Travel News

The Federal Government on Thursday said it was seeking ways to end the trend of Nigerians relocating abroad.

The government also noted that it would work towards ensuring Nigerians were gainfully employed to discourage the need to travel abroad.

The Minister of State for Science, Technology and Innovation, Henry Ikoh, made the statement in Abuja while receiving the Secretary-General of the Digital Cooperation Organisation, Ms Deemah Yahya, who paid him a courtesy visit in connection with the upcoming Digital Nigeria Day Conference.

He said the government intended to correct the trend through industrialisation, which could be achieved by synergising with the DCO in the area of human capital development.

His word: “The synergy is what we require, capacity building is key and technology transfer is what Nigeria and Africa in particular needs at the moment so that the world can be a global village. We need to collaborate in all areas to ensure harmony.

”If we collaborate and synergise in the area of human capital development, it would guarantee industrialisation, when people are gainfully employed and moved out from poverty, then Africans and Nigerians would not be struggling to travel abroad because everything is here. We have all the raw materials; what we really require in terms of digitalisation is for us to cross fertilise ideas, train and retrain our people then things would be better.”

Yahya said the group was in Nigeria to understudy her digital ecosystem and understand who the players were.

She said, “We are very proud that Nigeria is a founding member of the Digital Corporation Organisation, which is a multilateral organisation that focuses on advancing the digital economy in member states. We represent 12 countries, from three continents, representing 600 million in population and $2 trillion in the GDP.

“We are very happy that Nigeria has been a founding member and we are here not only to reiterate our commitment to empowering digital economic transformation strategies of Nigeria but also to understand the ecosystem of Nigeria, being the players in terms of government, private sector, and civil society. It is also for us to understand how the DCO can help support the growth of Nigeria and hopefully be an enabler.”

The PUNCH reports that there has been an increase in the rate of migration of Nigerians to other countries.

By  Chris Agabi

The federal government has announced the preferred bidder for the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Abuja, the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, and the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA), Kano.

The minister of Aviation, Sen. Hadi Sirika, disclosed this at a press briefing in Abuja on Wednesday.

From Eugene Agha (Lagos) & Salim Umar Ibrahim (Kano) The scarcity of petrol is said to be worsening in Lagos, Abuja, Kano and across...

BY  MOLLY RUSSELL

The figure has already doubled since September and is expected to increase further amid Nigeria's foreign currency shortage

Nigeria’s foreign currency shortage has trapped around $700 million in funds for foreign airline operators, according to Vanguard. Despite financial intervention by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the figure is expected to rise further, having already doubled from £346 million in September.

Background

Strict measures have been implemented by the government to prevent foreign currency from leaving the country. In September, Nigeria’s Civil Aviation Authority announced it would begin fining carriers using currencies other than the Naira after the CBN released $256 million in funds.

Airlines including British Airways, Emirates, Qatar Airways, and Virgin Atlantic, were reportedly only able to access $110 million during August; however, CNB assured that the remaining funds would be available 60 days forward on October 31. The outstanding funds currently account for 32% of trapped funds worldwide.

With the deadline looming, CNB has warned foreign airlines against “blackmailing” the country with threats to shut down operations. Speaking at the House of Representatives earlier this week, CNB Governor Gowin Emefiele noted that airlines would not lose any funds.

Emefiele stated:

British Airways has cancelled its flight which was expected to arrive in Abuja in the early hours of Saturday, finding by our correspondent has...

By Abdullateef Aliyu

British Airways has cancelled its flight which was expected to arrive in Abuja in the early hours of Saturday, finding by our correspondent has revealed.

The development comes after a BA83 flight from London-Heathrow to the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja, was suddenly diverted to Lagos.

Passengers affected by the cancellation and diversion lamented that there was no adequate notice.

Though BA did not provide any reason for the decision, the diversion of the flight might not be unconnected with the terror alert in Abuja, with several foreign missions issuing travel warnings to their citizens.

Despite allaying of fears by the federal government, foreigners have been reportedly leaving the country in droves, while a major mall in Nigeria’s capital shut down on Thursday.

Daily Trust learnt that after BA brought Abuja-bound passengers to Lagos on Thursday, the passengers, mostly Nigerians, refused to disembark, and insisted on the flight terminating in Abuja.

One of the passengers who wrote in a WhatsApp group said, “When they refused and insisted on the flight terminating in Abuja as contracted, the crew threatened to launch tear gas at the mostly Nigerian passengers right in the plane!

“They had been telling people on board since they boarded last night, Abuja. Why must you go to that place! After an uproarious session and an hour on ground, the plane finally took off and arrived in Abuja around 11am.

“There is a lot of mischief afoot on this terror attack warning and it smells like we need to talk less and pull out antennae to their highest gain heights. This is not just a terror warning; there is more schemes and actions of enemies within and without.”

But findings by our correspondent showed that the Abuja-bound flight which was supposed to depart London by 10 p.m and arrive by 4:40 a.m on Saturday has been cancelled.

This was also shown on the flight radar, which indicated that the Abuja-bound flights for Friday and Saturday had been cancelled.

But the return flight from Abuja to London departed normally, it was learnt.

There was no official statement from the British Airways at the time of filing this report.

President Muhammadu Buhari is leaving the country for London, United Kingdom, today, Monday, October 31, 2022, for a routine emergency check-up.

Presidential spokesman Femi Adesina disclosed this via his Twitter handle.

Meanwhile, no prior information was provided to indicate that the trip was planned, as President Buhari had early in the day presided over an emergency National Security Council meeting in the State House, Abuja, Monday.

The President is attending the opening ceremony of the conference and retreat organised for Senior police officers in Owerri, Imo State.

The terse tweet by his spokesman said the President is expected back in the second week of November.

Details later.

(Bloomberg) -- The chances of the UK facing a colder winter than normal are increasing, risking higher demand for heating as the energy crisis tightens supplies.

According to Met Office forecasts, the chances of a cold winter are now slightly higher than usual. “The likelihood of a colder three-month period overall is slightly greater than normal,” the Met said in its outlook.

Even so, the most likely scenario remains an average winter, according to the outlook. But a colder turn could push up heating demand from households and consumers. The UK’s grid operator has already warned of the risk of blackouts if gas shortages reduce availability of the fuel for power generation.

“With chances of a cold season being greater than a mild one, impacts from wintry weather are more likely than seen in recent years,” the Met Office said. 

The weather is quickly becoming a major factor after an unusually warm October kept gas demand in check across Europe and brought some relief for policy makers in the short term. Still, the unseasonably high temperatures are raising fears about climate change. 

The seasonal rise in heating demand has been delayed because of warm weather, allowing more gas to be injected into storage sites in Europe, along with capacity re-opened at the UK’s Rough facility. That safety buffer could play a key role when temperatures finally drop and consumption picks up again.

Last winter’s relatively warm weather helped to ease the strain on the UK’s gas and power supply. This winter, a surge in liquefied natural gas cargoes are helping to plug the shortfall left by Russia’s squeeze on pipeline flows to Europe.

In the short term, unseasonably mild weather is expected to remain across most of Europe next week, particularly in the Nordic region, forecaster Maxar said in a report.

The outlook for wind follows a similar trajectory to the temperature, with it being more likely than normal that wind speeds will be calm in the three months from November to January, according to the Met Office. However, the most likely outcome is it will be average in the period. 

Wind will play a critical role this winter in limiting the UK’s dependence on burning gas for electricity.

--With assistance from Elena Mazneva, Anna Shiryaevskaya and Greg Ritchie.

(Updates with context starting in sixth paragraph.)

(Bloomberg) -- The US and Europe are struggling to make enough diesel and heat homes, a situation that looks set to become even more acute as winter approaches.

Retail diesel is at the highest relative to gasoline in well over a decade as parts of Europe and the US run short of supply. 

Europe’s diesel market has shown signs of stress ever since the invasion of Ukraine threw into jeopardy the continent’s biggest source of external supply. From February the 27-nation EU will ban seaborne supplies of the fuel from Russia. In the US, inventories of distillates -- the category that includes diesel and heating oil -- are the smallest seasonally since at least 1993.

Read more: Diesel Hits Chaos Mode in Fresh Blow for Global Economy

The fuel’s price is likely to keep rising relative to gasoline through year-end, according to Wood Mackenzie Ltd., a consultant. 

The premium will then “stay wide until the second quarter of 2023, when gasoline strengthens for the summer driving season and distillates have rebalanced after the EU ban,” Alan Gelder, vice president for refining, chemicals and oil markets at WoodMac, said by email.

A wave of refinery strikes in France, combined with other unplanned outages in Europe and the US, has exacerbated the supply crunch in supply in recent weeks. Road diesel is a very similar product to heating oil, demand for which typically rises in winter.

A coalition of travel agencies that participated in the concluded 2022 Hajj operation has petitioned the Nigerian Consulate General in Saudi Arabia over non-repayment of travel visa, air ticket and hotel accommodation paid to a Saudi-based travel firm Alkahasafi Travel Tours Limited and Alshamel International Limited Company.

The petition, signed by Alhaji Ibrahim Khaleel of Khaleel Travel Tours Limited on behalf of other affected travel tour agents, revealed that the affected travel firms have requested the Saudi-based firms to refund the sum of over N535 million paid into their accounts for services during the 2022 Hajj operation.

>span class="s1">“We have attached all deposit receipts in this petition to authenticate our claim. This petition is a sign of respect and consideration we have for the Nigerian consulate as law-abiding Nigerian citizens and we hope the good office of the Nigerian consul in Saudi Arabia will take up the issue and address it amicably,” the petition said.

The Nigerian affected tour operators include Royal First Class Travel and Tours Services, Al Ansar Travels and Tours and Khalil Travel and Tours.

BY  Randy Thanthong-Knight, Bloomberg News

(Bloomberg) -- Some foreign students are accusing the Canadian government of using them as a cheap source of labor and discarding them once they’re no longer needed.

Last year, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government allowed about 50,000 foreign students to stay for 18 months after graduation to seek employment, during a time when the economy was reopening from Covid shutdowns and companies needed to hire.

The government sold the permit extension as a way to “help more graduates fill pressing needs” in key sectors and allow them to gain the work experience needed to immigrate permanently. But a year and half later, some of these permanent-resident hopefuls were left without status to work or remain in the country. 

“I’m basically sitting at home and living off of my savings and not knowing how long I’d have to do that,” Daniel D’Souza, an accountant and former student at Seneca College near Toronto, said in an interview. “I regret choosing Canada as a country to immigrate to, to study and to live in. Canada should appreciate foreign students more, not just use them as a form of cheap labor.”

Immigration Minister Sean Fraser’s department said it’s considering ways to better support those who want to settle in the country permanently. The government “recognizes the tremendous social, cultural and economic benefits” that foreign students bring, spokesperson Jeffrey MacDonald said in an emailed statement. 

Like many graduates who were part of the 2021 program, D’Souza’s career is now paused and his future uncertain. These former students -- many from India and the Philippines -- had to leave their jobs when their work permits expired with no guarantee they’ll gain permanent residency. Even if their applications are eventually successful, they face months in limbo with no job, income, or health and social benefits.

“When they needed us, they exploited us. But when we need their help or support, nobody shows up,” said Anshdeep Bindra, a former consultant at Ernst & Young in Toronto. “We pay fees and taxes and aren’t getting anything in return. You don’t recognize that we’re the people who helped you solved the labor shortage.”

New Targets

Trudeau’s government, which is planning to welcome a record number of new immigrants over the next three years to offset an aging workforce, is scheduled to announce updated targets Tuesday morning in Toronto.

“Those benefiting from these public policies are being afforded a similar or, in many cases, greater opportunity to acquire skilled work experience as graduates had prior to the pandemic,” MacDonald said. 

The foreign graduates were hoping the permit extension would give them more time to gain Canadian work experience and boost their scores under the country’s immigration ranking system for skilled workers.

But these graduates got caught up in a backlog of applications that led to a 10-month shutdown of the system to allow the government to process them. Once the system was reopened, the students found themselves competing with pools of immigrants with much higher-than-normal scores, reducing their chances of gaining permanent residency.

The immigration department said the temporary pause allowed the system to catch up, and that “reducing or pausing invitations to apply to manage growing inventories is precisely part of what the system was designed to do.”

Of all the permanent residents welcomed in 2021, nearly 40% were former international students, a record, according to the department. Since July of this year, 26,250 invitations to apply for permanent residency have been issued, of which 10,212 were to international students or graduates, the government said. 

But that’s little comfort to those still waiting -- or to their former employers. “Now the company is going to have to find another person to replace me when I’m already here,” said Leovilee Duatin, who worked at a real estate firm in Caledonia, Ontario. “It feels like they just want us to work here to get our taxes and get rid of us.”

International students not only contribute more than C$21 billion ($15.3 billion) annually to the economy, according to the government, but each year tens of thousands of graduates who chose to immigrate permanently become a source of young, educated workers. They can also play a key role in addressing the current labor crunch and future job-market needs, economists at Royal Bank of Canada said in a report last month.

The government needs “to prioritize people who paid for education here, have experience here, and are connected with employers here,” said Amira Ali, who was a leasing specialist for a property management company in Calgary. “They’re forcing us into a corner and leaving us without any solutions.”