THE NATION
WEDNESDAy ;,,_A o;U ;.;G ;.;U;.; ST ~ 8'c.; 2;;: O';; 2 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _" _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _--~-_ _ _ _~ 7
NEWS Dana disowns fake drugs From J Ilt! Orlnt un l ln, "~ HE Gener.tI Manager (GM). Dana Group of
T
Compani!.'s.
Mr.
Prasen jil Banerji. has debunked thealltgation that the pharmaceutical aim of the company is invo lved in the manufacturing of counterfei.l/substandaid drugs. He ';tid the company would nen:r oomprorru.se its IU$5l4uldartl .. was f'l!i!cting 10 the ~I 0 Mr. Qk{kt: Boy and his wi fe" who WL'TC arrested
by officials.,r th National Dr ug Law EIJurcemenl Ag~ (NDI.EA) in Minna, thi> Nlg(!r Sla te capital, with fake drugs bearin! Dana labels. He debunked Ihe allegation tha i some of the rompany'sstaff SUPI,Ue..1 tvesuspeCI: with its !abe s. The GM Slid d ealing in
coun lerfeil / s u b:;langard drug.~ amounts 10 E'COfIomic sabOtage ami the company will ne\'er emlanger the
12 tertiary institutions get N25b . t fund speC!al nnpac T
HE 'roml Go",mm,"1 ho! · PP'O"'. N2S bi llion for the 2012 Specill Hig h Impact Programme Fund. Twelve tertiary ins tit utions will benefit from the
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They include: Moshood Abio la University. Lagos; The Polytechnic. Ibadan; Anambra. State Un iversity. UIi; Alvan Ikoku Federal Coll ege of Education (A IFeE); University of Cala bar (UNICA L) and Delta Stale College of Education, Agbor. Others are Kebbi Sta te Un iversity of Science and Techno lol Y' Alie ro; The Fed~1 Po ylechnic. Kauran Nameda; Modibbo Adama Unive rsity of Technology, Yo la; Bauchi State College of Educa tion. Azare; Benue Slate Universi ty. Makurdi ilnd Federal Polytechnic. Nassarilwa.
'No dispute among cocoa
farmers'
0
-Two more fed varsities underway From Gbengl Omokhunu, Abul_ Ind Vincent Ohonbamu. GomM Minister of Education Prof. Ruqqayatu Ru lal announced thiS Yesterday in Abuja during ' the Terhary Education Trus t Fund (TETFund) Annual Slrnlegic Planning Workshop for tertiary institutions. She said the benelldaries were selected on the principle of one university and one polytechnic or coll ~e of education per ~eo-poIJtic.a1 zone. The minISter ~d the allocalion is meant fo r !'~ grammes upgrdde an the unptO\'ement of U'It' teaching and learning environmenl Sle said eacfl of the univer-
sities got N3 billion while the polytechnics and colleges of ooucation got N 1 billion each. Urging the insti tutions to apply the funds judidousl y. tne minister appealed to ins titutions that a re Jet to benefit from the fun to be patient. At the matriculation of the pioneerin g st udents of the Federal Uni versity. Kashere (FUK), Combe State. Prof. Ru fai said the IllY establishin~ the ni ne new federal
~~;:i~:~I:es is Go"'od\t~~f Jona than's assent.. She said a N3.S billion takeoff gran t has been released to mdi. of the nine universities. The minister sa id the
in~sai~hele=~
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~ produce g raduates. who are aware of, appreciate, respect and celebrate diver-
s''.rI~:~1 :~~d~~
Federal Governmen t has manda ted the institution to focus on agriculture, education and entrepreneurs hip.
he~~;:~:~~~~t manu-
factureor sell sul'5landard Of expmdrug... beolluseweare rommoitted 1(. sa~ry;ng our customers' n1!e(h" Attributing thto 1'l!5r of syndicak's who fake 1I ~ companys product:: to th ~ high derriand fOr Dana Phi ~ti· caI's pruducts. lOanerji said: ""Ve are CUI1'1,.'Illl ' l'rodudng Ie55 tI~n tl1l' de ~ nd of our customf'rs, S(> tht question of ha.\'in~ expin :d on.g.s cannot anse. ~We .re bdn! r raised by th e National I I@en cy for Food and Drug "J.ministraIion.nd Control (HAFDAq on a qUMterlv lxsi ' ,md they h.we ~ i iving us dean
Court restrains Masalla from parading self as APGA Ch air " A
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N
ATIONA L l..eader of Nig<!rian Ad"i!.nce Party (NAP) Dr. Tlmji B.. ithwaite was sighted .t the Stale House yesterdilY where he reportedly me t" ith Presiden t Goodlllck lonathan. Blilithwilite, ~ n advocate of th e con\'('Cati OI, of a Sovereign Natiooal Conference UNC), sa id lh.! nation would not dislntl ·grate. The former rr.!sidenti a l candidate 01 NAP. who was dad in hisll.tde rT ark threepiece green ka ftan. arrived at th e "Villa at 'i.:lOp m and left about an hC1u' later.
N Ab"i,HighCo"" yesterday restrained
Athaj.i Sadi9 Masalla fro m p~radmg himself as the Nalional Chairman of the All Progressives Gra nd Alliance (A'PGA). pending the determination of a suiL " 0r O n Ju ' y ' 6 • a racllon AI'~A. led by the Deputy Na tional Chll.mnan (North) Massala. sacked the NaI Ch . hOlla aIrman. Chief Victor Umeh. The fa ction also sacked Ih, N.Uon,' Alhaji S.,ni Shinkafi. over a llegations of spending par ty funds without due
5",,,,,,.
pr~ .
The Masalla-Ied fa ction of
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lional brelches in the running of APGA's affairs. It appOinted Masalla as Na tional Chairman Ind Mr. Morgan Anyal~i. the Na-
Iional Vice-C ha irman (South) as D;epuly Chairman. Jus lice Hus sein Baba Yusuf ordered Masa lla. Anyalechi "not to take any Sle!? toward colwoking any nationa l stale or locargo" emmeni executive com mit: tee meeting of the party" . 10 a "motion of urgency~ • •
filed by his counsel. Chief PatriCK Ikwueto (SAN), Umeh p ral'ed the court to res tra in /'. asalil's fac tion b r • mem e rs rom para inR themselves as the pa rt y'S national orficers. U h •• h me urgo;:u t e cou rt to hold tha t hiS~purportedsusp ension~ was uncons litutlon al •
Jus ti ce Daba-Yusuf re Slrained Mlsalla from expelling any APGA member ~nding th e determination of the motion on no ti ce which was rlXed for hearing ~ A"gust 16. H e or • en.'U _. • th at a au bsri" luted service o f all originat. ing processes in the sui t be served o n Masal\a and Anyalechi by pub liShin g them in TIlt Sun newspaper.
Minister to unveil e-govemance portal
INlSTER of Interior Abba Mo ro will unveil th e e-govt'rnance portal. eCitiblz, to st.'-keho lders a t a forum in Ulg05 soon. The initiative is a Public Priva te rartnership (I'PP) between theCitiz.enship and Business Department of the ministry and Anchor Dalaware Solutions (ADS). a ~p focused on the pro\'ision of world-class Informa tion Communication and Technology (lCT) solutions.. Speaking wilh reporters in hisoffice in Abuja,
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ADS Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mr. Joel Adi said: "'The project wiU revolutionise the w;ly gO\'emment business is cond ucted, impro\'ecommerceand industry,createjobs and 3CCelerate the economic deve lopment of the country. !he portal will er\SlIrean easy flow of data, integrate and automa te the operations of the dq>artment and streamline its naturalisalion. dtlzenship. marri~ge regis try and expa triate quota nllllagement systems."
'Ri ce pro d ' 11 hi t 6 ' tonnes by 2015' _______ uction ,4m metric HE Federal Government y~t(rday said the prOduction of 10cally milled riCl! Nou ld hit 6.4 miUion metrIC lannes annually by 21)15. Toid\J~·ethl.~, t hego\'emment would attnkt 100 Iii"""
T
ill
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. .,-
""" m, '~,- if'to ; COWl , try. paIlS (lorn .:,1.15 er nee farms Il. roulIJ th e mills and
capital, CFAN spokesman Mr. Sunday Fidelis 5aid; "The minister's claim that we are divided is "ery laughable. I am from the Southsouth and aU cocoa producing states in the rq;ion are in support of the a5S0Ciation's struggle with the Federal Government. ~We were not consulted before the ministry pur-
~:~r:n~:~~~i~~e
'We won't allow
!I(uomoll,
in Akure. the Ondo State
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• From Idt: Thl! EXI!(Uli .. IO SIO("'I.I,/, N.lion", t Unl .. u si llea C.... ml.. lon. Pro(. Ju tiu, Okol ilO; Prof. Rubl ",nd TETFund Eucuti"I! Sltu,.t",..,. Pro f. M ", hm oo V.kubu.,.Yl!Jtu d",y. MIOTOAIIAYOM lfAYESE
V ln c.n~
.' " tho with "'''"''''''Speaking ~rters
are not acti\'e enoud\. TIleir activme5S can onI)'last for weeks after they are apy,lied to cocoa trees. \Ve are demanding for Ultimax Plus, because we Ire fa miliar with this chemical and it is not harmful to ou r land. It wilJ be active for O\'er a month.
,"'"
From
dation of Nigeria (CFAN) yesterday sai(l It is not (tivided. It was reacting to a report credited 10 the Minister of A riculture Akinwwni A~esina, in which the minister berated the fann· ers for rejecting chemk;als pwdw<d 1m- ""'" by tho governmen t. Adesina said only ill faction of the as5Odation. comprising Kogi. Kwara and Southwest states,
=~~~o'bfor
bills.~
anybody tu destroy Nigeria'
nlE Cocoa Farmers ~
acquired, such lIS Ridomil. Funguram and Champ DP
He hailed the the NDLEA and NAFDAC fc r :heir vigi-
Banel'ji ~ure. 1 .he public that the quality 01 the company's products \il S not been oompromLo;eJ.
......
From l eke Akeredotu.
president has app roved the es tablishment or two more federal universities. They are to be setup next yea r. Governo r Ibrahim Dankwambo, who was represented by his deputy. Mr. Tha'anda Ru bai. safd the slate government will s upPQ:rt the university. FUR V'~Uor Prof. Mohammed Farouk said the institution Ilim5 to become an
From Ernes t Nwoko to, AbeoIw!~
equi p fanners with the righ t seed5 and technology. Minis ter for Agriculture " " A. esma spa ke Ak Inwuml yesterday at Oriokuta in Owode Egba. Ogun State. wh.ile inauguntinga Cottage Rice Mill at 5..K.F. Farms. • A esi na. who was repre-
sented ~~taministry's Permanent ry,Dr."Ezckiel Oyemomi, said : ~Nige ria is the world's second importer ofm s..-vl;0:fabo I N36S billion" u.. ...!'"",·bou~ twO"-'lli"u "" metric tonnes of milled riee lU\Ilulllly. We s .......d N l bilUondaiTy onnafi;;'·porIation. ~Thl! interna lional rice market is volat ile. Nigeria' s
largest supplier, Thailand. is poiSed to increase the price by O\'ff SO percenl Hence, if we do not grow our own rice. our lmt':,! bill may also go " p b, r-' nPr~' ~ .... ,L. "To encourage local rice production. we na\'e starled with the Growth Enhancement Support (GES), where .". " r "ghl ;""""",mgs --'1 " u.., l."6ueo n IS U
taken 0U"e of. Hitherto. propie were just planting grains. w ithout real ising tfiat they wou ld not get the expected r.iel d . We wil l ensure that armers gel ult< COfTKI ~ to fad lilate a higher yield . "'The second part is the distribution of subsidised fmi Users and other agro<hemi'_ ' " cal:> to armers.
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best chemicals for our farms. We cannot be paying 50 per cen t for these che micals ~' hile the fedeJilI aod state g~vem· ments areyaying 25 per cen t each. Fidclis urged the minisfer to yield 10 their request.
Nine consuls get letters of commission From Auguiline EhlkJoya, Abuj_ THE Federal Government yesterday presented letters of commission to nine consuls and honorary consuls. The consuls include . Charge d ' Affairs of Smithem Sudan Da\'id 8uom Choat; United Nations (UN) Women R~resen ta live 10 Nigeria and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOW AS) Ms Grace Ongile and Country Represcro tative of the fntemalional Fund for Agricu ltural [)e\'elopment (I FAD) Ms Atsoko Tada; Others are Honorary Consul of Uberia in [.18OS Dr. OpfAl Benson; ConsulGeneral of Spain in Lagos M," c'roli~., M.n,,'" Alvarez and Honorary Consul of Finland in Lagos Mr. Kingsley Akinroye. The rest are Honorary Consul of SIO\'akiK in Lagos Mr. Ramesh Ha Ih"lraman; Ms. V"ICIona " A kyean~ng of the Uniled Nations ropulation Fund (UNFrA) and the Consul General of Saudi Arabi .. i~l Ko"o, "'," "1"i'". B,"n Muha~med EI aillani.
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