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PRESIDENT TINUBU MEETS CHAIRMAN OF DANISH SHIPPING GIANT MAERSK; SECURES $600 MILLION INVESTMENT IN NIGERIAN SEAPORT INFRASTRUCTURE

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President Bola Tinubu has secured an investment of $600 million from Danish shipping and logistics company, A.P Moller-Maersk, to expand existing port infrastructure to accommodate more container shipping services in Nigerian ports.

Chairman of A.P Moller-Maersk, Mr. Robert Maersk Uggla, disclosed the decision during a meeting with President Tinubu on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum Special Meeting on Global Collaboration, Growth and Energy for Development in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Sunday.

President Tinubu noted that this investment will complement the administration’s ongoing $1 billion investment in seaport reconstruction across the eastern and western seaports of Nigeria.

The President added that it would further support the country’s port modernization efforts and port process automation through his administration’s implementation of the national single window project, which is aimed at enhancing trade facilitation, easing import/export flow, reducing corruption at the ports, while improving the efficiency and transparency of port processes in Nigeria.

“We appreciate your business and the contribution you have made and continue to make to our country’s economy over time. We do not take our partners for granted. A bet on Nigeria is a winning bet. It is also a bet that rewards beyond what is obtainable elsewhere.

“More investment opportunities are available, and my government has worked on various reforms to encourage investments. We need to encourage more opportunities for revenue expansion and minimize trans-shipments from larger ships to smaller ships,” he said.

The President assured Maersk of his administration’s commitment to collaborating and creating an enabling environment for businesses to thrive in the country.

He cited Maersk’s previous partnership in the development of the Ogun State container terminal as a testament to fruitful partnerships with the reputable logistics company.

Highlighting Maersk’s longstanding engagement in Africa’s most populous nation and his belief in the future of Nigeria, Chairman of A.P Moller-Maersk, Mr. Robert Maersk Uggla said his company had made significant investments of over $2 billion in Nigerian ports and other activities.

He emphasized the potential for Nigerian ports to accommodate larger container ships and stressed the need for expanding port infrastructure to meet this demand while reducing the cost of logistics.

”We have seen a significant opportunity for Nigeria to cater for larger container ships. Historically, most of the West African coasts are already served by smaller ships. Currently, we see an opportunity to deploy larger ships to Nigeria. To achieve this, we need to expand the port infrastructure, especially in Lagos, where we need a bigger hub for logistics services. The growth potential is hard to quantify.

”We believe in Nigeria, and we will invest $600 million in existing facilities and make the ports accommodating for bigger ships.

”In my humble view, given that Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa, Nigeria should have the best and biggest port and we are very eager to invest, and we will continue that dialogue with the relevant Nigerian authorities to explore further investment opportunities,” the Maersk Chairman said.

Chief Ajuri Ngelale

Special Adviser to the President

(Media & Publicity)

April 28, 2024

Politics

SENATOR NATASHA TENDERS HILARIOUS APOLOGY TO AKPABIO

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By Lizzy Chirkpi
A wave of controversy has swept through the land following the release of a satirical “apology letter” penned by Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan.
The letter, addressed to Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, drips with sarcasm and levels thinly veiled accusations of impropriety, further escalating tensions within the upper legislative chamber.
The Senate had earlier handed down a six-month suspension to Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan for breaching Senate rules and Standing Orders.
The letter, which has circulated widely on social media, pulls no punches in its critique of the Senate President and, implicitly, the prevailing power dynamics within the Red Chamber.
The full text of the letter reads:
“Dear Distinguished Senate President Godswill Akpabio, It is with the deepest sarcasm and utmost theatrical regret that I tender this apology for the grievous crime of possessing dignity and self-respect in your most exalted presence.
“I have reflected extensively on my unforgivable failure to recognize that legislative success in certain quarters is apparently not earned through merit, but through the ancient art of compliance — of the very personal kind.
“How remiss of me not to understand that my refusal to indulge your… “requests” was not merely a personal choice, but a constitutional violation of the unwritten laws of certain men’s entitlement.
“Truly, I must apologize for prioritizing competence over capitulation, vision over vanity, and the people’s mandate over private dinners behind closed doors.
” I now realize the catastrophic consequences of my actions: legislation delayed, tempers flared, and the tragic bruising of egos so large they require their own postcodes. For this disruption to the natural order of “quid pro quo,” I bow my head in fictional shame.
“Please find it in your magnanimous heart — somewhere buried deep beneath layers of entitlement — to forgive this stubborn woman who mistakenly believed that her seat in the Senate was earned through elections, not erections.
I remain,
Yours in eternal resistance,
Senator Natasha H Akpoti Uduaghan
Unafraid, Unbought, and Unbroken”
Senator Akpoti was suspended in March, 2025 following her dispute with Senate President Godswill Akpabio who she accused of sexual harassment, a claim the latter has denied.
“That the Senate do suspend Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan for six months for her total violation of the Senate Standing Rules (2023 as amended for bringing the presiding officer and the entire Nigerian Senate to public opprobrium,” Senate President Godswill Akpabio said while reading out the recommendations of the Committee on Ethics, Privileges, and Code of Conduct probing her claims.
Despite efforts by some senators to reduce the suspension period to three months, the Senate, in a majority vote, sustained the initial decision.
However, the lawmakers ruled that the suspension could be lifted or reduced if she tenders a written apology.

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Politics

Biafra agitators ready to dialogue with Nigerian Govt – Ohanaeze’s Isiguzoro

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Apex lgbo socio-cultural organization, Ohanaeze Ndigb has disclosed that Biafra agitators are ready to dialogue with the federal government on the way forward.

In a statement on Tuesday by Ohanaeze’s factional Deputy President General, Mazi Okechukwu Isiguzoro, the apex body noted that the dialogue has the potential to usher in monumental changes, including the release of all prisoners of conscience, notably Nnamdi Kanu, the reopening of the Eastern Economic Corridor, and an unequivocal end to violence disguised as agitation.

“It is our earnest hope that those misled into cycles of violence and armed struggle will choose to abandon their hostile actions, paving the way for a peaceful and prosperous Southeast.

“In a significant and historic turning point for the geopolitics of Nigeria, the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, the apex sociocultural organisation representing the Igbo people, formally acknowledges the courageous decision of the Nonviolent Pro-Biafra Agitators to extend a hand of peace towards the Federal Government of Nigeria.

“Following twelve years of relentless diplomatic pressure from the international community and numerous United Nations-affiliated peace groups, urging these advocates for self-determination to embrace peaceful negotiations, this moment is both profound and transformative.”

Ohanaeze proclaimed that the acceptance by the non-violent Pro-Biafra agitators to offer a dove of peace and a hand of friendship to the federal government was a pivotal moment in Nigeria’s historical timeline.

Isiguzoro said, “this forthcoming dialogue is anticipated to mirror the earlier discussions held at Aburi, Ghana, now reborn as the ‘Abuja Accord’.

“This initiative aims explicitly to address and resolve the long-standing grievances that have birthed the Biafra agitation since the cessation of hostilities in the Nigerian Civil War in 1970.

“The non-violent Pro-Biafra agitators have extended an olive branch to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration, inviting the federal government to engage in a constructive dialogue over the nagging ‘Igbo Question’.”

He said the dialogue sought to confront the unresolved issues stemming from the unimplemented policies of reconciliation, reconstruction, and rehabilitation envisioned by General Yakubu Gowon following the war.

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APC will capture 3 remaining S’South states – Gov Otu

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Leader of the national ruling party in South South geopolitical zone in Nigeria, Governor Bassey Otu of Cross River State has assured that APC will surely capture the remaining three states governed by the opposition, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

Governor Otu emphasized that Cross River, which for years stood as the lone APC-governed state in the South-South, now proudly shares the progressive banner with Delta and Edo States.

Recall that yesterday the Vice President Shettima Kashim, national chairman of APC, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje, and Gov Otu formally received Delta State Governor, Sheriff Oborevwori, into the APC family.

The three states ruled by PDP presently include Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa and Rivers State, although now under emergency rule of a sole administrator for six months following suspension of Governor Sim Fubara.

Otu, who spoke on his return to Calabar, the Cross River capital, said: “An increasing number of South-South states under APC governance is a dream realized.”

Governor Otu noted that when the other three states are finally captured, it will set the stage for deeper regional collaboration, accelerated economic development, and greater political stability.

Otu, who is also the Vice Chairman of the South-South Governors’ Forum, urged Governor Oborevwori, other political stalwarts, and their supporters who have now joined the APC to bring their wealth of experience and grassroots mobilization strength to bear in advancing the collective quest for a flourishing South-South and a renewed Nigeria.

Governor Otu assured that together in APC, “the six states shall chart a new course of greatness for the region and our nation.”

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