NEWSBuhari Govt Reach Agreement With Resident Doctors

The Muhammadu Buhari-led federal government has reached an agreement with the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD).

Naija News reports that resident doctors on Monday commenced a nationwide strike over the federal government’s failure to meet their demands.

The industrial action by the NARD is the latest in a string of strikes by medics to hit Africa’s most populous nation as it struggles to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

NARD stated that their demands which the federal government had failed to meet include a pay rise, better welfare, and adequate facilities.

“We have kicked off the strike today,” NARD president Aliyu Sokomba told AFP, adding that medics treating virus cases would join the action this time around.

But the federal government and doctors on Wednesday reached an agreement over the ongoing strike.

At a meeting which lasted almost the entire day, the association said it will consult its executive council within the next 24 hours, with a view to calling off the strike by Thursday.

The Federal Government stated that eight of the demands made by NARD had been addressed and the remaining two were in different stages of being resolved.

After extensive deliberations, however, both parties reached several agreements.

They agreed that the Hospitals and Isolation Centres now have sufficient Provision of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).

They also agreed that the Federal Government had paid the total sum of Nine Billion Three Hundred Million Naira (N9.3billion) to Insurance Companies for Life Group Insurance and payment of death benefits for health workers.

On the implementation of the payment of the special hazard/inducement allowance, the doctors said they were satisfied that the N20 billion already appropriated in the 2020 COVID-19 Budget has been exhausted to N19 billion and therefore, praised the Federal Government and the President for approving an additional (N8,901,231,773.55) to pay up the large chunk of the June 2020 COVID-19 allowance to all Medical Health Workers.

Among several other agreements, it was also agreed upon that nobody will be victimized for any activity connected with or for participating in the industrial action.

Outburst Over Fuel Price Increase Understandable But Misplaced, Says NNPC GMD

The Group Marketing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mele Kyari, has dismissed the criticism that followed the recent fuel price increase.

“The outburst is very understandable but I also believe very strongly that it is misplaced because Nigerians are not aware of the opportunities lost,” he said during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Wednesday.

According to Kyari, the issue of subsidy has been a big issue in the country for many years but the government can no longer afford it because of the economic issues facing the country.

“And not only that, every corruption that you are aware of in the downstream industry is one way or the other connected to fuel subsidy,” the NNPC boss added.

Kyari is the latest government official to defend the decision to fully halt subsidy, a decision that saw the price of fuel surge from N48/litre to N60-61/litre drawing criticism from organised labour, the opposition and many Nigerians.

 

 

But the NNPC boss insists it is the right decision.

“It requires courage to make this decision, I can share this with you. Only a Buhari regime can make this decision,” he said, insisting the move would pay off in the long run.

Read Also: Market Forces To Now Determine Price Of Petrol, FG Reiterates

According to the NNPC boss, contrary to what most people believe, subsidy is something that is beneficial only to the rich, not the average man.

“The subsidy in itself, is by every means an elitist thing and I can share this with you. It is only the elite that will have three, four, five cars in their houses, fill their tanks and also feel comfortable doing this.

“The ordinary man is not the beneficiary. First, he loses in infrastructure, hospitals are not built, schools are not built and ultimately, the brunt of the corruption in the downstream sector will be transferred to the ordinary man. So, overall, you lose everything.

“It is very understandable for people to get angry that prices have gone up. Just like the prices of every commodity, when it goes up, there can be difficulties and challenges that people will naturally face but once prices go up, the other natural thing that must happen is that your income needs to increase so that you are able to procure the things that are now delivered at higher prices.

“You can’t do this anywhere in the world if there is no productivity.

“And there will be no productivity except there is growth in infrastructural development, industries are able to work, therefore, there is a connection between production and consumption. What subsidy does is to remove that connection.

“When people get angry, this is coming from people who, practically are not aware of this situation and they are not aware of the loss that they have and most importantly they are being engineered into making those statements, and we understand this perfectly.

“We are the national oil company, it’s our role to ensure energy security. But you can’t do this until you are able to deliver cost. And that cost is lost daily as prices of crude oil goes up and you are unable to do many things”.

Plans for refineries

On the state of the nation’s refinery, Mr Kyari explained that plans are on the way to rehabilitate the four major refineries to maximum capacity.

According to him, this plan is expected to place Nigeria as the world’s biggest exporter of oil in the next three years.

Fuel price was increased on Wednesday last week for the second time this year after being reduced to N123.50 in April as coronavirus-induced lockdowns crashed global oil prices.

As economies across the world reopened and the price bounced back, the retail price in Nigeria shot back up to N148 in August before the latest increase.

Although the increase in fuel price has sparked outrage with various groups holding nationwide protests across the country, the Federal Government has stood by its decision.

On Tuesday, the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) said it was no longer going to be releasing price bands for the sale of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS/petrol) at filling stations.

The agency reiterated that the price will now be fully based on the forces of demand and supply.

“It is based on bargain power,” the General Manager (Admin and Human Resources) of the PPPRA, Victor Shidok, said. “It is based on where you source your products.”

However, he noted that the government will ensure customers are protected from price-gouging and other ills associated with free markets.

“You could have a regulator that always stand and remain a watchdog to see how these forces are being played out, how the interest if both operators and consumers are being taken care of,” he said.

www.ruky9ja.com

Buhari Inaugurates Committee To Lift 100m Nigerians Out Of Poverty, Boost Development

President Muhammadu Buhari on September 9, 2020 inaugurated the National Steering Committee to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in the next 10 years. Credit: Presidency

 

 

President Muhammadu Buhari has inaugurated the National Steering Committee to oversee Nigeria’s Agenda 2050.

The committee is to ensure that the Medium-Term National Development Plan (MTNDP) succeeds the Vision 20:2020 and the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) 2017 – 2020.

The team will be jointly chaired by Mr Atedo Peterside and the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed.

Part of the task before the group is to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty within the next 10 years.

“The main objectives of these Successor Plans are to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty within the next 10 years, particularly given the World Bank’s projection that Nigeria will become the world’s third most populous country by 2050 with over 400 million people,” President Buhari said.

 

For Buhari, it had become necessary to develop successor plans to the Nigeria Vision 20:2020 and the ERGP, which will lapse in December, to ensure continuity and efficiency in the country’s development planning.

On the mandate of the members, President Buhari said it would oversee governance structure comprising the Central Working Group and 26 Technical Working Groups for the important national assignment.

“It is my expectation that the Steering Committee will oversee the execution of key deliverables, including recommending measures to ensure the continuous implementation of the Plans even after the expiration of the tenure of successive Administrations – including legislation, if required.

 

“Such legislation may introduce much-needed rigour and discipline to the nation’s development planning as well as institutionalise planned outcomes for the future. I trust that our partners in the National Assembly will support us in exploring these reforms,” he said.

While asking members not to lose sight Nigeria’s role globally, President Buhari said the Successor Plans must, therefore, be designed to sustain national development, support regional and global strategic interests, as outlined in the African Union Agenda 2063, the ECOWAS Integration Agenda 2050 and the Sustainable Development Goals 2030.