DAILY T RUST
Monday, January 2, 2012
Business FG seel<s $500m loan to tackle g ull), ems ion TIiE Federdl Govemment has soughllhe ass!stance of the World Bank fur a $500 million loan to t.ackle gully eJ'o J5ion in sevm states in th e co un try. Mr. AdekwJ.le Oshikoya. the
Dirtctor ofAo.Jd and Erosion Control, Ferler-.1l r-. tinistry of Environment, disclostd this on Friday in Ahuja in an in"-TVi ewwith th!'! NeWl Ageoq ofNiS" ria (NAN), Helisted th~sevensiatesas Abia, Anambra. EI'lllgu. lmo. Ebonyi, &to and Cross Rivt I: ash ikoya sAid that If the request for the loon sailed through. the Ministry of & 楼ironment ....,ook! be given the oppc mmity to warehouse the funds. He slid tho:: minIstry had compUOO with all ti te processes required br the World B.mk to access thdoan. Acam iing to the director, the
NUPENGsays it won't tolerate casualisation in 2012
THE National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Wo rkers (NUPE...~G) Ofl Friday urged multinatiOflai companies to regularisc the employment of their casual wor~ to avoid coflflict with the union in 201 2. NUPENG President, Mr ISwe Achese, made the appeal while addressing members of the assodalion at an interactive session in
r..g~
He said that the union ...."OU!d no longer tolerate casualisatioo of WCKkers ..... hich he described as modem day slavery. Achese also urged employers in the oil and gas sector to pay the N 18,0CKl minimum .....age without further delay, to boost l'o"Orkers' morale.. The unionist advised the f-ed,
era! Govemmenlto be cautious on the deregulation of th.e. oil and gas industry because the nations refineries were not functioning 10 full capadty. " We are not in support of total deregulation of the downstream sectoc We want the go'o'elIllllent lo replauruptured pipelines, reactivate the depots and fiJ: the rdioerics.~ On the Petroleum lnd Bill
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(PIB), Achese claimed that replication of the bill had delayed its pas-
" Even the National Assembly is at a loss over the com:ct versioll. We caII Otl ~ National Assembly to rerusdtate the committee on the bill " Ld. the committee ascertain the true copy and in\"Olve the union and other stakeholders in its ~ew bd"ore ilis
proc.e:sses in.:!!tde seruiitisation and relevant 5tudi 5 that \\iU aid the implemcntaOC n of the project. Oshiko)<l ;aid the ministry. in conjuction ,vill.thegovemmmts oC the seo.en state!. had made the neces-
sary preparati"n to select gullrerosion sill'S tbal ' vould be remaliated
if the [01;11 is gr.Ulted.
Black marketers m ake undue p rofit in Zaria SOME black marketers in Zaria and envi ron ; are now sdling hoarded petn I at exorbitant prices foU owi ng seal city of the commodily. Checks oy correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) showt hat very few stations in the area that have fuel are selling above official pump price.. A fOIU-litr ~ gallon of petrol that used to seU fo - N260, now goes for between N45l and N 500, while a 20路 litre jerrican that used to go for N I, 300, now :dlsbet .....een N2,500 and N2, 800. Malam "..'a huu. Yahuze, a black marke/er at Tudun-Wada, expressed del ight over the development. sayilg that he had betcn making brisk businesses. 路We arc nlaking lot of money out of tlle situ Itioll. We do not pray for fuel scarcity. however, when it comes, we take advantage of the opportunity t C"Cl1.ISe it isourbusiness. We thankGod, now the market is doing .... eU.- he said. Another black marketer. Malam Abdu.t-Fatah Mohammed. identified po"ertyaml joblessness as thecauses llfhis involvement in the busineSi, He, bowel er, expressed delight that motoris ts were patronising roadsid e p etrol dealers to ave rt long delays al filling stations. Some managen of the major and independent dealers declined comments. Sl! ying thay had so ughi permission rrom tlleir managements 10 A managuat one of the filling stations. lold NAN on condition
seu.
ofanonym it)', that the SCU'City was as a result orirregular supply (rom th e NNPC. (IVAN)
Beneficiaries laud implementation of IFAD assisted agric programme SOME beneficiaries of IFAD Assisted Community-Based Agriculture and Rural Development Programme (CBARDP) in Katsina and Zamrara. stales. have lauded tlle achievements of the programme.. The News Agency oC Nigeria (NAN) reports thet CBARDP is oneofthe three intervention programmes being sponsored by the UN organisation to impove agricultural production in Nigeria. It is also aimed at boosting employmenl and incomes ofrural people in order to reduce poverty, The programme, which is currently being implemented
in seven northern stales, has touched the lives of 2.6 million people in the participating States A cross section of the beneficiaries ..... ho spoke to NAN on Friday in Dutsinma, Katsina state, said the: intervention programme )lad helped to improve their livelih rxxl and free them from the shack.les of poverty. One of the beneficiaires, Hajiya Aidta Ahdullahi ofKadangam Quarters, Dutsinma LGA. said she started a small.scalebuslness w;lh the loan she secured from the programme.. , . I have been dreaming to start a small scale business, but I
was not opportuned to raise the capital But "";I~ the loan I got Crom tile programme, I was able to start the business.. " I am now the proud owner of six cross bred cows, eight shl."\'p and seven goats:' she said. Abdullahi said with the N90,OOO loan she gol from th e prognunme. she bought a set oC calves and a set oC goats. She appealed to IFAD to increase the loan to enable beneficiaries fight poverty. Another beneliciary, Malam Ado Dutsinma told NAN that be invested part ofhis loan on breeding of rams, adding that be sold
26 r,uosduring the last SaIlah festivity. . ' I have restocked and I have also engaged the services oCthree youths to tend the animals and my nuns have increased to 37. " I am really graleful to both IFAD. KatsinaStateand Dutsinma Local Government'- he said. Also, Hajiya Indo Mai-Tsabta also from Dutsinma,said she collected a loan oCNIOO,OOO whidl she invested in the purchase of kitchen utensils. "Only God can repay lhese people (lFAD officials), we have no words 10 thank them;' Tasbta said. (NAN)
FG targets SOm tonnes in local food production -Adesina THE Federal Government is set to reverse the dependence on food imporu and has projected the addilion oBO mmion tonnes oCfood to the nation's food supply system betv.'ttn nowand 2015. The Minister of Agricullure and RurnI Development, Dr AJdnwunmi Adesina. disclosed this in an intuview with the News Agmcy ofNigcria (NAN) in Ahuja on fri day. According to Adesina, the country's food import bill between 2007 and 20 10 peaked at N98 trillion or $628 billion dollars. 1-11" said that during the period, N635 billion was spenlto import
wheat, N365 billion on rice. N217 billion on sugar and N97 billion on fish. He said that to kick-start the Agricultural Transrormation Agenda (ATA), the ministry was focusing on five crops-cassava, rice. cocoa. sorghum and cotton. The minister said that the transfonnalionofthesectorwoukl strengthen the governmen t's food security programme, improve the living conditions of farmers and generate mo re employmenL I-Iesaid that thegovemmenthad expanded th e processing capacity of rice mills in Ebonyi, Niger and Ke:bbi states, by accelerating their
completion to go inlo fuD production by February or20 1.2. The mills have a total proa:ssing capacity of 90,000 tonn es of ri~
Adesi.na said that by April20 t 2. 14 rice mills with a lotal C!p:lcityof 440,000 lonnes would come on stream und~ a Public Private Partnersh ip (PPP) arrangemenL 1-11" said that the PPP arrangement had become nea:ssary for all stakeholdC"1'5 to enable the agriculture sector to regain its lost glory. , 'If you look at till" rest or the countries oftht: wodd, the private 5t'dor had always been in the driving seal in agricullure develop-
mrol " All the government does is to facilitate:; create the enabling envi ronment where. banks will support those: private sector people that are in agricul ture and where: mark.et.s will be open and value added processes will be put in place..Adesina said that to feed the mills and ensure constant paddy productiOfl, th e government was ta.rgt'ting 450,000 rice Carmers in 2012 and would prOvide them with all the needed inputs and irrigation racilities foraD-seasoo rice farming. By December 20 12,lht tariff on ricewooldbe raised In lOOpercent. he said. (NAN)