Lagos - The appeal by many Nigerians, mostly students, who are stranded in Ukraine due to the invasion by Russian soldiers is one of the trending stories in Nigerian newspapers on Friday.
The Punch reports that several Nigerians – mostly students – who are in Ukraine are currently stranded as Russia continues to attack the eastern European nation.
This is as the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) in Ukraine sent out a “Save Our Soul” message to President Muhammadu Buhari, seeking immediate evacuation from Ukraine.
The acting president of NANS-Ukraine, Eunice Eleaka, pleaded with the Federal Government to come to their aid.
In a letter to the president titled, “Matter of Urgency. Letter of Request to the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria President Muhammadu Buhari”, on Thursday, the students said cities occupied by Nigerians were under attack.
The letter read in part: “Greetings, your Excellency. We are the executive body of National Association of Nigerian Students Ukraine (NANS-Ukraine).
“We write to you with regard to the current Russia-Ukraine conflict which has finally risen to its maximum early this morning being February 24, 2022 as gunshots and explosives have raided the territories occupied by the Nigerian citizens.
“We plead with your Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari, to please send for an immediate evacuation of the Nigerian students currently in Ukraine. We can only trust and wait on our great nation (Giant of Africa) in this perilous time.”
Meanwhile, the newspaper says that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said the long-term rate of the depreciation of the naira equates to a loss of 10.6% of its value annually since 1973.
According to the IMF, this rate is 1.5 times higher than the long-term rate of the currencies of other emerging market and developing economies at 7.2%t, and Sub-Saharan Africa at 7% over the same time period.
The Washington-based lender disclosed this in its “Nigeria: Selected Issues Paper” report.
According to the report, this is one of the reasons why Nigeria’s inflation rate is higher than that of its peers.
The report read in part: “Nigeria’s long term average rate of CPI inflation (1971-2020) was 16 per cent, which is higher than both SSA (13 per cent) and EMDE (13.6 per cent) averages.
“Compared to SSA (7.2 per cent) and EMDE (6.2 per cent) median, the difference is more pronounced. Two possible explanations come to one’s mind upon data investigation.”
First, Nigeria’s broad money (M3) growth has been persistently high — with its 50-year average registering 21.2%t. This is 1.5 and 1.3 times more than EMDE (18.5% and SSA (16.7%) averages respectively.
The Sun reports that the Statistician General of the Federation, Mr Simon Harry, says processes are ongoing to rebase the nation’s Consumer Price Index (CPI), which measures inflation rate, by the end of the year.
Harry disclosed this Thursday in Akwanga, Nassarawa State, while briefing newsmen on the sidelines of a two-day retreat for the governing board and management of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
“Certainly, there are processes involved for both macro-economic indicators and without us accomplishing those processes, there is no way that rebasing can be done fully,” said Harry.
He explained that statistical processes were already ongoing for the rebasing of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2023.
“For the GDP, which measures the performance of the economy, there are certain statistical activities that will have to be carried out.”
He said that the National Business Sample Census (NBSC) which would determine the structure and dynamics of businesses in Nigeria had been done.
According to him, the process for the National Agricultural Sample Census (NASC), which determines the status of growth of the agricultural sector, one of the major sectors driving the GDP, has begun.
“We are currently conducting the pilot, the main fieldwork will be commencing in April, and so, that is a very important activity.”
The newspaper says that provisional winners of the 3.5 Gigahertz (GHz) spectrum licence, MTN Communications Nigeria Plc and Mafab Communications Limited, have made their full payment of $273.6 million each for the 5G Spectrum license to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
The executive vice chairman of the NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta, officially confirmed the payment status yesterday just as the deadline set for the two winners of the spectrum auction elapsed.
As part of the auction process emplaced by the commission in the Information Memorandum (IM), three companies, namely MTN Nigeria, Mafab Communications Ltd and Airtel Networks Ltd submitted bids with an initial bid deposit (IBD) of $19.74m, representing 10% of the Reserve Price of the 3.5GHz Spectrum by the close of the bid submission date of November 29, 2021.
Following the successful auction on December 13, 2021 and the emergence of MTN and Mafab as winners, they were required to pay the balance of the bid amount of $253.86 million on or before February 24, 2022.
The Guardian reports that the Federal Government says it will sanction employers of labour that fail to pay the national minimum wage of N30 000 per month in accordance with the provisions of the National Minimum Wage Act 2019.
The Chairman for National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission (NSIWC), Ekpo Nta, stated this, yesterday, during a media briefing in Abuja.
The Chairman, who was represented by the acting director of the Compensation Department, Chiadi Adighiogu, also informed that the commission will soon begin monitoring the implementation and compliance of employers in line with the provisions of section 12 of the National Minimum Wage (Amendment) Act 2019 and sanctions would be applied where necessary.
The act provides that every employer shall pay a national minimum wage of not less than N30 000 per month to every worker under his establishment, except where the number of employees is less than 25, or are paid on a part-time basis or are seasonal employees.
The newspaper says that the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has called on economic managers to reposition the educational sector in the country to meet workforce needs by bridging the town and gown.
The chamber hinted that the primary goal was to ensure that human capital development in the country enjoys its deserved priority in the quest to unleash the potential of the nation through increased efficiency and productivity for sustainable economic growth and development.
This, it said, would champion initiatives to promote private enterprise, policy advocacy and investment to foster the development of the economy.
Speaking at the press conference on the maiden edition of the Lagos Educational Fair with the theme “Transforming Education: Enhancing access to qualitative tertiary education”, the chairman of Trade Promotion Board, LCCI, Leye Kupoluyi, urged the federal and state government to ensure sufficient funding of the educational sector with strict adherence to standards in the institutions at all levels, while adding that this would sustain dialogue with stakeholders to be able to meet workforce needs and enhance national productivity.
AFP