CIPPON Seeks Transparency in N2.9bn Printing Contracts

Stories by Chinedu Eze
The Chartered Institute of Professional Printers of Nigeria (CIPPON) has requested the Bureau of Public Procurement to make public, the names of the group of printers that would be executing the N2.9 billion contracts for the printing of sensitive and non-sensitive examination materials as approved by the Federal Executive Council recently.

Commending the federal government over the initiative, the CIPPON President, Mr. Olugbemi Malomo, said awarding the contracts to Nigerian printers was in tandem with the institute’s 32-page post Covid- 19 priority document that Nigerian printing jobs should remain in the country and for printing jobs to be allocated to only printers registered by the Institute.

Malomo, added that the contract approval could not have come at a better time than now, when a lot of capacity in the industry are lying fallow due to the effect of the Covid-19 and the fact that every year, over N1 trillion is taken out of the printing and graphics communication industry to develop capacity of other countries by executing Nigerian government jobs in those countries.

In a bid to ensure that the aforementioned demands are met, the institute has sent a letter to the Bureau of Public Procurement to make public the names of the group of eight printers executing the contracts. This is for the institute to ascertain that the contract would be executed in Nigeria and to ensure the printers are registered practitioners as stipulated in the Printers Act 24 of 2007, section 23 (b) which states that, “The Council ensures that no firm or partnership shall practice as printers in Nigeria unless it is registered by the Council.”
Malomo, also expressed the institute’s gratitude to the government for responding to their yearnings by including printing and allied industry in the post COVID -19 Palliative Committee, describing this as a sign of good things to come for the printing industry in Nigeria.

Emirates Begins Daily Flights to Lagos
Emirates has announced an increase to its four times a week service to Lagos to a daily flight. This initiative became effective since November 1, 2020.
The expanded schedule of daily services offers enhanced connectivity for Nigerian customers to Emirates’ growing destination network via Dubai of close to 100 destinations.

With this, customers can stop over or travel to Dubai as the city has re-opened for international business and leisure visitors. Dubai is one of the world’s first cities to obtain Safe Travels stamp from the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) – which endorses Dubai’s comprehensive and effective measures to ensure guest health and safety. To ensure the safety of travelers, visitors, and the community, COVID-19 PCR tests taken within 96 hours of travel are mandatory for passengers arriving to Dubai (and the UAE).

Nigerian travelers can now travel with confidence thanks to the free cover on COVID-19 related medical expenses should they be diagnosed with COVID-19 during their travel while they are away from home. This cover is immediately effective for customers flying on Emirates until December 31st, 2020 and is valid for 31 days from the moment they fly the first sector of their journey.

This means Emirates customers can continue to benefit from the added assurance of this cover, even if they travel onwards to another city after arriving at their Emirates destination.
The free, global cover for COVID-19 related costs is further complemented by the comprehensive set of measures that Emirates has put in place at every step of the customer journey to ensure the safety of its customers and employees on the ground and in the air, including the distribution of complimentary hygiene kits containing masks, gloves, hand sanitiser and antibacterial wipes to all customers.
Emirates has also revised its booking policies to offer customers more flexibility and confidence to plan their travel.

Qatar Partners IATA on ClimateCare
Qatar Airways has announced the official launch of its carbon offset programme.
The airline’s passengers now have the opportunity to voluntarily offset the carbon emissions associated with their journey at the point of booking. Qatar Airways’ carbon offset programme is built on a partnership with the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) Carbon Offset Programme, providing its customers with the assurance that the credits bought to offset these emissions are from projects delivering independently verified carbon reductions as well as wider environmental and social benefits.

Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, Mr. Akbar Al Baker, said: “We are pleased to be able to offer our customers the opportunity to offset the carbon emissions associated with their journeys with us. As an environmentally responsible airline, our modern fleet of technologically advanced aircraft, together with our fuel-efficiency programme, combine to optimise aircraft performance and reduce the environmental impact of flying. Our customers can now help to further minimise their environmental footprint by opting to contribute to our carbon offset programme.”

On his part, IATA’s Director General and CEO, Mr. Alexandre de Juniac, said: “We are delighted to welcome Qatar Airways to the IATA Carbon Offset Programme. Their commitment underlines our industry’s determination to reduce our impact on the environment while allowing Qatar Airways’ customers the opportunity to lessen the environmental impact of their own travel. There is no alternative to aviation when it comes to long distance travel and carbon offsetting is an immediate, direct and pragmatic means of limiting the impact of climate change.”

Customers can opt in to Qatar Airways’ carbon offset programme when purchasing tickets through the Qatar Airways website and mobile application. Booking information, including information regarding the carbon offset programme, is available in multiple languages including Arabic, Chinese (classic), Chinese (traditional), Croatian, Czech, English, Farsi, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Spanish, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, and Vietnamese.
Emissions would be offset with climate and sustainable development expert ClimateCare, through the Fatanpur Wind Farm project in India.

This project has installed wind turbine generators (WTGs) with a combined output of 108 MW to generate and supply clean electricity to the Indian National Grid. The project consists of 54 wind turbines, installed in and around the villages of Taluk Dewas, Tonkkhurd and Tarana Taluk in the Dewas and Ujjain districts of Madhya Pradesh.

The turbines displace electricity generated from fossil fuel sources from the Indian grid, reducing the overall carbon intensity and leading to emissions reductions. This project avoids 210,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions annually.

ClimateCare Director of Partnerships, Mr. Robert Stevens, said: “We are pleased to be working alongside Qatar Airways and IATA to retire high quality, independently verified carbon credits on behalf of Qatar Airways’ customers who want to take responsibility for the environmental impact of their flights.

“Their support for the Fatanpur project not only reduces global carbon emissions, it also provides employment opportunities; delivers improved education through providing materials and expertise to nearby schools; and supports a mobile medical unit – enabling improved healthcare to the local community.”