Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has appealed to leaders and members of the Fisheries Committee for the West Central Gulf of Guinea (FCWC) to prioritize the speedy sharing of information between member states, in order to more effectively checkmate the activities of foreign vessels fishing illegally within our territorial waters.
The Nigerian Vice President, who addressed the 10th Ministerial Conference/Anniversary celebration of the FCWC in Abuja today, Friday, advised the six member-countries to deepen strategic cooperation, to harness the enormous fisheries potentials in the Gulf of Guinea for the benefit of their people.
Professor Osinbajo stressed that it is in the common and vital interest of the African countries to give the FCWC full support for the sustainable management of the fisheries resources.
“On the part of Nigeria, we will continue to play our role in the support of FCWC. In line with this, I am happy to inform you that we have paid almost about $200,000 of our debt to the FCWC this year.
I say the figure just to encourage everyone else, to toe the line of repaying debts as quickly as possible.
“The safety of Nigeria’s maritime waters is also of principal concern to us. To this end, President Buhari has approved the purchase of some patrol vessels for the Department of Fisheries, which will be managed in collaboration with the Nigerian Navy.
“These vessels will boost the search and rescue capacities of the relevant security agencies, deter illegal fishing, prevent illegal Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing, and help secure our vessels at sea.
In the Northeast of Nigeria, terrorist activities of Boko Haram have devastated a fishing industry that has historically supplied much of West Africa.
“President Buhari earlier this year, approved the establishment of a Lake Chad Naval Base, to boost security, and fast-track the restoration of deprived livelihoods in that zone.
“The theme of this conference which is: “Investing for Growth and Sustainability for Fisheries in West Africa” is an important one, both in terms of sharing experiences and laying out our aspirations for the economic well-being of our people.”
Vice President Osinbajo shared some of the success which Buhari government had achieved in agriculture and investments generally4aying that agriculture and aquaculture in particular, is easily one of the most critical of the multiple engines that will help diversify the economies, and create jobs and prosperity.
“We have focused on agriculture as being the pathway for sustainable growth for our people, and providing much needed jobs for the hundreds of thousands of young people graduating from various levels of our educational institutions. We think that fisheries and the whole aquaculture economy, will supply what we need in terms of opportunities for several of these young people and there are several initiatives we are proffering which the Ministry of Agriculture has been leading in the past few months.”
He noted that the government is making efforts to reduce fish imports and increase local fish production, by encouraging the private sector to invest in aquaculture, adding that the effort is yielding positive results.
“Our domestic fish production in the last two years has increased from 450,000 metric tons to 1.1million metric tons.
This is no doubt regarding the result of the work we’re doing to encourage and enable investment in Nigeria. Our conviction is that Nigeria’s economic revolution must be led by private capital, and that government’s primary role is to create the enabling environment for commerce to thrive unhindered and this has greatly assisted our work in this respect.
“We have worked quite hard, to ensure that we create the environment for investments; small, medium-sized and large investments.
“We have worked at this especially in the last one year, by implementing a series of reforms that have earned us a place on the World Bank’s list of top ten most improved economies in 2017, from a business climate improvement perspective.
“These reforms range from simplifying registration processes for new businesses, to making it easier for investors and entrepreneurs to access credit, to implementing a visa on arrival scheme that takes just about 48 hours to process. We are also effecting reforms aimed at easing bottlenecks in our seaports, for the benefit of importers and exporters.
Many of these reforms are in nascent stages, we are working daily to improve and fine-tune them. We have realized that we need to have an enabling environment, not just for foreign investments, but in particular for local investments to thrive. It is when local investments thrive that foreign investors may then feel enabled and inspired to come in to invest. Our focus is ensuring local investments thrive through several of the initiatives we have introduced.
“I would like to reiterate the philosophy behind these reforms; Nigeria is open for business and investment. We would like to see investors take us up on this pledge. You’re very likely aware that there is a great deal of opportunity in Nigeria’s aquaculture industry – the size of our domestic market and our status as a gateway to West Africa together constitute a compelling business case.”[myad]

President Muhammadu Buhari has said that Nigeria needs its soldiers, who have been on Peace Mission in Guinea Bissau back home.
“We need our troops back home, and I hope the President of that country will accept a constitutional way to resolve the situation there.”
Buhari, who received in audience today, Friday, at the Aso Villa, Abuja, the president of the ECOWAS Commission, Marcel A. de Souza, said that so far Nigeria is the highest contributor of troops to Guinea Bissau, but that “the troops can’t be there endlessly.”
President Buhari said that he expected a formal report on the situation in Guinea Bissau at the 52nd Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government which is being hosted by Nigeria tomorrow, Saturday, in Abuja.
He said that despite the economic difficulty Nigeria had gone through, it would continue to play leading role on the regional challenges.
“We are under financial pressure due to terrorist attacks in the sub-region, but Nigeria being out of recession will have an impact on the entire region.”
Buhari however, emphasized the need for accountability and good neighbourliness in both the sub-region, and on the African continent.
He expressed satisfaction with the organization’s demand for accountability from its headquarters staff, resulting in recently inviting the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) from Nigeria, to look into its books.
He thanked the organisation for being firm, “and for insisting on transparency and accountability at the ECOWAS headquarters.”
President Buhari said that Nigeria would continue to fulfill its obligations to the sub-regional body.
This was even as the ECOWAS Commission boss thanked Nigeria for agreeing to host the 52nd Ordinary Session at short notice and that the impact of Nigeria was quite strong in the organization.
Also at the meeting with Moussa Faki Mahamat of the African Union Commission, President Buhari stressed the importance of good neighbourliness and relationship for the attainment of security and economic development.
“That was why I visited all our neighbours. Such relationship is crucial for security, and economic development, so that our youths can get jobs.”
On the situation in Libya, President Buhari reiterated that not every Black man was a Nigerian and that it is, therefore, important to authenticate the origin of the people in distress before they are evacuated.
“We are trying to bring as many as possible from Libya. But not every Black man is a Nigerian. Others claim to be Nigerian, when they are not, and because they have destroyed their travel papers, we can’t claim them, except there is proper documentation.”
On recharging of the Lake Chad, which he has been in the vanguard of across the world, the President said: “the earlier we get it done, the better, so that our youths don’t continue to dare the Sahara Desert and the Mediterranean  Sea.”
The AU Commission boss congratulated President Buhari for what he was doing for Nigeria, and for Africa. His words:
“Without President Buhari, and without Nigeria, many things would not have been possible. I appreciate the role you played in my election, and all that you do in ECOWAS, Lake Chad Basin Commission, and the entire continent.
“We follow your battle against corruption, and it is not by chance that you have been chosen by other African leaders to champion the battle in 2018.
“Your commitment is notable, and I seek your support for reforms that we intend to introduce in AU. Your guidance is vital. We need Africa to speak with one voice, and the voice of Nigeria is preponderant.”[myad]

Deputy President of the Senate, Chief Ike Ekweremadu, has advocated six-year single tenure for president, governors, National Assembly and state assembly members “to stop the problem caused by the quest for second term.”
Ekweremadu made the call in Nsukka today, Friday the 3rd Adada Lecture organised by Association of Nsukka Professors with the theme “Restructuring and the Nigeria Youth.”
He said that countries in South America used single tenure to stabilise their democracy, adding that one of such countries, Mexico, was still practicing  single term.
“Single presidency tenure of six years that rotates among the six geo-political regions will promote unity and loyalty to the nation.”
He stressed the need to restructure the county to enable regions to harness their resources outside oil, “especially given that the black gold was undergoing shocks in the global oil market.
“The market for crude oil is reducing by the day as countries like Britain and France now have laws that will ban the use of diesel and petrol cars by 2030.
“Also, many countries have started using electric cars.”
He advised youths in the country to close ranks and support restructuring as it would create employment and guarantee better future.
Ekweremadu, who explained that restructuring would not divide the country as feared by some people, noted that it would rather, strengthen and re-position the nation.
He identified ethnic and religious sentiment, ignorance and fear of the unknown as some of the challenges facing restructuring.
He said that restructuring is the only way to restore the lost glory of the country as it would enable states to have enough resources to fund education, security and give basic amenities to their people.
“Restructure with devolution of power at the centre would reduce political tension as well as make the centre unattractive.”
President of the group, Professor Ben-Chris Onah, said that the topic was chosen because it was topical in the country and a way of educating people.
He thanked the deputy president of the senate for honouring the invitation in spite of what he described as tight schedules.
Source: NAN.[myad]

The Nigerian Army has emphasised the need for adequate government funding to enable men and officers carry out their functions effectively.
The Army also resolved to intensify it’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) to augment the resources coming from government.
In a communiqués at the end of the Chief of Army Staff Annual Conference in Ibadan, the Oyo state capital today, December 14, the Army said: “appropriate and timely government funding of the Nigerian Army was identified as a requisite condition for prompt successes in the conduct of operations.”
The Communique said that intensification of (IGR) was discussed with a view to enhancing the Army’s self generated revenue.
“The Conference took cognisance of the fact that the Nigerian Army must sustain the investment in personnel management by continuously creating responsibilities, providing direction, inspiration and vision for all categories of personnel and at all times. This is with a view to confronting and combating all evolving internal and external security threats in order to guarantee the sovereignty of Nigeria.”
To this end, the Communique saod, the need to maintain the high morale of Nigerian Army troops remained a focal point in the deliberations at the Conference.
The Nigerian Army noted and reiterated the need for continuous self assessment of its capabilities vis-à-vis ongoing operations with a view to optimizing existing capacities while strategizing for increased combat efficiency.
“Critical thinking by all officers was identified as a means necessary for projecting the Nigerian Army to greater heights. It also highlighted the need for collaboration with sister Services, paramilitary and other security agencies for a robust security architecture capable of dealing with existing and emerging security challenges.”
The conference also deliberated on issues impacting on the conduct of ongoing Nigerian Army operations and the need for such operations to be conducted within the context of the rule of law and international best practices.
It said that human rights issues were also discussed which brought to fore the need for commanders at all levels to abide by extant rules in fulfilling Nigerian Army’s obligations to the citizenry, especially the strict employment of established Rules of Engagement.
It added that Civil Military Relations was highlighted as part of Nigerian Army’s efforts to integrate and relate to the general public, especially host communities for the winning of their hearts and minds.
The Nigerian Army identified the need to explore capacity building as a vibrant tool for efficiency in the conduct of its affairs in line with the Chief of Army Staff’s Vision which is “To have a professionally responsive Nigerian Army in the discharge of its constitutional roles.”
The Communique said that the Army identified the core values of discipline, professionalism and responsiveness as important benchmarks to reposition the Service being the “Pride of the Nation.”
It also looked at the need for effective maintenance culture, continuous infrastructural development and welfare of personnel in the conduct of effective operations.
“In this regard, prioritization and judicious use of available resources was encouraged for all officers at all levels of command.”
The communique said that the objectives of the Conference have been achieved because the Army had performed creditably in the year 2017.
It said that far reaching decisions were arrived at during the Conference even as lessons were learnt from the Army’s operations and exercises, such as EGWU EKE II and EX CROCODILE SMILE II conducted in the Forth Quarter of 2017. The Army admitted however that improvements in the exercises were projected consistent with the lessons learnt in the Forecast of Events 2018.
“The Official Secret Act of 1962 was to be applied strictly in the conduct of future Nigerian Army operations. It is the resolve of the Nigerian Army to remain responsive and apolitical while re-affirming its total loyalty to the President, Commander–in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari GCFR.”
The communique explained that the Chief of Army Staff’s Annual Conference 2017 had as it’s theme: “Re-appraising the Nigerian Army’s Operational Efficiency in Combating Contemporary National Security Challenges.”
It said that the Conference provided an opportunity for the Nigerian Army to review the major events that took place in the Year 2017 and made projections for 2018, adding that the deliberations at the Conference indicated that the Army has fared better in the areas of training, operations, discipline and force posture which are essential ingredients for any virile and professionally responsive army.[myad]