Made-in-Nigeria vehicles to sell for N1.2m – FG

The Federal Government, in a bid to ensure the successful implementation of its recently approved National Automotive Industry Development Plan, said it would encourage local auto manufacturers to produce less expensive models with price range of between N1.2m and N1.5m.

It also said it would collaborate with auto manufacturers, franchise holders, reputable motor dealers and selected banks to put in place an all-inclusive domestic dealership network through which a user-friendly vehicle purchase scheme could be funded by the National Automotive Council.

These are contained in a statement issued on Sunday by the NAC and obtained by our correspondent in Abuja.

The statement said, "Under market development, the NAIDP anticipated that higher-end expensive models will still be imported into the country in the initial stage, but the new strategy is to encourage local auto manufacturers to focus primarily on lower-end less expensive models with price range of between N1.2m and N1.5m; which is affordable to the middle class, coupled with other finance options."

The statement added that the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr. Olusegun Aganga, had constituted two committees to ensure seamless implementation of the recently approved automotive plan.

The first is the Automotive Industry Policy Implementation and Monitoring Committee, with members drawn from broad-based industry stakeholders, including the Nigerian Automotive Manufacturers/Assemblers Association and the Automobile Local Content Manufacturers Association.

Others are the Automobile Franchise Holders (Mercedez Benz, Kia, Suzuki, CFAO, Toyota, Volvo, Globe Motors, Dana, Balyn Motors, Metropolitan Motors), Used Vehicle Dealers Association, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria and the Original Equipment Manufacturers.

The second body is the Inter Agency Implementation Committee made up of representatives of relevant government Ministries, Departments and Agencies, including the Federal ministries of Power, Solid Minerals and Federal Ministry of Finance, Office of the National Security Adviser, Bank of Industry, Nigerian Ports Authority,  and Raw Materials Research and Development Council, among others.

The Director-General, NAC, Mr. Aminu Jalal, said in the statement that under the NAIDP skills development, there would be extensive local and international manpower development programmes aimed at ensuring that, over the next four to six years, skilled positions in all auto industries in the country were occupied by Nigerians.
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US Executive Sacked For Tweeting She Wouldn’t Get AIDS In Africa Because She Is White

As she prepared for the long plane journey from London to her native South Africa, where she would be spending Christmas with her family, high-flying public relations executive Justine Sacco decided to send out a final thought on Twitter. Miss Sacco now undoubtedly wishes she had kept her musings to herself.

By the time she landed in Cape Town 12 hours later her offensive comment had become a social media sensation for all the wrong reasons, and it would shortly lead to her being unceremoniously sacked from her job.

The tweet in question read: "Going to Africa. Hope I don't get Aids. Just kidding. I'm white!" With fewer than 500 people following her on the social network Miss Sacco might have hoped her remark would be little read. But as she dozed at 35,000ft, with no access to the internet, she was oblivious to the unfolding storm.

In a matter of hours the message went viral and she became one of the most discussed topics on Twitter, which has hundreds of millions of users around the world.

With Miss Sacco still up in the air people began posting messages under the heading "HasJustineLandedYet". Among the milder comments were "Justine Sacco should get fired" and "Total LOSER!" One manipulated image showed her being stomped on by riot police. Others speculated that she would need all her PR skills to handle the crisis. Even Donald Trump, host of the US version of The Apprentice, weighed in to say: "Justine is FIRED!" When her plane touched down Miss Sacco switched on her phone to find a torrent of outraged comments. She quickly deleted her original post, and then her took down her account.
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FG To Buy 8billion 11th Presidential Plane. {With Incessant Strike Actions}

A NEW plane is set to join the presidential fleet.

The fleet's 11th plane – is Gulfstream- is to attract a N1.52million deposit, going by the 2014 budget.

The aircraft is expected to cost about N8 billion, according to industry sources.

The rest of the payment will be spread over one, two or three years before the jet is built and delivered.

The expenditure is part of the projected spending contained in next year's estimate, which was laid before the National Assembly last week by Finance Minister Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.

These items include: the completion of a hanger, N405,500,000; Tyre bay tools and equipment N106,000,000; Towberless tow tractor for aircraft towing for N58,740,000; hanger sweeper N31,870,000; luggage conveyor belt truck N28,898,000; and Harlan tow tug for aircraft equipment towing N27,590,000.

Others are CCTV and surveillance equipment for N18,000,000; aircraft tools and equipment N11,480,000; battery workshop equipment N5,050,000; complete tool box for general works and vehicles N360,000; heavy duty crocodile jacks N300,000; aluminum ladder N285,000; safety boots N52,500 and foldable ladder, N50,000.

The aircraft in the fleet of the PAF include two Falcon 7X jets, two Falcon 900 jets, a Gulfstream 550, one Boeing 737 BBJ (Nigerian Air Force 001 or Eagle One) being used exclusively by the President and a Gulfstream IVSP, one Gulfstream V, Cessna Citation 2 aircraft and Hawker Siddley 125-800 jet.

It is estimated that each of the Falcon 7X jets bought in 2010 cost $51.1 million. The Gulfstream 550 may have cost $53.3 million.

However, none of the aviation industry Bluebooks will give the simple calculation accuracy of how much an aircraft really costs. A number of issues are responsible for the difficulty in presenting a clear figure for a make/model/year, of an aircraft to help accurately determine how much it really worth.

Some of the issues include: lack of central reporting of aircraft sales for either tax or licence requirements, the complexity of individual aircraft value calculations, the timing of sales (long timeframes from offer to closing during which time the market can go up or down substantially), multiple synchronous closings for jet aircraft in particular, international currency sales, and non-disclosure-of-price terms included in many transaction documents.
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