U.S. to help Nigeria fix fuel crisis

The U.S. Ambassador to the UN, Samantha Power, on Thursday promised that the U.S Embassy in Nigeria would offer technical assistance to help Nigeria solve its lingering challenge of fuel scarcity.

Ms. Power made the promise on Thursday in Abuja while fielding questions from journalists during her visit to the minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama.

“Just last night when I was coming from the airport, I saw long lines at petrol stations here in Nigeria.

“And I really feel for the people of this country, who are going through this difficult economic time.

“And I think this is something the embassy has promised to offer whatever technical advice, counsel and technical assistance that we can offer.

“But we know that some of the best minds in Nigeria are thinking about that, including the ministers in this government,” she said.

Ms. Power said the U.S would discuss with Nigeria on diversification of its economy.

She said the drop in oil prices had caused hardship for countries that are oil dependent.

The envoy, who had earlier met with some civil society organisations, said the meeting deliberated on the deteriorating condition in Northern Nigeria due to the threat posed by Boko Haram insurgency.

She attributed the poor condition in the North-Eastern part of Nigeria to economic hardship exacerbated by the insurgency since inter-city trade had been hampered.

“In terms of our meeting with civil society, Nigerian civil society is one of the most vibrant, articulate and rigorous in the world.

“What we heard a lot about was the questions of how the conditions in the north are deteriorating because of the threat posed by Boko Haram.

“The economic hardship in the region has been exacerbated by the presence of Boko Haram and trade across the border has now come to virtual standstill.

“We heard about very difficult humanitarian conditions in Northern Nigeria and we will travel to Northern Nigeria tomorrow (Friday) and we will try to get a feel of it for first hand,” she said.

The envoy said the meeting with civil society organizations also focused on what more could be done on abductions and kidnappings, particularly of Chibok girls.

She said the issue would be discussed with the federal government by sharing whatever information at the disposal of the US government in a timely manner.

Premium Times

Nigerian military says Boko Haram luring young people with loans

Boko Haram is luring young people by giving them loans as a bait for membership, the Nigerian military warned.

As part of the "clandestine dispensation," the terror group is offering loans to young entrepreneurs in the country's troubled northeast as part of recruitment, the military said in a statement Wednesday.

Butchers, traders, tailors, beauticians and other vocational entrepreneurs are major targets of the "unholy business engagement," it said.

"After such loans, the beneficiaries are given the option of either joining the group or risk being killed if they fail to pay the loan as at when due," the military said. "The payment has been surreptitiously programmed to fail by the benefactor, the Boko Haram."

Authorities urged residents to avoid loans or financial assistance from nonconventional sources.

Boko Haram's desperation to recruit members shows the sustained offensive by government forces is working, the military said.

But critics say the government has not been as effective in fighting the terror group. Last week marked the two-year anniversary of Boko Haram's abduction of nearly 300 schoolgirls from the town of Chibok.

Most of the girls are still held captive, forcefully married to Boko Haram fighters, and in some cases used as suicide bombers. CNN obtained exclusive footage last week that shows some of the girls are alive. While the video was sent to negotiators by their captors as a "proof of life," the government did not act on it at the time.

Boko Haram, which means western education is a sin in the local Hausa language, has become the deadliest terror group for its attacks in Nigeria, Chad and Cameroon. It has killed more people than ISIS, which it reportedly pledged allegiance to, according to the Global Terrorism Index.

The group is blamed for attacks on government targets as well as schools, mosques and churches.

It aims to impose a stricter enforcement of Sharia law across Nigeria.

CNN

Video - Released video show some of the kidnapped Chibok schoolgirls still alive

A newly-surfaced video is giving Nigerian families hope that children kidnapped by Boko Haram are still alive.

Nigeria to start paying salaries by the 25th of every month

The Accountant-General of the Federation, AGF, Ahmed Idris, says the federal government plans to begin payment of staff salaries by the 25th of every month as directed by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Mr. Idris, who disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Wednesday, said “this is going to be given a test, I believe, by this month”.

The AGF also said the government was working on a new arrangement, which, if approved, would ensure payment of the salaries before the monthly meeting of the Federal Accounts Allocation Committee, FAAC.

According to him, salaries are usually paid after the FAAC meeting, where revenue accruing to the federation’s account is shared among the federal, state and local governments.

“There is a standing instruction of Mr President to pay salary on or before 24 or 25 of every month and we will try as much as possible to comply and to abide by that.

“We are taking a step further to make a provision whereby we can accommodate salary payments even before FAAC.

“This is going to be given a test I believe by this month.

“We will go to seek necessary approval of our political masters to make sure that at least salary and other statutory payments are made even before FAAC.

“Because we can project how much they are and therefore we can prepare and hit the ground running to make them realisable and actualised.

“Even when we delay FAAC, we can still pay salary,” he said.

Mr. Idris dispelled the widely held belief that the Treasury Single Account (TSA) policy was responsible for the delay in the payment of salaries and attributed the situation to the crash in global oil prices, which affected the inflow of income to the country.

“Nigeria is practically making about 30 to 40 per cent of what it used to make by way of revenue from oil and that has affected inflow generally.

“These inflows are what the federal, state and local governments receive to service the economy.

“It is when we receive these resources and sit at the end of the month for FAAC that the resources are shared among the three tiers of government,’’ he said.

Citing the benefits of TSA, Mr. Idris said more than N2.7 trillion had been realised under a single account domiciled at the Central Bank of Nigeria.

He also said the cost of borrowing by government agencies had been reduced substantially and that the economy was already a beneficiary of the policy.

“The monies are stimulating the economy in a way that delivery of social goods, services and efficiency in government expenditure are being achieved.

“So I believe that they are already serving the purpose for which they are meant and they are within the economy,” he said.

He said he was optimistic having seen the benefits of the TSA policy to the Federal Government, states governments would key into it.

Mr. Idris said any insinuations that the policy would lead to laying off of staff by deposit money banks was unfounded as the policy was not intended to disrupt the operations of those banks.

He, therefore, advised commercial banks to re-strategise on how to make profit without relying on government funds.

“I think banks need to really focus themselves and re-direct themselves to face traditional banking business and not rely heavily on public resources.

“They should be more strategic and focused and I believe that they will be better for it,” he said.

The TSA policy was introduced in September 2015 to ensure that government’s resources are centralised in a single account.

It was introduced to block leakages in the system to ensure transparency and efficiency in the management of government resources.

Premium Times

Suicide bombers attack refugee camp in northeast Nigeria - 8 confirmed dead

Two female suicide bombers have killed at least eight people at a camp for people displaced by the jihadist Boko Haram insurgency in northeast Nigeria, a community security force member and a customs official said on Thursday.

The bombings happened around 8 a.m. (0700 GMT) on Wednesday in the town of Banki on the edge of Borno state, near the border with Cameroon. An attack in February on an internally displaced persons camp, also in Borno, killed 60 people.

Details of Wednesday's attack were slow to emerge as Banki is remote and largely disconnected from mobile phone networks. The state of Borno is where Boko Haram began their insurgency seven years ago. The group wants to create a state adhering to strict sharia law.

"Two female suicide bombers who were initially thought to be IDPs blew themselves up in the camp," said Khalid Aji, a member of a grassroots community security group based in Konduga, a Borno district nearly 100km from Banki.

"The first one occurred at about 8 a.m. and the second followed few minutes later. Eight people died and 12 were wounded," he added.

Aji said members of his organisation in Banki who helped to evacuate victims gave him details of the attack.

There has been no claim of responsibility for the attack.

A senior Nigeria Customs Service official, who asked not to be named, also said eight people were killed but put the number of wounded at 15.

Banki, which is around 120 km from the state capital Maiduguri, was seized by Boko Haram in 2013 but Nigerian troops drove the militant group out of the town early last year.

Boko Haram once controlled an area roughly the size of Belgium in northeast Nigeria, but in early 2014 they were pushed out by Nigerian troops aided by soldiers from neighbouring countries.

The jihadist group has since stepped up cross-border attacks and carried out suicide bombings in markets, bus stations and places of worship.

Daily Mail