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S.top import duty on ink, papers Mf:::~:" Chris Alabi-donateslectui~ " ~un1e Publishers urge FG GOVerni~P ~Z~S:ic~r, theatre to Bow,en 'varsity Awosiyan, Lagos
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UBLISHERS have called on the Federal Government to remove import duty on paper, ink and other materials used in making books so as to reduc.e· the cost of production and m.ake it cheaper. The Chairman, Nigeria Book Fair Trust, Mr Samuel Kolawole, m ade the call recently in Lagos while addressing the press on the tenth ed iti on of the Nigeria Inte rnational Book Fair scheduled for May 9 -13, at the University of Lagos. Kolawole noted that "at present, government does not collect im'p ort duty on impor ted bo'o ks yet, government collects import duty on ink, paper and o ther ma teria ls used by loca l ublishers. Thi s makes 00 k s pu bl is h ed in Nigeria more It also mak es bucostly. yers to ' . pre f er l1nportatlOn to patronising local publishers."
d d h t eatre onate to ht e Vice Chancellor, Professor university by Mr C r is Timothy Olugbemiro, AI b' Ch . a 1, aHman, described Mr Alabi and Intercontinental Bank ·PIc. his family as good and The Visitor, Reverend · God-fearing people who Dr Ademola Ishola , love to put a smile on the commended the donor for faces of the less privileged his good gesture towards in the country . the univers.ity. According The donor; who was to him, the donor had set represented by Mr Bol a a pace for .. the Alabi , on the otcasion, undergraduat es of the stated that as one of the institution to emulate. alumni of Olivet Baptist "It is high time High School, Oyo in the Nigerian yo uths imbibed 60s, he had determined to . the culture of giving back support th e Nigeria to the society as a way to Baptist Convention's contribute toward s the efforts to build a world growth and development class university in the of their country, rather tountry, h ence, his than thinking. of what the famil y's decision to country would offer them. contribute to the physical .Bowen University is development of th e investing in the lives of . institution. futur e lead ers of this H e e njoin ed other country," he said, adding philanthropi s ts to that Alabi's attitudelo life support the development is worthy of emulation. of education, even at the Speaking in the same private lev el, · s tressin g . the· Pro-Ch ance IIor 0 f that government alone veIn, P. Ch ance11or, Bowen U:ruverslty, ' . I wo, P.roFessor Ade b'lSI'A debowe; al • From 1eft,TOth e ,univers ity ' an d cou ld not cope with the Vice Chancellor, Professor Timothy Olagbemiro; .General Secretary of the"' Ch airman, Governing education funding and th BaptsitConvention,ReverendAdemolaIsholaandthefamilyofChiefAlabi,at e Council, Professor Adebisi other 'c hallenges in the dedication of the BOO-seater lecture theatre donated to the university recently. Adebowale; as well as the society.
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Agric potential is far UN from being !~al}g~~~ A AB T.C
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give ourlqcal publishing industry the necessary s upport, we will co ntinue to spend our hard earned foreig'n exch ange on books that we ' can ,conveniently produce here in Nigeria. "In Ghana, there is no im port duty on ink, paper and other nia terials necessary for book prod u ction, " he ' pointed out, addi ng' "government also nee s to- . provide adequate irifrastructural facilities
such as adequate supply of electricity. There is a lso a need for government to be more decisive in the struggl.e against piracy. By... the time we eradicate pir~'CY, books produced .Ioca. lIy
would be cheaper and more );alitative than we now ave an d we would be on the way to a more qualitative education system." He said that the goveriunenthasnotbeen responding adequately to all the atfempts made
to get support for the Nigerian Inte rnational Book-Fair, adding, "as at now, we are not satisfied with the level of government involvement in the .organisation and promotion of . the Nigerian International Book Fair. "
condI tIOns a nd m~ssIve rural-urban mIgration of able-bodied youths. Professor Balogun stated this while opening a pre-season training workshop for farmers , organised by the university's Agricultural Media Resources and Extension Centre (AMREC). _ Represented by the Deputy Vice Chancellor,: Development, Professor Segun Lagoke, Balogun said in order to curtail the . eo rgCa noI'santI'oonaml i aCnd' constraints, there was an urgent need for the f 1· n s t l' t UtI' 0 n a I 'mtensl'f"IcalIon 0 constraints, which, extensi~n services and the according to him, led to ' provision of required rural und e r- ' support for enhanced employme~t, poor living productivity. off.armers. . . . . THE VIce C han cello r , University of Agriculture, AbeOkuta (UNAAB), - Professor Oluwafemi Olaiya Ba logun, has deClared that the potentials onhe ag ricultura I sector in contributing to the econOmic growth of the nation , is still far from being fully realised . He blamed .the h situation on in erent sociotec hnical ,
including the Visitor to the institution, Reverend. Ademol'a Ishola , who is the General Secret'lfY, Nigeria Baptist Convention, joined the principal officers of the institutionto inaugurate an BOO-seater lecture
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The vice chancellor pointed out that UNAAB has be.en responding to these demands through the remarkable progress of its tripodal mandate of Teaching, Research 'and . Extension Services, with direct focus on rural ' communities. . He described the preseason training as ' another step in the right direction, noting that UNAAB had, on an annual basis, been training selected farmers on different aspects of resource mobilisation, in preparation for the farming seasons. ' Balogun, who
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75 per cent farmin g population, is still ravaged by hunger and poverty. She ~Iamed the development on lack ·of fund, technical know-how, farming . equipment, unfavourable pricing of farm produce and marketing, among others. She ' assured the participating farmers from 21 villages ihat 'AMREC would work towards ensuring they benefited from the Federal Government's NI billion agricultural loan and usage pf tractors, which had been of concern to them. Speaking in the same vein, the Director of the
Re ear h (IFSERAR) s c , Professor Segun Osmowo, frowned on the lackluster happroach to farmm~ In t e South W~s t, saymg the Idea of r~lmqU1shmg farmmg to hued ha~ds, could not be prod';IctIve. Osmowo .observed that such attItude was resp.on slb le for the mabllIty. of farmers from the regIOn to produce pepper at appreCIable . . . commer?al quantity, ~us, dependmg on massIve ch fr th N rth pur ase. om e o . He saId as part of . ' efforts to check the menace, IFSERAR was 'Iookmg towards. encouragmg productIOn of portable machme as a hractlcal
'IrNfg~frTans. adViSed,'}O.·embr.acereadillg-C'ultUr.-e"l.1 ~~::;~;de:~~~!k ~n;~~~~~!:t~~~;:~~~~:~ :~~Il:~:;;ent to the farmers, urged the
• T h e Proprietor of !'inamdI. AZlkwe, . Nobel Laureate, Professor. lattertotakeadvantageof I llatmos Schools, Obafenu Awolowo, Wole SoyiriKa and late hu- the training to enhance I Ikotun Egbe, . Ahmadu Bello . and manri!,#s 'crusaders,G~ 1 their ski1ls and I Lagos ~ tate, Engineer Abubakar Tafawa FawehmmI and Tatl productivity. I Lateef 4digun, has ad- Balewa be~an., the Solarm. . I Earlier in her welcome I vised Nigerians to ex- sttu~gle for Nlgena s m"Today, our children do I address, the Director of pand their knowledge by dependence based?n not read anymore, instead, . AMREC, Professor .. readingpooks and jour- what .they read whIle ~hey concentf~te .their ef- I Carolyn Molami, while . I. nals in order to enhance . overseas. forts on how to perfect ex- I stressing the need for the "wisdom' and mmtal de- : ' "Our founding fathers ·amina tiqn. malpractices.1 training, lamented that I velopment, which could got to know freedom and other vIces . Some even l despite favourable then res ult to capital through SOlne of the books go to the extent of trymg to climate, abundant land I growth. , . they read ..They got their bri~electure~s, just to'p~ssl mass and teeming I Adigv.n stated this at ins piration from what. thelf exammalIons, h el farming population, of the theyreadinsomebooks,". added.. I Nigeria is st ill facing I the launching / maiden'\ edition of the he stressed. ., Ad Igun, h ow~ver, ap- acute food scarcity. I school magazine titled: 1 . tamenting the preva- pealed.1o the three-tierofgovAfolam ipointed out I 'The Magnate. len ce of mass failure in ernment to establish morel that with only five per ! . Going down memory examinations in some.' .public li~raries in all the 7741 cent farming population • lane, he revealed that higher institutions, he local ~overiunen~s ' in the. in the United States of I late nationalists like srud .m the past, stude~ts CO)lIltry, saymg this would I America, the country has . ~. ~L. Herber\ ' _ Macaulay, time read, which to revivethe _ _ ~,_ _ _ ~ _took __ _ to ~~~ _ _ _help __ _ _ _readinKcul_ _ _ d achieved food sufficiency , I . I .. ' ' ' . saw the .~,m~rgen~e of ·ture .among.Nigerians, ,.;"., .1 while Nigeria, with over .~
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