II
SI
es
Moneywatch P23
Compulife P25
CBN's cashless economy and the aftermath hurdles
Overviewing Nigeria's ICT and state of insecurity
IAEA tasl<s Nigeria, others on food
production, preseroation Govt to adopt nuclear energy option
From FJorene. la'1IrBIlCII, Abuja
' " 7111-1 /'eCUrrt'nt farm pro-
VVduct losses In Nlgeriil, the Interna t ional Atom ic Energy Agency (IAEA) h as urgei) th eFederill Government a nd Oth er African cou nt ries to m ove from mere tC'<:h n ology . achievement to utilisation ofsame- for food produaion and prt'Serviltl on. Already, the Federal
US. may prolong record stimulus programme
Go\'emment hu declared prepartdntss to adopt tht' uSt' of nude,)f radi.ltion 10 boost agricultural prodUCt' as
Food security will be enhanced with the full utilisalion
of radiation processing in the food produc-
aSITilteglcfoodsecuntyffit'.lSure. The agt'ncy anv.aSRd fo r the utiliSollion of r.lIdlation
tion and preservation, which fanners have great account of loss.
process for crop yirold and
and
food pr~ rvatlon ilS tht country losn farm produ~ likt grain, tuber, fruits ilnd other perlshilble fum produ~ annuillly to th e- rune of JO to 50 ptlUnt In post hilrWSL
Sptilktng rt'«ntly in AbuJa
at a workshop on Technical
Economic
Studlt's
R~ul rtd fo r tht Estilblis hmt n t of Rad iildon Processing: Ttchnology Tr.msfe-r,'tnelAEArt'prt'Sent.1. tive, StiJ,nislilw Pigon noted that Nlgeriil cJalmtd to ha~ pionee:~ fildiation techno logy In the region but had not
lsa rio n of radiation pruct'S$Ing In me food production and p~Mlk," which fannen have grt'at account of loss.He oplained that tht'dt'tt'ri· onticn of grain p~ervatio n and harvests are done from last season to the next one In Euro~ncountJiel'a ndsame
moved to tht' econo mic benefit ofsamr..
produn prtSt.rved by radla· tlon Ul' sold ill ilil Rasons
According him, propit forus so much on technology ilnd un consclowly ignortd the- commerciill bene-fit that wi ll make the di scovery mort'
without ilny loss of nutritnt. "Thtworkshop,orgil nisrdby the Ni~erta n Atomic Energy Comm,ssion,lncoliabol"illion wtth collilbol"iltion wtth lAEA and African Regional Co-optratiw: Agrrtment for Rrsea rch Developmenl ilnd Tfilinlng
attraeti\'~.
He said: "Food security will beenhanced with the fun utll-
~~~~~~~~--~TM~~~rumr-~
rt'latw to nuclear science- and teC hnology (AFRA1 WiU aimed ill se- nsl t lSing Sla keholders in tht counrry and th~ region on the establishmC' nt and utilisation of atomIc e ne- rgy cenlre for food. h ea lth and other bene-nt accrue-d from non-thenna l procesSd. The Chltf ExrcutiVC' omc~r, NAfC. Dr. Fra nklin Osaisal dedartd tht gO\"emmC'JIt was taktng atra musurt' at opti· mising the systC'm with the C'stilbllshment o f Ga mma Imdation fad lll)' NAEC boss stressing the
CONTlNUEO ON PAGE 16
'T1-1E United States (U.S.) .1 Federal Reserve Chairmiln. Ben S. Bernankt, will probilbly dtlilY the ct n· m l b.tnk's exit from record sti mulus. tco nomisLS said In a survey. giving the nagging eco nomy iI boost without reso nln g to additional uset purchas6. About 79 per cC'nt of 58 economlsLS expect Bcrnanke to sustain the Fed balilnce sheet at curre nt IC'vels untt! October or liller, compared with 52 ptr cen t who he ld (hill viC'w before the Fed's Iilst policy mC'C'tlng in April, according to a Bloomberg News surwy conducttd last
Wtt<
About 90 per cent of thosC' surve-yed prcodicttd the Fed wlil walt unlll th ~ fourth qUilner bC'for~ dropping iLS
~:fo~!~ ~:;~~d~C'$t ri~~ BernilnkC' and his feJ!:wpolIcy makers h av~ g iven no indlcuion th e-y' li t lghttn policy anyt ime soon. With TTl.1nufacturing slowing a nd unemployment Incnasi ng during MilY to 9.1 per cent, th e- ~ chiC'f said this momh g rowth Is - fru stratingly s low,~ and Ri chmond ~ea J>residC'nt leffrey liIcker said the economy could be -stuck below trend fo r somC' tJm~.~ "Th t longer thP"J signal they wilt be o n-hold for an tJltC'ndcod period , the)' ilfe d~ f"'eto easlTlg,M said COIrI Rlccadonna. sen io r u.s. ~con o mln at Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. In New Yo rk. Expectiltlons the ce n tra l bankwiUdC'lilya policy rt'VC'rsal hC' lp reduc~ lo ng-ttrm " interts t riltes and spur growth. he sa id. The FfllC'fill Open Milrktt Committee will begin iI ~ dilY meeti ng (odilY In Wilshlngton ilnd issue iI
CONTINUro ON PAGE 16
PresidenT, Assotlatlon of " frican Tn InSTitutes (MTIs), Princ~ Rasaq Ouadli Oelt); PresidenT, Chartered InSTit ute 01 Tau'ion of NJ,eria. John Jegede; and Deputy Vt c~-Pr,sidenr. Or. Teju Somarln, durin, 'M meeTin& of prllSidmts ollllDtiMI Ins.itutes .nd head. 01 revenue agencies InAlrlca, on Th~ formltion of AATI!, In u,os. yeslerdly.
Oil firms default on sales account by $15 Om, says NEill From John otIji. Minna
o,
l and gas companies
mily have ddaulttd o n t hC'i r respectiv~ books betwet:n 2006 OInd 2008. as the Nigerian Exmc(iVC' Industries Transparency Inltliltlvt (N Em ) dlsclosC'd that about $150 millIon (N23.3 billion) w~ re una ccounted for In the organisr dons' SillesopefilUons during thepc!'rlod. . The Chief ExtCUti~ Office:r of NEm , Mrs. Zal n ilb Ahmed
who madC' this d isclosure In Mi nna. Niger Stale. yesterday during a o ne dilY capacity' building workshop fo r civil society o rgiln isil uons from the Nonh Ce ntl"ill, said tht figu ~ WilS th e o utcome of a udll reports by th e Ex[ractiv~ InduSl'rles Transp;t~ncy InltliltiVC'. According to her, the audit rt'poru M\"e facilit;lted th~ process of reco\"efj' of signifi(CInt amounLS o f undtrpald ~nuC' fo r statt and helptd Imp rove thC' dom~tlc ell·
mate for foreign dlrec( Invt"SI' ment She polnlw out that NEm was fulfilling iLS rwocl.ue to d evelop iI frilmework for tr.mspartncy ilnd ilccounlil· blllty In th e reponing and disclosur~ by illi extr.actlvC' Industry companiC'S of reve- nue due to be paid to the fflt~ra1 Govtrnmtn t. -NEm is to ensurt' that all pdyments dU t to the ~efill CovernmC'nt from enractlVC' ind ustry (ompanits art' du ly made~, strC'Sslng t hat from
thC' 2005 iludlt rC'~ru. a tot,,1 of 9t7milllon burtls of crude 01\ wtrr produced . out o f this, the- Ce ntral Bilnk o f Nigeria rtCtJ\"ed from oil a nd gas sector, iI net revenue of S28bllIJon ilnd iI va luC' o f N790m illlon. One of 1hC' physlcill findings o f the audit reportS. she sald was that the quantity o f 01 j produced during the period under rniew w;u not known ilnd no ~em fo r measuring prod uction, o th er tha n through monitori ng tennl-
nal receip ts. ShC' sald thalbetweC'n 2004 to dille; the NEm has betn ilble to produced th fl!C' reportS on Nigeria o il ilnd gas Industry, ild(Jingthilt theR rt'pons ha\"e bet n ilDl~ to hold companies into accou nt.1ble-. She there- fore called on com· panles, rele v.l nt gove rnment ageneiC'5. the civil society orpniSiltion ilnd thC' citizens to suppon NEm aud it, UR the information genefilted by thC' audit support sound ildvocacy for good governance.