Lagos Officially Oil Producing State.

NEWS CREDIT: GUARDIAN NEWS

With the commencement of crude oil production in Badagry Local Government by Yinka Folawiyo Petroleum Co. Ltd and by the virtue of the provision of Section 162, Sub-Section 2 of Nigerian Constitution, Lagos State has become an oil producing State.

The declaration was made in Lagos on Monday by Governor Akinwunmi Ambode when the management of the company led by the Group Managing Director, Mr Tunde Folawiyo paid him a courtesy visit at the Lagos House.

“Yinka Folawiyo Petroleum Co. Ltd (YFP) is pleased to announce that it has commenced production of crude oil from its Aje field located in block OML 113 offshore Lagos,” the company said on Monday, May 3, 2016.

The Aje oil field lies 25 km from the coast in western Nigeria, on the border with Benin. It is situated 64 km from Lagos and is 12 kilometres away from the West Africa Gas Pipeline (12 km away).

It is located in the Dahomey Embayment of southwestern Nigeria, which is the eastern end of the Cretaceous Benin Basin of West Africa. Water depth across the field ranges from 99 metres to over 1,500 metres. The field is estimated to be one of the largest oil fields in Nigeria outside the Niger Delta basin.

Production began after more than 25 years of exploratory, appraisal and developmental activities in the field, making Lagos an oil-producing state.

Ambode lauded the company for its doggedness to achieve the feat after 25 years of hard work

He declared, “I want to thank you very much for this and I say it with all conviction because I know that based on section 162 Sub-Section 2 of the Nigeria Constitution, Lagos becomes an oil-producing state and by virtue of this, the 13 percent derivation that is due to oil producing states, Lagos will start to partake from it by your very good gesture. So we officially declare Lagos State as an oil producing state, we also notify the Federal Government by this action that we would be sharing out of the 13 percent derivation. So all we need do is to apply and then we join.”

The governor also said that the feat has not only placed Lagos in the history books as the first state outside the Niger Delta to become an oil-producing State but has also opened up a new page for revenue generation in the State.

“It also means that by the additional revenue that is coming from this action, we would have more resources to provide infrastructure for Lagosians and this is what we want other investors and businessmen to emulate, so that beyond the issue of profit, you are actually creating impact on people without them necessarily knowing that it is actually coming from a venture like this that you have embarked on,” he said.

NEWS CREDIT: GUARDIAN NEWS

FG to Mollify 1m Nigerians with N5000 Monthly

To cushion the harsh effect of the new pump price of Premium Motor Spirt, PMS also called petrol on the people, the presidency is set to implement the N500 billion earmarked in the 2016 budget for social welfare. A statement by the media spokesperson for Vice President Yemi Osinabjo, Mr. Laolu Akande in Abuja on Sunday stated “All together the federal government would be directly impacting the lives of more than 8 million Nigerians in different social investment 2016 budget spending that would provide succor and be a ready-made palliative to ordinary Nigerians.”

Giving a breakdown of the interventions and palliatives, Akande said that said that there would “the direct payment of N5000 monthly to one million extremely poor Nigerians for 12 months as provided for in the 2016 budget for which N$68.7B has been appropriated.” Similarly, the government has also made available a “direct provision of very soft loan -cash for market women, men and traders, including artisans and Agric workers. This would be for a total of 1.76m Nigerians, without the requirement for conventional collateral. Some of the traders will likely get about N60,000.

A total sum of N140.3B has already been appropriated for this in the budget”. The details also showed their there would be “payment of between N23,000 to N30,000 per month to 500,000 unemployed graduates who would be trained, paid and deployed to work as volunteer teachers, public health officers and extension service workers among other responsibilities. They would also be given electronic devices to empower them technologically both for their assignments and beyond”.

According to the media aide, “100,000 artisans would also be trained and paid N191.5B has been set aside for this in the passed budget.” He also said that “At least 5.5 million Nigerian primary school children -ie starting first in 18 states-three per geopolitical zones-would be fed for 200 school days under the free Homegrown School Feeding Programme”, as “N93.1B has been appropriated for this in the 2016 budget.” In this same vein “100,000 tertiary students in Science Technology Engineering & Maths-STEM, plus Education will partake in the N5.8B already provided for this education grant in the budget. Akande stated that

“This payment would also be paid directly to the students.” He stated that these measures that would start in a matter of weeks would certainly lift the ordinary man from the pangs of economic hardship and poverty. “Long before now, the Presidency has made adequate arrangements in the 2016 budget to ensure that Nigerians are lifted from poverty and hardship,” Akande said, adding that “the Buhari presidency is keen to ensure that Nigerians are lifted and that if necessary on an ongoing basis palliatives measures would always been considered to address the conditions of the people.”

FG Meets Labour for 45,000 Minimum Wage Proposal

Three days to the threatened mass action against government’s increase in the price of petrol, indications emerged yesterday that the Federal Government would meet organised labour today in Abuja over the issue, dangling a carrot before labour leaders.

The Guardian learnt that at the meeting slated for 3:00 p.m. at the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, the Federal Government will be coming to the parley with the proposal for a new minimum wage that is fixed at N45, 000.But the increase comes with some provisos including reduction in the number of civil servants and merging ministries and agencies.

Indeed, the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Ayuba Wabba confirmed the scheduled meeting saying he got a text message inviting him and other labour leaders to the meeting.

A source in the Presidency told The Guardian that ministers had been told to lead the initiative on the downsizing.Also, the Efficiency Unit in the Federal Ministry of Finance, which is saddled with coming up with cost reduction strategies is working on the template for the reduction.

The Federal Government would also be relying on the report of the Steve Oronsaiye’s panel on the rationalisation of the civil service in the streamlining process.

It was also learnt that though government said it would not devalue the naira, it would indeed embark on what it termed ‘appropriate’ value of the national currency, which may be in the region of N283 to the dollar.

Meanwhile, fuel scarcity persisted in most of the major cities of the country yesterday despite hopes that petrol would be available since government at the last Federal Executive Council meeting raised the pump price of petrol to N145 per litre.Yet, some outlets are retailing for as high as between N150 and N175 per litre.

NEWS CREDIT: Guardian News

is She Keeping it Strictly Professional or What? My Boss Served Me a Query for Coming Late after We Both Spent The Night Out

Story from a Nairalander.

last night was amazing @ a bubbling club in Abuja with my boss. she is tall robust and in her late 20s. I meet her at a social event where we shared contact and she help me get a job in her office. she not only help me get a job but back dated my employment letter and I resumed promoted.
all her kind gestures towards me made me develop a sense of indebtedness to her but have never been able to pay her back except that I make sure she never runs out of data on her phone.
on Thursday  I received a pm from her asking me if I had plans for Friday night. truth be told I don't have anyplans so I told her no. she said she would pick me up later at night.
I knew she needed a companion to one of her many events and don't want her friends to know she is a loner. so I saw it as an opportunity to give back to her

about 4pm as we approach close of business on Friday , a general mail was sent that we would be coming for Saturday duties and default is equal to suspension.

after the mail I felt we probably would not be going out anymore since there is work. she came by my office and drop her car key and told me to pick her and her friends up by 10pm. she picked a drop and left.
at exactly 10:05 I reached her estate and picked her and 2 of her friends as we head to wuse 2.
we went to have dinner and she slipped her ATM in my hand and whispered the code in my ears.

I paid like a boss and we went straight to wine bar not far away. we ordered drinks and she held on to me as if we have been dating for years. she occasionally kiss me on the cheek. I was being careful not to drink too much because am driving and I don't drink much. so I mixed my jack Daniels with coke. thereafter we drove to a club nearby. their blood alcohol was already above the legal limit. the three of them danced like crazy I just stayed calm forming boss in the VIP section. whenever her two friends come close to me, she jumps in the middle like she was jealous. we danced till about two am when I decided its time to go. they were so drunk if not for the help of the security who helped me bring them inside the car, I drove back into the estate and her two friends came down but she was fast asleep. I carried her inside and lay her gently on the bed. she held me and whisper in my ears stay with me tonight. I knew she was drunk and not in her right mind. I tuck her in her bed
spread and kissed her good night and dropped her car key beside her to enable her get to the office in the morning.

I took a drop home and sleep off immediately. I woke up 7:30 and was running late. I quickly prepared for work but got to the office 30min late. everyone was on time except me. I logged into my mail and saw a query from my boss.
at first I felt it was a kind of cover up eye service but she copies disciplinary and regional head in the mail that unroll 10am to reply why I came late and should not be suspended .
I immediately sent her PMs but she replied none. so I replied the query saying I took my sick sister to a vigil for healing and I over slept after the vigil.
she sent another mail instantly that she recommend that I be suspended for a week without pay with immediate effect.

seriously I was confused because I can't believe it was the same person I spent whole lastnight with.
I picked my bag and just went back home wondering if I was dreaming.