Nigerian Minister of State for Petrol says he will resign if Nigeria continues to import oil by 2019

Nigeria’s Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, on Monday vowed to resign if Nigeria continues to import fuel by 2019.

Mr. Kachikwu stated this during an interview on BBC World Service programme, HardTalk, anchored by Stephen Sackur.

In the interview, which lasted 23 minutes, Mr. Kachikwu promised to deliver on the completion of the refineries, noting that he was committed to delivering a future for oil in Nigeria.

On Nigeria’s over-reliance on oil, the minister said the government plans to diversify into agriculture and other sources of revenue.

He said, “Oh, yes, clearly over- reliant , but whether that is dangerous… I look at the positive side of oil also in terms of what it’s done to a country over the years . But when the price slumps, it’s dangerous.

“But we will love to see a lot more diversification, a lot more efforts going into agriculture, emphasis on tourism…”

When asked when the country was going to be self-sufficient in terms of refining petroleum, Mr. Kachikwu declared that 2019 had been set as the target.

“2019 is the target time… I target 2019 . If I don’ t achieve it, I will walk…I put the date and I will achieve it,” the minister said.

He, however, did not clarify if he meant early 2019 or the end of 2019 with the current administration’s tenure set to lapse in May 2019 unless re-elected.

When probed about President Muhammadu Buhari ’s health, the minister noted that he didn’t know the details of the president’s medical treatment.

“He is in London; he’s undergoing hospital treatment. I don’ t know the details of that. I obviously wouldn’t know. But…he’s back in London, he ’s continued some levels of meetings.

“He has a very efficient vice president who is sitting in for him in his absence,” he added.

Commenting further, Mr. Kachikwu explained that he had delivered on all his promises, stating that he made the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, a profit-making organisation.

“I have delivered on all that I have promised when I came into office,” he said.

“First, I took Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and made it a profit- making organisation.

“This is the first time such is happening. I reshaped the organisation. I removed cash call deficits of over $ 6 billion and renegotiated it. I will deliver on the refineries and I’m committed to it. I will deliver a future for oil that makes sense for Nigeria.

“I can ’t pretend that we’re going to solve in one day all the problems that happened in Nigeria in the past,” he added.

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Video - Nigerian football stakeholders concerned by decline in U20 national team's performance

The Under-20 FIFA World cup kicked-off in South Korea on Saturday, with African teams registering mixed results. However, in absent was one of Africa's most successful football nations, Nigeria. The West African Nation is seven-times champion of the Africa Under-20 Championships and their declining performance is becoming a cause for concern back home as CGTN's Kelechi Emekalam now reports.

Escaped chibok girl not one of the 276 kidnapped

A schoolgirl who escaped Nigeria's militant Islamists is not one of the 276 Chibok girls abducted in 2014, contrary to earlier reports, a presidential aide has told the BBC.

Although this girl went to the same school in Chibok, she was abducted in a separate incident, Femi Adesina said.

The 15-year-old girl was found by government troops while she was escaping.

Boko Haram has captured thousands of people in north-eastern Nigeria.

The abduction of the 276 Chibok girls is the most high-profile case but many others have never had any media attention or support, aid organisations say.

Three years since the abduction, 113 Chibok girls remain in captivity.

A total of 103 of the girls have been released so far, including 82 earlier this month in a prisoner swap.

The 82 girls, who met Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari on 7 May, are expected to be reunited with their families later this week.

They are believed to have been swapped for five Boko Haram commanders.


Last month, President Buhari said the government remained "in constant touch through negotiations, through local intelligence, to secure the release of the remaining girls and other abducted persons unharmed".

Aside from the Chibok girls, Boko Haram has kidnapped thousands of other people during its eight-year insurgency, which is aimed at creating an Islamic caliphate in north-eastern Nigeria.

The government says more than 30,000 people have been killed, and hundreds of thousands forced to flee their homes.

Aid agencies are warning of a famine in the area, as people have not been able to farm for several years.

BBC

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Traditional three-stone ovens are common in rural communities across Africa. However, they pose serious health risks as a result of their high carbon emissions. And that's over and above their environmental impact due to deforestation. One Nigerian woman has designed a safer, greener stove that could change millions of lives in rural communities across the country.

Nigerian video producer arrested for poisoning pregnant girlfriend

A Nigerian video director and CEO of Hg2filmworks, Olaolu Akorede, has been remanded in Ikoyi prison, Lagos, for allegedly poisoning his pregnant girlfriend and killing their unborn child.

He was arrested by police on Tuesday and arraigned before an Igbosere magistrate court on a four-count charge of obtaining N2.5 million under false pretense, procuring unknown herbal liquid to terminate pregnancy, maliciously administering poison which caused the death of an unborn baby.

Police prosecutor, Okete Ejima, told the court that the accused intentionally procured the harmful liquid for the complainant to kill her and the unborn child.

The accused, however, denied the allegations in the open court and the magistrate, O. O. Otitoju, admitted him on bail in the sum of N200, 000 with two sureties in like sum.

Mrs. Otitoju also adjourned the case till May 22 for mention, while the defendant was taken to Ikoyi prison, Lagos pending when he would be able to fulfill his bail conditions.

Olaolu, however, denied almost all the allegations, but admitted that he procured an herbal liquid to treat his estranged lover’s diabetic condition.

The 28-year-old director is alleged to have procured a harmful herbal liquid for his lover, Halimat, to drink for the treatment of diabetes, which later allegedly terminated her pregnancy and damaged her fallopian tube.

His arrest followed a petition by Halimat through her counsel in the Chamber of Bislaw Legal Practitioners.

Her petition read, “I met the suspect in New York, U.S, in November, 2016 while both of us were on vacation and began a relationship. When I came back to Nigeria, I noticed that I was pregnant and I told him about the development and he was very happy on the phone. And he begged me to keep the pregnancy until he returns to Nigeria for us to wed.

“He requested for a return ticket to come back to Nigeria and I spent N400,000 to purchase a return ticket for him. When he came back to Nigeria, he also collected the sum of N2.5 million from me to prepare for our wedding. But instead, he went to Abeokuta, Ogun State, to meet a native doctor who prepared a herbal liquid for him which he claimed was for treatment of diabetics.”

She added, “He convinced me to drink it and because I did not suspect anything, I drank from it. Unknown to me, it was to abort my pregnancy or to kill me. After drinking it, I began stooling blood and ended up in the hospital. Doctors later performed surgery on me and discovered that the herbal liquid had affected my unborn baby and damaged my Fallopian tube.”

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