NEWS MIRROR

By Favour Ifeoluwa & Akinola Ajibade  The Chief Executive Officer, Egbin Power Plc, Mr Mohktar Bounour says global transition to cleaner energ and sustainable environment are achievable, as long as there is strong synergy and commitment among stakeholders in the value chain.  He spoke during the maiden edition of  Asharami Square in Lagos. This is an initiative introduced and implemented by the Sahara Group, in order to amplify discourse on energy sustainability through  media advocacy globally. He said: " Having analyzed the percentage of global greenhouse emissions attributed to sectors including electricity/heat production, agriculture/forestry and transportation, we are realised that there is need for synergy  and renewed commitment among stakeholders". According to him, Egbin Power has unwavering commitment to reduce carbon emissions and promotes sustainable energy sources, stressing that the need to depeening engagement and advocacy among stakeholders in

A 64-year-old randy pastor, rFrancis Ogu, has been arrested( Thursday, June 27) in Awka, Anambra State capital, for allegedly defiling a 7-year-old to ‘calm his nerves’. The suspect, a native of Mbanọ in Imo State but resident in Anambra, was arrested,  following the report of his immoral act against the little girl who is a domestic help living with them.  Ogu, who is said to be the Spiritual Director and General Overseer of the Jesus House of Joy Church in Awka  married with children, the youngest of whom is 18-year-old. Upon interrogation by the State Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Welfare, Mrs. Ify Obinabo,  Ogu confessed to defiling the 7-year-old girl by fingering her. He however said that he did not  penetrate her. “I just fingered her once,” he said, demonstrating it with his finger. “If I penetrate that girl with my thing, she won’t stand it nah,” he added, also demonstrating the strength and size of his manhood" he said. When asked why he defiled the child, he

Oil Blocks: Why FG Prioritizes Production Bonus to Attract Local and Foreign Investors By Ibrahim Musa The Federal Government has emphasized production bonus, which refers to the payment by an operator to a host country upon achievement of oil and gas production, as a strategy for attracting investors to bid for Nigeria’s oil blocks. Previously, the government relied on a high signature bonus, which refers to a single, non-recoverable lump sum payment made upfront by oil companies for their rights to develop oil blocks, as an option for maximizing revenue generation, thus discouraging investors with limited resources from bidding. Currently, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, NUPRC which regulates activities in the nation’s oil and gas industry, has removed all entry barriers to attract massive investments. This strategy aims at growing oil and gas production, enhancing Nigerian Content Development, attracting Foreign Direct Investment, contributing to l

Late Imuda  By Favour Ifeoluwa & Akinola Ajibade  A  Former Chief Executive Officer(CEO) of  Konga, Mr Nick Imuda has committed suicide in his home. .Konga is  one of Nigeria's e-commerce giants. Nick until his death was the CEO of D.light , a leading innovator in the distribution and financing of residential solar energy solutions and transformational household products, He  killed himself on the night of Tuesday, June 25, by jumping from the balcony of his Lekki, Lagos apartment. Before Konga, Nick had stints with TCL/Alcatel as a regional director and Microsoft Device and Services as the GM/MD for West and Central Africa. Before making the jump, he had called his US-based brother to give him instructions on how to distribute his wealth should anything happen to him. He also called his young daughter from a previous relationship and told her he would always be there for her and that all she needed to do was to look in the sky and he would see her. His friends, fam

Axxela records 8 million man-hours with no Lost Time Injury  By Favour Ifeoluwa & Akinola Ajibade  Axxela Limited, sub-Saharan Africa's leading gas and power  company, has announced another impressive safety milestone.  Axxela, a strong player in the mid-stream gas marketing and distribution,has its  headquarters in Victoria Island, Lagos. The company has now achieved 8 million man-hours with no lost time injury (LTI), surpassing the previous 7 million man-hours LTI milestone achieved in 2023.  According to the company 'Chief Executive officer, Mr Bolaji Ogunsanya, the  achievement has affirmed the decision of Axxela to  strictly adhere to best practices and safety standards across its assets management, operations, and people. He further expressed his satisfaction on the company's achievement. "We are proud of this significant safety milestone, which underscores our deliberate focus on maintaining the highest standards in our environmental, health, saf

By Favour Ifeoluwa & Akinola Ajibade  The Vice President, Oil and Gas at Dangote Industries Limited, DIL, Devakumar Edwin, has accused International Oil Companies, IOCs, in Nigeria of doing everything to frustrate the survival of Dangote Oil Refinery and Petrochemicals.  He said IOCs are deliberately and willfully frustrating the refinery’s efforts to buy local crude by jerking up high premium price above the market price, thereby forcing it to import crude from countries as far as United States, with its attendant high costs.  He spoke to a group of Energy Editors at a one-day training programme, organised by the Dangote Group. According to him, the activity of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA, in granting licences, indiscriminately to marketers to import dirty refined products into the country is also part of the problems.  “the Federal Government issued 25 licences to build refinery and we are the only one that delivered on

By Favour Ifeoluwa & Akinola Ajibade The Federal Government, under the administration of President Bola Tinubu, has spent a total sum of N14.77billion on repair and maintenance of the presidential air fleet in the last eleven (11) months  The government, in  a report published by Punch Newspaper, made the payments in 11 tranches between 16th July 2023 and 25th May 2024 through the State House headquarters transit account labelled, ‘Presidential Air Fleet Transit Funds’. This.new development comes amidst plans by the National Assembly to approve the purchase of two new aircraft, after it was discovered that the President’s 19-year-old Boeing 737 and some of the other aircraft in the fleet, were dysfunctional. The House of Representatives Committee on National Security and Intelligence listed the purchase in its technical subcommittee report, which may cost over $623.4m or N918.7bn, according to experts’ estimates. “The committee is of opinion that considering the fragile

By Favour Ifeoluwa & Akinola Ajibade Aiteo Eastern Exploration and Production Company (AEEPCO), operator of the NNPC / Aiteo Joint Venture on OML 29 will reopen it's facilities for production, while continuing other statutory spill  management protocols currently, the company has said.  This follows the completion of the joint investigative visit to the spill site by all stakeholders, as required by regulations of Nigeria's oil and gas industry.   In a statement made available to the media yesterday and signed by its media team,   AEEPCO’s Group Managing Director, Victor Okoronkwo, said that the company is happy to announce the resumption of production activities in the Niger Delta Oil region.. He said: " After a comprehensive evaluation of our operations and infrastructure at the Nembe Swamp Field, we are delighted to confirm the resumption of production activities. Our dedicated team has worked diligently to address the issues caused by the recent inciden

By Favour Ifeoluwa & Akinola Ajibade Leading energy and infrastructure conglomerate, Sahara Group, has announced the inaugural edition of Asharami Square , with a view to advance reportage of issues related to sustainablilty through impactful media advocacy. The inaugural session is scheduled for Monday, June 24, 2024, featuring an interactive panel discussion in Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria, a statement said on Wednesday. According to Bethel Obioma, Head, Corporate Communications at Sahara Group, the initiative aimed at supporting media organisations and journalists covering these issues through capacity building programs. “This would help journalists achieve a clearer understanding of the issues and empower the media to play the critical role of monitoring, agenda-setting, transparent reporting, awareness creation and galvanising collective action from the public on how best to approach the subject-matter of sustainability,” Obioma said. Themed ‘Carbon Footprint and the Afri

Osimhen By Favour Ifeoluwa & Akinola Ajibade Nigerian striker, Victor Osimhen has reportedly been banned from the national team for his outburst against the Super Eagles Coach, Finidi George.  According to the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), it banned Osihmen from playing for Super Eagles until he publicly apologise to George for been rude publicly to him.  The Nation's football authority further said that the ban on Osihmen would serve as a deterrent to prevent other players from publicly criticising or disparaging national football heroes and legends. According to a member of the NFF board, Osimhen would be used as an example to prevent others from doing the same in future. According to the source, “He (Victor Osimhen) crossed the line with his outburst even when Finidi called him to explain he still didn’t deem it fit to retract his statements. We won’t condone that and after the Salah break, we will sit on the issue. I can tell you he won’t be in the team unt

By Favour Ifeoluwa & Akinola Ajibade Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas  Limited (NLNG) says its Train 7 project on Bonny Island has reached an overall progress of 67% completion, as well as achieving significant construction milestone of over 45 million manhours without any Lost Time Injury (LTI). Officials of the company gave the update at a reconvened session of the Senate and House of Representatives’ Joint Committee on Gas (the Committee). According to the company, it has over 9,000 Nigerians working in the project on Bonny Island, adding that  numerous indirect jobs and businesses emerging and booming have come up  as a result of the construction. NLNG emphasised that the Train 7 project is a strategic initiative that will support the diversification of the country’s revenue sources, revenue generation during the Energy Transition, and aid the country in achieving a net-zero future. It also noted that the project remained crucial for monetising Nigeria’s vast gas resou

Amadi  By Favour Ifeoluwa & Akinola Ajibade The Chairman, Association of Energy Correspondents of Nigeria (NAEC), Ugochukwu Amadi has called on the Federal Government and other relevant stakeholders in the energy sector, to create an enabling environment for gas development and innovation of Gas technologies in Africa.  He made this call during the recently concluded Africa Gas Innovation Summit (AGIS) 2024, in Abuja The Summit had the theme: "Igniting the Future: Driving Sustainability in Africa’s Energy Landscape through Gas Technology and Innovation." Amadi in his contribution at the conference said a lot can be achieved by creating policies that encourages investments, including collaboration which encourages0 adaptataion to new technologies needed to help improve the economy  While delivering his address at the technical session of the summit,  Amadi said that the country is faced with numerous challenges, adding that the problems would help Nigeria to ac

The Nigeria Customs Service,Federal Operations Unit, Zone A (FOU A), has said that smugglers are attacking its personnel and the soldiers guiding them while carrying out their operations. NCS, in a statement signed by FOU A's Unit's   Public Relations Officer, SC Theophilus Duniya, recently, said the incident occurred  in the week, precisely Sunday, 2 June 2024 at 3am.  The statement reads, “A joint patrol team comprising FOU A personnel and some soldiers intercepted a boat carrying smuggled rice and vehicles by the waterside in Badagry, Lagos State. While evacuating the goods, a group of men, led by an individ ual armed with dangerous weapons, attacked the team, injuring Customs Officers and a Soldier. “The personnel acting in self-defence maimed the leader of the gang to prevent him from inflicting more injuries on the personnel and was evacuated for immediate medical attention”. Commending the officers for their bravery and professional conduct, the Comptroller o

Tinubu  By Favour Ifeoluwa & Akinola Ajibade The  Federal Government appears set to resolve problems, which culminated in the nationwide  industrial actions,which started on Monday June 3rd, this year. Of importance is the payment of minimum wage for Nigerian workers, an issue that is critical to the stare's workforce.  Recently, President Bola  Ahmed Tinubu,  directed Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Mr. Wale Edun, to within two days come up with the cost implications of an affordable, sustainable and realistic new minimum wage for Nigerian workers.  The directive which came as organised labour resolved to suspend its nationwide strike for the next one week, appears to have calm down nerves on the issue, as both Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC), yesterday, directed their state branches to ask members to resume work immediately.  Similarly, the Senate Senate pledged that the National Minimum Wage Bill would b

By Favour Ifeoluwa & Akinola Ajibade Shell  Companies in Nigeria and their partners have spent  $42.2millon as total expenditure on direct social investments , its Media and Non-Governmental Organisation Relations Manager, Mr Bamidele Odugbesan has said.  This ís an increase of 23 percent of 23 percent compared to $34.29 million in the previous year. According to the statement, Shell exclusively spent $14.1 million, which was a  significant mark-up in efforts by The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd (SPDC,) Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company Ltd (SNEPCo) and Shell Nigeria Gas (SNG) as well as their partners — Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC); TotalEnergies EP Nigeria Limited; NAOC and Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria Ltd – to promote the socio-economic development of host communities.  " The figures, contained in the recently published Shell Nigeria Briefing Notes for 2023, show that the investments were in he

National Grid By Favour Ifeoluwa & Akinola Ajibade Over 200 million Nigerians are facing blackout as the Labour Union shut down the national grid, a development, which resulted in absence of electricity in many homes and companies in the country. The Transmission Company of Nigeria ( TCN) in a statement by its General Manager, Public Affairs, Mrs Ndidi Mbah and made available to the News Mirror, said that the grid was shut down around   in the early hours of today, Monday, June 3rd. According to her, the Benin Transmission Operator under the Independent System Operations unit of TCN reported that all operators were  driven away from the control room and wounded  in the course of forcing them out of the control room. Other transmission substations, Mbah said,  that were shut down, by the Labour Union include the Ganmo, Benin, Ayede, Olorunsogo, Akangba and Osogbo Transmission Substations. " Some transmission lines were equally opened due to the ongoing activities of

NLC's members on strike By Favour Ifeoluwa & Akinola Ajibade Nigeria will as from tomorrow, Monday June 3rd, witness a nationwide strike, which would end up in  grounding Federal Government owned agencies, if all go according to plans.  Expected to be led  by the Nigeria Labour Congrees(NLC), the indefinite strike is supported by theTrade Union Congress ( TUC), Electricity Bodies and their affiliates  Of importance to the strike action was the  Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), a body, which has directed its members to comply with the directive of the two labour centres to begin an indefinite nationwide strike action in the country.  The  Union's General Secretary, Mr Afolabi Olawale, in a statement on Saturday, said that it   was committed to ensuring total compliance with the directive. Recall that the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) declared an indefinite nationwide strike to begin on Monday,