All Posts in "Day: April 28, 2022"

FG declares May 2 & 3 Public Holidays for Workers’ Day, Sallah

By Favour Nnabugwu

 

The Federal Government has declared Monday 2nd and Tuesday 3rd May, 2022 as Public Holidays to mark this year’s Workers Day and EIdul-Fitr Celebrations.

The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Dr Shuaib Belgore  made this know in a statement issued in Abuja today.

He said the Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, made the declaration on behalf of the Federal Government.

The statement congratulated workers across the country on this year’s celebration.

“Ogbeni Aregbesola commended workers for their hard work, diligence and sacrifice, noting that their efforts are largely responsible for the greatness of the country and the respect Nigeria now commands in the comity of nations.

“Labour is the very essence of humanity. We are alive because we work and only the dead is incapable of working” , the statement added.

The minister enjoined workers to imbibe the culture of productivity, saying “the end of work is productivity. It is productivity that leads to satisfactory provision of goods and services and wealth creation. It is therefore the path to national and individual prosperity”.

He urged workers to raise the bar of their trade in line with the President Muhammadu Buhari led administration’s drive to rev up the vehicle of governance and make all the people of Nigeria derive maximum benefit from the nation.

“The Minister also congratulates all Muslims for the successful completion of the holy month of Ramadan.
Ogbeni Aregbesola calls on all Muslims to imbibe and practice the virtues of kindness, love, tolerance, peace, self-denial, sacrifice and good neighbourliness, as exemplified by the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon Him).

“The self-restraint, self-denial, sacrifice and deep spiritual consciousness that accompanied the fasting period should not end but be maintained and improved upon, in order to be a better person and true worshipper”, the minister advised all Muslims.

The minister expressed confidence that the security challenges in some parts of the country will soon be a thing of the past, noting that the government is putting determined efforts and all necessary measures in place for Nigerians to enjoy unfettered peace all round.

He assured Nigerians that the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari is fully committed to the security of life and property of every citizen and foreigners alike

Patoma Admin by — April 28, 2022 in News 0
IMF cuts Africa’s growth to 3.8%

By Favour Nnabugwu

 

 

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has reduced Sub-Saharan Africa’s 2022 growth forecast from the initial 4 per cent to 3.8 per cent.

In its latest Regional Economic Outlook unveiled, yesterday, the Fund hinged the new forecast on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which has adversely affected the entire global economy, with commodity prices raising inflation trends across the world.

According to the report, “The commodity price shock following the Russian invasion of Ukraine has stalled the positive momentum in the region’s economic recovery, with aggregate growth for 2022 expected to soften to 3.8 percent.”

The Director, African Department of the IMF, Mr. Abebe Selassie, who briefed the press on the outlook noted that African policy makers faced challenges of high inflation, rising debt , as well as, hunger-related social unrests and must act fast to address them, though noting that there was little room to maneuver.

The Regional Economic Outlook was produced in a very complicated context, according to him, adding, “We have the war in Ukraine, the everlasting pandemic, increased inflation and of course, climate change.  The report is titled: New shock with little room to maneuver. “

Mr. Selassie noted that at the start of 2022, and even a little after, in this third year of the pandemic, it looked like Sub Saharan African countries were beginning to recover from the very difficult economic conditions they had encountered in 2020 and 2021 but that unfortunately, most countries in the region were facing a major setback.

He said, “This follows Of course, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which has affected global commodity markets, and it represents a significant setback to the global economy and more so for most Sub Saharan African countries.

“This latest crisis will be quite consequential for the most vulnerable people in the most vulnerable countries in Sub Saharan Africa.  The invasion has triggered of course a global economic shock that is hitting the region at the most difficult time, one in which many countries remaining policy space has been significantly depleted.

“Most directly, several countries are highly dependent on wheat imports. With some sourcing a large proportion of the imports directly from Ukraine and Russia are going to be impacted as well. Higher fertilizer and oil prices will also increase the cost of harvesting, the cost of production and provision of goods and services and erode the living standards quite a bit in many countries.

“Surging oil and food prices are straining external and fiscal balances of many commodity importing countries, exacerbating regional inflation pressures.”

According to him, Sub-Sahara Africa now faced the highest inflation since 2008, with very high food prices , increased food security concerns across the continent which would hurt all segments of the population.

“Food price increases will hurt the most vulnerable and may add to social tensions, particularly in fragile and conflict-affected states. Food security is already a critical issue across the Sahel

“Finally, this is a crisis on top of another crisis, of course, one which threatens to compound some of the region’s most pressing policy challenges, including the pandemics social and economic legacy, heightened security risks, particularly in the Sahel countries and tightening monetary policy conditions in advanced economies, in response to rising global inflation,” he said.

On policy before African governments, the director said, “I want to stress that the COVID pandemic is still a concern, and countries need to advance vaccination campaigns to contain the risk of new COVID-19 waves .  On the economic policy front, governments will face three immediate challenges.

Patoma Admin by — April 28, 2022 in Banking & Finance 0
Brokers want FG to meet ASUU’s demands

By Favour Nnabugwu
Nigerian brokers have expressed a deep concern about the on going strike action by Academic Staff Union of University (ASUU) which often than not distabilised the education system of the country’s tertiary institutions.
The President of the Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB) at the April Brokers Evening sponsored by the Universal Insurance PLC was particularly peaked the the incessant strike which could have been resolved over the table.
He of the view that the Federal Government should meet the demand of the union to put an end to the strike action
The NCRIB president said, With the level of moral decadence and quick money syndrome bedeviling our society, shutting out students at this period is a serious challenge for our nation. The leaders must be aware that they are sitting on a keg of gun powder, a time bomb that would soon explode.
“It is on this note I like to enjoin the Federal Government to pay closer attention to the issue of our nation’s education system. For the sake of the future, Federal Government should dialogue with ASUU and meet their demands.
“Personally, I am pained to note that our Students from higher institutions of learning have been shut out of school for the past eight weeks because of the strike by members of the Academic Staff Union of University (ASUU).

“A nation where education is valued as a formality, not as pride would remain poor. To say that the poor handling of our education system in Nigeria is one of the sources of our problems and poverty is to state the obvious.

Patoma Admin by — April 28, 2022 in Education 0
NCRIB Members Evening for April hosted by Universal Insurance in Lagos

CAPTION

L- The Executive Secretary, The Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB), Mr. Tope Adaramola; Deputy President, Mr. Tunde Oguntade; Vice President, Mrs. Ekeoma Ezeibe; President, NCRIB, Mr. Rotimi Edu, mni; Managing Director, Universal Insurance Plc, Mr. Benedict, Ujoatuonu and President, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry at the April 2022 NCRIB Members Evening hosted by Universal Insurance Plc.

Patoma Admin by — April 28, 2022 in Insurance 0
Over 300,000 applied for Emirates Cabin Crew

By Favour Nnabugwu

 

Over 300,000 have applied for Emirates Cabin Crew as the Airline expects to return to 100 percent of operations and network capacity in 2023.

There’s such a satisfying feeling of hearing airlines carrying out massive recruitment drives like this one, giving a fuller sense of hope knowing that the climbing trend in hiring back airline staff is significantly positive news for the industry

With an expectation to return to 100 percent of operations and network capacity by next year, Emirates has launched an enormous recruitment drive to strengthen its cabin crew workforce as it is calling for applicants with:

“A personality that shines, the ability to adapt to any situation and make people feel at ease.”

This is the second post-pandemic recruitment drive that the Dubai-based carrier has launched, with the first round launched back in August. The goal was to hire 3,000 cabin crew and 500 airport service staff back then.

The number has since doubled during this recruitment drive, as Emirates is looking for many more crew members this month, as well as pilots, engineering specialists, and ground staff, as confirmed by the airline:

“As we focus on recovery and further ramp up our operations, we are accelerating our recruitment drive with the objective to hire roughly 6,000 cabin crew positions during this financial year, from April 2022 to March 2023.”

Interested applicants would have to be willing to be based in Dubai and meet the UAE’s employment visa requirements. Additionally, more than a year’s experience in hospitality and customer service and being a high-school graduate is also a requirement of Emirates.
Emirates has already had a massive pool of candidates applying to strengthen its workforce. In all, the airline has received more than 300,000 applications for the cabin crew jobs alone.

What’s more, the airline is confident of even more applications pouring in for other positions, having mentioned:

“Since we launched our cabin crew recruitment drive in August 2021, we have received more than 300,000 applications from all over the world, demonstrating the tremendous level of interest in this role and in Dubai’s growing reputation as one of the best cities to live and work.”
Once selected from the candidate pool, successful applicants will go through weeks of rigorous training at Dubai’s Emirates Aviation College before their flying careers can commence.

To ensure they are exposed to various operations, they will also be assigned to medium, long-haul, and shorter turnaround flights across the Gulf carrier’s 130-destination network onboard the Airbus A380s and the Boeing 777s.

Emirates is ramping up recruitment to embrace the bounce-back of demand within the aviation industry. Currently, the airline is operating at approximately 70% of its 2019 levels, and is expecting capacity to rise past 80% by the beginning of its winter schedule in November.

Even better, the airline is foreseeing a vital return to profit in the next fiscal year as it sees signs of recovery in terms of seat factor and demand. Emirates’ Chief Operating Officer Adnan Kazim said:

Emirates is undoubtedly trending in the right direction with two recruitment drives and many applications received. There’s such a satisfying feeling of hearing airlines carrying out massive recruitment drives like this one, giving a fuller sense of hope knowing that the climbing trend in hiring back airline staff is significantly positive news for the industry

Patoma Admin by — April 28, 2022 in Aviation 0