The Minister of Transportation, Mr Rotimi Amaechi, says inability to do away with human contacts in port operations is affecting its efficiency. Amaechi told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Tuesday that the country had not developed enough technology to run the ports without human contacts. He said continuous training of ports workers in technology would translate to its efficiency and ultimately become competitive. “You move in your goods and take it out in 24 hours and this makes the ports more competitive than keeping goods for 40 days. “When you compare Nigerian economy with the economy of other countries, you have to look at the factors of production. “If those factors of production are cheaper in those countries, then the cost of goods in those countries will be cheaper than the cost of shipping goods there. “It also includes seaports. If the seaport activities are costly, it will be less competitive,” Amaechi said.

United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed has called for effective collaboration between governments at all levels, development partners and non-state actors in addressing the needs of Nigeria where poverty and infrastructural challenges are the most acute. Speaking at a Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Acceleration Conference organized by the Kaduna state government, Mohammed stressed the need for government and other stakeholders to take the issue of accurate data gathering and analysis very seriously in order to for government to effectively plan and implement its policies and programmes that will impact positively on the people. Present at the conference were Kaduna state government officials, captains of industry, youths and development partners. Most notable amongst those present were Governor Nasir El-Rufai and the Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed. Addressing the participants, the United Nations Deputy Secretary-General, emphasized that ending extreme ...

Nigeria to Experience Total Lunar Eclipse on Monday: NASRDA The National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) on Friday said Nigeria will join other countries of the world to experience total lunar eclipse on Monday. The information was contained in a statement issued to NAN by Dr Felix Alle, the Head, Media and Public Communications of the agency in Abuja. According to Alle, lunar eclipse is one in which the moon appears darkened as it passes into the earth’s shadow. He stated that “lunar eclipse occurs only when the sun, earth and moon are exactly aligned with the earth between the two. “There will be a lunar eclipse over Nigeria on Monday, Jan. 21, 2019. “The eclipse, expected to be total, will begin in the evening of Sunday and end on Monday. “The eclipse will start across Nigeria in the early hours of Monday at approximately 3.36 a.m. to reach its maximum at 6.12 a.m. and end at about 6.51 a.m. “The total duration of the occurrence over Nigeria will be th...

China to Back Nigeria’s Anti-Insurgency Battle with N2b China has pledged N2 billion (¥50 million) in military equipment to support Nigeria’s counter-insurgency operations against Boko Haram. The Ambassador of China to Nigeria, Dr. Zhou Pingjuan, said the initiative was part of military cooperation agreed upon by both nations in 2018. He made the disclosure during the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Nigeria’s Minister of Defence Mansur Muhammad Dan Ali and the ambassador on behalf of China. “In September 2018, President Muhammadu Buhari led a Nigerian delegation to China to attend the Africa-Chinese forum. At the forum, he held bilateral discussions with President Xi Jinping on several areas of cooperation particularly in the area of military-to-military relations. “At the meeting in China, an initial pledge of ¥6 million was made in support of the Nigerian military. Now, another ¥50 million has been made to support the counter- insurgency operatio...