By Adedapo Adesanya

The chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Mr Buba Marwa, has described the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos as the epicentre of drug trafficking in Nigeria.

Mr Marwa, while speaking on Thursday, said this is based on the volume of drugs seized at the Lagos international airport since the beginning of the year.

He said, “Murtala Mohammed International Airport remains the epicentre of the spectacular seizures, including what stands today as the singular biggest seizure from an individual in 15 years, which was 26.840kg of cocaine smuggled from Brazil in January; 24.05 kg of heroin in April; 27.95 kg of cocaine in May, and 26.15kg of heroin in May.”

Mr Marwa, who was a guest at the Presidential Villa in Abuja today for the weekly briefings coordinated by Nigeria’s Presidential Media Team, stated that between January 25 and October 15, more than 2.7 million kilograms of illicit drugs have been seized by the operatives of the agency.

The NDLEA boss said the agency was working on a bill that will prescribe harsher penalties for drug traffickers in the country.

Mr Marwa said NDLEA was seeking a minimum of 15 years and a maximum of between 25 years and life sentences for anyone caught by its operatives indulging in drugs activities.

“As of October 15, the agency has recorded the following: 9, 355 arrested traffickers, including six drug barons, over 5,000 drug offences cases filed in court, over N100 billion worth of drugs and cash recovered, more than 2.7 million kilograms of assorted illicit drugs were seized in 10 months, 5,579 drug users were counselled and rehabilitated by NDLEA, a figure that gives a fair balance between our drug control and drug demand efforts,” Mr Marwa said.

The drug enforcement agency in recent months has moved to strengthen the war against drug abuse and trafficking with the addition of hundreds of newly trained narcotic assistants to the workforce of the agency.

It graduated Narcotic Assistants Course 3 of 2021, which is the largest of the cadre and the first-ever course in over 25 years.

To further signpost the agency’s efforts towards the War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign aimed at the total eradication of illicit drugs and their effects in Nigeria, Mr Marwa noted that the country is prepared and determined to go after the assets of drug traffickers and barons in any part of the country.

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has alleged that some foreign airlines engage in back-catering, a situation where they bring in food from their countries instead of from Nigeria.

This claim was made by the Chairman of the Lagos State Chapter, Mrs Funmi Sessi in Lagos. She pointed out that Egypt Air, Ethiopian Airlines and Rwanda Air were the culpable operators involved in the alleged act.

Mrs Sessi said that preventing local suppliers from providing catering services for the airlines had reduced employment opportunities for the Nigerian populace.

“As part of building the economy and trying to boost the aviation sector following the COVID-19 pandemic, labour through NLC Lagos has discovered that foreign airlines are now in the habit of back-catering,” she said.

The NLC chairman said that some of the companies certified by the federal government to provide catering services had already retrenched some of their workers and lost percentages of their turnovers.

She listed the companies to include Newrest ASL Nigeria; Pan African Catering Services; Servair Nigeria, and LSG Sky Chefs.

“Servair Nigeria has over 200 workers; Newrest ASL over 600 workers, both in Lagos and Abuja; Servair Nigeria has already retrenched about 80 workers since the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Also, Newrest ASL has retrenched 122 workers, because these airlines are not patronising them.

“Newrest ASL has lost 58 per cent of its turnover, while Servair Nigeria lost 66 per cent,” the labour union leader said.

She then read out that labour would be forced to take decisive action if the practice does not stop.

She urged stakeholders in the aviation sector, including the government, to intervene and urgently address the issue.

“Other countries do not allow this practice, so why should ours be different; this means there will be job losses for the workers,” she said.

By Adedapo Adesanya

The federal government has conceived the idea of building an aerotropolis in the country’s airports which will showcase Nigeria’s rich cultural heritage and tourism potential while boosting businesses and investment.

This was made when the convener of the EnjoyNigeria Expo 2021, Mr Isa Yusuf Sago, paid a visit to the ministry of aviation to seek collaboration ahead of the exposition.

The Minister, Mr Hadi Sirika, said the ministry had introduced and collaborated on many programmes to showcase Nigeria’s rich cultural and tourism heritage and potential.

Mr Sirika, represented by Mr Shehu Mohammad, who pledged his cooperation and support to the success of the event, said one of the programmes introduced was aerotropolis, which means “eco-city.”

Explaining further about the concept of aerotropolis, he said: “If you go India, Singapore, Dubai, or Qatar, their airports are surrounded with international hotels, recreational centres, tourism industry.

“This is what we want to establish in the international airports in Abuja, Lagos, Port-Harcourt and Kano.”

On his part, the convener, EnjoyNigeria Expo 2021, Mr Sago, said the trade and cultural exhibition being organised by the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment (FMITI) is designed to benefit the nation’s Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) sub-sector.

He said the international exhibition would go a long way to showcase Nigerian products and entry to the world.

He explained that MSMEs operators and entrepreneurs in the country have not been given enough platform to showcase their products both locally and internationally, hence there was an urgent need to bridge the existing gap.

As part of efforts to boost the activities of MSMEs operators and Entrepreneurs, he said, they would be trained on best business practices as well as get support and networking from other big-time business operators and investors during the Expo.

“We are here to help businesses to grow. Ours is a calling to help Nigeria.

“We had identified these gaps and we must close them for the benefit of our people and Nigeria.”

He underscored the need to promote Nigeria’s creative, entertainment, cultural and tourism industries, adding that these sectors of the economy are multi-billion dollar industries that should be explored for employment creation and revenue generation.

Speaking further, the convener pointed out that food, fashion, music, creative, art and culture, creative performance and tourism sector would feature during the week-long event that starts on December 6-12, 2021, in Abuja.

He, therefore, called on the government to create an enabling environment for SMEs to thrive, adding that government needs to look inward and empower the SMEs operators and entrepreneurs in the country.

Mr Sago further revealed that already the Federal Ministries of Women Affairs and Social Development, Information and Culture; Youth and Sports have thrown their weight behind the Expo.

Therefore, he sought support and collaboration with the Ministry of Aviation in the facilitation of the movement of prospective investors during the programme.

Also speaking, the Director of Investment in the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mrs Funke Ajayi, said the forthcoming Expo would help to unite Nigeria, as many SMEs operators and Entrepreneurs from across the length and breadth of the country would participate actively and network among themselves during the expo.