Business

Benue launches facilities for NIHOTOUR zonal campus

Published

4 years ago

December 3, 2020

By Ebere Chibuzor

The Benue State Government has kept faith with its promise to hand over of some structures and facilities to the Federal Government for the take-off of the North Central zonal campus of the National Institute for Hospitality and Tourism (NIHOTOUR).

The Minister for Arts and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, who made the statement at the official handing over of the facilities in Makurdi, said tourism had assumed an extraordinary growth globally.

Tourism, according to him, is a major catalyst for economic growth and social development of most countries with its attendant spiral effects along the long line of its value chain.

He further said that one of the prerequisites for the tourism industry to flourish and play the desired role in the socio-economic development of the country is the availability of trained personnel to run the sector.

This, he said, was what informed the setting up of NIHOTOUR by the Federal Government with the mandate of providing skill proficiency, technical upgrading and professional-based education for the hospitality, travel and tourism industries for both Nigeria and the West African sub region.

Mohammed expressed the appreciation of the Federal Government to the government and people of Benue State for making the desire to establish the North Central zonal campus of the institute a reality and called for renewed understanding between states, organised private sector and the Federal Government in the efforts to transform the socio-economic growth of Nigeria through tourism.

He reiterated the determination of his ministry to develop, project and showcase the country’s tourism potential and endowments because the benefits derivable therein are enormous in revenue generation, job creation, wealth redistribution, infrastructural development and inter-sectorial linkage incentives.

In his address at the occasion, the Governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom, who was represented by the Deputy Governor, Benson Abounu, stated the resolve of his administration to tap into the potential of tourism products and activities that the state had been endowed with to grow the economy and better the social activities of the people of the state.

Ortom said the handing over of the magnificent edifice to the Federal Government for use by NIHOTOUR was informed by the desire of his government to create the needed platform for youth empowerment and skill acquisition which the training centre would offer youths of the state as well as states within the North Central Zone to grow the economy through hospitality and the tourism industry.

Director General of NIHOTOUR, Alhaji Nura Sani Kangiwa, had earlier in his speech stated that the dearth of needed skilled and trained manpower to run the hospitality and travel-tourism industry in the country was responsible for the stunted growth and development of the industry, adding that with NIHOTOUR in place, it has the capacity to overturn the trends for the best to develop the sector.

He said the choice of Benue as the zonal campus and headquarter of the North Central Zone of the institute was informed by the place of the state not only as the food basket of the country, but a tourism haven of Nigeria.

He urged the state to explore the tourism potential the state is endowed with to grow its internally generated revenue to boost its economy.

Kangiwa pointed out the need for the state to produce its tourism development master plan which would be a guide in the appropriate development of the state’s tourism endowments in line with global best practices.

Business

Petrol price: Dangote counters NNPC, says crude sale in naira starts Oct 1

Published

2 hours ago

September 15, 2024

Trends Admin

Petrol price: Dangote counters NNPC, says crude sale in naira starts Oct 1

Dangote refinery has carpeted the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) for reportedly misleading members of the public on the cost of petrol brought from the refinery.

Anthony Chiejina, Group Chief Branding and Communications Office of Dangote, stated this in reaction to an earlier statement by the NNPC that it bought a litre of petrol from the new refinery at N898/litre.

Chief Spokesperson for the NNPCL, Olufemi Soneye, was quoted as saying, “We successfully loaded PMS at the Dangote Refinery today. The claim that we purchased it at N760 per liter is incorrect. For this initial loading, the price from the refinery was N898 per litre.”

The oil firm moved about 300 trucks to the 650,000 capacity refinery in Lagos, on Saturday, and loading commenced on Sunday.

But in its statement, Dangote Refinery said, “Our attention has been drawn to a statement attributed to NNPCL spokesperson, Mr. Olufemi Soneye, that we sell our PMS at N898 per litre to the NNPCL.

“This statement is both misleading and mischievous, deliberately aimed at undermining the milestone achievement recorded today, September 15, 2024, towards addressing energy insufficiency and insecurity, which has bedeviled the economy in the past 50 years.L

“We urge Nigerians to disregard this malicious statement and await a formal announcement on the pricing, by the Technical Sub-Committee on Naira-based crude sales to local refineries, appointed by His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR, which will commence on October 1, 2024, bearing in mind that our current stock of crude was procured in dollars.

“It should also be noted that we sold the products to NNPCL in dollars with a lot of savings against what they are currently importing.

“With this action, there will be petrol in every local government area of the country regardless of their remote nature.

“We assure Nigerians of availability of quality petroleum product and putting an end to the endemic fuel scarcity in the country.”

Business

Dangote sells petrol N898/litre to NNPC, motorists buy N855 at filling stations

Published

3 hours ago

September 15, 2024

Trends Admin

Dangote sells petrol N898/litre to NNPC, motorists buy N855 at filling stations

Hours after commencing loading of petrol from Dangote Refinery in Lagos, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) on Sunday began dispensing fuel to motorists at its filling stations without too long queues.

This came as the NNPCL disclosed that that it bought fuel from Dangote at N898 per litre.

Spokesperson for the NNPCL, Olufemi Soneye, said, “We successfully loaded PMS (petrol) at the Dangote Refinery today.

“The claim that we purchased it at N760 per litre is incorrect. For this initial loading, the price from the refinery was N898 per litre.”

This is contained in a statement issued to Daily Trust on Sunday, clarifying that the price of petrol was higher than previously reported figures.

A correspondent of newstrends.ng however observed that the product was sold on Sunday at N855/litre at all filling stations controlled by the national oil firm in Lagos.

In Idimu, Egbeda and Akowonjo among other areas, the NNPC dispensing outlets were seen selling petrol in an orderly manner.

Some stations had short queues; some had none as the vehicles waiting to buy were within the walled compound.

The NNPCL on Saturday confirmed mobilising 300 trucks for loading at the Dangote Refinery’s 650,000 barrels per day capacity in Lagos.

Loading operations commenced on Sunday, with over 70 trucks loaded by afternoon.

Business

Petrol: Dangote pump price emerges as NNPC trucks begin loading

Published

15 hours ago

September 15, 2024

Trends Admin

Petrol: Dangote pump price emerges as NNPC trucks begin loading

There are indications that petrol may be sold between N857 and N865 per litre at filling stations after the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) starts lifting the product from Dangote Refinery today (Sunday).

The NNPCL, as the sole off-taker of petrol from the refinery, is projected to lift the product at N960/N980 per litre and sell to marketers at N840/N850 to enable Nigerians to get it at between N857 and N865 at the pump at filling stations.

Petrol as of Saturday was sold at N855 per litre at NNPCL retail stations in Lagos and it was the cheapest anyone could buy the product while major marketers sold around N920.

At independent marketers’ outlets, the price was over N1,000.
Elsewhere across the country, petrol sold for more than N1,200 per litre.

Negotiations

Vanguard reports the new arrangement from the NNPCL and Dangote Refinery negotiations, spanning more than one week, would allow Nigerians to get petrol at between N857 and N865 per litre and represents an average under-recovery of about N130 to NNPCL.

President Bola Tinubu, according to a Presidency source, made it clear to the negotiating parties that “the price at which petrol would be sold to Nigerians should not place heavy financial burden on them while dealing with the new reality of the prevailing price”.

Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Wale Edun, has expressed optimism that the deal would reduce the pressure on foreign exchange (FX) demands and shore up the value of the Naira – presently, between 30% and 40% of FX demands go into the importation of petrol.

Chief Corporate Communications Officer, NNPC Ltd., Olufemi Soneye, who confirmed the readiness of the company to start lifting petrol today, told Sunday Vanguard, yesterday: “NNPC Ltd has started deploying our trucks and vessels in the Dangote Refinery to lift PMS in preparation for the scheduled lifting date of September 15th, as set by the refinery.

“Our trucks and personnel are already on-site, ready to begin lifting. We expect more trucks, and the deployment will continue throughout the weekend so we can start loading as soon as the refinery begins operations on September 15, 2024.”