cassava, 'Foreigners control 90% of Nigeria's N775bn cowpea seeds to Jigawa annual freight earnings' he International lusU- Dashiell on Monday in DulSe. ifm: GlUUjI, • n bxlJgenous tmninal lind b oded ware. IIOWie opel ato- has said that more than eIgI t y~ after the enactment fi U e (Distal wxIln· land Shippblg .\ct 2003, foreign
S
shipping CORllXlnies ..:ontrol both Nigeria's coast und deep sea shipP!na willi the ft-el8hl component worth 0V8" ISbn (N rriIxl). The Federal GO''el1Ullent bad enacted the CalJotajl; Act in ml. which stlpulat£!l l'U: t vesse1s to be used In the COl..Dry's coastal and Inland tnlIle 'lust be built in Nigeria and awned by Nigerians. among sevrral other requirements aim2d a d.eJdn& excessl\'C forrlgn dunhtatlon of the nallon'sshippb-g b J!!ness. The Cabota':e (K-liclt which many stakeholders sPe as a failed project wa:; <ili:o d~ lgned to be
a trauling gro'meI f}r NIgerla.n
shipping firms before launching into full deep sea shippin& which Is more teclmical in nature and capltallntensive. Executive vice cbalrman ~ the Group, Dr. Thl~ Molabi stated this whlle presenting 3 paper en tiUed Impact r:A Cabotage Act on Entrepreneurial Opporttmjtles In 3 Developing Economx at an Interactive Discourse Progranune Postgraduate School, l)epartment m Transport M.anagement c# the Ladoke Akintola Unh'er'Sity r:A TeciUlOlogy Ogbomoso. recentb: Aa:ordlng to him, apart Iiom controlllng deep sea shipping in the countr}: f01'1!ign interests also control inland and coastal ~ plng business to the detriment in Indlgenous operators nearly nIne years after the cabotage Act Wll!'i
e"acted. He d.lsc:la;ed that avallabIe sta. tlstlcs iIIiicat.e that N~ generales an average 3lUlual traffic c# about 152. Illillioo metnc toMeS c#
boI.h 011 and noo-oU cargo Mll1h
..... $5 bIllIIIl _ ) in freight earnings. out
ci whldt Illrelgners
exntrol aver ~ percent He argued that the oountry \WlIJd have felt the effect c{ soch huge e.vnings Ii'om ~t if the goo.wJ1.ment ensured t1la.t tiM! lndIgeoous sltlwinB blterests ha\'C accesstoooperoentrL Ule!JI!earnings. Afobb~
who doubles as CEO r:L
tbI! group, also regretted thai sectionsu theCabotage Act, \\1tich requIre t113tshlps to be used In roast· at and inland trade must be built in owned and manned by Nl-
N_
gerians are quite unreallstlc. as the have what it takes to do aU that at least for now. the end-resu1t rL th1s WU'm.Iist:Ic JX'OVision. aooordlng 10 hhn. has been that the indlgenous shipping ·rompanies are denied d c:at'IIO over W'M!Jined claIms that UJeir \'eSSels are classless and so mIght portend a lot of risks to ask Hen to lift cargo.
OOWltry does not
---
T
hlte of TropIcal Agrlcul·
hire {UTA), has offered Jigawa State improved cowpea and maIze varieties. as part efforts to help improw the fonunes or agriculture In Ulat state. According to a statement Issued yestenlay, the InsUtute also plans to backstop the
or
newly estabUshed stat~wned cassava starch industry, link· Ing It to markets and also offerIng farmer.! improved cassava planting materials to ensure a steady supply or cassava roots to the factory. "In the next two weeks, the instltute will be delivering lmPnJ\1!d cassava planting materlals for multiplication:' said the Deputy Director Gen· eral. Partnerships and capac· It.! Building (OTA). Dr Kenton
STANlEY IHIDBO
he Fede'1ll Go·.-eroment will SOOI1 han importation of goods that are produced in NI~E!l"!a as part of a dellberate polky to l irotect local
T
industries. boost their productivity and create mOl ejob oppor· tunltiesfor Nigerians. The Minlslel' Ii 1"<lde and In'"'1!Stment, Me. OIusetun Aganga. stated tbJs during "facUity visit of Innoson Vel idP fllanufacturin&: Plant and InntlSOn indus· u1al Plastlc Pbmt 10 Enugu and Anambra states respectlvely. He noted UlIlt the new In.it1attve was part 0{ th~ "atlooa1In· dustrlal Revolution Plan of the
Federal ",Unlstry ~ Trade and Investment ainted at repositionidJi: the manuracturi18 sector In line with PresideD t Goodluck Ebele Jooathan's 1'ransforma·
things into the country; We are lion Agenda Agangn saJd. "As a ooun~ gainS to do same thing in the we have a large market oompris- states by adopting the same Lug 167 m1lll0o people. We are polley. ( have already mel wIth the gateway to ECOWAS, which the Cha1nnan of Nnewl Chamis about 3OOm1lllon people. What her of Commerce and Industry this means is that local palron· over thls matter and they will age is very important to us as 8 submit their List to me within country because we must take the next one week. Also. the advantage of oW' large market Anambra State Kovernor Is doto drive ow' Industrial Revolu· ing the same thing as weU the Oon Plan. In fact. local patron· Manufacturers Association age is key to President Jooa- or Nigeria. Once we complete than's Transformation Agenda the process, nobody wUl be aIbecause It wtll help us to in- lowed to import those things we crease the productivity 0( our produce into the coun~ espelocal companies; reduce foreign clally those items that we have exchanKe ~pent on importation comparative and competitive of goods from other countries advantage. and create more jobs ror our Aganga also disclosed. that people. the Federal Government was "Already, the President bas planning to review the coundirected us to compile the llst try's public system to give more of goods produced by Nigerian opportunities for Nigerian comcompanies so that we will not panJes to in Une with his minishavt! reasons to import those try's Industrial RevoluUon Plan. M
beld on 6 July in lbadan. Oyo state. Dashiell said. "the institute is glad to help JlgaWa Stale to tackle Ute challenge of Ii>od. insecwitlt create wealth and im·
prove Uvellboods.
H
Libor scandal: Ben Bemanke says system flawed he Llbor system. which sets Inter-bank lending rates, 15 "structurally flawed", the chairman of the US central bank has said. Ben Bernanke also told a Senate committee that it was not yet known whether any US banks were involved in the rigging of Libol: He said he still did not have full confidence In the system. That is because proposals to Improve It were not adopt· ed by the UK banking body wblcb compUes It. Bernaoke said. The New York Reserve Bank. which regulates some major US baMs. sent recom· mendations to the British Bankers' Association in 2008 and raised its concerns with the Bank of England.
T
FG to ban importation of locally made goods -Aganga
Jigawa State. Cassava. cowpea and maize are iml)()rtant crops in that Nlgerfa's rwrth "''eStern state, contributing to the food security and wealth creation of mU· Uons of people. Tbe donation of the improved planting materials comes nfler the governor of the north western state. Dr Sule LamMo. gaw an open invitalion to the foremost agrtcu]turaJ research institute in AlHc.a. UTA. to help hls gmwnment turn-around agriculture at the Institute's 45th anniversary
This lnduded the introduc· tiOD. of procedures to "ellm.i· nate the incentive to misreport" Llbor. the daily rote that Is the benchmark for millions or finandal transactions wbich is calculated from the submissions by a group or banks. The Libor scandal erupied. last month when Barclays was fined a record amount ror trying to rig the Libor rate by mis-reporting the amount it cost them to borrow, some· llines working with other banks. Asked about US regulators' response to tbe manipulation of Llbor rates, and whether anyone had "dropped the ball", Bernanke saId Ute Fed· eral Reserve Bank of New York had taken the lead.
250 units of Oji River Housing Estate ready for occupation
T
he 250 units of houses in
Oji River Urban Hous· ing Estate, being con· strw::ted by the Ojl Rr.w Local Government Council In En ugu
State, is almost set ror owoen; to move in.. 'Ihlsdi9::lo5ure wa!> made ....te:a srme journallst s were took round en im;pnIm trur to the estme
It was dB:owered thai: !ODe unJts ci the _ especiaDy
--_ the ODe bedmm tenooe houses
are almost a;mpIeted fill' 0CC\lI»
ChaInnan
--
Ojl town Is an urban oounclI with
DeNs f>EIIIo _ __
EnJG1.J
...
ci Oil RMo- """'-
OM GaIJrleI 0!JuzuIih0, sald tI:le p:oja::t ..as a;nEiwd because
Qnurullke saki lbaJ: Ojl Rhw local gD'o'mJIlleDt is a bddge between Anambra and Enugu states that nced5 housing .,..,..,noIatioos fer the growing popJlatioo
" t h e _ oounclI,_ _ - . ... " " " " " _ c i next year all amenlHeJ ne:Ded In the estate \\'OI.lld haw been put in
."""-
The 250 b:IusIng units indl.des 3 bednxm bungalows. 2 bed rocm bungalows and c:ne bedtoclll terrace houses lD06tly mmnt. for ~ that wou1d be aa:omJD()datEd tbrougb the DlCI"tpge system. He added that for _ QW1le(Sblp _ reoeMd d the lnl9I!S are
wlcadms