Press focuses on planned attacks by terrorists, others

By Agence de Presse Africaine Last updated Jul 27, 2022

APA– Lagos The report of planned attacks by two terrorist groups, the Islamic State West Africa Province and Boko Haram, on some states in the North-West, North-Central and South-West dominates the headlines of Nigerian newspapers on Wednesday. The Punch reports that there were strong indications on Tuesday that two terrorist groups, the Islamic State West…

APA – Lagos (Nigeria) The report of planned attacks by two terrorist groups, the Islamic State West Africa Province and Boko Haram, on some states in the North-West, North-Central and South-West dominates the headlines of Nigerian newspapers on Wednesday.

The Punch reports that there were strong indications on Tuesday that two terrorist groups, the Islamic State West Africa Province and Boko Haram, were planning to attack some states in the North-West, North-Central and South-West.

The PUNCH learnt that security agencies had got a security report that ISWAP and Boko Haram planned to attack Lagos, Kaduna, Kogi, Katsina and Zamfara states as well as the Federal Capital Territory.

Earlier on Tuesday, there was a leaked memo from the headquarters of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, which alerted state commands to the planned attacks.

The NSCDC spokesman, Shola Odumosu, when contacted said the memo did not originate from the security agencies.

However, a state commandant, who confirmed the memo, said security officials had been directed to keep mum over it in order not to cause panic.

The commandant, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said, ‘’Yes, it is true that they (headquarters) issued a security alert to us that we should be careful and we should instruct our men to be watchful. We protect the critical infrastructure and places of worship.

“It is also important that we inform the people so they can be vigilant.”

Following the alert, security was on Tuesday beefed up in Abuja to forestall a possible attack by ISWAP and Boko Haram.

On Sunday, the elite Presidential Guards Brigade was attacked by gunmen along the Bwari-Kubwa road where a captain, lieutenant and six soldiers reportedly lost their lives.

To foil the planned attack by ISWAP, the Nigeria Army and the Nigeria Police Force on Tuesday deployed troops and policemen in strategic locations across the FCT of Abuja.

The newspaper says that there are no immediate solutions to the current crisis rocking the Nigerian aviation sector as the cause of the major challenge in the industry is a global issue, the Federal Government declared on Tuesday.

Although the government stated that it was making efforts to address the challenges, it stressed that it could not tell when the solutions to the crisis would materialise.

Domestic airlines in Nigeria have been faced with a stiff challenge posed by the hike in the price of aviation fuel, popularly called JetA1.

The cost of the commodity has jumped from less than N300/litre to over N800/litre within about five months.

This has also warranted an increase in airfares by airlines that could manage to get the commodity, while others that could not survive the situation, such as Aero Contractors, have temporarily suspended operations.

However, the airlines operating currently, have continued to delay or cancel flights due to difficultly in accessing JetA1, a development that has caused untold hardship to travellers.

Reacting to the crisis in the sector at a meeting with officials of the Airline Operators of Nigeria in Abuja on Tuesday, the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, stated that the government was aware of the challenges, but noted that there was no immediate solution to the concerns currently.

The Guardian reports that a Director of Patrons, an art advisory and dealership firm, Keturah Ovio, says Nigeria has the capacity to tap into the $65.1 billion global art market.

Ovio said this while answering questions on her upcoming miniature art show titled, ‘small is beautiful’, billed to hold between July 30 and 31 at Cabaret, 32 Musa Yar’Adua, Victoria Island, Lagos.

The Art Basel and UBS Global Art Market Report 2022 put the size of the global market at $65.1bn.

Ovio said the Nigerian art industry has matured so much that works done by artists in the country are exhibited in various parts of the world, including London, Paris, Rome, New York, Valencia and Berlin, which are often regarded as artistic cities in the world.

“Nigerians are quite creative and can make something out of nothing. All we need is to ensure we are able to participate in global exhibitions with our works,” she said.

She noted that artists are not given sufficient attention in Nigeria as some drop out of the way due to a lack of patronage and support by the government and the consuming public.

“We need to consume art in Nigeria because it has a lot of benefits. Apart from being a big industry globally, it provides excitement, and leisure and tells stories of history that can’t be engagingly told in written form,” she said.

“It is a big industry that can help to shore up our revenue. When Nigerians travel out of the country, they visit art galleries, attend exhibitions and conduct museum visits. They spend the foreign exchange to see and watch what we already have locally. Supporting local artists starts one act at a time,” she said.

The newspaper says that stakeholders have called for improved export to boost the country’s economic performance.

The stakeholders who attended a one-day sensitisation programme organised by the Ministry of Transportation and the Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC) in Lagos, said increasing Nigeria’s export trade will help in bailing the economy out of the current crisis.

The Chairperson of the Nigerian Ship Owners’ Forum, Magreth Orakwusi, said without an increase in export, the nation’s fragile currency, will disappear.

She lamented that those who are into the business of export are not being encouraged, which is why importers and exporters would rather use ports in neighbouring countries.

Orakwusi advised that there was the need to ensure efficiency in handling export goods as well as the need to facilitate trade to attract investors and grow businesses in the country.

She also stressed the need to address the issue of corruption in the system and encourage competition to attract investment and grow businesses.

She also charged government agencies and ministries to be efficient and support businesses, rather than focus on revenue generation for the government.

A maritime lawyer, Emmanuel Nwagbara called on the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) to dedicate a terminal to export goods, adding that the system would be the beginning of meaningful progress in foreign exchange earnings for the country.

The Nation reports that the naira crash to about N630 to dollar at the parallel market has been linked to higher dollar demand and foreign exchange (FX) supply constraints.

However, the naira exchanges at N415.75 to one dollar, representing over N200 per dollar premium between the official and parallel markets.

FX Trader, AZA Finance, global forex dealers, Ikenga Kalu, said the naira plunged further against the dollar this week, hitting a fresh record low of 630 from 622 at last week’s close.

He said the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) recently raised interest rates by 100 basis points to 14 per cent, a three-year high and its second consecutive hike this year.

“The latest move comes as annual inflation hit a more than five-year high of 18.6 per cent in June. Prices of basic staples continue to rise. The government finally caved to demands from petroleum marketers to increase gasoline prices amid tighter supply, raising the cost of a litre of petrol to between N170 and N190 from N165 – a move that has eased queues at filling stations,” he said.

According to him, bread makers are protesting against their surging costs – flour, sugar, diesel – by suspending production. Against this backdrop and amid higher dollar demand and ongoing FX supply constraints, we expect the Naira to lose further ground in the coming days.

GIK/APA