Nigerians have continued to pour uncomplimentary reactions to the recent world rating that placed the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) at number 110 on the ladder.

The rating was based on administrative efficiency and border management aimed at trade facilitation and national security.

The World Bank ranked NCS low in efficiency and other indices of operational standards.

Nigeria took the 110 place out of the 160 countries.

The report for the West African sub-region, showed that Cote D Ivoire clinched the top position as the best performing country in trade logistics with a global ranking of 50.

Mr Increase Uche, President, National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Lagos that NCS global rating was regrettable.

When you come the ports to do your cargo clearing, the service seems to be confused with what to do in order to transact clearing jobs.

Regrettably, the ratings, such as this to a large extent determines the calculations of trading partners to a country as the shipping world will factor in all the pros and cons to maximise profit.

The NCS Act that is still in use at the ports was enacted in 1958; there is need to amend it in line with current global trend.

Most of the reforms that the service brings on board such as Nigeria Customs Service System (NICSS 11), an automation platform meant to ease transaction at the ports are not working.

Port users are daily suffering for no cause of theirs while the shipping companies are ripping us off with demurrage, Uche said.

Meanwhile, the Apapa NCS Area Customs Comptroller Abubakar Bashir has urged shippers to make proper declaration of their cargo during documentation.

According to him, compliance with such regulation will fast-track ports transactions and reduce cargo dwell time.

The customs chief decried constant system breakdown in the port and promised stakeholders that the issue would be improved upon. (NAN)

Source: NAN

Nigeria and a Chinese firm have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on first-ever cotton value chain industry, worth two billion US dollars.

The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr Okechukwu Enelamah, unveiled the deal in Abuja where he said the agreement was signed with Shandong Ruyi International Fashion Industry.

The minister explained that the agreement would involve cotton growing to ginning, spinning, textile manufacture and garment in Katsina, Kano, Abia and Lagos States.

Their investments will comprise aggregation and off take of cotton from farmers for ginning, spinning and weaving and manufacturing at least 300 million metres of African print, which will meet 20 per cent of West Africas demand.

Others are producing cotton and denim garments for export and local consumption by Ruyi Group in Abia, Lagos and Kano states, Enelamah said.

He added that in China, President Xi Jinping promised to open Chinas market for agricultural products from Nigeria, based on trade negotiating engagements by Nigerias Trade Negotiators.

Enelamah said for industrialisation, the government was aggressively implementing the Nigeria Industrial Revolution Plan (NIRP) by establishing the Nigeria Industrial Policy and Competitiveness Advisory Council.

He said the focus would be on five high priority areas: policy and regulation, trade and markets, critical infrastructure , skills , capacity building and lastly financing.

Enelamah said that the government had begun the establishment and upgrading of some existing industrial parks to world-class special economic zones (SEZs), across the six geo-political zones in the country.

According to him, for the Agreement Establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), there is a serious ongoing technical work to strengthen Nigerias Trade Policy Infrastructure.

Source: NAN

Former Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif has been temporarily released from jail so that he can attend his wifes funeral, officials and family members said Wednesday.

His daughter Maryam Nawaz and her husband were also released overnight Tuesday to accompany the former leader to the eastern city of Lahore for the funeral, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said.

Sharifs wife Begum Kulsoom Nawaz died at a clinic in London on Tuesday after a long battle with cancer.

She was 68.

Sharifs political secretary Asif Kirmani said that her body was scheduled to reach Pakistan for burial on Friday.

The three-time prime minister and his daughter are currently serving jail terms in Pakistan following theirconviction by a court on corruption charges.

A jail official told dpa that Sharif was released for 12 hours, according to Pakistans prison rules, but the duration was likely to be extended until all the rituals are performed.

Sharif was not allowed to return to Pakistan from exile in Saudi Arabia to attend his fathers funeral in 2004.

Former military ruler Pervez Musharraf and his fellow generals were at the time criticised for the decision.

NAN reports that onPakistani court sentenced Sharif to 10 years in prison for corrupt practices linked to his familys purchase of upscale London flats, in a major blow to his party ahead of general elections on July 25.

The guilty verdict in absentia against Sharif, ended the career of one of Pakistans most high-profile politicians of the last four decades, a political survivor who was prime minister three times.

Sharifs daughter, Maryam, widely seen as his chosen political heir, was sentenced to seven years in prison and is disqualified from contesting the elections. Maryams husband and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz lawmaker Muhammad Safdar was handed a year in jail.

Source: NAN

Russian authorities have identified the two people suspected by London of poisoning Russian ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury, President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday.

We know who they are, we have found them, Putin told the plenary session of the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) in Vladivostok.

The Russian president noted that the suspects were civilians.

I hope that they will show up and tell everything themselves. There is nothing particularly criminal there, I assure you, he said.

Putin also urged the two individuals to talk to media.

NAN reports that on Sept. 6, the UK charged two Russian men for the Novichok nerve agent attack on the former spy and his daughter in the English city of Salsibury, accusing them of being Russian military intelligence officers.

British prosecutors issued arrest warrants for Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov, charging them with conspiracy to murder and attempted murder of former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia.

Both were poisoned with the military-grade nerve agent developed by the former Soviet Union in the 1970s and 1980s in March but survived after spending weeks in hospital.

The failed attack sparked an international diplomactic crisis with Russia being accused by several countries allegations Moscow has repeatedly denied.

Britain said it will present its evidence at a UN Security Council meeting on Thursday.

British officials demanded at a meeting with Russias charge daffaires that those responsible for the poisoning of the Skripals were brought to justice.

Source: NAN

(Reuters/NAN) Liberia President and former World Footballer of the Year George Weah made a surprise return to international competition in Monrovia on Tuesday, playing in the countrys 2-1 loss to Nigeria.

The match came up a few weeks short of his 52nd birthday and Liberia had arranged the friendly to retire the number 14 jersey made famous by Weah.

However, fans were in for a shock when, 16 years after his last international appearance, the striker led the national team onto the pitch wearing it instead.

Media reports said Weah led the attack and showed glimpses of the class that made him a household name around the world.

He received a standing ovation from fans when he was substituted on 79 minutes.

Goals from Henry Onyekuru and Simeon Nwankwo helped Nigeria to a 2-0 lead before the hosts pulled one back through a Kpah Sherman penalty, late in the game.

Weah enjoyed a career in Europe spanning nearly a decade and a half that saw him play for Monaco, Paris Saint-Germain and Marseille in France, AC Milan in Italy.

He also played for English sides Manchester City and Chelsea.

Weah was named the 1995 World Footballer of the Year; he also won the Ballon dOr in the same year and remains the only African to win either award.

His popularity from his playing career saw him secure a landslide run-off win last December in Liberias presidential elections.

Source: NAN

(dpa/NAN) Foreign powers are actively working against the stabilisation of Libya, thecountrys UN-backed Prime Minister Fayez Serraj said Wednesday.

Libya remains riven by violence seven years after the NATO-backed ouster of its former dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

A UN envoy brokered a ceasefire last week after deadly militia clashes in Tripoli.

The country is not pacified because serious and long-term solutions have not been found to solve very deepinternal divisions, Serraj told Italys Corriere della Sera newspaper.

`But there are also foreign powers working against us for their own interests.

We know that some militias are surreptitiously armed from abroad, he said.

When asked to name the countries, Serraj said: They know well [who they are]. And they do not want asovereign Libya.

The country has two rival governments: Serrajs administration, based in Tripoli, and another in theeastern city of Tobruk.

There are also dozens of militia groups vying for power.

With Libya being is a major port of departure for Europe-bound migrants, Serraj said every extra dayof guerrilla warfare works in favour of migrant smugglers and criminal activities across the country.

He called on a key political rival from eastern Libya, Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, to work togetherfor common objectives and against unilateral initiatives, and warned against a military takeover of Tripoli.

Serraj also said Libya cannot hold elections until security is restored.

He said: you cannot vote with instability in the streets.

It is also necessary that everybody accepts the result from the ballot box.

Source: NAN

By Peter Amine

Mr Emmanuel Nanle, Director of Press and Public Affairs to Gov. Simon Lalong of Plateau, is dead.

Nanle died on Tuesday night in an Indian hospital, according to family sources.

The sources said Nanle was flown to India last Thursday when his situation could not be handled locally.

Mr Mark Longyen, Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to Gov. Lalong on Media and Publicity, confirmed the death to News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Jos on Wednesday.

Longyen said the state government received the news of Nanles death with shock.

The SSA could not, however, disclose what Nanle died of but a source told NAN that he died of colon cancer.

According to the source, the late director was treated of the disease in January in India.

Source: NAN

At least two persons died and 37 others injured in a gas explosion that occurred in Lafia on Monday
.
The Nasarawa State Government expressed shock and sadness over the explosion.

The Deputy Governor, Mr Silas Agara, said during on-the-spot assessment visit to the scene of the incident that the government would take the necessary steps to unravel the cause of the accident..

Agara was accompanied by the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Yahaya Bello, and Chairman, Lafia Local Government, Malam Aminu Muazu.

He described the incident which occurred at Monaco Gas plant within the premises of Natson Filling station on Jos Road, Lafia, as most unfortunate.

He expressed his condolences and sympathy to the victims on behalf of Gov. Umaru Al-Makur and assured the people of governments readiness to respond to the emergency and ensure a thorough investigation of the incident.

Agara applauded the security and emergency response teams for their quick intervention and advised the public to stay away from the scene to allow relevant agencies carry out their investigation into the matter.

He and his entourage later visited the 37 victims with various degrees of injuries at the Dalhatu Araf Specialist Hospital, Lafia.

On the casualty figure, Mrs Faustina Alegbe, the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) Sector Commander in the State, told NAN that two persons died while 37 people were injured.

So far, 37 people are receiving treatment in the hospital but two have been confirmed dead by the doctors.

Tomorrow, we will go back to the hospital to do an update. But I can tell you that I was in the hospital myself to do a physical count and as at now, 37 are receiving treatment with two dead, she said. (NAN)

Source: NAN

There are fears that Nigerian workers will not enjoy the new minimum wage being proposed by government any time soon, as members of the Committee on National Minimum Wage set up for the new salary have started trading blames for the delay in their assignment.

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) says the Committee on National Minimum Wage has yet to agree on a figure for the new minimum wage for the Nigerian workers.

Mr Ayuba Wabba, NLC president told newsmen on Monday in Abuja that the Labour committee wasable to complete its own assignment but was disappointed that governments side had failed to deliver .

However, just before we conclude, the Minister of Labour spoke at an occasion as a representative of the Federal Government, that they needed to go and consult before arriving at a figure.

We felt that since this committee was inaugurated in November and everybody was aware that all stakeholders needed to tidy up whatever consultations they needed to do and make sure that we are able to work within that timeline.

Clearly speaking, they are not prepared to produce a figure by that date. But our report has been completed. What is left is just to agree on a particular figure as minimum wage.

All the parameters to be used to arrive at a figure are there. I can say clearly that states have sent in memorandums.

In fact, 21 states sent in memorandums, with about 12 quoting figures, NECA has submitted a figure, organised labour has submitted a figure.

With this new development, they are saying that they want to consult, we could say that it is not a fair process if somebody is saying at this point that he has not consulted, he said.

Wabba noted that the organised labour, would meet formally and issue a formal statement, and also see how they would ensure that the interest of Nigerian worker was not in any way undermined.

According to him, this is where we are and we think that it is proper that we put the fact before our members.

Labour leaders have already called for our organ meetings where we will brief our members.

Already, it is in public domain that both the government and labour agreed that the timeline must be respected and they were saying that September is not feasible.

We are committed to respecting the timeline and that is why we left everything we are doing to do the needful to be able to do a good job.

All the parameters you can think of have been considered and the report is ready. But the only thing missing is the issue of the figure.

The NLC president also recalled that individual states had quoted figures and every state was given the opportunity to make its own presentation.

He also noted that a letter was written to every state by the secretariat to send in their memo, making their inputs and 21 of them actually made inputs.

You are aware of the figures quoted by organised labour. We have enough data to do justice to the work and we have actually done justice to the work. I am telling you that this is what has happened.

So there was enough time for everybody to make input. This should have been consummated but some people are saying they need time for consultation.

We thought that should not have been the situation, because of the importance of the issue to Nigerian workers; and the workers can also not continue to be patient, he said.

Source: NAN

By Bukola Adewumi

Few days after some Abuja residence experienced earth tremor in areas such as Mpape, Maitama, Gwarinpa and Kubwa, the FCT Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has expressed uncertainty over the cause.

Mr Idris Abass, the Director-General of the agency told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Abuja, that the agency was yet to establish whether it was man-made or natural.

He however said that if it was a natural phenomenon, nothing would stop it because it could only stop on its own.

Like the information we earlier passed, it only happened for a while and stopped, but today we are happy to report that there is no case of the tremor again.

The D-G said that it had not been established whether the tremor was man-made or natural.

He noted that if it was natural, it was bound to happen again after 12 years.

If it is caused by the activities of those who are blasting and drilling boreholes around the areas, it can also reoccur.

Abass however said that the activities of the drillers had since been stopped, adding that if it was man-made it should not reoccur until their activities returned.

We are carrying out adequate steps to determine what happened last week; maybe it is a natural cause, but we want to assure the public that Nigeria is not on the zone of earthquakes.

Some people are arguing that tremor is an earthquake, earthquake is the total destruction of activities, buildings and the earth itself.

From what we have seen, there is no trace of any crack on the wall or on the earth when the shaking occurred, he said.

He said that FEMA would collaborate with other agencies, especially the Geological Survey of Nigeria to ensure that it unraveled the situation.

On our own part, we are developing the response plan for this kind of emergency disaster.

He said that FEMA would embark on advocacy and sensitisation to the general public to tell them what to do and what not to do in case of any reoccurrence.

He said that FEMA would also inform the public that if it was a natural phenomenon, adding that nothing could be done to stop it.

Source: NAN