The President of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has called on the Federal Government to fully eliminate fuel subsidies, stating that doing so would reveal the true level of petrol consumption in Nigeria.

He also confirmed the ownership of two upstream oil blocks, with production expected to commence next month. The business mogul, however, said he will likely not invest heavily in Nigeria’s upstream sector.

“Well, our upstream, you know, is not big. We have two oil blocks which we have and we are starting production this October,” Dangote added.

Dangote, during a 26-minute interview with Bloomberg Television, expressed that fuel production from his $20bn refinery in Lagos, which has the capacity to refine 650,000 barrels of crude oil daily, will help ease pressure on the naira.

The billionaire said, “Subsidy is a very sensitive issue. Once you are subsidising something, people will bloat the price, and the government will end up paying what they are not supposed to be paying. It is the right time to get rid of subsidies.”

He further explained that the refinery would expose Nigeria’s actual fuel consumption, which has been widely debated.

“Some say, it’s less. But right now, if you look at it by us producing, everything can be counted,” he said. “So everything can be accounted for, particularly for most of the trucks or ships that will come to load from us. We are going to put a tracker on them to be sure they are going to take the oil within Nigeria, and that, I think, can help the government save quite a lot of money. I think it is the right time, you know, to remove the subsidy.”

The businessman also noted how ending petrol imports would ease currency pressures, especially as petroleum products account for about 40% of Nigeria’s foreign exchange expenditure. Dangote noted that producing and selling fuel locally could help stabilise the naira, which has lost about 70% of its value against the dollar.

Dangote added, “The removal of subsidies is totally dependent on the government, not on us. We cannot change the price, but I think the government will have to give up something for something. So I think, at the end of the day, this subsidy will have to go.”

President Bola Tinubu initially removed the petrol subsidy in May 2023 but reinstated it after inflation spiked, sparking public protests. In September, the fuel price cap was eased, yet it remains below market levels.

On the refinery’s sales, Dangote revealed that his company started supplying gasoline to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) for domestic sale on September 15, explaining that NNPCL purchased the fuel at a lower cost than its imported stock.

“There wasn’t really a disagreement, per se,” he said, regarding a pricing dispute with NNPCL. “What they are supposed to do is to sell at a basket price, or if they want to remove the subsidy, they can announce that they will remove it, and everybody will adjust.”

He also added that there is an ongoing discussion with NNPCL regarding crude oil sales starting in October, noting that crude will be priced and sold in naira to help reduce currency pressures.

“We will sell the crude in naira after we have bought in naira. So now we are currently working out with the committee that the exchange rate is going to be priced. It is going to be normal pricing, you know, if crude is at $80, we will pay that price at an agreed exchange rate.

“And then we will also sell in the domestic market. What that will do is that it’s going to remove 40 per cent pressure on the naira. So because see, the petroleum products consume about 40 per cent of foreign exchange, so you know, and then, you know, it’s like you have 40 per cent of demand being taken out so that can actually stabilise the naira and even if they subsidise, they would know what they are paying for.

“The deal is to give the government something that they want. It’s also a win-win situation for all and it would benefit the country.

“Currently, discussions are still ongoing to determine the details of the agreement. They are working out something that I think would be a win-win between us and the NNPCL.

“The agreement is very robust. Well, first of all, we would have energy security where they will give us crude. For example, in October, they’re going to give us 12 million barrels, which is on average, about 390,000 barrels a day, which will sell both gasoline, diesel, and aviation fuel.”

Meanwhile, the Federal Government announced plans to allocate land for building a park for fuel tankers to prevent over 3,000 trucks from damaging newly constructed roads leading to the Dangote refinery. This was disclosed by the Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, after a Federal Executive Council meeting in Abuja.

The council also approved several major road projects, including the rehabilitation of roads in Katsina, Ebonyi, Abia, Imo, and Rivers states.

The Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved the construction of 14 roads and bridges, which were badly affected by floods, in Ekiti State, Adamawa, Kebbi and Enugu States.

Works Minister David Unahi said this while addressing State House correspondents after the FEC meeting.

He said the others are in Cross River State, Ondo State, Osun State, Ebonyi, Abia and Imo states.

He said the roads were awarded, in addition to a contract for the repair and rehabilitation of Gamboru Bridge along Gambor-Ngala/Kala-Balge Road in Bornu.

The minister said FEC also approved a new contract for the rehabilitation of Maraban-Kankara/Funtua Road in Katsina State and the construction of 258-kilometer three-lane carriageway, a component of the 1,000 Sokoto/Badagry Super-highway, Section 2, Phase 2A.

Likewise, he said FEC approved the contract for the construction and dualisation of Afikpo-Uturu-Okigwe Road in Ebonyi, Abia and Imo States (Section 2).

He said FEC similarly approved the contract for Bodo-Bonny Road in Rivers, to be executed by Julius Berger.

“FEC approved an additional N80 billion to complete that project, bringing the total cost to N280 billion.

“The next is the Third Mainland Bridge, which was executed under emergency work,” he said.

He said at the time the present government assumed office, the Third Mainland Bridge was a nightmare.

“The deck had pavement differential of over one foot; that was causing a lot of accidents and hold up, and constituting dead load to the Third Mainland Bridge.

“So, that has been done and it also extended to Falamo and Queens Drive. It came with solar light, CCTV cameras and relief stations, to eliminate road blockage,” he said.

He explained that when he came on board, Julius Berger sought to review the entire projects.

“Don’t forget that the initial cost of the projects was N155 billion and the past administration reviewed it to N797 billion.

“Berger insisted that the reviewed contract sum should to N1.5 trillion. We didn’t have that money and the Coordinating Minister for the economy and myself went through the road and had strategic meeting with Berger,” said Umahi.

He said he eventually sought the approval of the President to break the projects into three so that two sections could be done on tax credit and Julius Berger could do one.

“So, the first section is 38 kilometer, it has not been brought to Council. It’s to be done with on concrete.

“The second section is to be done by Berger and that is 82 kilometers by two, and it’s to be done with asphalt that they have been working with and the third section is, which is just 17 kilometers is to be done on concrete,” he said.

He said FEC approved that of Julius Berger for a total contract sum of N740 billion. However, he said the other two were not presented for approval.

“If you remove approximately N400 billion paid by the last administration, then what is left is about N340 billion. That is what the contract sum for the 164 kilometer will be and that’s what FEC approved today,” Umahi said.

The minister said the service lane on Lekki Deep Seaport road was approved for construction by FEC.

Lastly, he said he discovered that over 3,000 of fuel trucks queuing to the lift fuel at Dangote Refinery were all parked on the newly constructed Lekki-Calabar coastal highway.

“Technically and by design, the roads were never built for static loads, and so it has a lot of effects,” he said.

He said FEC approved that the Federal Government land in the area should be concessioned , so that concessioners could build a park.

“It’s a park that will be tolled, so that all the trucks can safely parked over there and the pavement of such a park is quite different from the pavement of the road,” said Umahi.

“Every day, Nigeria loses about 2,300 under-five children and 145 women of childbearing age. Most of these deaths are occurring in northern Nigeria.”

The Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr Muyi Aina, disclosed this yesterday, in Abuja at the ongoing two-day engagement on vaccination and maternal and child health with religious leaders from northern Nigeria.

At the event organised by the Sultan Foundation for Peace and Development, with support from NPHCDA, he noted that too many women still die from complications related to pregnancy and childbirth, and too many children fail to reach their fifth birthday due to preventable diseases.

According to the NPHCDA boss, Nigeria has recorded 70 cases of circulating variant Poliovirus 2 from 46 local councils across 14 northern states.

The meeting was a gathering of distinguished religious leaders, both Christians and Muslims, to discuss critical issues affecting vaccination, maternal and child health in Nigeria.

He said: “Nigeria is witnessing intense transmission of the circulating variant poliovirus type 2, with 70 cVPV2 from 46 local councils across 14 Northern states. This is an indication of continuous transmission of the virus due to low routine immunisation, and refusal of vaccines during polio campaigns.

“This must change. We must ensure that every woman has access to antenatal care, every pregnancy is delivered by trained and skilled midwives and that every child completes their routine immunisation, according to the national schedule, and gets vaccinated every time vaccination teams visit their homes. Together, we must work to create a system that ensures no mother or child is left behind.”

Aina urged the religious leaders to make a renewed commitment to the health of the people and communities.

Similarly, the Country Representative, World Health Organisation (WHO), Dr Walter Mulombo, commended the Sultan of Sokoto, the Emir of Argungu, and the religious leaders for their steadfastness in the fight to stop the transmission of cVPV2 in communities, strengthening routine immunisation and reducing morbidity and mortality from vaccine-preventable diseases.

Meanwhile, the Sultan of Sokoto, Saad Abubakar, emphasised the importance of collective action in addressing the country’s challenges.

“The Sultan Foundation’s work exemplifies the power of collaboration. Established to promote sustainable development and social cohesion, the foundation made significant strides in addressing health, education, and economic empowerment.

“By partnering organisations like United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Bill Gates Foundation, and other stakeholders, the foundation demonstrates the potential for collective impact,” he said.

The Kogi State House of Assembly has called for the immediate removal of the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, over his unprofessional handling of the case against the immediate past governor of the state, Yahaya Bello.

The legislators, during plenary in Lokoja, the state capital, on Monday, condemned what they described as the EFCC operatives’ unprovoked attack on the Kogi State Government Lodge, saying it was an attack on the Governor of Kogi State, Ahmed Usman Ododo, and the entire people of the state.

The lawmakers accused the EFCC of an assassination attempt on the former governor and the incumbent, stressing that the persecution of the former governor had gone on for too long and must stop.

This followed a motion of urgent public importance moved by Hon. Akus Lawal, representing Ankpa 1 State Constituency. Hon Jacob Olawunmi, Ijumu State Constituency, seconded the motion.

Akus said the EFCC was out to humiliate and possibly kill the present and former governors. His colleagues all supported this.

Abu Jibril of Ajaokuta State specifically said the EFCC boss should be prosecuted for allegedly attempting to kill the governor. He called on the President to remove him immediately.

According to him, the EFCC’s conduct shows that the chairman is incapable of leading a supposed impartial agency like the EFCC.

“The Chairman has shown incompetence that warrants his removal,” he said.

The Majority Leader of the House of Assembly, Suleiman AbdulRazak, alleged that officials of the EFCC were begging the former governor to let them pretend as if he was arrested.

He said it was an embarrassing act, which showed that the anti-graft agency was using a script written by some political enemies of the former governor.

The lawmaker therefore said the President should be notified of the assassination attempt on the present and former governors, adding that the whole drama was a show to embarrass the former governor.

He concluded that, on the fateful night, a coup attempt was committed at the Kogi State Governor’s Lodge and called on the President to immediately remove the EFCC Chairman to save the nation from further embarrassment.

The lawmakers concluded that the EFCC had an agenda different from the fight against corruption, which had been revealed by the way the Commission approached the issue of arrest, this, they said, must be condemned by all well-meaning Nigerians.

Yahaya Umar, representing Omala State Constituency said, “The unlawful conducts of the EFCC show that the intention of the chairman is not to arrest former Governor Yahaya Bello, but to ridicule the state.

“The chronology of how the event happened shows that the problem of the chairman is not with the offences being alleged, but that they want to disgrace the defendant and Kogi State in general.”

No fewer than 31. 8 million people in Nigeria are acutely food insecure, the highest number globally, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), has said.

Compared to the 2023 lean season, 28 per cent more people are facing acute food insecurity this year – 4.8 million people in the North-east and 6.2 million people in the North-west, WFP said.

Citing the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) dashboard, in its “WFP Nigeria: Situation Report #82 -19 September 2024,” the organisation said

1,075,485 people have been affected by flooding countrywide, with the highest prevalence in the North-east and North-west.

“The floods have also destroyed 442,790 hectares of crop and increased malnutrition rates in the North-east and North-west states-

“The number of severely and moderately malnourished children admitted at treatment facilities has on average increased by 41 per cent and 70 per cent respectively compared to 2023.

“Persisting macroeconomic crisis with food inflation near the 30-year record. Prices of staple foods like maize, millet, sorghum and beans averaging between 100-300 per cent beyond last year prices across surveyed markets.

“To complement the flood response by the government, WFP is providing hot meals in the temporary camps set up for flood affected people, reaching 77,698 people with hot meals across the four camps within 3 days.

“Beyond the flood response, WFP is delivering assistance to 1.6 million people in September across the North-east and northwest for emergency assistance and resilience building.

“The main driver of food insecurity in Nigeria is the continued conflict in the northeast and the escalating clashes in the northwest and north-central, which disrupts livelihood activities, limits access to income-generating activities, drives population displacement and constrains sustainable food production.

“Inflation has skyrocketed and is not decreasing as expected with the start of the current harvest,” the UN agency said.

According to the WFP, the severe floods since July 2024 have increased displacement and worsened the challenges to food security, adding that its Advanced Disaster Analysis & Mapping (ADAM) reports 1.9 million hectares of flooded areas, including 442,000 hectares of crops destroyed ahead of the harvest.

“The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) reports that over half a million people have been displaced by flooding in the northeast and northwest states.

“This is in addition to over 3.6 million internally displaced people in the North-east and Northwest as of June 2024.

“Malnutrition rates in northern Nigeria are exceeding lean season projections due to disease prevalence, high recurring displacements, and access constraints,”  WFP.

In today’s fast-paced world, it’s easy to get caught up in our individual pursuits and overlook the importance of nurturing friendships. However, having close friends can have a profound impact on our mental health. Research shows that strong social connections can reduce stress, improve mood, and even increase our lifespan.

The Benefits of Friendship for Mental Health:

1. Stress Reduction: Friends provide emotional support, helping us cope with life’s challenges.
2. Mood Boost: Social interactions release endorphins, also known as “feel-good” hormones.
3. Self-Esteem Enhancement: Positive friendships foster self-confidence and self-worth.
4. Emotional Regulation: Friends help us process emotions, reducing anxiety and depression.
5. Social Support Network: Friends provide practical help, advice, and encouragement.

The Science Behind Friendship and Mental Health:

1. Oxytocin: Social bonding releases oxytocin, promoting feelings of trust and attachment.
2. Dopamine: Social interactions stimulate dopamine release, associated with pleasure and reward.
3. Reduced Cortisol: Friendship reduces cortisol levels, mitigating stress’s negative effects.

Tips for Nurturing Friendships:

1. Schedule Regular Meet-Ups: Prioritize face-to-face interactions.
2. Join Social Groups: Expand your social circle through shared interests.
3. Practice Active Listening: Engage fully with friends, fostering deeper connections.
4. Show Appreciation: Express gratitude and support for your friends.

Friendships are a vital component of a healthy, happy life. By investing in meaningful relationships, we can:

• Enhance mental wellbeing.
• Increase resilience.
• Improve overall quality of life.

So, take the time to nurture your friendships and reap the rewards of a stronger, healthier mind.