operatorship of oil block KON 13 in Angola. The firm which recently acquired Eni of Italy’s oil assets in Nigeria, said that the award of the oil block located in Angola’s onshore Kwanza Basin followed a competitive bidding process by the country’s oil and gas sector regulator. It further said hat the asset in which it owns 45 per cent participating interest, has estimated prospective resources of 770 to 1,100 million barrels of oil. Oando is handling its operations relating to the asset through its upstream subsidiary, Oando Energy Resources (OER). “Oando Plc, Africa’s leading indigenous energy solutions provider listed on both the Nigerian Exchange Limited and Johannesburg Stock Exchange is pleased to announce that its upstream subsidiary, Oando Energy Resources (OER), has been awarded operatorship of Block KON 13 in Angola’s Onshore Kwanza Basin, following a...
Fish sellers, yesterday, protested against the spiralling increase in the price of fish in the country.
The protest, which took place in Abeokuta, Ogun state capital, saw traders filling out in large numbers to register their grievances over hike in the price of the product.
They took to the streets of major areas in the ancient city, in large numbers amid complaints that the hardship foisted on the country, by the current economy has become unbearable..
Also the traders, who are carry placards of different descriptions, took the protest to the Governor’s office in Abeokuta, to register their displeasure.
They urged the government to intervene quickly, by stopping the skyrocketing prices of fish across the country.
According to the traders, many of their colleagues are already in debt while some are now leaving the business because they could no longer operate given the current economic realities.
The Chairman of Fish and Seafood Sellers Association of Ogun State, Chief Onajobi Owolabi Aremu, in a chat with the media during the protest, said the fish sellers are now finding life unbearable because of the everyday increase in the prices of fish while their only means of livelihood is under serious threat.
He said: “We are all here to let the government know that life is becoming so hard for us the fish sellers and those eating it too. This is due to the everyday increase in the prices of fish. For instance, a carton of Mackrel that we call Titus has jumped from N45000 to N85,000, invariably one Titus is now N2000. A carton of herring commonly called ‘Sawa’ which used to be N14000 is now N47000.
“The most painful part is that, let’s assume that you buy this fish say for N50,000 in the morning before afternoon it is N70,000 and the following day it will be N75,000. How can we survive in this kind of situation?
Many of us are now in debt because people are also not patronising us again, they will always complain that the fish is too expensive. We sincerely call on our governor, Dapo Abiodun to help us out of this terrible situation. We are not happy at all because this is our only source of livelihood”.
Chief Mrs Adiat Omoowo, leader of the Fish Sellers, Egba Division said that they decided to stage protest to the Governor’s Office because they could no longer afford to stay calm while life is becoming so tortuous for them.
She said: “We are here to plead for the governor’s intervention over this unexpected turn of events in our business. We did not start this fish selling yesterday and things has never be like this. How can we now pay N85, 000 for what we used to buy for N4000? This is hard on us.
“Already many are leaving the business. We all decided to come out and let the government know about what we are going through, we beg them to help us before things turn the other way for us. To feed our families now is now a problem because people are no longer buying this fish, they always complain that they are too expensive”.
Addressing the protesters, the commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Welfare, Adijat Adeleye appealed to the traders to be more patient with the government, saying the hike in fish is not peculiar to Ogun state alone.
She said: “To my understanding, I think this is not just happening in Ogun state, fish sellers from other states are also complaining about the increase in price.
“The issue of fish is not just about Ogun state, it is something that cut across the nation, there has to be an holistic approach to the problem”.
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