Mond ay 20 Aug ust 2012
BUSINESSDAY: www.bu sinessdayonl ine.com
Farm ers seek funds Jang lauds NEMA over prompt to boost maize production in Delta assistanee to flood fannen in Delta victims ha\'ebegunm(M5at
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Sani ~laHmi (I), Jlauchi State commissioner for health. presen ting drugs ror free malernal an d ch ild health programme to Salisu Uslt'an, Slate chainnan, Hosp itals Managemen l Board, allhe disaibut10n ceremony III Bauchl allhe weekend.
Okoroc <[ bars monarchs from speaking I:nglish at forums BEN EGUZOZIE, )1vem
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enCd('r1h alI lmo monaHhs must only he allowed o spe d:. Igbo language at ev.!Iy p'lblic forum in the stilte cl eh.! would risk losing his srnff 01 office. and by extension dx tadltional
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Governor Ro< has OkarodJa, whoga ve tllI ' \'/URlngin Owern\\1lileinauguratingtbe bnoTr.H.litional Rulers Parliament {ITRP) ['. fld' :A'mmunity G<m!mmCIII COl n :il (CGC). lold the 1II001arq' lS thai they should use Ih l! fOlw ns 10 projeo th'!ideaJsong)( ' language and culture. Okorocha s~I 'clncal l y wged Snmucl ~WI\Ya Ohiri, who emerg.!tl as:·;tJaitman of the S'late Olundl l '( Ndl Eze (Traditional RuI~ 'S t loenswe all their pad.i.a.q"elll siltings were conducled bl the Igbo language At thela.;t OOI;:nl, I.hereare atlea:;a649 ufthe! e :raditional rulers. ~eadi autonomOlIS corU' lunlues in lheZl local gcM:l' RI nentMeaS olthestate. The ITRP acd CGC are Okoroch e's c:-perlmenl, which he has b'!C;n makirtg efforts to e:qllait ~s a way 10 deepen govcmanc e down to the rural populat2! Okorodl:l ins'.sted lhatthe twolhing5{1t;bo lllguageand culrure) mum 11(11 he aUawed to go imo e:tinctiurt, adding
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tha t the parliament would afford the monarchs oppor-
tunity to h andle sincertly and credItauly the issues of traditional cases and nlaners bl ulcir various domains according 10 the rule ofl;nv. lhc speakcr of!mo Slate Housco£Assernbly, Benjamin Uwajim ogu. then prescJlled 10 monarchs the CommunltyGovemmentu,undl Law Nwnbcr I of 20l2. Uwajimogu, whose Assembly has so lIIuch granted Governor Okorochil his reques tS by pilSSlng moSt executive bills. uid Oeetingly Ulat CGC Law wml duough a rigorous legislative process. including receIving public IlCaring. before II was passed The CGC has been legidmlsed wilh a law and a fun blown ministryillnld Ollgoing Imp.use belween Govcrnor Okorocha and the recendy AI)peal Coun reinstated 21 council chalnnen. who ha...e vowed to stay put In ofrx:edespile an AUgust 10 announcemen t bylhestategovemment of th eir replace m e m wi th Oireao~ of Administration andGeneraiServlces(OAGS). on account that tlleir lenun!S explttd on August a The newly a p polllled Colll missioner for Commu nity Governme nt Council! Puullc Utility, Chim a lwuchukwu, a professOl; sald the ITRP and CGC Inauguration wasagoodomenofthebelter things 10 come to the state.
uring Joan [rom commercIal banks [0 boost producti on In line with the Federal Govemment Agricultural Traruionnation Agenda Samuel Agb lgbi, S:ate Coordin alOr, Maize Far mers Associauon of Nigeria. made this known \\"eekend in Ibusa. near Asaba, at a forum organIsed by the asrocial\on and official~ of conunerdal bmw on the Issuesofloan fadll tles. The coordinator 53.id: "We seek the funding 10 boost maize production In NIgeria In line with the presidential Initiatives on maac doubling. ~ We are commilled because we have got a market for maize. "The animal care companies in dlls stale usc maize and they said Ihve can pro· duce more, Ule problems of getting supplies from Niger Republic will be addresscd.~ The coonlinalOf said that theloanh3dbemmeneccssary 10 enable lhe fanners lneet tl1C demands ror its produce.
vernor Jo nah lallg f Plateau weekend commended National Emergency Management Agt-ncy (Neo lA) for Its quid: assistance to flood ..;ctims In parts of the state. lang. who ga\'e the com me ndatio n when he \;Siled Shend alll in Plateau South and other areas affected by the disaster. declared thaI such effidencv was wo nh emulating.. . It would be rttalled thal the flood claimed no fewer th a n 40 persons, and d Isplaced 10,000 persons. He called on other stakeholders to assist the victims In thelrhOll rof need. The governor said that brtdgesdestl'Oyedbythenood wou ld be rcpal red aftcr a thorough assessment of tile damage on them _ ''We sha lt lake a critical assessment of the damage before reconstmcting them so as to ilvoid a recurrence; he said
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Key economic, political risks ahead Nigeria lgeriaisbattlin8 a 8oko Haralll insurgency in pari s of thc North and faces growtng dIcit of its oU by anned gangs bl the Nigcr Della region. A spate of ce;rruption
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scandalsha~damagcdcon-
fidence in Presldr!llt Goodluck Jonathan's 91edge to reform the COllnlry, whic h still sufTe~ instab ility, lawlessncssandcriPI,!ingpower shonages, allhough moves on power privatisation have caisedhopesofslowprogress. A military crackdown appears lO have weakened Islam.ist sect, Boko 1-la.l1l1 n, al though II has also pushed It Into new areas thai used to be free of the Insurgency, Reuters reports. Security rources say dIe secl has linked lip wit h a1 Qaeda's Nonh African wing. a1dlOUgil It remains mainly motivated by domestic factors: hostility 10 the government and 10 th e cou ntry'. Christians, whose churches iI regularly bombs. Wha ' to wa tch: - More Boko Haram a llades, especiallyon dlun:h es. - A Western targel.like last August's U.N. bombIng. - Militarypressure.am:su
ofkey8oko lianun figluers. - Intemational oil price - AnyagreementlO pa}' fo r - Attem pts 10 initiate dia- d rops, fu e l s ubsidy over- a NigerOelta crude dean up. - A resurgence of militant 10guewithtliesecL spend. CorruIJlionscandaJs,parThc National Assembly Imacks on oli facilities. The Central Bank of NiIicularlylnvulvlng dlCadmln- h as received a copy of the Isuation of Nigeria's cosuy long awaited PelrOieum In- geria (CON) measures 10 redomestlc fuel subsidy, have dusuy Bill (PIB), which aims strict the money supply have dogged the (onathan gov- to overilaul everything £ro m boosted tllC naira to around ernmenr. A nagshlp policy fiscal te rms to th e state oU a J · monlll high against the 10 gct rid of ule subsidy was firm. They will debate when dollar, thOUgil II is not clear uedlnJanuary,aficrapublic th ey are back from rccess howthemomennun \\;U laS!, outcry, w h ich mea n s Iha l next month in a ulg test for and stocks have responded an ove~pend on a N4.929 Jonathan's presidency. positively to im proved banktrillion lO lJ budget drafted Sinceanamnestyformill- ingeamlngs. Nigeria's consumer inflaby Finance Mlnistcr, Ngozi lants In 2009 attacks on 011 Okonjo-!wcala, looks likely. faci lities has become less tion eased margl.nalfy in lui)', Jo n at h an promised to desauctive,yetsomehow,oil statistics showed on Friday, transfonn the coun lry. ali companies say, ulefl is more surprising many analysIS. The sector refomls are being de- rampant dian il was before. mleor 12.8 percent is stilt high bmed althe National Assem· Even widl a fiscally draining and the celllral bank goverbly, while a power privatisa. a mnesty programme, the nor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, don schemetslllQ\oingslowly Niger Delta remains volatile is seen as an inflation hawk. - a new round of bidding for and attacks on pipeli nes, The bank has held mtes al 12 someassetsbcgan\as(montll. Iddnapplngs and plraey are perccntsince last Octouer. WhailO watch: a costly headache. Wha llo \VB ldl: - More favourable bank- National Assem bly In What to watdl: natlngthe budgel. as lIohen - Arrests of oil Ihieves! Ing results Ufting Slacks. does. pirates by the military. - Naira dip p ing lower - MovelllentonseUingofr - Debaleonprutiamcnton again, mo re cenlral bank pol'l"er assets.. die Perroleum lndusuy Bill In tervention. , -- -- - - -_ _ _ __ _ __ __ _ _ _ __ _ __ __ __
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