Author: Saint Augustine

Inadequate funding of Maritime training institutions in Nigeria has been identified as a major setback in their quest to be better positioned to compete favourably with their counterparts across the globe. A cross section of Chief Executives of some Maritime training institutions in Nigeria who spoke with our correspondent in Lagos also fingered poor state of infrastructure as responsible for their ordeals. Speaking on the matter, the Rector, Emdee Shipping and Maritime College, Lagos, Mr. Chigozie Chikere stated that funding had been a common challenge especially to the privately owned institution as the government was not willing to support them.…

The Rector, Certified Institute of Shipping (CIS), Rev. Dr. Alex Okwuashi has blamed the delay in the disbursement of the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund by the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) on politics. Speaking in an interview with Primetime Reporters at Badagry recently, Dr. Okwuashi wondered why the fund which ought to have taken off earlier before now was yet to take blaming the problem on the conditions spelt out by NIMASA and the participating banks which according to him was too cumbersome for the indigenous ship owners to meet. He regretted that up till this moment, nobody…

Following calls in some quarters lately that the Nigeria Customs Service be granted partial autonomy to enable them function effectively, the President, Association of Registered Freight Forwarders of Nigeria, Dr. Frank Ukor has kicked against such call describing it as unprecedented. Ukor who was speaking in an interview with Primetime Reporters in his office in Lagos wondered what informed the position of the proponents of such idea demanding further explanation to that effect so as to give a clearer picture to their position. He argued that should the proponents of this idea base their argument on the mere fact that…

The People’s Democratic Party, (PDP), has said that President Goodluck Jonathan was yet to decide the fate of the Vice President, Namadi Sambo in the bill up of the 2015 presidential election. The National Publicity Secretary of the party, Chief Olisa Metuh, who made this known while speaking with newsmen at a press briefing in Abuja, also said that the President was yet to accept the offer given to him by the party. Metuh who disclosed to the journalists the planned nationwide tour to be embarked upon by the party’s national leadership, where he said achievements of the party would…

Residents of Yola, the Adamawa State capital, on Monday ran for their lives when soldiers on re-enforcement to the troubled Michika and Madagali local government areas of state took them unawares, shooting sporadically thereby causing panic along Yola-Jimeta road. The incident, it was gathered occurred some kilometers away from the Federal College of Education, Yola, where students and other concern citizens were seen scampering in different directions to escape being hit by stray bullet. Students of the Federal College of Education were the worst hit as they thought that the Boko Haram insurgents that attacked the College of Education in Kano…

Abuja –  Senate President David Mark on Monday denied the wide spread statement credited to him, suggesting a ground plot to postpone the 2015 general elections. This is contained in a statement signed by his Special Adviser, Media and Publicity, Mr Kola Ologbondiyan, in Abuja. Mark was reacting to a statement credited to the APC National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, purporting that he (Mark) called for the postponement of the 2015 election. The statement, therefore, cautioned the All Progressives Congress (APC) to desist from misleading the public, denying that Mark made such a speech at plenary on Sept. 16.…

…To complete Oshodi/Apapa Expressway in 8 weeks Lagos – The Federal Government is to take over reconstruction and expansion of the Lagos-Badagry Expressway, the Minister of Works, Mr Mike Onolememen, said on Monday. The minister said this in Lagos during a slide presentation of work on the Oshodi-Apapa Expressway by Julius Berger Plc. The presentation took place at the company’s office complex in Ijora. Onolememen said that a new project design that involved five other ECOWAS member-countries was being undertaken. He gave the assurance that the project would soon be implemented. The minister said that a regional effort would be the best…

Mrs. Promise Anaroke is the Coordinator of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) E-Women, Lagos state and Director, Kings Communications Ltd., Lagos. In this interview with our Correspondent, she bares her mind on her ambition to represent the people of her constituency in Enugu State, the recent impeachment of the former Deputy Governor of the state, Mr. Sunday Onyebuchi, Politics in Enugu state and many more. Excerpts; There is this rumour making the round that you are nursing a political ambition. How true is that and if it is true, what position are you running for? Like you rightly said, yes,…

Stakeholders in the Maritime sector has raised alarm over the recent award of the N20 billion Calabar Port capital dredging contract without procurement challenging the choice of Calabar Channel Management, which never participated in any procurement process for the plum contract. The last procurement exercise for the capital dredging of Calabar Channel took place in 2010. Six companies, Jan De Nul, Dredging International, Westminster Dredging, China Harbour Engineering, Lagos Channel Management (LCM) and Van Oord – participated after scaling the pre-qualification hurdle. But the exercise was later nullified and a re-procurement ordered following an attempt by the Ministry of Transport and…

By Chigozie Chikere The buzzword among Nigerian air travellers these days is “standard”. Perhaps the reality of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) report that described African airports as among the costliest in the world besides offering shoddy service has begun to concentrate minds. An airport can easily be rated by the level of comfort, convenience and security enjoyable at the airport’s lounge. Recently, a facebook page credited to the Minister for Aviation, Mr Osita Chidoka, posed a pertinent question about what Nigerians would expect of the Minister in his first three months in office. Of the over 900 responses…