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Federal Government threatens to open border for cement importation
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The Federal Government has threatened to open the borders to enable cement importation if Nigeria’s cement manufacturers refuse to reduce the price of the commodity in the country.
The Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Ahmed Dangiwa, who issued the threat on Tuesday, said key input materials for cement production such as limestone, clay, silica sand, and gypsum, sourced within the nation’s borders, should not be dollar-rated.
Dangiwa spoke in Abuja at an emergency meeting held with cement and building materials manufacturers.
According to him, the price of gas that manufacturers are using as an excuse was not tenable because gas is a raw material found within the country.
He added that the excuse of an increase in mining equipment should not come up because equipment bought by the manufacturers have been used for decades and not purchased every day.
The minister said the border was closed to the importation of cement to help local manufacturers.
However, he noted that if the government decides to open the border for mass importation, prices of cement would crash and local manufacturers would be gravely affected.
The minister, who called on the manufacturers to be more patriotic, said BUA Cement, for instance, has been willing and is still willing as at the last time he spoke with them, to crash the price of their cement, lower than the N7000, N8000 agreed by the manufacturers and he sees no reason why the others should not do same.
“The challenges you speak of, many countries are facing the same challenges and some even worse than that but as patriotic citizens, we have to rally around whenever there is a crisis to change the situation.
“The gas price you spoke of, we know that we produce gas in the country. The only thing you can say is that maybe it is not enough.
“Even if you say about 50 percent of your production cost is spent on gas prices, we still produce gas in Nigeria. It’s just that some of the manufacturers take advantage of the situation. As for the mining equipment that you mentioned, you buy equipment and it takes years and you are still using it,” he said.
Earlier, Group Chief Commercial Officer of Dangote Cement, Rabiu Umar blamed the high cost of gas and mining equipment for the hike in cement price.
He said: “It is safe to say we are all Nigerians and we are all facing the current head weight that is happening. I would like to speak on the popular belief that most of the raw materials to produce cement are available locally.
“While we have limestone and in some cases, we have gypsum and some cases coal, the reality is that it takes a lot of forex-related items to produce cement.”
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Tinubu Fires Top Appointee Over Alleged N1.4 Billion Embezzlement
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President Bola Tinubu has sacked Sani Auwalu Balarabe from his position as HoD, Chief of the Intercountry Centre for Oral Health for Africa, ICOH, over an alleged embezzlement of N1.4 billion during his tenure.
As far as one could gather from the People’s Gazette, the appointment of Balarabe was terminated on the 18th of July, following a spate of petitions that related to financial misconduct and investigations. The president appointed one Taiwo Olaniyi to replace him.
In January, several petitions were sent to the House of Assembly, EFCC, Ministry of Health, and other government agencies to investigate activities of Balarabe at ICOH. The petitions leveled accusations against Balarabe, saying that he had not conducted any research despite the institute receiving huge budgetary allocations, which is its core mandate.
One of the petitions dated January 16 had this: “Despite all these budgetary allocations, the centre has not produced a single oral health research project, which is its core mandate and the reason for its establishment.
It further brought to the fore that projects initiated under Balarabe’s administration, such as the construction of a remodeled dental clinic and administration block and the procurement of project vehicles, costing over N700 million, were never completed.
The petitions also accused him of backdating the appointment letters for new staff and paying them arrears of their salary, with such money to be returned to a particular account. These funds are said to have been applied toward some expenses at ICOH.
The sacking of Balarabe clearly typified President Tinubu’s commitment to corruption fighting and making those in charge of public institutions accountable.
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Finally, IGP approves hunger protests across Nigeria
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The Nigerian police has finally approved the planned nationwide protests and outlined conditions for participants.
The Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, revealed this on Friday while addressing journalists in Abuja.
He urged all groups planning to participate in the proposed nationwide protest to submit their details to the Commissioners of Police in their respective states.
The police boss said this was to ensure the protest was peaceful.
Egbetokun said, “We acknowledge the constitutional right of Nigerian citizens to peaceful assembly and protest.
“However, in the interest of public safety and order, we urge all groups planning to protest to provide necessary details to the Commissioner of Police in the state where the protest is intended to take place.
“To facilitate a successful and incident-free protest, they should please provide the following information: state the proposed protest routes and assembly points; expected duration of the protest; and names and contact details of protest leaders and organisers.”
The police boss said the information expected from the organisers also include measures to prevent hijacking by criminal elements, as well as key identifiers for possible isolation of potential troublemakers.
By providing the information, he said, the police will be able to deploy adequate personnel and resources to ensure public safety.
He said the police needed to know the specific routes and areas for the protest to avoid conflicts with other events or activities.
Mr Egbetokun said the police will “establish clear communication channels with protest leaders to address any concerns or issues that may arise; minimise the risk of violence, property damage, or other criminal activity.
“We encourage all protesters to cooperate with the police, obey the law, and adhere to global best practices for peaceful assembly to guarantee a safe and successful exercise of their rights.
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