FRESH 4RM GIM

MTN Nigeria, one of the leading telecommunications firms, bemoaned the operational challenges warning they could affect further development of the sector if unchecked. Speaking at the company's head office in Lagos, Corporate Service Executive, Akinwale Goodluck, said the challenges had major impact on the achievement of the company in recent times. Goodluck listed the challenges to include multiple taxation and suffocating regulation regime, near exclusive reliance on self-generated power, poor infrastructure, rising cost of funds, and mounting interconnect debt among the operators. He noted that telecoms operators in the country currently face the challenge of not only stagnating revenues but also increasing operating expenses despite undertaking a number of initiatives such as infrastructure sharing, outsourcing and increasing asset productivity.

 The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), said about 209 million litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) or petrol had been discharged in Lagos Ports in the last 24 hours. This is contained in a statement issued on Wednesday in Abuja by the acting General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division of the NNPC, Dr Omar Ibrahim. The statement said all hands were on deck to return normalcy to the fuel supply chain in the country. It said that several vessels had been allocated to the Major Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) to wet the nation with products. It added that NIPCO, CONOIL and others also had their vessels discharging to clear up the queues. “I can confirm to you that the NNPC has allocated additional vessels laden with PMS to MOMAN and other suppliers.

“In addition to the sanction, some of them have been suspended for one year because they are yet to account for how they dispensed the products.” The Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR, says it has so far sanctioned more than 58 marketers for various offences in Abuja and its environs this year. The Abuja Zonal Controller of DPR, Aliyu Halidu, stated made the disclosure on Wednesday in Abuja while addressing journalists. The controller, who did not mention the name of marketers affected, said that 55 of them were sanctioned over sharp practices in the sale of kerosene “We have sanctioned over 55 marketers over kerosene and we have told the Petroleum Pipelines  and  Marketing Company  (PPMC), to charge those sanctioned the commercial value of the products they supposed to bring to Abuja. “In addition to the sanction, some of them have been suspended for one year because they are yet to account for how they dispensed the products.

Former  President Olusegun Obasanjo. “Whether I know the exact date of my birth or not, I think God has made my birth  glorious .” A mild drama played itself out on Wednesday in Abeokuta, the Ogun State Capital, when former President Olusegun Obasanjo told his guests at his 77th birthday ceremony that he had no real record of his birthday. The event held at the Olusegun Obasanjo  Presidential Library , Abeokuta, Mr. Obasanjo said that all what he knew was that his mother told him he was born on a market day . “There are some people including me who do not know their exact birthday. My mother only told me that I was born on Ifo market day. “According to her, in our village, she had prepared to go to Ifo market and Ifo market is every five days. She said as she was preparing, she fell into labour and before those who went to Ifo market returned, I was born,” Obasanjo told the guests.

Goodluck Jonathan The abductors have demanded a N500 million ransom. Despite the heavy deployment of security operatives to fish out the abductors of President Goodluck Jonathan’s uncle, Inengite Nitabai, and ensure the victim’s release, his whereabouts remain unknown. It was reported the kidnap of Mr. Nitabai, who is also said to be Mr. Jonathan’s foster father, on February 23 gunmen in Otuoke, the president’s hometown, in Ogbia  Local Government  Area. The spokesperson for the Bayelsa Police, Alex Akhigbe, said on Wednesday that the police had no new information on the kidnap beyond the arrest of three suspects. Security sources had said that the kidnappers established contact with the family 10 days ago and demanded a ransom of N500 million to free the victim. Checks in Ogbia council showed heavy presence of many security operatives from various agencies including the police and the Joint Task Force; all ostensibly deployed to secure the release of Mr. Nitabai.

The First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, on Wednesday appealed to Nigerian youths to always put the nation first and embrace peace to foster development in the country. Jonathan said this while receiving various youth leaders who visited the State House in Abuja as part of activities ahead of the National Youth Peace Concert. The concert is scheduled for Saturday, March 8 in Abuja. The youth leaders, who were led by three personalities, said they were at the Villa to chart a course for the concert. *Patience Jonathan The three personalities included Mike Omeri, Director-General, National Orientation Agency (NOA), and Onyeka Onwenu, Director-General, National Women Development Centre (NWDC). The other one is Jude Imagwe, the Special Assistant to President Goodluck Jonathan on Youth and Student Affairs. “I invited you here today for two reasons. One of them is to work with you to make Nigeria a better place for us to live in, and the other one is to ensure our states, lo

The committee says the NNPC had persistently failed to present relevant details of its  financial operations  to the satisfaction of the lawmakers The NNPC said it had gone through 6 of about 12 states of oil exploration in Chad basin. The Group  Managing Director  of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, says insurgency in the  North East  Zone is responsible for the slow performance in oil exploration in Chad Basin in 2013. The insurgency by the outlawed Boko Haram sect has led to the death of thousands of people since 2009 in North East Nigeria. Mr. Yakubu stated his position in Abuja on Wednesday during the budget defence by the NNPC before the Emmanuel Paulker -led Senate Committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream). He, however, said that besides the Chad Basin, there were seven other basins that the NNPC was working to explore oil. “There are seven other basins we are looking at. What we did last year was to acquire the aero  magnetic data  from a geo