It's J M Adeshina Blog

President Buhari, governors meet over economic crisis – The issue of Fulani herdsmen is also expected to be discussed during the meeting

Businessman, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has restated his commitment to assist the Federal Government in turning around the country’s economy. He spoke Lagos on Friday where he was honoured as “Man of the Year 2015’’ by The Guardian Newspapers Limited. Dangote said he was working hard with his company to take Nigeria to the next level and that within the next two and half years, Nigeria was going to excel in some critical areas. “We want to do that by looking at critical areas where Nigeria is not doing well in terms of local production and tackle the problem areas. “Number one is refinery, Dangote Group is building a refinery which will produce 650,000 barrels of petrol per day, the current capacity that we have as a country now, both the ones that are working and the ones not working, is just 450,000 barrels per day. “Our petrochemical is 10 times that of Eleme, we are at 1.3 million, Eleme is 120,000, so it will be the largest petrochemical industry in Africa. “In fertilizer production, we are not only trying to satisfy the market, but our size is three million tonnes which is 10 times more than what is available in Nigeria today. “We are trying to make sure we satisfy the local needs and also export and we thought about how to address our power issues,the only way we can address power issues is to have enough gas and sort out distribution. “Distribution is important because unless you collect money from the consumers, you cannot grow,” the News Agency of Nigeria quoted Dangote as saying at the forum. Source: The Nation

The Vice Chancellor, Delta State University (DELSU), Abraka, Prof. Victor Peretomode, on Saturday, said 24 students of the institution bagged first class degree at its 10th Convocation ceremony. He said a total of 5,811 students graduated with first degree in the 2014/2015 academic session. In addition to the 24 that graduated with first class, 1,123 bagged second class upper, while 3,222 obtained second class lower division, among others in the various first degree programmes, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

Forty ships laden with petroleum products, food items and other goods are expected to arrive Apapa and Tin-Can Island Ports in Lagos from April 22 to May 8. The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) stated this in its publication – `Shipping Position’, – a copy of which was made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Lagos. NPA explained that the expected ships contained buck wheat, empty containers, bulk salt, bulk sugar, general cargoes, containers, ethanol, diesel, base oil, Low Pour Fuel Oil (LPFO) and petrol. The document noted that five ships had arrived the ports, waiting to berth with petrol. NAN reports that 17 other ships are at the ports discharging general cargoes, bulk gypsum, LPFO, diesel, containers, aviation fuel and petrol The Nation .

The scarcity of Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) on Monday continued to take a toll on motorists who had to stay in queues for hours at the few filling stations selling the product in Lagos and Ogun states. Our correspondent, however, gathered that loading at depots in Apapa had improved following the arrival of two more vessels, which conveyed about 50 million metric tonnes of petrol. In Lagos, many filling stations did not sell the product on Monday, while black marketers had a field day as they sold the product for as much as N300 per litre. Some filling stations belonging to independent marketers in parts of Lagos and Ogun states also cashed in on the situation by raising the price of the product, as they sold it for between N140 and N180 per litre. A source, who is an official of an independent marketing outfit, told our correspondent in a telephone interview, “The level of loading is getting high and the third-party ex-depot price is reducing. It is N130 per litre today (Monday), from N140 to N150 in recent days. “Supply is getting better. There are new vessels. Alexia came in with about 24 million metric tonnes, and there is one other vessel, with about 25 million metric tonnes. Alexia came in on Saturday and it is still discharging. “We worked on Saturday and Sunday, and were able to load over 200 trucks; and today (Monday), we are still trucking out. In about two weeks’ time, the queues should have vanished if the supply is sustained.” He, however, said the marketers were still complaining that the dollars they were promised would be made available to them for product importation had not been given to them. The National Operation Controller, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Mr. Mike Osatuyi, said many of the members did not have petrol to sell. “The supply problem is still there. We expect that when more vessels arrive, the situation will improve. The NNPC needs to do more to boost the supply of the product. With the major marketers now making efforts to import, the queues are expected to disappear in the coming weeks,” he explained. The NNPC, had in a statement issued by its spokesperson, Mr. Garba-Deen Mohammed, assured Nigerians that it was doing all within its powers to make sure that the queues disappeared. The Punch.

Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed that he regrets not building the Manchester United gym overlooking the club's training ground at Carrington. The Old Trafford legend oversaw the move from The Cliff, United's previous training ground, to the state-of-the-art complex in Cheshire in 2000 but admitted that he realised he had made a mistake three years after the project was completed, following a visit to Barcelona. Speaking at the opening of Fleetwood Town's new Poolfoot Farm training ground, where Ferguson cut the ribbon on the League 1 side's new base, the former United boss indicated that he wished the gym at Carrington had been built overlooking the training pitches, to act as an incentive for injured players to get back to action. "One part I wish I'd done at United was that the gym is one floor up and you can see into the training ground," Ferguson said at Poolfoot Farm. "Three years after we'd built Carrington I went over to Barcelona and realised we'd made a mistake. Our gym at Carrington is enclosed. "Looking out at the training ground makes the players hungry to get out there. So when a player is coming back from injury he can see the pitches it's an incentive to get out there. Goal.com

The Nigeria Union in South Africa has urged the Federal Government to protect its citizens in that country, following another an attack on Nigerians in Cape Town. The President of the union, Mr Ikechukwu Anyene, made the call in a telephone interview the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) from Pretoria, South Africa, on Wednesday. Anyene told NAN that the attack took place at Du-Noon, a suburb of Cape Town on Monday. According to him, the union received reports that a demonstration by some South Africans over poor service delivery by their government, turned violent, degenerating to attacks on Nigerians and some other Africans, with their property being looted and destroyed. “During the protest, it turned violent; they started attacking homes and shops owned by foreigners. “Nigerians, Somalis and Kenyans were attacked and their homes and shops looted.” Anyene said that a Nigerian, Tunde Salami, sustained serious head injury and was hospitalised while others with minor injuries had been treated and discharged. He said that the property destroyed included building materials, cosmetics, saloon shops, cell phones and accessories, cooking utensils and foodstuffs. According to him, 33 Nigerian shops were affected in the violent protest. The president expressed sadness that the police who were said to have accompanied the protesters, failed to prevent them from looting and destroying property belonging to foreigners. He said that the union had reported the incident to the Nigerian Consulate and would soon visit Cape Town to assess the situation of things. Meanwhile, a source close to the Consulate, confirmed to NAN that the report had been received. Source: The Nation

Thumbs up to the men of the Nigerian armed forces who have upped their game in recent times in the fight against insurgency. The victims who once fled for their lives due to incessant Boko Haram attacks in the past -have got back their smiles and hope -all thanks to these brave men... Pictured are elated children hailing some gallant soldiers while returning to their base in Borno state -which has been cleansed off terrorists. A soldier took a selfie during the jubilation to cherish the moment.