pr'OJecL He, however, solidted more suppon on seeds and other farms mputs wch as f~, insecoades, herbicides and additional fann madunc::ry. The rughlight of the event _ the distnbution of wheat seeds to .ame selected (ann . . .
Ochekpe tasks farmers on dry season farming
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arah Ochckpe, the Mlfllster
of Water Resources, hat urged fanners to ea::abrace dry season fanrung to boost food production in the country Ocbdcpc ga..-e the adVK:e In an mt.crV1ew With the News Agency of Nigena (NAN) In Ilonn. She aaJd that the governmenl had set aside sufficent funds to boost agncultU1"lll production fOf" the dry .eason_ ··Nigerians should not only rdy on farming during the l1W1y season but explore other opporturuties. ~e are domg famun& on a amaIl scale but __-e _'ant more people to be Invoh-ed in thiS dry aeason fartllUl£. lbat way, we IlI"e also creating more JObs, getting many people busy," abc said. The minister also Uld that the government would soon launch dry season farmma m Katatna, MlUdugwi and Bakolan, Zamfara. ·We arc workinC on that becaux Prea1dent Goodluc::k Jonathan had mformed NigerianS that we wouJd embark on the transformation of the Agncu1rural sector, " she Ia1d _ The mmister also SlUd that. reservOtra built in vanous pans of the country 'A'en auned at boosting fish productJon and lITigation farmmg
OANA Steel workers protest mass sack, exploitation o rkers of DANA Sled Company, KataU'la, last .-eck protested what thev called .. -mass saclc:in& and explollatJon- by management
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The spokesman for the workers, PI:tcr Obi, told Dew.lDen in Kat.atna that the union and management or the company had met In Lagos the previous week and agreed 00 issues rdaung to staff retrenchment and reW'ement age Obi UJd dunna the meeting, the management promacd that it wouJd not retrench any worker. ·But to our surprise, just WIthin fow days, man: than 30 worken _-ere aacked for unknown reasons, and they ~-e families to take CIlI'e of" He IUJd that some of the sacked workcn were later given contract appomtment, and placed on fiat salary Kale, irrespective of their qualifications and worIang expcnence.· "We want OUT head office and the world to know that th,. IS what IS happerung in the company ~cy don' recogrllae ceruficate and they treat us like slaves; tlus onty happens to Nigerians working in the company," Obi alleged that recently, machines of the company cut off the hands of two workers and mJured five othen, but the managea::acnt I'ailcd to cater for thcu- medical tTeatmcnL "We will oot resume normal work until the company recalls all the sacked worken and tTcat us like human beings. - Rcacuna to the a1lcgauoos, the company's Human Resources Manaaer, AIhaji Abdusaalam KablT, IUJd the organisation did not victimize any worker. ·There must be reason for saclang • worker and I don' need to c:xp1am tlus.· KabtT also said that the management had nC'YC:r" VIOlated any agreement and would di.cuss Wlth the tuuon's reprcsentauves to solve the maner amlCSibJy,
Aganga urges Nigeria, S.Africa to strengthen economic growth in Africa IUsegun Aganga, the Mmistcr of Trade and InvestmCllt, has urged Nigena
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and South Afnca to take advantagc or tht: wmdO".\' of opporturuties available In thcu economies to strengthen economic growth on the continenL Aganga who stated this at a dtnner dialogue organised by the Nigeria Consulate m South Africa and co· hosted by Financial Times and Brand South Africa in Johannesburg. said that the t'il"O countnes must not allow the opponuruccs to pa... WIthout being exploited for the benefit of thcu- CtlZenS and for the people in the COntlnenL Nigena and South Africa have the fastest economic growth In the coounent, If Africa must take advantage of the current global economic meltdown to boost ~ tn the afriCSi, then the t1iIo"O couotncs need to work togeth.. -'The two countnes have to complement each other m area of compllTAtJVe advantage. There IS no countnes that can develop its economy without industriahsalion, South Africa is the leader In Africa in that "'<A-
But N~ has the ad"antage in area of markrt and raw matenal over many countnal, Nigena has the largest populatJon m Afnca, an Investment m Niseria IS a ga~..y into the ECOWAS WIth about 300 millioo populatJon, Nigcna IS a market nobody can Ignore, Aganga ....d. He SlUd that Nigeria IS no longer interested in investorl coming into the country to apon raw matcnal out of the country. What ",oe "'-ant are lI1ve5lOn Kluna up mdusuy and manuCactunn8 plants in the counuy, to help pnMde employment for our youths and ever If'OWlng population . .. Nigeria IS diecuuing .'tth South AfnCSi OD ways to coUaborate in aetuog up automobile plants m NlgenL Then: are opporturuues m minlng. not for exportation alone, but for muung of the mtnenli for proceasinC and production," Aganga UJd. He II8ld that then: we-e untapped potentials in the agncu1rural sector, ....ymg, Nigeria IS blessed Wlth 84 million of acre of land, when: everything and anythIng can grow. But the agncuJture scctoT of OUT economy is not fuIJy tapped We .'&11t In\utOri m the agnculrun: sector not only m the area of planung and harvesung of agncultuN' product, but also in area of food proccsllllla and storage , thiS IS an area whCTC South Africa can come in, becaux they are weU ahead of other Afnca countnes m food processina and st~ ."Then: are also busmeas
opponunuit:t; in oil and gas, Nlgcna ,. the l~t PToduCC:T of oil and gas m the conunent and invc:stment opportunities 111 that St:CtOT IS open, " Agolnga
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He said NIgc:nB can also learn from South ACne. in service and mfrastructure devdopmenL Aganga II8ld the Nigerian government has put in place economy policies to encourage foTCign mvcstmenL ··Nigc:na government as provided mcenuves to fOTC:lgn 1I1veston to come and Invesl in the counuy. ··Part of the new pobcy is 48 houn company regastrauon, 100 per cent fOreign owneratup, generous corpomte tu: holiday and repatriation of profit and dividend through legal means. ··Also stabihty of exchange Tate for a long time is pan of government economic polices to encourage fOTC:lgn investment, .. Aganp ....d Amb. Olugbcnp Asturu, Nigc:nan FOTC:Ign AIrau-a muuster represented by Amb. Sonni Yusuf, Nigerian High Commissioner in South Afnca, Ia1d South African bUSlncu commuruty should take advantage of liberalisauon of VISA ~ent to VISIt Nigeria. ' Then: have bt:t:n • dd.ibcrate policy to libcrabse Visa reqwrements mlO Nigeria. m this regard, u policy of three years muluple cnuy Visa has been approved , while in extreme caaes, visa can could be ISSUed at pomlS of enuy to genume bustness people. Also all our foreign miSSIon are mandated to streamhne In uance of visas 9.'lthtn 48 hours, to businessmen and ."Omen ," AsIuru ... d He, however, call on South Afnca government to rcaprocate the Nigeria government visa pobcy to encourage fnendJy business relationship betwcc:n the two couotncs .
Nigerian Consul..Qeneral, Okey £muchay II8ld the dialogue was a follow up to the agreement reached between Nigeria and South Afnca dunng the BI·Nauonal CommJUlon held In Cape Town in May. Nlgena is a huge country Wlth lot of opportunices; I call on South A!nca investors to tap into the incenUvcs gI'IeD by Nl£Cf18ZI government to foreign investors and ll1vest 111 the NIgerian economy " There IS need fot regular dialogue ~ the two countnes to engage each other and strengthen the much needed trus t and coUaboratlon towards building stronger economic rcJalionatup, .. Emuchay saJd Chief E::Itccuuvc OffiCC:T of N18cna. South Afnca Chamber of Commerce, Dianne Gamcs, m her remarks, ....d Nigena and
South Africa have lot to gam from each other She, however, empbaSlsed the need fot trust, cordial econOmiC and pohtical relationship between the two countries
Govt urged to make port operations less expensive takeholders in the Mantlme sectOT have urged the Federal Government 10 formulate polices that __-auld make operauons III Nigerian pons leu cxpcnSlVC The stakeholders, who made the call m xpanlte mtCfV1ev... WIth the News Agency of Nigeria CHAN) m Lagos, said that the measure would rank Nlgcna among the best 20 nauons in the world by
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2020 Emcka Apan., DtreCtor of Pubbcity, National Council of Manag:ma Dtrcctor of ucenacd CUstoms Agents. SBld that It ...s not about malana polices but ensunng that the polle es ""-ere Implemented inlde is • thing that has to do WIth cost and thai IS why compama aJl over the world are looiang for when they can get the Icnr.ut costs and _-hen they set It, they tend 10 patronix that place.