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Oluwa runtinzz
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How can mama daura be taken out of the country for medical when there are no planes in operation Nigeria
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The harder you work for something, the greater you'll feel when you achieve it.
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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
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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
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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
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