https://ir.nilds.gov.ng//handle/123456789/1491 2026-04-21T02:26:04Z https://ir.nilds.gov.ng//handle/123456789/1793 Enforcing Immediate Reimbursement for Delayed and Cancelled Flights: Need for Legislative Intervention Omoju, Oluwasola Summary • Flight delays and cancellations are common occurrences in Nigeria, as about 55% of domestic flights are either delayed or cancelled. • Flight delays and cancellations subject air passengers to untold hardships and inconveniences. • Flight delays and cancellations also cost the industry about $52.7 million (N24.2 billion) annually. • Despite legal provisions to provide immediate reimbursement, airline operators do not provide immediate refund to passengers of cancelled or delayed flights to enable them to make alternative travel arrangements. • Given the impact of flight delays and cancellations on the industry and air travellers, the intervention of policy makers is pertinent. • The National Assembly Committees on Aviation may engage with the NCAA, FCCPC and other relevant stakeholders to discuss the causes of incessant flight delays and cancellations. • The Committees may also engage with the NCAA to ensure that the provisions of the NCAA Regulations are effectively enforced. • The National Assembly Committee on Aviation may also work with the NCAA and FCCPC to ensure that customers are well enlightened about the available mechanisms for making complaints about flight delays and cancellations and how to get reimbursement. 2024-04-01T00:00:00Z https://ir.nilds.gov.ng//handle/123456789/1540 Assessing Health Financing Progress Towards Universal Health Coverage in Nigeria (2015-2022) Okungbowa, Osaretin Godspower Universal Health Coverage (UHC) is vital to achieving Sustainable Development Goals. It ensures that everyone has access to quality healthcare without financial hardship. Though the reliance on public health expenditure is the gold standard to achieve UHC, however, out-of-pockets payments dominates health financing in low-income countries including Nigeria. Against this backdrop, the present study assessed the drive towards UHC in Nigeria using the newly launched World Health Organisation-Health Financing Progress Matrix (HFPN) 2.0. The result showed that Nigeria's drive towards UHC is hindered majorly by the double whammy of poor governance and inadequate public health financing. While the Abuja Declaration of 2001 mandated African countries to devote at least 15% of government expenditure to the health sector, however, on average, Nigeria spends 4%. It was observed that the large proportion of the informal sector-put at 65% of GDP poses a huge fiscal challenge to the government in raising revenue. More worrisome is the catastrophic and impoverishing out-of- pockets payments hovering around 70% as against the SDG3.8.2 indicator of at most 25%. Again, the national health insurance only covers less than 7% of the population, mainly government and private employees in urban areas, thus leaving behind a sizeable proportion of the rural population. There is also the problem of technical inefficiencies as evidenced in a plethora duplication, overlaps, and misalignments of core health system functions across health programs. As things stand, the goals of UHC i.e., Utilization relative to need, financial protection, and quality health care may not be realized if the national and subnational governments do not only scale up public spending but also strengthen the health system by improving; governance, public finance management, amongst others reforms. Thus, framing the drive towards UHC in Nigeria within the context of "development bargain," as Stefan Dercon puts it, holds promise to accelerate the drive towards UHC in Nigeria. 2023-08-01T00:00:00Z https://ir.nilds.gov.ng//handle/123456789/1494 AfCFTA, Dumping and Enforcement of Rules of Origin: Issues for Legislative Intervention Okungbowa, Osaretin G. The recent launching of AfCFTA holds promise for the economic development of Nigeria and other AU member states. Despite the projected gains from the intra-Africa free trade, dumping is a key downside of AfCFTA, especially for Nigeria being the biggest economy in Africa. Dumping has an adverse effect on Nigeria’s domestic economy by crippling domestic manufacturing capacity and ultimately, worsening unemployment and balance of payment position. To corroborate this worrisome development, The recent Report of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS, February 2021 Report) shows a rising deficit in manufactured goods trade between Q4 2019 and Q4 2020. To reverse this trend, the enforcement of the rules of origin is considered the game-changer for Nigeria to maximize the gains from AfCFTA. Otherwise, the failure to enforce the rules of origin will inadvertently consign Nigeria as a dumping ground with adverse socio-economic consequences following. Though the Federal Government through the National Action Committee on AfCFTA has given the assurance that efforts are ongoing to establish a Trade Remedies Authority to enforce the rules of origin, this Analysis Report is warranted as it draws the attention of the National Assembly to this development and ultimately to galvanize the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Investment to expedite action in enforcing the rules of origin as enshrined in the AfCFTA Protocol on Trade in Goods. Arising from the analysis, the following recommendations have been advanced for consideration by the National Assembly. i. The National Assembly may consider summoning the National Action Committee for AfCFTA in order to elicit update on the status of the establishment of a Trade Remedies Authority to enforce the rules of origin. ii. The National Assembly may also consider intensifying its legislative oversight on the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Investment in the light of Nigeria’s benefit from AfCFTA. iii. The National Assembly may consider a quarterly update from the National Action Committee on AfCFTA. This is warranted in order to safeguard the welfare of Nigerians as provided in Section 14 (4b) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999. 2021-04-01T00:00:00Z