The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation NNPC has assured that it has made adequate arrangements for fuel supply, adding that “30 vessels will deliver an additional supply of 2.3 Billion litres of PMS into the country till month-end of February 2022
The NNPC officials stated this while briefing at the National Economic Council meeting on Thursday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja,
“ As the supplier of last resort, NNPC has continued to sustain adequate petroleum products supply and distribution to the Nation despite challenges associated with the unending waves of pipeline vandalism, product theft and Cross-border smuggling of PMS”
The Council also assured of its resolve to encourage the growth of the automotive industry in Nigeria by improving patronage of locally manufactured vehicles, just as the Council got assurances that the current fuel situation in parts of the country would be resolved by next week.
Both of these issues form part of the discussions at this month’s National Economic Council meeting chaired by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, with Governors, Federal Ministers and top officials in attendance. NEC is composed of all 36 State Governors, the Central Bank Governor and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory alongside some other members of the Federal Executive Council.
Briefing NEC on the benefits of locally manufactured vehicles in the country, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Niyi Adebayo, said despite the potentials, the local automotive industry has been significantly plagued by several challenges such as weak demand for locally assembled cars, as well as lack of government patronage which could have assisted the assemblers in achieving economies of scale.
Also, Council received an update on the Covid-19 vaccination by the Executive Director, National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Faisal Shuaib, calling Council to note that by March next month, the country needs to reach 50% of eligible vaccination at least for the first dose.
Read also: Power outage, fuel scarcity bite harder as NNPC announces 24-hour operations
The Council was informed that cases have declined by 58.6% over the last 6 weeks with only 2 deaths in the past 2 weeks. The NCDC presentation noted that the Centre has engaged health facilities across the federation especially tertiary health facilities in order to curb the death of health workers due to Covid-19.
Shuaibu assured that by December this year, the plan is to achieve a 70 percent full vaccination rate.
He added that 5 States including FCT are hitting the mark, the States being Nasarawa, Jigawa, Ogun, Osun and Kwara.
Council resolved that State authorities should prioritize vaccination of citizens against the disease and that since Lagos, and FCT carry the highest burden, whatever support is necessary should be made available to them.
Situational reports on the outbreak of COVID-19 in Nigeria as of 17 February 2022 showed the total number of cases at 254,091 while the number of cases tested was 4,233,363. The active cases were put at 20,493 while 230,457 cases were discharged and the number of deaths was put at 3,141.
Implementation and enforcement of the COVID-19 health regulation 2021 signed by President Muhammadu Buhari is in progress to:
Council was called to note that: 60% of the Nigerian population is under 35 years of age and by 2050, Nigeria’s population is expected to double (becoming the 3rd largest country in the world) with over 13.8 million youth within the labour force bracket.
The Minister introduced the Jubilee Fellows Programme as one of the measures to address the increasing population of unemployed youths. The programme will:
The program involves Connecting 20,000 graduates annually to opportunities in Private and Public Sector Institutions! Create a talent pipeline for Private & Public Sector to draw from and Provide a platform for high level public & private sector policy dialogue on Employment Creation & Talent Management, etc.
Balogun revealed that development of the programme’s Cohort and First Placement is expected to be done by April 2022.
He disclosed that a total of 116,763 applications from prospective fellows were received! With 5,898 from Private Sector Institutions expressing interest to host Fellows, to be funded through the $260 Million mobilized over the five year Programme period.
Already the European Union has provided 44Million Euros into the Fund.
On the Nigerian Automotive Industry development, the Council was informed that this has been identified as one with a catalytic effect on the economy.
The Council was told that US $1Billion in Foreign Direct Investments has been attracted, with 63 Licenses issued.
Others include over 30 active Assemblers, as well as a strong potential for 400,000 vehicles per Annum.
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