The ALR’s director of recoveries James Ratcliffe is expecting a significant increase in the number of missing museum items to be added in the coming weeks and months – because UK museums are auditing their collections after revelations that 2,000 items from the British Museum are missing, stolen or damaged.
Some of the British Museum’s unaccounted art has now been identified and added to the ALR, according to reports.
And last weekend, Wales’ National Museum told said it also had almost 2,000 items unaccounted for.
Children Wading had been owned by an unsuspecting family who put it up for auction when selling part of their late father’s estate.
Painted at Carnoustie in Angus, the artwork depicts two young girls paddling along the water’s edge on a warm summer’s day, with a toy boat bobbing behind them in a gentle breeze.
“This painting was registered on our database in about 2014, when Glasgow Museums were going through their records, looking for pieces that they could add to our database so that we could track them down,” Ratcliffe said.
“Nothing was seen of it until it turned up in November last year at an auction house in North Yorkshire.”
The ALR identified it as stolen. Tennants Auctioneers immediately withdrew it from sale. And the family said it should be returned to Glasgow Museums.
The International Monetary Fund, IMF on Tuesday commended the Nigerian government for removing the fuel subsidy but noted that efforts must be made to protect poor citizens from the high cost of living crisis.
Specifically, the Washington-based lender said the Federal Government must complement the fuel subsidy removal with a set of policies that could help lower inflation and protect the most vulnerable citizens.
Assistant Director, Fiscal Affairs Department, IMF, Era Dabla-Norris, said this at the ongoing World Bank/IMF Annual Meetings in Marrakesh, Morocco.
She spoke shortly after a press briefing on a session titled, ‘Fiscal Monitor.’
She said, “The first is to protect the most vulnerable from the (high) cost of living, and there’s a number of targeted programmes that can be ramped up and the poor, the really vulnerable populations, are protected.
“A set of other policies, macroeconomic policies are needed to durably bring inflation down. In the case of Nigeria, the revenue-to-GDP ratio is quite low relative to other emerging markets and developing countries. So efforts will need to be made to increase revenue collection in an efficient manner. Our research shows that countries like Nigeria have large untapped tax potential.”
The IMF official said subsidy removal was an important policy that would yield growth in the future.
She however added that this must be complemented with smart policies.
The IMF assistant director said the country’s budget must include policies on education, health, and other sectors aimed at protecting the poor.
He stated, “I think that fuel subsidy reform was an important reform Nigeria undertook, the cost to the budget of having these broad base removal of fuel subsidies is quite significant. By reducing fuel subsidies, the government has freed up space for other types of spending. The important thing is to be able to protect the most vulnerable group from higher energy prices.”
She added, “So, from that perspective, this policy creates space, a portion of the revenues. It can be unpopular, it can be a challenging policy, and I think it was the right one, it was the right decision to make at that time. Now the key is to be able to target better because most of these policies (fuel subsidies) don’t benefit low-income groups. Across the world, we’ve seen that fuel subsidies tend to benefit middle or higher-income groups. So the key thing is to prioritise this towards the most vulnerable.”
The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, had on Monday said the Federal Government was planning major tax reforms that would be announced soon.
He spoke about plans to collect tax revenue more efficiently, while also noting that the government had no intention to borrow more funds.
However, the IMF director, Dabla-Norris said some of the policies listed by the Fund could not be achieved on a short-term basis.
She said, “This is not something that can be done magically overnight, but definitely over the medium term. Expanding tax bases, reducing exemptions in value-added tax, reducing tax expenditures, rationalising other types of taxes, and strengthening the quality of your tax institutions, are all steps that can be taken to effectively mobilise revenues in a progressive manner, and then channel that for priority spending, having appropriate monetary policies in place; doing away with any kind of central bank financing of the budget and ensuring that policies are working in the same direction to bring inflation down. That is really the issue.”
On the high debt burden Nigeria is battling with, the IMF official advised Nigeria to ramp up revenue collection.
She said, “The most important thing would be durable revenue collections because revenue collections are very low in Nigeria relative to other peer countries. And this is widely recognised by the government. So that’s one thing. The second important component would be to rationalise expenditures, to see what are the priority spending, can spending be cut or reprioritized, this would be another very important thing to do. And finally, invigorating growth; Nigeria has tremendous growth potential. It is one of the largest economies in Africa. It has tremendous potential for growth. So the kind of structural reforms that are needed, governance, business climate reforms that are needed to catalyze private investment and to durably grow, that would be another important way of bringing debt down.”
Meanwhile, the IMF has dismissed the possibility of total debt cancellation for Nigeria, Ghana, and other African economies.
The Federal Government through the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Oladele Alake, has said that states government have no power to regulate mining activities.
He also said the ban by states on mining was illegal and not in line with the constitution.
The minister said this during a pre-event press conference in Abuja for the 8th edition of the annual Nigerian Mining Week 2023 from Monday to Wednesday.
He said, “The states’ ban on mining activities across the country is a point that is really sore. And it’s a constitutional matter. I want to use this opportunity to get to the entire Nigerian public that no state and I repeat, no state has the authority to interfere in mining operations, no state has the authority, and it is not it’s a no-brainer. It’s a constitutional matter.
“Mining belongs exclusively in the purview of the Federal Government, according to the Constitution. It is in the exclusive legislative list. It is not in the residual. It is not in the concurrent; it’s in the exclusive legislative list. Every item on the exclusive legislative list belongs to the Federal Government. There is no doubt about that. All items on the residual list belong to the states and all items in a concurrent section belong to both, but mining, like oil, and solid minerals belongs in the exclusive legislative, therefore, it is the Federal Government that has the authority; legal authorities as supported by the constitution to make laws regulations and operationalization of the solid minerals resources of Nigeria.”
The minister added that if states need to engage in mining activities, they should go through the right process and apply for a licence.
He said, “Mind you we are not against any state that wants to engage a mining operation as long as it follows the due process. If any state wants to engage in mining, it can form its own special purpose vehicle, apply for a mining licence from the office of the minister for solid minerals and go through the due process, and be so licensed if it meets all the criteria.
“But for a state to wake up and say it is regulating mining activities is like a state waking up to ban oil exploration. It is downright illegal.”
However, he said that the Federal Government did not intend to confront states but to engage and educate them on what is the right thing to do.
He added that he had met with the chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum and some state governors in addressing the issue.
Recently states including; Kebbi, Zamfara, Taraba, Osun placed banned on mining.
Kebbi State Government has explained the reasons behind the recent ban placed on illegal mining activities in the state.
The Chief Press Secretary to the state governor, Ahmed Idris, while speaking with news correspondent on the telephone said the state government banned it in order to regulate the activities.
He said, “We ban the activities temporarily so as to regulate it. We want to have accurate data on what is happening there.
“We also believe it will help the government in improving its revenue as more people will pay their tax through it.”
He, however, explained that the ban was for a temporary period of time.
Zamfara state government said it banned illegal mining because of the insecurity challenges affecting the state.
The Commissioner of Information Munnir Haidara who spoke through the Director of Information of the ministry said, the state government was quite aware that it was not within its powers to ban mining activities.
Haidara stated that the state government temporarily banned mining activities until the security situation improved.
LN247 earlier reported in September that the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, gave all miners engaged in the illegal extraction of mineral resources in the country an ultimatum of 30 days to join notable mining cooperatives or face the full wrath of the law.
The Federal Government has announced plans to include families of Nigerian fallen soldiers and members of the Nigerian Legion among the beneficiaries of its Conditional Cash Transfer Scheme.
The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Betta Edu, said this on Thursday in a statement by her Media aide, Rasheed Zubair.
The minister was speaking when she paid a visit to the Ministry of Defence in Abuja.
Edu said the move was part of the desire of President Bola Tinubu’s administration to support the vulnerable ex-servicemen, widows and the dependents of fallen heroes.
She, therefore, sought accurate data on the affected families of ex-servicemen so as to include them during the ongoing verification of the national social register.
Edu said further that the president had directed that the national social register be expanded to include those vulnerable groups to enable them to benefit from the social intervention programmes.
“This is in line with the President’s agenda and I am here to inform you that the programme has been expanded to accommodate retirees of this Ministry, especially deceased families.
“Government intends to support their wives to start up small businesses that will help their children stay in school and provide basic health care” she said.
She also announced the creation of the Government Enterprise Empowerment Programme (GEEP) which aim to help small-scale businesses in the country.
Edu, therefore, appealed to the ministry to provide adequate security cover for humanitarian workers while doing their work on the fields.
Earlier, the Minister of Defence, Badaru Abubakar, commended the efforts of the Humanitarian Ministry to support the families of the fallen heroes.
Abubakar pledged to strengthen collaboration with the humanitarian ministry to alleviate the plight of Nigerians.
“Including the retirees in the welfare scheme which will go a long way to renewed the hope of retired officers, their families and motivate the working officers to secure the Nigeria territorial integrity,” Abubakar said.
Also speaking, the Chairman of the Nigerian Legion, retired Maj.-Gen. Abdulmalik Jubril, expressed gratitude to the Federal Government for including the retirees in the CCT scheme.
Jubril said, “The Nigerian Legion is the last hope for retired officers, which keeps increasing by the day.
“We need medical care and a decent livelihood for our members, this organ of the Military, that is the Army, Airforce and Navy retirees needs government support.”
Despite this, the official trade rate remains at N776.8/$1, highlighting a notable disparity between the experiences of Nigerians in official and unofficial channels.
The Federal Government is set to open application for its three million digital skill empowerment programme on Friday.
The Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani, disclosed this on Wednesday during a fireside conversation at Moonshot by TechCabal.
He further revealed that the application will be for both trainers and individuals hoping to get technical skills.
He disclosed that the first phase of the programme would be targeted at 30,000 Nigerians. Tijani said, “Starting from this Friday, you will see applications being released for both trainers and those who want to be fellows.”
Recently, the minister in his blueprint outlined a plan to equip three million Nigerians with tech skills over the next four years. He said, “Our commitment to talent development is unwavering. We have set an ambitious goal to train three million early to mid-career technical talents over the next four years.”
While spotlighting Andela’s feat in Nigeria, the minister stated that his plan was feasible. According to him, the ministry intends to start small and then grow big.
He said, “So everything we’re going to do, we won’t start by saying we want to train 3 million people. The approach we are going to take is we are going to start with one per cent of that, in the first zero to three months.”
He continued, “The model will be that we are starting with one per cent of our 3 million target and that is going to run for the first three months. And that one per cent is going to be 30,000 people. It sounds like a lot. But one thing we’ve also done is if you take the 36 states of the country and you break down that 30,000.
As part of efforts aimed at addressing the lingering challenge of fuel importation and its attendant impact on Nigeria’s foreign exchange earnings, the Nigerian Government has renewed its commitment to boost local refining of petroleum products in the country.
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri disclosed this during a courtesy visit to him by a delegation from the Crude Oil Refineries Owners Association of Nigeria (CORAN), led by its Chairman, Momoh Oyarekhua in Abuja.
In a statement issued by the Deputy Director of Press and Public Relations, Ministry of Petroleum, Resources, Oluwakemi Ogunmakinwa, in Abuja,
The minister told the delegation that the Federal Government of Nigeria would continue to partner with them in finding home-grown solutions to the various problems bedevilling their operations.
He noted, “As a government, we would continue to partner with you to find home-grown solutions to the problems. We will try whatever we can to see how we can provide a better environment for you to thrive,” he said.
The Minister further promised that the government would continue to engage with them as partners considering that the sector was critical to the economic survival of the country, adding that, once the sector was taken care of, the country would seem to have solved the perennial problem of importation of petroleum products, saying that, “We will be partners in this journey, we want this sector to move forward,” he added.
He stated that the Ministry of Petroleum Resources would engage with other relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies like the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on how to access funds.
Lokpobiri implored the association to explore and leverage other alternative sources of funding available within the country like the Development Bank established by the Federal Ministry of Finance, the Bank of Industry (BOI) and the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) among others.
Earlier in his remarks, the Chairman of the Crude Oil Refineries Owners Association of Nigeria (CORAN), Momoh Oyarekhua said that the association was established to upscale local refining of crude oil in Nigeria and to place the country on the path of local production of refined products.
He noted that if there could be self-sufficiency in oil refining in Nigeria, there might not be any reason to import refined products.
He mentioned that about 30 to 40 per cent of Nigeria’s foreign exchange earnings went into the importation of refined petroleum products.
The Chairman enumerated various challenges militating against the operations of CORAN such as inadequate supply of feed-stock of crude from the local producers into the refineries, multiple charges and access to funding, among others.
In finding a way out of this, he said they had in the past engaged the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) on this development who had agreed on selling crude to them, noting that, the engagement has not yielded the desired results.
He added that they had also met the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and said under the Domestic Crude Obligation which is stipulated in the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) and synergy with their regulations, they would interface with the crude producers in the country to know the quantity of crude produced and seek their commitment to the Domestic Crude Obligation to all local refineries.
On prospective modular refinery investors, Momoh told the Minister they were being confronted by the challenge of crude guarantee as their creditors and financiers would want to know where their crude would be coming from, he appealed to the government to support them in expanding their capacity to produce Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) locally through a refinery intervention fund.
He noted, “If we are supported, it will bring value to the country and stem the tide of importing refined products.”
Nigerian oil firms have acquired about 26 oil mining licenses in the Niger Delta basin area in the last decade.
This was revealed by Executive Secretary, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, Engr. Simbi Wabote on Wednesday at the 2023 Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association Energy and Labour Summit in Abuja.
According to him; some of the divestments currently on the cards included those planned by Shell and ExxonMobil to sell oil and gas assets worth billions of dollars, in addition to Eni’s announcement in September of an agreement with Oando Plc for the sale of NAOC interests in six onshore blocks and Okpai gas power plant in Delta State.
He emphasised that divestments of oil assets are not necessarily negative, rather, they present an avenue for the local capacities and capabilities that have been developed through local content implementation to be brought to bear in the upstream sector.
Wabote outlined several opportunities that would accrue from divestments, such as the injection of new capital, the rejuvenation of divested assets, and an increase in crude oil production through the investment in technologies by the acquiring firms.
Other direct benefits are the creation of direct and indirect employment opportunities by the indigenous companies and their service providers.
He reiterated that the divestments confirm that Nigerians and indigenous companies have come of age and have acquired the technical, managerial, and financial capabilities to play in the “big league”.
He added that “the involvement of our financial institutions on the transactions represents means of efficient capital deployment and capacity building on loans syndication on an international scale. This is also applicable to legal services, insurance, government relations, employee relations, community liaison, and others.”
Aside from the opportunities, the NCDMB boss equally highlighted challenges encountered in the divestment exercises.
According to him, the challenges revolved around the time required to get necessary regulatory approvals as well as the substantial interests from various groups covering political, legal, communities, and labour.
Among other challenges are the potential for the disruption of oil and gas production, job losses, as well as access to latest technology especially if the new investors lack the technical expertise or have no support from original equipment manufacturers.
He also highlighted issues around how to manage legacy issues or liabilities related to the environment, communities, and other social commitments and pressure on new investors to recoup investments on time to offset loans and address other financial requirements.
The NCDMB boss assured that the Board would continue to partner with industry stakeholders to institute regulations that would ensure that the increasing footprints and stakes of indigenous oil and gas production companies would not lead to a reduction in Nigerian content compliance.
Mental health is a universal human right, this is the theme for this year world mental health day, which is commemorated every 10th of October.
Mental Health has become a major concern in recent times in our modern society and yet it seem the issue is not given the much needed attention.
The world mental health day is set aside to improve knowledge, raise awareness and drive actions that promotes and protects every individual’s mental health.
Individuals who have mental health issues or illnesses and seek professional care are considered to have lost their minds, not emotionally balanced or strong enough to handle life issues, weak and stigmatized.
Dr. Ehi Iden, a psychologist and a mental health ambassador and member of external review group to W.H.O on Mental Health at Workplaces said in an interview on LN247’s This Morning Show, that the awareness of Mental Health in Nigeria is still very low and much work still needs to be done to bring the issue of Mental Health to the fore, by creating avenues in homes, offices, religious and social gatherings to discuss the issue of mental health.
Presently in Nigeria, many people are going through a lot of difficulty to make ends meet coupled with the hustle and bustle of everyday activities and more, puts pressure on the emotional well being of individuals thereby putting there mental health at risk, in this light Dr. Iden states that even while life challenges may be factors that put a person mental health at risk, however, mental health is not a discriminant, meaning a person can be financially stable and may not be going through any difficult life issues but still have mental health issues, nevertheless, the psychologist said, people at the lowest financial state are the worst hit when it comes to mental health issues and are also not able to access quality mental health care because of their financial state.
Statistics shows that, one in every eight people globally are living with mental health conditions, with an increasing number of adolescents and young people affected, which can impact their physical health, well-being, how they connect with others, and their livelihoods.
Dr. Ehi Iden, further submits that laughter and getting involve in physical activities are factors that can improve a person’s mental health. Maintaining a balanced mental health is a personal responsibility as every individual have control over what they allow in their lives and around them.
Here are some tips one can do to improve Mental Wellbeing:
Try To Relax And Reduce Stress
Try to think about what might help you to relax. If there’s something that helps you, try to find time to fit it into your day. For example, this could be having a bath or shower. Or going for a walk or listening to music.
Spend Time In Nature
Spending time in nature can help improve your mood and reduce feelings of stress and anger.
Connect With Others
Connecting with others can help us have a greater sense of belonging and reduce feelings of loneliness.
Look After Your Physical Health
Taking care of your physical health can have a positive effect on your wellbeing. These tips may help:
Drink Water Regularly
Drinking enough water or other fluids is important for our mental and physical health.
Try To Improve Your Sleep
How well we sleep can impact our wellbeing. And if you are struggling with your mental health, this can affect your sleep. Everyone’s sleep patterns are different, and it’s important to do what works for you. But here are some ideas you could try:
Establish A Routine
Try and establish a routine around bed time, to help set a regular sleeping pattern.
Think About Your Screen Time
Try to give yourself some tech-free time before sleep, and avoid bright screens that can affect your sleep. Instead of looking at a screen you could try listening to some music or a podcast.
Every Individual has the responsibility to main their mental health and at the same time a responsibility to others, such as family, friends and the society at large by showing more empathy, being more selfless and kind, always checking up on one another from time to time, as mental health should be valued, promoted, protected, and urgent action is to be taken so that everyone can exercise their human rights and access quality mental health care when needed.
The Tanzanian government has been commended for its efforts in uplifting the reading culture among school children and members of the public at large.
Among government’s measures is to distribute children’s story books in primary schools aimed at eliminating illiteracy within communities.
Room to Read Programme Operations Manager for Kibaha Community Based office, Agripina Kadama, made the statement during the marking of Literacy Week at Mkuranga Primary School in Mkuranga district, which was attended by various education stakeholders.
Kadama said it was now up to the education stakeholders to establish libraries in all primary schools so that the books are arranged in good order to enable the children access them and borrow them for reading to support the Government’s efforts.
She said that Room to Read in collaboration with Mkuranga District Council is implementing Literacy Project in 35 primary schools while providing professional assistance to teachers on facilitation of life skills and financial education in 19 schools.
The project has also provided trainings on reading and writing to 113 teachers in the district; trainings on library supervision to 95 teachers and trainings on running library sessions to 252 teachers.
She said apart from that, the program has also managed to distribute a total of 7,906 books on reading and writing to standard one pupils and other 57,319 children’s story books as well as 242 guidelines on Library Management.
Mkuranga District Adult Officer, Regina Masyole, who represented District Executive Director (DED), at the event said the Government will continue to work with different stakeholders in ensuring that illiteracy among its people is eliminated.
She said the government is working very hard to ensure friendly environment for studying in its schools and at the same time creating suitable environment for its education stakeholders to enable them to meet their objectives in uplifting education standards.
This year’s theme for Literacy Week celebrations was ‘Promoting literacy for a world in transition: Building the foundation for sustainable and peaceful societies.
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