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Lagosjobville.com 12th March

FG Ready to Meet Labor’s Conditions

The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Mr. Odein Ajumogobia, has said the Federal Government has accepted some of the conditions given by organised labour for the implementation of deregulation in the downstream petroleum sector.
In a related development, governors of the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have asked the Ministry of Finance to commence investigation into the N1.15 trillion claim made by the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) as petroleum subsidy from 2005 till date.
Out of the amount, N880 billion accounts for direct subsidy on oil, while the balance is for the cost of crude and products lost owing to pipeline vandalism.Ajumogobia, who spoke during a working visit to the headquarters of the Petroleum Equalisation Fund Management Board (PEFMB) in Abuja on Monday night, said government was prepared to address all legitimate issues raised by organised labour in an effort to avert labour crisis or any form of social dislocation.
“As for whether we are doing what labour said or not, yes we are taking them on and we are addressing their legitimate concerns that should be addressed. For instance, the Acting President has directed that the Nigerian Ports Authority charges be halved as a way of bringing down the cost of petroleum products. We are going to continue to implement all issues that are legitimate as we prepare to go into deregulation,” he said.
Labour movements have consistently opposed the introduction of deregulation in the downstream sector, saying government should tackle the lapses in fuel supply chain as well as ensure that refineries are restored to functional state to ensure that the policy would not amount to imposing greater hardship on the poor.
Ajumogobia, however, said though the Federal Government had accepted the proposals put forward by members of organised labour and had taken measures to re-operationise the refineries, it is not going to wait till everything is done before implementing deregulation.
“Warri and Kaduna refineries have come back on stream which is one of the conditions demanded by labour. The 5,000km pipelines infrastructure is being repaired around the country wherever they are damaged and a lot of efforts have begun by NGC (Nigeria Gas Company) to repair gas pipelines. I disagree with those who think that we should do everything before we implement deregulation policy,” he said.
Commenting on the upsurge in attacks on pipeline infrastructure, Ajumogobia said part of the challenges facing the efforts at securing the facilities is that a lot of young people are without jobs and as such they see tampering with the pipelines as a means of livelihood.
He said because of the endemic nature of the problem of pipeline vandalism, making its repair a condition for deregulation means that “we will never deregulate”. Speaking on the fate of PEFMB under a deregulated environment, the minister said there would be no role for equalization in product prices in a deregulated environment; but under a transition period, there might be a need to reserve certain roles for the PEFMB to see how the deregulation policy would unfold.
He said PEFMB could be seen as an organisation in transition as far as the Petroleum Industry Bill is concerned. Meanwhile, rising from their National Economic Council (NEC) meeting at the Presidential Villa Abuja yesterday, the governors threw their weight behind the Federal Government’s proposal to embark on the deregulation of the downstream sector of the economy.
They also appealed to the organised labour to cooperate with government to ensure early completion of the deregulation exercise.Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State, while briefing State House correspondents on some of the outcomes of the meeting, said the governors expressed concern that part of the revenue from the excess crude account, which ought to have been distributed to the states, is used to settle claims by the NNPC on fuel subsidy.Said Uduaghan:
“This is where the states are very concerned… N880 billion has to be paid to the NNPC, it will definitely affect the revenue coming to the state, because the money that is to be paid is supposed to be part of the money that is to be shared by the states. So the states will be short-changed. And that is why states are worried about this issue of paying money to some persons. And the people that get this money are very few in the society, so should we continue to enrich certain persons to the detriment of all of us?”
The governor said the other thing the states were worried about was the Joint Venture Cash Call, in which money is deducted directly by the NNPC to their joint venture funds, noting: “Last year, for 4-5 months NNPC did not make any contribution to the federation account. For 4-5 months there was no money coming from oil revenue to federation account because the money that was gotten by NNPC is directly paid into the joint venture account and that really affects us.
“We have said as economic council that a committee be put in place to look into this arrangement and see to rearrange the funding of the JVCC, to such that the at least the state and federation accounts gets some funds.”Governor Gbenga Daniel of Ogun State said the governors, while throwing their weight behind the Federal Government on the deregulation of the downstream sector, expressed worry that the greater chunk of the money spent on petroleum subsidy goes into private pockets.
According to him, for each litre of fuel sold to motorists in this country, government pays about N35 as subsidy.“For practical terms the illustration that one can give is that for each and every litre of fuel, the Federal Government is providing a subsidy of about N35. On the contrary that subsidy is not translated to the people on the streets because people are still buying it at the free market prices.
“The issue, therefore, is where are the subsidies? And if the subsidy is running into billions of naira, then the NEC feels we do have a responsibility to stop this leakage one way or the other?” Daniel said.
Minister of Finance, Dr. Mansur Muhtar, while providing clarifications on some of the outcomes of the meeting, said: “Right now, we have an invoice from the NNPC to the amount of N1.15 trillion for various expenditures incurred on behalf of the Federal Government including cost of crude and products lost owing to pipeline vandalism and losses incurred from supplying petroleum products at regulated prices. So this is the size of the whole thing we are talking about.“There are outstanding claims from the NNPC to the tune of N880 billion.This dates back to as far back as 2005, there are claims that have not been settled.”
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Top 10 Most Overrated Players
We run down a list of 10 players who are maybe not as good as their reputation suggests.
They are perhaps rated higher by the majority than they should be…1) Miguel Veloso (Sporting): A rather unimaginative makeweight who is judged as brilliant by people who have only ever seen him in Football Manager. Obviously boasts an excellent agent as the midfielder is continually linked to top European clubs. Yet at nearly 24, he hasn’t joined any of them yet.2) Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Barcelona): You can’t deny the genius of Ibrahimovic, and there is no doubt he is a top class player. But, at the same time, Zlatan’s record in big knockout matches – especially in the Champions League – remains very poor. As does his contribution to the Sweden national national team. Until he fixes these inconsistencies, he doesn’t deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as the Lionel Messi’s and Wayne Rooney’s of this world.3) Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United): Always relying on his partner in central defence - Nemanja Vidic or John Terry - and found wanting when he has to do the job alone. And that was the case long before the troubles really started this season.4) Sergio Busquets (Barcelona): The weak link of both Barcelona and Spain, there are question marks over how he commands a starting place for either. Comes across very ordinary at times, but we wouldn’t dare make any accusations of nepotism relating to his father Carles’ history with Barca.


5) Petr Cech (Chelsea): Constantly spoken of as one of the best goalkeepers on the planet, but how many catastrophic mistakes does Cech have to make before everyone accepts that he is often a disaster waiting to happen. Decision-making from crosses is suspect, and in truth he has been shaky ever since his unfortunate head injury a few years ago.6) Robert Acquafresca (Genoa): Described by some not long ago as the “new Luca Toni”, and a future No.9 of the Italy national team. He may have bullied less developed opponents at Under-21 level, but now he is with the big boys the 22-year-old’s limited pace and technique, lack of movement and less than clinical finishing is starting to raise questions over just how good he really is.7) Philipp Lahm (Bayern Munich): A good player, for sure, but his continued addition to lists of Europe's top full backs is way over the top. Anyone who is made a mockery of by Colin Kazim-Richards cannot be described as world class.

8) Gael Clichy (Arsenal): Fast and fluent going forward, but his crosses and final balls often miss their targets, while his defending is atrocious at times. Easily taken on in one-on-one situations, tactically he is a disaster. A few years ago he looked like a potential world beater, but he has gone backwards in his development. 9) Theo Walcott (Arsenal): Lightning pace, but as England’s greatest winger since Stanley Matthews - Chris Waddle - said last week, “Walcott doesn’t understand the game”. The soon-to-be 21-year-old has no skills or tricks and “doesn’t know where to be running, when to run inside a full-back, and when just to play a one-two”. If he had no speed, he wouldn’t be a footballer.

10) Steve Mandanda (Marseille): Mandanda is a brilliantly athletic shot-stopper with gravity-defying agility. But his positioning, decision making, handling, and erraticness both coming off his line and from crosses make him a liability. Should not be France’s second choice goalkeeper.

What are your views on this topic? Do you agree that the above players are over-rated? Who else do you believe is over-rated? Lagosjobville.com wants to know what YOU think…Email us:admin@ftslnigeria.com or visit our website www.lagosjobville.com