mE GI!ARIlIAN, Fr1da~ luly .. 20U
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Autowheels P41
~.=d Business Travel
New Range Rover Evoque on world stage
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Operators explore alternatives JET AI price surges
Nigeria sustains profile as top global cassava producer FnJIII a.s. CDfIt GpmI, AIIfdMa '" lIGERlA may haW' sustained 1 ~ its ..lnklng as I~ worlcfs top cassava produ~r, accountIng for 19 ~r cent of me global
output The COUntry also pro. duces 35 per eml Of the 101:;)1 rn~~on of the commodity The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Itgr1culture, A~kula
( UNM8 ~
Pror.
Oluwafemi Olaiya 8.tlogun. who disclosed this at the w~k· end in Abeokuta. Vl P~ the vinv Ih;1I wi th improved f.mIlIng ll"Ch nol~ llierountryGln dou ~ the production leveL He spokeil( theo handi ng over (('remon)' of "capacity
stR'ngthenlng
Equ lp~nl·
to
farmers and ~e:ssor group5 under the u Ss.Jva Mding V.llue for Afrl[,qC:INA) programme. l he gelu~. according to 8.Jlogull Won borne OUI onhe rt .. 1isallon Ihilt fa rme rs In Nigeria ilnd ArTiea ntti.! ImprOYfti trchnology for qooll.
ty.tSSUranceand impl"O\'td pro-
ducthitl'
.,herr is an urgent nrfti to adapt their (AfJ1can fanners) fann ingsys[emtolhechanging circumSloances under wlllcfl they produce and prOCe:§!; their products.- B.1logun explained l1},'1t th is had become ineviuble gi~n the inc~asing population gTO\\1 h r.ue ,)lId pre»ll~ on iI\'aililble land. "As a specialised uni1.oersily wIt h ma nd ate In teaching. rt'St,uch and extension W~ ha~ O\I!'r the ~rs ~n 111)'01ved In various projeas Ai m~ at Sl:em· ming the tide of increasing (ootf"shoffilge. Starvation, morfbund tcollOfTlic situation and unemployment; he statal Headded:-we ha\'e made ~ eral elTons towards irK~a.sing food SKunl): improving rural li\~lihoods and promotingagticulture ~ ,In mgine ror propoor KOnomic ~\th. To lIlis end, lIle univemty has collaborated with organisations and Institutions both WithIn ami outside Nigeria to achltyC food sewril}l"
Dirm:tor, Sp~cJll Services, Nilenan upon Prvrna! ion CouncU (NEPC), mll\de Ib raN'm (riat..): Natlon.1 President, N il~an Assocl'llem 01 Chlmbtrl of Cammtfu, Industry, Mines and A(rieulllrrl, Dr_Herbllf1 Memola Ala,..: and Ikpresenra rivt of The Uniled Nallons Entity for Gendn Equality.nd Empowtrmenl 01Women, Amy Oyekunle, dtnln,l N[PC's 5I1kehold.s' larum on lelian plan formulation lor leceier.lI!ed illlplenlenlltio" 01 ".tiollli uport strarecv lor lab crelllo", held In 1.10101, yesterday_ PHOTO: ADEHrRAH AYODELE
Miners bemoan state of insecurity Many artisanal miners have quit the mining sites due to insecurity at the sites, They have gone 10
According to him, social amenities In those areas are easi· Iy O\.'er-5tre lched and mineral easUy eWaU5taL lake up menial jobs and Ihis is nol healthy for Ihe deposits He apresse<1 concern 0Ytt govmining sector_ ernment policy inconsistency In "Many .:InisanaJ miners have led to the low level of foreign the SKtor .:Ind the rrequent changes in the heads of min· quit lIle mining sites due to InVestors' visit to Nigeria. According to him. prospec- tmies and parastaul ;agencies. Insecunty <It Ifle sit ts. They "FundIng capacity l! a I1\djor h,)\oe gone 10 !ilke up mmlal ti1.oe foreign pi1rttlers now pn'jobs and this Is not healthy fu r fer other litrlcan countnes where there Is peace and secu- ~~I~g~~o~rw~~~~tl ~~k the miningS«tor. "Many of t hese artisanal min- rity o r IivC$ .and properties wa nt was Inad~uate for the smalkcale miners. It only tng. guarantrfti. ersa~ lhoseyou nowseeln lIle Shehu noted tll.,t the securi- gered their interest to mine in cities as water vendees. truck pushers ilnd ok"da riders. This tysituatlon has also led looverNews Agency of Ni~I'id, In los h.ts erooomk implication on concmtratlon or mining oIctivon Wed'"nesday that many min- thecoun~" Shehu said. Illes In some places willl atten- many small-scale miners to ingsitl'S had been forced lociese He said th.at the poor s«uri- dant environmental ImplJca- mgage in mtgal mi ni ng actfvIdown due to Insecurit}t ties. ry situation In the coun try has tionson thecommunltics..
PJ1iElingering state of in§eCuriJ.ry In the country may !liM! taken Its loll on the nation's ntdging solid minenl sector, as operators 11iI\o'e naned deserting mining sites. due {o incesSOlnt attacks from unldentiOed 1000 0>< The m iners, who also compl.1ined abour pi1rlous infrastructure for operations, dm1ed fund pi1ucity ror their operatioN. Ninional I're:!iident of the Miners A$SocI.:luon of NigeJ1.:1 ( MAN~ San! Shehu, told th e
~~kr:rfu~~~~:~a~o~~
,he le.:ld poison incldem In Llmfna is a case in qlX'.lition here. We ~ la rge number of illegal miners.:lIKl most pans of lIle mIning activities were carried oul bylhem.~ he said. Shehu also urged the FWCTilI QMomment to revamp the railway system, 5a}ing that an effi· cient rail sc:rvices wuuld greally banst rninlngactlvities. 'Willl effective rail system. minerals can easily be transpaned to the pons foc export while industrial minerals for ' our local Industries will oIlso be tr.mspclrted \'lith ease. "On the whole, the rail2MeCONTINUED ON PAGE 16
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Grouphavrscaledapactrorthe cOnsO'Uction of AfrIca's biggest ferti lizer plantln F.doSute. The Pnsident of D.:Ingou~ Group, fJlko D..m~te and the Silipem Groups Nigeria Country to.larnger, who is ;also the Managtng Dll1!Ctor of Siilpem Contracting Nigeria Umlted, Giuseppe Sura ce, sIgned theil&!"ef'ment on behalr of th~r repeal'll! companies, In re~ or engineering works for Infr;astructure that will launch the construction or the biggest fertilize r proletl In
wi ll make ulecounuyselr-suffi. dent In fertilizer production. (hereby saving ittfle huge for· eign reserves p~nt.lv spent onlmportation ofrenifizer. WllIltheagreement,Saipemis to build fortheD.;mgol:eGroup a fertilizer plantfortheproduclion or7.700 lonnes perdayof gra nulated Urea, (two trai ns wllll a production Opacity of ),85D metric tons each per day), and It is ~ed to start production In 2014_ Theplant v.ri ll be the largest In AfrIca as Its dosestcompetilOf
.:Immonia and 10500 metnc tons per day or urN compared wi th the Oangole plants of 2,200 tonnes pt'r d;ay for AmmonIa ;and ),8S0 tonnes pertrainperdayoru~a.
The prolect. whIch will create thousands of direct and fOOiIl!Ct jobs in construction and rel.:lted fields. wi ll provide a major booSl to theagriculrural $COor by slgnIfiantlv red ucIng the Importation rertlliz· er In Nigeria and ultimately removing lIle neat for impons whm pl.:lntls In full prod uc-
or
monl\ DangOlesakf he strongIy shared tfie view of Pruldent Goodluck Jonathan. that the country should not be ImporTIng those thIngs WI! have Ule raw materials and natur.al adva n!ilge for produdng localIy ')nd fertilizer is one or such products. ,here is no reason why NIgeria should be Importing ft'ltilizer,' am happy that with thls ~mmt, by the time ou r plAnt Is completed and commissioned, the country will become self suffident In
p roduClS to other Afriun countries. ·Right n~ rannersare forced 10 utl1!ze whateve r fertilizer thatisavallableastheyhawno choice, but we need to know !hiItthf'fertilittr!hiln..il1 work In ligilwa Statt rt\.J}'notbe sultab e in Adamawa State, IS liley rt1.:Iy not have the same soli type and composItion. The same fertilizer you use for sorghum may not be lIle rertHIzer fOU wi ll use for sugar cane, DangottSiId. Hf'added:--nt~isnowaywt
tons of fertlliur through the pons. There are Issues of the Glpi1brlilles or the Pons and tran5~ffiltion and lIle capabllltyofuleporu. "Butwhereilrethepons1Even where you h.:lve the pons where are Ihe modem equIp. ment for their operations? We don'l have.:l good network of roads for ev.xuaOon anytime you ha'll! two or lIlree shi ps or rertlllz.erdocldng. traruponers will capitalise on the situation ;and continually Inru.ase the lmghtcharge-.