Author: Saint Augustine

The wife of the governor of Anambra State, Chief Mrs. Ebelechukwu Obiano has boosted the education and upkeep of indigent members of the Holy Childhood Association (HCA) of the Nnewi Diocese of Catholic Church with financial support of N500, 000.00‎. \ Mrs. Obiano made the grant during the Annual Feast at Our Lady of Holy Rosary Pilgrimage Centre, Okija. HCA is an initiative of Nnewi Diocese which seeks the moral upbringing of pupils in the Primary Schools. Speaking at the centre, Mrs. Obiano told the pupils that she honored their invitation in spite of her busy schedule because anything that…

The governor of Anambra State, Chief Willie Obiano stormed the ancient city of Abeokuta at the weekend with the stalwarts of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) to present the party’s flag to Prof. David Olufemi Bamgbose who is running for the governorship seat of Ogun State on the platform of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA). Governor Obiano who was accompanied by his wife, Chief Mrs. Ebelechukwu Obiano told a large crowd of party faithful that gathered at the Palace of the Alake of Egbaland for the symbolic presentation of flag to the gubernatorial candidate that the arrival of…

Mr. Paul Ndibe is the National Executive Director, Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT) Nigeria. In this interview with our correspondent, he bares his mind on the successes recorded in the transport sector in the year 2014, the prospect of the industry this year, the National Transport Policy bill before the National Assembly among other issues. Excerpts:           What is your assessment of the transport industry in the year 2014? The transport sector is fluid in the sense that it is not static; a couple of faults can really upturn major development and it can also create new initiatives in…

The Principal Partner, Maritime and Commercial Law Partners, Apapa Lagos, Barr. Osuala Emmanuel Nwagbara has called on the Nigeria Customs Service to jettison the benchmark method of valuation as well as all arbitrary value method of arriving at the duty payable on imports as it adds to the high cost of doing business in the port. Barr. Nwagbara who made this call while presenting a paper titled,” Towards A New Port Order: The Journey So Far- A Lawyer’s Perspective” at the 1st Shippers’ Day Celebration, organized by the Shippers’ Association of Lagos State (SALS) in Lagos last weekend, stated that…

A frontline licensed customs agent, Sir Tony Anakebe has hailed the move by the Federal government to automate all its agencies at the nation’s seaports describing it as a wonderful idea. Recall that the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Maritime Services, Mr. Leke Oyewole late last year announced the federal government’s plan to fully automate all its agencies in the ports so as to eliminate human contacts in the clearance procedures in the ports and enhance efficiency in the clearing processes. Anakebe who spoke with newsmen in Lagos recently noted that he had been calling for the creation…

It is no longer news that the implementation date for the federal government’s auto policy has again been postponed to commence in April 2015 having been previously postponed on two occasions in the year 2014. The first was when the Federal government had to shift the implementation date for the policy from around February, 2014 when the agents protested the implementation of the new policy to July 1, 2014 and subsequently to January 1, 2015. But the latest shift in the implementation date for the policy had been variously interpreted to mean so many things by the stakeholders in the…

As preparation for the 2015 Presidential election is gearing up, the New Nigeria Peoples’ Party (NNPP) has thrown its door open to all the Presidential Candidates to approach it for support in the 2015 presidential election. It will be recalled that NNPP, a fortnight ago announced during the flag off of the Gubernatorial campaign for the governorship candidate of the party in Lagos declared that it was still studying the various presidential candidates with a view to choosing whom to support adding that it would make its position known a week or two before the presidential poll. But in a…

The Chairman, Road Transport Employers’ Association of Nigeria (RTEAN), Alhaji Isiaka Olalere has called on the Federal government to ensure speedy completion of the ongoing truck terminal at the Tincan Island Ports in Lagos. Alhaji Isiaka who disclosed this in an interview with Primetime Reporters in Lagos stated that the truck terminal when completed would be a big relief to the truckers as it would reduce the indiscriminate parking of trucks along the roads leading to the ports. While stating that about 75 percent of the project had been executed leaving about 25 percent to be done, he however noted…

Truckers operating at the nation’s seaport have described the freight charges with which they operated last year and in the previous years as too bad expressing their hope for an improved freight rates this year. Speaking in an interview with Primetime Reporters in Lagos, the Chairman, Road Transport Employers’ Association of Nigeria (RTEAN), Alhaji Isiaka Olalere stated that the condition with which the truckers operate in the industry was nothing to write home about. Olalere regretted a situation where a truck would embark on a trip and at the end of the trip, the said truck owner or the driver…

The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) have warned the Nigerian shippers and shipping agents not to patronize any ship with foreign guards on board. The Director General of NIMASA, Dr. Ziakede Patrick Akpobolokemi who disclosed this at the 1st Shippers’ Day Celebration in Lagos on Friday with the theme,” Working Towards A New Port Order: Journey So Far”, revealed that anyone who did patronize such ship would have the discharge of such ship delayed until the government takes position on the ship. Represented by the Director Shipping Development of the agency, Capt. W. Enisuoh, Akpobolokemi mentioned insecurity in…