Nigeria to amend deep offshore oil act to increase revenue

Nigeria is seeking to amend a law on deep offshore oil exploration and drilling, aiming to increase government revenue from crude sales when prices exceed $20 a barrel, the country’s oil minister said on Wednesday.

Nigeria’s government relies on oil for around two-thirds of its revenue and Africa’s largest economy is still largely dependent on crude production despite the current administration’s attempts to diversify away from the industry. Those efforts have yielded few results, economic data shows.

Under the deep offshore act, there was a provision in 1993 that allowed for the government to charge oil companies a premium for the administration’s share of sales once the price of crude exceeded $20 a barrel.

The Nigerian government has not enforced that provision but could now look to amend the law to enable it to do so, Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, the oil minister, told reporters after a cabinet meeting in the capital of Abuja.

“The net effect for us is close to $2 billion extra revenue for the federation,” Kachikwu said, adding that the petroleum ministry was working with the attorney general to look at the legislation.

“From 1993 to now, cumulatively, we have lost a total of $21 billion just because government did not act. We did not exercise it,” he said of the law, without explaining what amendment was needed.

The oil minister noted it would be difficult to recoup past losses, given oil companies that were not paying the government a premium for sales over $20 a barrel were not breaking the law.

However, the administration will explore whether there is an opportunity to get back some of the money, Kachikwu added.

The government is also pushing to have Nigeria’s three main oil refineries up and running at full capacity by 2019, the oil minister said.

Despite producing vast quantities of crude oil, Nigeria exports almost all of its crude for refining overseas before paying to have the final fuel products imported, a drain on foreign currency reserves.


The administration hopes to raise $2 billion for the refurbishment of the refineries from the private sector, and have them producing around 425,000 barrels of oil per day by the end of 2019, said Kachikwu.

Nigeria’s reliance on oil sales led to it falling into recession last year largely due to low crude prices and attacks by militants on energy facilities in the southern Niger Delta production heartland.

The OPEC member emerged from the recession - its first in 25 years - in the second quarter of 2017 as a result of higher oil receipts.

Reuters

Nigerian teachers shortlisted for $1million Global Teacher Prize

Two Nigerians are among 50 finalists shortlisted for the 2018 Global Teacher Prize.

The winner, which will be announced March next year in Dubai, will receive $1 million prize money for being “an exceptional teacher who has made an outstanding contribution to their profession,” according to the information posted on the Global Teacher Prize website.

The shortlisted Nigerian teachers are Itodo Anthony and Ayodele Odeogbola of the Gateway Excel College Otukpa, Benue State, and the Abeokuta Grammar School, Ogun State, respectively.

The prize, which is considered the ‘Nobel Prize for teaching’, is sponsored by the Varkey Foundation, a non-profit organisation with interest in the education of underprivileged children around the world.

“The prize serves to underline the importance of educators and the fact that, throughout the world, their efforts deserve to be recognised and celebrated,” says the organisers of the prize.

“It seeks to acknowledge the impacts of the very best teachers – not only on their students but on the communities around them.”

The organisers said that one of the shortlisted Nigerians, Mr. Anthony, founded a community-based organisation for youths – New Frontiers Youth Forum – in May 2017 and used it to raise young leaders who in turn would act as the agent of positive change within the community.

“This October, The Forum commissioned a community library. The community had no library where students and others could study in comfort or have access to resources they could afford,” the organisers said.

They said further of him: “At the beginning of his career, in a small rural school in Nigeria, not many people understood why Anthony would get a masters degree from a UK university and end up teaching in a village for ‘peanuts’.

“But this was part of his mission – to elevate the teaching profession to a place of pride, to say with his own life that the profession is a noble one whose value is not tied to how much we earn. Today, the same people who mocked his decision to teach especially in a rural area are publicly celebrating his and his students’ successes.

“When he teaches in class he tries to introduce positive values from other parts of the world to broaden their view of life. When he told them that in some European countries a woman gets half the property at divorce, it shocked them, coming from a culture where gender inequality is grave and women can actually be kicked out of their husband’s homes at will.

“So he preaches the virtues of justice, institutional soundness, community service, value creation, among others that are elements from other cultures that can help create an ideal value system in Nigerian youth.”

An obviously elated Mr. Anthony reacted to his shortlisting thus, in a post he put up on Facebook, Wednesday: “As a Top 50 finalist, a teacher becomes a part of the prestigious Varkey Teacher Ambassadors programme, which has the Top 50 finalists from the past three editions as members.

“For me this is one of the biggest attractions of the prize, the opportunity to share a platform with over 200 of the world’s finest teachers, to learn and share best practices.

“Top 50 was my primary target and I achieved that.

“In the past three editions of this prize no Nigerian teacher made Top 50 and that was pretty unsettling for me, seeing how Kenyan teachers dominated African representation. This year we are two Nigerians, me and my friend Odeogbola Ay. I am happy we’re changing the narrative and opening the path for other Nigerian teachers,” he said.

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Video - FIFA sanctions Nigeria for fielding ineligible playear

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has been sanctioned for fielding an ineligible player in the match between Algeria and Nigeria on November 10, 2017. In addition, Nigeria is to pay a fine of 6,000 Swiss Francs (about N2.2million)

FIFA's Disciplinary Committee yesterday awarded three points and three goals from the November 10 last Group B World Cup 2018 qualifier in Constantine to Algeria. Incidentally, Nigeria only lost one point as the match ended 1-1. Nigeria's remaining 13 points ensured Super Eagles have nothing to fret about as winners of the group while Algeria moved from two to four points.

The world football ruling body insisted that Abdullahi Shehu was ineligible to play Nigeria's last World Cup game away to Algeria on November 10, 2017.

Shehu was first booked in Nigeria's first round qualifier against Swaziland in 2015 before another card in the game against Zambia. The two caution (yellow) cards made it mandatory for the Nigerian defender to miss one game.

"The sanction relates to the player Abdullahi Shehu failing to serve the automatic one-match suspension imposed on him as a result of receiving a caution in two separate matches of the same competition," observed FIFA.


Traditionally, yellow cards issued in previous rounds of the qualifying race are cancelled going forward, but the principle did not apply for the latest series.

However, in a swift reaction to the sanction from FIFA, a miffed NFF President, Amaju Pinnick directed that an internal inquiry be instituted immediately and persons found culpable be dealt with.

"We accept the decision of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee to fine the NFF and award the match to Algeria.

"However, this is a grave error and somebody must be punished. We apologise to Nigerians for this and assure that this will not in any way derail or even distract us in our well-laid plan to ensure that the Super Eagles have a great outing in Russia.

"At the same time, I want to assure that persons responsible for this slip would not be given just a slap on the wrist. We are actually looking at a re-organisation of the Technical Department. The Technical Committee will henceforth play serious superintending role on all details, no matter how minute, in technical matters.

"It is important that all committees and departments at the NFF should move at the same pace as the Executive Committee," Pinnick concluded.

FIFA had hinted the NFF about the disciplinary proceedings, following the use of Abdullahi Shehu in the match against Zambia in Uyo on October 7.

Pleas from the federation that the technical officer (at the NFF) whom the FIFA email (suspending Shehu) was directed to was hospitalised at that period with a serious heart problem and so was not on emails and couldn't have seen it was rejected by the men in Zurich.

Two seasons ago, Real Madrid was thrown out of the Copa Del Rey and fined for fielding an ineligible player.

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