Shippers Council, Others Decry Indiscriminate Charges By Shipping Companies
The Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) on Wednesday described as ‘unreasonable and unacceptable the indiscriminate’ high surcharges by multinational shipping firms on Nigerian-bound cargoes.
The Executive Secretary of NSC, Mr Hassan Bello, said this during a meeting with stakeholders to discuss current increase in peak season surcharges on Nigerian trade route.
Those who attended the meeting included the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) and the Nigerian shipping community.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the 2020 peak period charges of between $1000 and $1,500 per twenty-foot equivalent unit(TEU) by shipping firms, is over 400 per cent increment from the previous $200 freight charge per TEU during peak period.
The six companies allegedly involved in this act are Cosco, Maersk, MSC, CMA CGM, Hapag Lloyd and Evergreen shipping.
“The charge is scary. If a Nigeria-bound container is charged as much as $1000, then the national economy is in trouble,” Bello said.
He expressed worry that the surcharge was introduced at a wrong time, adding that it would lead to spiral inflation rate on the economy as cargoes would be abandoned at the ports.
He noted that except the situation was urgently addressed, it might lead to job losses while many companies might go under.
“The charges are astronomic, unjustified, not notified and discriminatory.
“This is against fair trade facilitation rules, we have written to the erring firms and waiting for responses.
“We have also written to the Ministry of Transportation to escalate it to Ministry of Trade and Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Federal Government to protest the charges.
“We have been having surcharge in the range of $200 to $400, but 400 per cent increase and there is no time limit, any economy cannot cope with it as it can cripple the economy,” Bello said.
Director-General, Lagos Chamber for Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Muda Yusuf, said the industries would resist the charges because the timing was most unsuspicious for business owners generally.
Olufemi Immanuel from MAN said the surcharge was unacceptable because it was coming at a time when manufacturers were working with less staff, less raw material and lower profits.
Mrs Margaret Orakwusi, Representative of NACCIMA, said the surcharge would affect commerce critically as members borrowed huge money to import items.
On arbitrary charges by terminal operators, Mrs Celine Ifeora, NSC Deputy Director, Regulatory Services, said the council would ensure that regulated service providers complied with the nation’s rules and regulations.
She added that the NSC would not tolerate failure of terminal operators to refund illegal money collected from shippers, as they were previously directed.
“We have come to enforce shippers council’s regulatory authority on the Tin Can Island Container Terminal (TICT) and to mandate them to comply with the rules.
“The message we are sending out is that we want to make the port work and so cutting corners will not help anybody,” she said.(NAN)
https://orientdailynews.com/ci....tyscope/shippers-cou
Senate Moves To Probe $2,000 Hike In Residence Permit For Foreigners
The Senate will prove the hike in the annual residence permit for foreigners from 1, 000 dollars to 2, 000 dollars by Continental Transfert Technique Ltd (CONTEC)
Chairman, Senate Committee on Finance, Sen. Solomon Adeola made this known during a joint public hearing by his committee and that of National Planning on Wednesday.
The hearing is on the 2021 to 2023 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Plan (FSP).
The Comptroller-General Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) Muhammad Babande appeared before the committee during the interactive session.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that CONTEC is a company which was in a Private-Public Partnership with the Ministry of Interior.
The company had increased the permit from 1, 000 dollars to 2, 000.
Adeola stressed the need for a more elaborate investigation on the issue with a view to tackling it.
“We will take enough information and after the consideration of MTEF/ FSP, the committee will come up with a proper investigation into the revenue sources of the NIS,” he said.
Contributing, Sen. Ayo Akinyelure (PDP-Ondo) alleged that the NIS officials was frustrating the activities of CONTEC, by preventing them from collecting accurate fee from the expatriates as residence permit.
He said: “We have more than 15 million immigrants in the country. As we speak, only less than 20 per cent of are captured.
“They are collecting money through the backdoor. We need to invite the minister of interior, the consultants and the NIS,” he said.
In his submission, Babandede said that the service generated its revenue from issuances of passport and visas, control and entry of persons in and out of the country.
“All these revenues are generated under PPP which was signed before the coming of this administration, between the ministry of interior and technical partners.
“So the sharing formula of this PPP differs greatly; but in general terms, this revenue is accrued in favour of the technical partners and government itself,” he said.
Babandede further explained that immigration officers were not preventing CONTEC from collecting permit fee from expatriates.
“And if there are cases where some NIS officers are blocking them, it is a good idea because CONTEC is not doing the country any good.
“Nobody should defend the company which took Nigeria to court and wanted to seize our property, including our mission and NNPC building.
“They took us to the United Kingdom Arbitration Court where we were forced to pay N8 billion. As far as we are concerned, this company has no value for Nigeria.
“The company increased the permit rate to 2, 000 dollars and reviewed the sharing formula downward but the arrangement still favour them.
” Fifty five per cent of the 2, 000 dollars is higher than the 72 per cent of the 1, 000 dollars they were collecting before.
“We have already petitioned the EFCC to explain our disapproval of the arbitrary fee hike.
“However the ministry of Justice is doing something about it because there is no justification for the increment.
“The Nigeria immigration service is already discussing with the ministry of justice for necessary advice on the legal implications of the upward review of the resident permit fee from 1, 000 to 2, 000 dollars.
“The ministry of justice is already looking at the modalities to pull out of the arrangement,” Babandede said.
Meanwhile, the committee has summoned the NIS boss and the Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola to appear before it on Thursday. (NAN)
https://orientdailynews.com/ci....tyscope/senate-moves
Caf Confirms New Dates For 2021 Afcon
The continent’s football governing body confirmed the schedules for the qualifying games which were postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic
The Confederation of African Football (Caf) has announced the new international calendar for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers and the 2022 Fifa World Cup qualifying matches.
African countries face a busy schedule of continental football in 2021 with all international windows packed with qualification games starting from November 2020 to November 2021.
Caf, in a statement released on Wednesday, disclosed the Afcon qualifiers will resume in November while the World Cup qualification games will begin in May 2021.
Initially, the third and fourth round of matches for the 2021 Afcon were slated for March before the coronavirus pandemic forced the postponement.
Afcon trophyGetty
Countries will play the round three and four games between November 9-17 while the final two matches will be held between March 22-30 in 2021.
On June 30, the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations was supposed to be hosted by Cameroon and was moved to January 2022 and will end in February – a year later than the initial date, after Covid-19 disrupted the global football calendar.
Similarly, the calendar for the 2022 World Cup qualifiers has also been adjusted and the matchdays one and two will now be held between May 31 and June 15 in 2021.
The matchdays three and four have been scheduled for August 30 to September 7 while the penultimate and final group games come up between October 4 and October 12.
The two-legged final qualifying round which will produce Africa’s five representatives for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar will be between November 8 and 16.
The global competition is still unmoved despite the effects of the coronavirus on football activities and will be the first World Cup to be held between November 21 and December 18.
https://orientdailynews.com/sp....orts/caf-confirms-ne
NSCDC Arrests 5 Suspected Cult Members With Human Skull In C/River
The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in Cross River has arrested five suspected cult members in the state with a human skull, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.
Parading the suspects on Wednesday in Calabar, Mr Danjuma Elisha, State Commandant of NSCDC in the state, told NAN that the suspects were arrested on Tuesday in Ogoja local government area.
Elisha said that the suspects were arrested through a tip off when suspected cult members from a rival group had a confrontation.
“On Aug. 18 2020, our attention was called upon concerning a secret cult confrontation at No. 50 mission Road, Igoli, Ogoja.
“Upon arriving the scene, our men found a human skull and other bones believed to be human bones.
“The team on ground decided to swiftly pick the items and persons found within the vicinity for scrutiny.
“10 persons were picked up and after interrogations, 5 persons were identified to have questions to answer in relation to the items found,” he said.
He told NAN that the suspects would be handed over to the police for further investigation and prosecution.
One of the suspects told NAN that they had a confrontation with a group of cult members that came to attack them in the compound.
He said that it was during the process of the arrest that men of the NSCDC found the human skull in their compound.
The Commandant also paraded one other suspect for allegedly trying to sell her 9-year-old daughter at Bogobiri area in Calabar.
“Upon a tip-off by a good Nigerian on Aug. 18 2020, our men arrested one lady (name withheld) who went to Bogobiri in Calabar South allegedly looking for a buyer for one of her daughters, who is 9 year-old.
“Upon investigation, she confessed to the crime and alleged that the prohetess in her church told her that the (victim) was a witch and that she should not stay in her church anymore.
“While she was asking question on how to sell the child, the person asked decided to inform us and we swiftly swung into action and picked her.
“In line with inter-agency synergy, we shall be handing over (the suspect) to the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons and other Related Matters for further investigation and prosecution,” he said.
In an interview with NAN, the suspect said it was when she complained to the prohetess that she had no food to eat, that the prohetess encouraged her to sell her child that she is a witch.
She mentioned the name of the prophetess that is in a Church at Itu-Okon area of Calabar Municipality. (NAN)
https://orientdailynews.com/cr....ime/nscdc-arrests-5-
Edo 2020: Okowa Advises Ekpon People Against Vote Selling
Gov. Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta on Wednesday advised the people of Ekpon, especially the youth, against selling their votes in the forthcoming Edo governorship election fixed for Sept. 19.
Okowa gave the advice when he joined the campaign train of Gov. Godwin Obaseki of Edo, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in his ward-to-ward campaign to Ekpon in Igueben Local Government Area of the state.
He told the people not to be influenced through money to sell their votes and throw away development that would come their way if they reelected Obaseki.
Okowa, who is the Chairman of the South South PDP governors’ forum, also charged the people not to be intimidated, adding that nobody could oppress them if they exercised their mandates according to their conscience.
He charged Ekpon residents to embark on house-to-house campaign for the PDP candidate and ensure that they convinced those who had left the party to return.
Okowa promised to return to the community at a later date to personally lead a quarter by quarter campaign for Obaseki.
He noted that all states in the South South were presently under PDP control, and that he would not want another party to claim Edo.
Obaseki, while addressing supporters from Ward nine and Ward 10, said that he and his Delta counterpart had concluded plans to construct the Ekpon to Agbor road.
He said that the plan was for Edo to start construction from Ekpon to the boundary with Delta and the Delta Government would complete the portion from the boundary to Agbor and beyond. (NAN)
https://orientdailynews.com/po....litics/edo-2020-okow
Barcelona Confirm Koeman As New Coach
Barcelona have confirmed Ronald Koeman as their new permanent head coach on a contract set to run until 2022.
The Dutchman has left his post in charge of the Netherlands national team to replace Quique Setien in the Camp Nou hot seat.
Barca have released an official statement on their website confirming the news, which reads: “FC Barcelona and Ronald Koeman have reached an agreement for the Dutchman to take over as first-team coach until 30 June 2022.
“The Blaugrana legend, hero of Wembley, the man who handed Barca their first-ever victory in the European Cup returns to Camp Nou.
“This time, however, he will do so as coach as the Dutchman brings more than 20 years of experience as a manager and eight trophies on his CV.
“Ronald Koeman comes to FC Barcelona after coaching in the Premier League, La Liga, the Dutch league, the Portuguese league and also on the international stage with the Netherlands.”
Koeman spoke out on his new role while sending a final farewell message to Netherlands supporters following the KNVB’s announcement of his departure on Wednesday.
“It was an honour to be the national coach of the Netherlands,” said the 57-year-old. “For the past two-and-a-half years I have done everything I can to achieve successes with Oranje.
“I look back with pride on what we have achieved together in that period. The Dutch national team has a bright future, I am convinced of that.
“Everyone knows that Barcelona is my dream club. It feels very special to me to be able to become a coach there.”
KNVB football director Eric Gudde added: “We regret Ronald’s decision, but respect his choice. He has given Orange colour to the cheeks again.”
Koeman played for Barca at the height of his playing career between 1989 and 1995, winning four league titles and the European Cup, scoring the winning goal in the final against Sampdoria at Wembley in 1992.
He has now returned to club management for the first time since leaving Everton in 2018, and will be tasked with steadying the ship at Camp Nou following a disastrous 2019-20 campaign.
Ernesto Valverde lost his job in January, despite the club being top of the table in La Liga, with ex-Real Betis boss Setien drafted in as his successor.
Barca went on to surrender their Liga crown to arch-rivals Real Madrid, before suffering an embarrassing 8-2 Champions League quarter-final defeat at the hands of Bayern Munich.
Setien’s sacking was made official on Monday after a week of intense media scrutiny at Camp Nou, and technical director Eric Abidal was also relieved of his duties ahead of Koeman’s arrival.
Ramon Planes was confirmed as Abidal’s successor just before Koeman’s appointment was confirmed.
https://orientdailynews.com/sp....orts/barcelona-confi
NDLEA Uncovers 40ft Container Of Tramadol, Others In Lagos
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has uncovered another 40ft container loaded with tramadol and other banned drugs at the Brawal terminal in Lagos.
A statement by the NDLEA Head of Public Affairs, Mr Jonah Achema, said the Chairman, Col. Muhammad Abdallah retired, disclosed this on Wednesday in Abuja.
Abdallah said that the seizure followed a recent one made by the police of a 40ft container loaded with cartons of brushes, cartons of tramadol and other banned drugs.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Police detectives in Apapa Area Command of Lagos State had intercepted a 40-foot container laden with drugs suspected to be tramadol and codeine on Aug. 6.
The container was intercepted offshore and taken to a bonded terminal in Apapa.
According to Abdallah, NDLEA’s investigation further revealed another 40 foot container, adding that this joint examination also revealed 255 cartons of different types of tramadol and other banned medicines.
“The NDLEA investigation further revealed that the tramadol was manufactured in Pakistan, which is a new discovery to the agency because previous tramadol seized were manufactured in India.
“I must say that this is of global interest. Drug trafficking is one of the vices fueling insecurity across the country,” he said.
Abdallah observed that the investigation was a major breakthrough for the agency for revealing the new route for movement of tramadol into Nigeria which was from Pakistan via Europe (Hamburg) to Nigeria.
“And knowing that these tramadol were concealed behind boxes of brushes, it has called for more concern,” he said.
Abdallah said that the NDLEA would do everything within its powers to get to the root of the drug trade and enjoined other security agencies to collaborate with the agency in its ongoing investigation.
He commended the Police, NAFDAC and other security agencies for their support on the case, adding that the agency would continue to carry out its statutory mandate to combat trafficking and abuse of narcotics. (NAN)
https://orientdailynews.com/co....ver-story/ndlea-unco
Army Partners EFCC To End Attacks On Oil, Gas Pipelines In Rivers
The Nigerian Army says it is collaborating with the Economic Financial and Crimes Commission (EFCC) in Port Harcourt to end attacks on oil and gas pipelines in Rivers.
Maj.-Gen. Olu Irefin, the General Officer Commanding (GOC) 6 Division, Nigerian Army, Port Harcourt, stated this on Wednesday during a visit to the Port Harcourt Zonal Office of the EFCC.
He said that all security agencies needed to synergise to effectively take the battle to illegal oil and pipeline vandals in the state.
“I am quite aware that EFCC cannot do it alone, hence we will continue to work together. So, my visit is to familiarise myself with officers of the EFCC in order to sustain the synergy between the two organisations.”
Irefin urged the leadership of the anti-graft agency in the zone to work closely with the army division to address challenges that might arise in the course of their partnership.
The EFCC Port Harcourt Zonal Head, Abdulkarim Chukkol, assured the GOC of the support of the agency to the division.
He added that EFCC considered the army as critical stakeholder in the fight against corruption and other vices in the country.
“We are all working together for the greatness of the country, and so, I believe that going forward, and with your (Irefin’s) support that we will strengthen our friendship,” Chukkol said. (NAN)
https://orientdailynews.com/ge....opolis/south-south/a
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