Tuesday, 28 February 2017
FG’s guidance on licensing process for nuclear power plants set – D-G NNRA
Abuja – The Nigerian Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NNRA) said it was reviewing the Nuclear Safety, Security and Safeguards (NSSS) Bill regulations to accommodate the operation of Nuclear Power Programme (NPP) in the country.
Prof. Lawrence Dim, the Director-General of the authority said this on Tuesday in an interview in Abuja.
Dim said that the NSSS Bill formed the basis for science and nuclear energy operations in the country and was undergoing a revision by relevant stakeholders to ensure that it was exclusive.
“The Nuclear Safety, Security and Safeguards bill is the act that will guide the operation of nuclear science, technology, and nuclear energy practice in Nigeria.
“It is very important that it is passed because it is the basis for any operation in Nigeria. If it is not passed, anything we are doing in that sector is null and void.
“This bill has been with us from the last national assembly and it went through the lower house but could not get the concurrence of the upper house.
“Right now because of the Nuclear Power Programme, we have further reviewed the bill, looked at it internally among us and have had meetings on it.
“We have also sent it out to other stakeholders who may be affected by it to look at it.
“The bill is not just only a Nigerian bill; it is an international bill because we have further taken it to the International Energy Agency to review it.
“When it is brought back, we will take it to the Ministry of Justice to start the process of gazetting,” Dim said.
Dim also said that the NNRA had reviewed regulations that would further enhance the operations of NPP across the country.
He, however, said that the regulations were being processed by professionals working with the authority to present it in its best form.
“In the area of regulatory requirements for NPP, the NNRA has commenced the review of regulations such as radiation protection, transport and radioactive waste management.
“The NNRA has completed the drafting of regulations for where NPP will be sited, physical protection of nuclear material and nuclear facilities, nuclear safeguards and uranium mining, milling and processing.
“We have also concluded the drafting of the Guidance on Licensing process for Nuclear Power Plants in Nigeria.
“Regulations and the guides are not ordinary documents, it is a technical document. Our lawyers have to put them in the best form for presentation to the President.
“This review they are doing in the ministry is what is delaying it because we have already submitted them and they require a professional output for proper delivery,’’ Dim said.
He added that more still needed to be done in the areas of human resource development and building regulatory capacity for the oversight of NPPs in the country.
One of the most important provisions of the NSSS bill is that no person shall site, construct, commission, operate or decommission a nuclear installation without a license issued by the NNRA.
The bill also recommends that an operator shall be exclusively liable for injury to any person and property upon proof that the damage was caused by a nuclear or radiological incident.
The Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection Act of 1995 established the NNRA and mandated it with the responsibility for nuclear safety and radiological protection regulation in the country.
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Edo Dep. Gov. receives report of Technical Committee on Revenue
Benin – The Deputy Governor of Edo, Philip Shuaibu, on Tuesday in Benin received the report of Technical Committee on law to harmonise revenue collection in the state.
The report was presented by the Chairman, Edo Internal Revenue Service, Mr Oseni Elamah.
The chairman said that the report would harmonise revenue collection between the state and the 18 Local Government Areas in the state.
He told the deputy governor about some of the committee’s recommendations including the use of Points of Sales (POS) in collecting revenue.
The chairman said the committee recommended a 21-day pilot project to run in Oredo, Egor and Ikpoba-Okha Local Government Areas.
Elamah said sensitisation campaign would be carried out to ensure smooth operations in the rest local government Areas.
He said that training of revenue collectors across the 18 councils would also be given a priority.
In his remarks, the deputy governor commended members of the committee for the good work, saying that laws binding revenue collections in the state would be reviewed from time to time.
He said the recommendations made by the committee, would also help to check fraud in revenue collection between the state and the councils
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Arms Scam: Court orders Obanikoro’s wife to forfeit house to FG.
Justice Y. Halilu of the FCT High Court, sitting in Jabi, Abuja on Monday, February 27, 2017 ordered the forfeiture of a property belonging to Moroophat Obanikoro, the wife of a former Minister of State for Defence, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro, pending the outcome of corruption investigations into her husband and children.
The court also rejected a prayer by Obanikoro’s wife asking the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, to pay her the sum of N200million for violating her fundamental rights.
As part of investigations into the $2.1bn arms scam involving the Office of the National Security Adviser, the EFCC had traced the transfer of about N4.7bn to the Diamond Bank account of Sylvan McNamara, a company allegedly owned by Obanikoro’s two sons – Gbolahan and Babajide.
Out of the N4.7bn, Obanikoro allegedly gave N3.880bn to Ayodele Fayose and Senator Iyiola Omisore in July 2014, when they were the Peoples Democratic Party governorship candidates in Ekiti and Osun states respectively.
The EFCC subsequently seized a house in the Ikoyi area of Lagos State allegedly belonging to Obanikoro’s sons – Gbolahan and Babajide – and a property located at 44, Mamman Kotangora Crescent, Katampke Extension, Abuja, belonging to Obanikoro’s wife.
However, the wife argued that she bought the property over seven years before the alleged arms scam took place.
She said the EFCC had no right to punish her for any crime allegedly committed by her husband and urged the court to award her N200million as cost against EFCC.
Her prayers: “an order setting aside the sealing of the property; an order directing the EFCC to tender an unreserved public apology for the unlawful and unconditional invasion of the aforesaid property and the sum of N200,000,000 as general damages for the unlawful and unconstitutional invasion of the property”.
In a counter affidavit, deposed to by one Jackson Edet, the EFCC claimed that Obanikoro’s wife could not claim to be ignorant of her husband’s alleged crime.
The Commission said Moroophat’s husband and her sons collected over N600million from the ONSA for a non-existent contract.
The EFCC argued that investigation had shown that, “the property belongs to Musiliu Obanikoro and he paid for the statutory charges for the property.”
The Commission added, “That a lawyer, Tejumola Adeboye, who volunteered a statement to the EFCC, stated that he managed the said property and remits the rent to MON Integrated Services (a company allegedly owned by Obanikoro, which is also under probe).”
In his ruling, the Justice Halilu said he could not stop the EFCC from doing its work, adding that all Nigerians must unite in the fight against corruption.
“I shall refuse the application because it is most unmeritorious and specially packaged to deceive this court”, the judge ruled.
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2017 CBN Junior Tennis Championship: Yakubu sisters win 2 titles
THE Yakubu sisters, Oiza and Nene clinched the Girls 12 and 10 titles as the 2017 CBN Junior Tennis Championship ended with fanfare at the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club at the weekend.
First on court was the petite but extremely mobile Nene who defeated fellow nine year-old Mary Benjamin from the Navy Club Apapa, 8-3. Her left handed sister, Oiza, followed with an 8-5 victory over Blessing Otu also of Lagos.
Their performance was matched by the Port Harcourt based Kodian Tennis Foundation which produced two winners and two sibling runners-up.
Timipre Maxwell retained her title by edging team mate Rebecca Ekpeyong 9-7 while David Dawariye easily beat Usman Kushimo from Abeokuta 8-2.
The Boys 12 event was won by Daniel Adeleye from Ekiti who defeated David Ekpeyong from the Kodian Foundation 8-3.
Michael Osewa, the 2016 African Junior championship 16 & Under runner-up showed some class in overcoming Lagos lawn Tennis Club team mate, Augustine Stephen 9-8 in the Boys 18 final.
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Yakubu awaits scan results on hamstring tear
Former Super Eagles striker Yakubu Aiyegbeni will find out the extent of his hamstring injury after undergoing scan tests yesterday. Yakubu was signed on a short-term contract by Coventry, but his attempt to revive his football may now be put on hold. He picked up the injury in the closing minutes of last weekend’s clash between Coventry and Swindon Town.
The 34-year-old former Everton front man’s injury left him unable to run in the closing stages of the match. He was captured on video by a City fan – which has since gone viral – standing on the edge of the centre circle, barely able to move after pulling up with the crippling strain after he’d gone on as a 70th minute substitute for Marcus Tudgay .
It’s understood that the injury got worse the longer the game went on and, shortly after laying on the pass for George Thomas to score a late consolation goal, Yakubu was brought to a near standstill for the final few minutes of the match.
And with City having used all three of their subs, Yakubu remained on the field to make up the numbers, albeit unable to run.
The former Premier League star has made three appearances for the Sky Blues , all from the bench, amounting to a total of 69 minutes.
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Nigerian Onyekuru on Arsenal, Chelsea radar
Arsenal and Chelsea have joined the queue of clubs keeping a check on Nigerian starlet Henry Onyekuru.
According to Daily Mail, the 19-year-old winger plays for Eupen in Belgium and was a target for Celtic in January who had a bid of £1million rejected.
Onyekuru went AWOL for several days in the hope of pushing through a transfer to Glasgow but has since returned to action and has been given assurances he can leave in the summer.
The Belgians though are looking for £6million with the fee key to Onyekuru being able to gain a work permit in the UK.
Onyekuru has scored 12 goals in 26 games this season, including the winner against Tottenham’s European conquerors Gent earlier this month, when he impressed several watching scouts.
Sevilla, Borussia Dortmund, Monchengladbach and Lille have also sent staff to check on his progress in recent weeks.
Henry Chukwuemeka Onyekuru is from Onitsha, Anambra state in Nigeria. He was born 5 June 1997. He is a product of Aspire Academy.
Onyekuru had cause to attack his Belgian club in January when they frustrated his move to Celtic.
He claimed they were trying to force him to move to CSKA Moscow against his wishes, the Daily Record reported.
The Hoops had made a bid of around £1million for the 19-year-old Nigerian that was rejected, with the Jupiler Pro League side looking for £3million for the striker.
“They are frustrating me and my agent for their own interest.
“They promised to let me move in January if I have a good offer, now there are good offers but they now want me to sign for their own agent, before I move and they want me to sign for CSKA Moscow which I am not interested in.
“This is unfair and not acceptable.”
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The new partnership with the Niger Delta
AS I left Ondo State on Monday February 21, I reflected on Acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo’s historic visits to oil producing states and wondered whether we from those states fully grasp the import. Do we realise what opportunities the visits offer, what alternatives they portend and the development miles we can make from them? Given the enthusiasm expressed by the populace during those visits, the hope they rekindled and the vibrancy in the voices that welcomed him, I think we do.
My first take on the visits are that they are a deepening and consolidation of the bond between the people and the Buhari administration; a partnership that opens wide, the road to sustainable peace and development of the Niger Delta. Secondly, they revealed the Government’s vision of transforming the oil communities into hubs for refining petrochemicals and related activities which will not only create mass employment and make the country self- sufficient in petroleum products, but will also save the country the huge foreign exchange expended in importation of such products. The Government’s agenda to build modular refineries would be a big leap forward as it will in addition, check the rash of illegal refineries that are further destroying the environment and damaging the health of the people in the Region. The black soot that has enveloped a major city like Port Harcourt as a result of industrial pollution, the rash of illegal refineries and the serious health hazards which has put six million residents at risk, tell us all, that we are running against time.
Government’s plan to make a state like Bayelsa, a hub for power generation given its natural gas deposits , would greatly tilt the economics of scale in favour of the country. This will vastly reduce incidents of pipeline vandalism which has had serious effects on the functioning of gas power plants in parts of the country.
The visits also revealed the initiative of a 40-point Agenda for the Niger Delta by the Ministry of Petroleum Resources and oil companies. In my view, leaders, youths and traditional rulers in the Region should key into to this effort in the overall interest of the people.
Apart from the funds it is committing to the Niger Delta, the Federal Government’s initiative in securing over $1 billion dollars from the Shell Petroleum Development Company to provide potable water and provide health services in the Niger Delta, is salutary. Generally, the trans-national oil companies should follow in the Federal Government’s footsteps by partnering with the Region and contributing towards its development.
They should take advantage of the window of opportunity opened by the Federal Government’s commendable move in bridging the communication gap between the oil companies and the Bayelsa State.
It is advisable in my view, that oil companies expand such cooperation to other oil producing states in order to guarantee peace, oil their business interests and ensure the needed development in the Region.
The Government’s policy – as demonstrated by the visits – of reaching out to the Niger Delta people, listening to their complaints and taking steps to address their concerns, is primarily responsible for the peace being witnessed today in the area and the stop in vandalism of oil facilities. We have to build on this win-win foundation to build the human and infrastructural development of the Niger Delta.
We have no time to waste because the odds are not in our favour. We must be aware that oil is a wasting asset; it will eventually dry up and that more oil is being discovered in other parts of the world. These, along with fracking, will lead to oil glut. All these with the polluted environment of the Region, have serious consequences for the future of the Niger Delta.
The Federal Government has also demonstrated good will to our Region by extending the life span of the Presidential Amnesty Programme and funding it to realise its objectives. I appeal to the youths in the area to key into the Government’s agriculture project in order to ensure food security and mass employment. The Presidential Amnesty Office is already training beneficiaries of the Programme in technologically advanced agriculture methods and is willing to expand this to accommodate other youths in the Niger Delta.
Another positive fall out of the Acting President’s visits, is the closer collaboration with state governments. While the states have demonstrated commitment to the development of all oil producing areas, they need to do more. In fact, I look forward to the states continuing where the Presidential Amnesty Programme will stop; the reality is that the Programme cannot be an open ended one.
Following from the visits, the people in the Region will need to build trust, we need to build confidence, we need to build human and infrastructure capacity, above all, we need to build a new Niger Delta with a new narrative. The time to start is Now!
Brigadier General Paul Boroh (Rtd) is the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta & Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty programme.
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