THE NATION THURSDAY, AUG UST 16,2012
12
World Bank liable for corruption, says Falana Afm. E; rush
ADVISEO IIOUdes and d ............cw ........ the World Banl: anaits rdatro nro-culonial Westl"rn financial institutiOIlS ;m the cause Of the fnduric mrruplion in Nigeri:t. r:.Cll~ lawyer, Femitalana (SAN) has
""'In a review oil¥ ~t re-
port by the Wurtd Bilt\k,. which
iIcpided Nigerian bo..l5ine:ss environment as hhduy corrupt. Fa1ana (SAN) ail the World
Bank. the Int!lT'lolti:::nal M(JIlo
ctafy Fund (111 IF) and other- re-
lated financia l Institutions should lake the bllnle for the endmUccorruption ,.therthan issuing ~ 0 11 the corruption in the cotlf\trr The World Barn ~ had daimecI. that 80 fU ('efI1 ol Ni· geian busin£s5e. tribe goyemment officials b) facilitate
deals. While admitting tha t Nigeria remains the most at-
lractive in\-estment dcstin.I.tion
etary Fund ruined the Nige-
the report noted the proclivity . . ....." "'"
rian economy mmpletely and destroyed the mcntity Of the society. Wilh retrenclUnent 01 workfors. abalition of marUI:-
FaIana (SAN) said although the latest report 00 (DITUption by the global bank mlIy be an uilderstatement of the rate of mrruption in Nigeria. the gIob..l1 bank has faiJed to own up that it! polkies were the causes
ing boa rds, commercialisation o f sodal services, sale of the a5Sets of the nation. trade liberalisalion, currency devillua tion and <i SAP """
According to him, while there was mrruplKln in Ni~ ria up to the 19!1ls. social servkes were not 50 ~t at the time because the Federal
"'He....decried the hypocritical
in
~~ among Nigerian
oC"'~
Government placed emphasis
on building an ~itarian 50~ in line with ihe extended I.mily"""" of AIriou-.. "'However, the inboduction of the Structural Adjustment ~ (SAP), which was insti~ted by the World Bank and the International Mon-
other dangeroU5 component!!
po,,,,,. ""'""
the order or the aay. The middle dass was wi(ied oul while the manufacturinst s«-tor beame extinct," Filana
na~ofthe '62ht' againstcorruption of the \'YorkfDank ard other--related Western 6nandaI institutX:Jno; and SO'"-emmenls, pointing out that these institutions and governments have CUltinued to be the havms lor
=.=n~rard
• Flo m lefl: Mr Bas hom Ad ~n l,1, CEO, ConJumer Oi. lribullo n N~lwolb " Su"lcu . "d Mr S unil Ih inAf." G~n l: .... 1 Mot" .ger, LPG Oand o Pic. durin g O. ndo'. t.unc:.h of 'O-Cu al ),ou r doo... l ~p' tnlllali ..., . 1 Ihe Oa ndo Igbo b; A lllnS Sla ti on. Ikorod u mad, ...
,Of.
Fed Govt spends N464m to boost cassava production
T
HE Fedelll Government hilS srent N464 million to rolSt assan production in lhf ClUntry. lh! Desk Head.(J5ii1va 'Value Chain, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural [)e.:elopment. Ademola Efun to),e, stated this in Laga!.
By Dll niel Esslet
Ionne5 (MT) by 2020, he staled. To reverse tfw: trend, he said
He said Nigeria spent N635billion on wheat importation lind that the import rate was growing at 13 per rent yearly. It is estimated that the nation's annlllll. wheat import! bill will hit 17 million metric
the government would su pport fanners who produce aops that could be USI!d assul> stitulf5 for- whentln bread. Lagos Stale Commissioner fOf Agriculture and Coopefatives, "Prirv::e Gbolahan lawai,
said the gO\'munent has resoh'ed to enrowage dorrestic substitution for wlleal f-Ie saki the United States is l'adng il!l WOf$t drouSht in 100 years. The Implication of this 15 that the pric'e of whea t would rise by al least 50 pel" cent, and Nigeria. if not for the policy of
wheat substitution,. would be importing inflation, a situation tha t woul d make th~ econom,Y, vulnerable. He saKI the NlUon needs an aggressive and improved po> dUction of cassava to leverage the di\."erSwed use of cassava
flour.
He said the government is
GECliZ YearsINTERNATIONAL ,COLLEGE in Nigeria offeting Founda(onProgrammes hiving placed over 1000 students into our pattner Unl;ersify)
COLLEGE OFFERS Inlenlatiollal Degree Foundatit. Pntramllt Foundation PrDgralime
expanding the foIe of cassava frOm beiri"g just a staple food
for human wnsumptkln. to an efficient industrial aop, adding that ~os wouJd provide incentives To enroura~e farmers 10 increase cultivation and ~uction of cassava. One way to acrueYe this is to connect cassava fll rmers to buyers and prod~ to improve their InCOme and pn> vide a reliable source of raw malerials to industries. He said farmers would be trained on better cassava farm-
Pre·mallers Programme (3_ _ criI for
ORMER chairman, Nig~rian Extractive Inaustries Transparency Inilia live (NEtTI ), Prof Asisi A$ob ie, hasSo1id Nigeria cannOI be descr ibed as an oil rich country, as its OJpila per income is very low compared with otner petrolNm exporting countries. Speaking in Abuja al the inaugura llon of Media Ini-
F
~::~:~:~:/I"ilnsr:d~~~ii~~ Eulllulloo "'.. lillie logos, .ot HIIUIIt 1ft. IlI1jo
cHlerslleln:
t
Admission FOIIDS are anilabl! al tlilSecenters: 48Saki ~ttoIo
r."" SIOO l!lIol,
logos. E""'~
r~: OI7RI !I1,~ _ 12 i :+7~ O8Ol4llS17, 08014115525, DI034711m
laboration with the FederalGovftnment through theGrowth f.nhancBnm1 SUpport (GES), lawai said f;)rmen would be given new cassava varieties thai are highyielding. Otddin that the nrw varieties ha\'e ~ OJpacity 10 in~~ yields to 40 metric tonn<> .... """"The Tedv\icaJ Ad\'l5eI" to the Minister of Agricu lture and Rural lJre\'elopment. Cassava Va lue Chain, Mrs Toyin AdetUl'1jl, said government is facilitating the unportation of 700 compact. milts; wlUch will decentralise p rivat~ sector milling of ..... heat and mixing and prOduction ol prem!x(UJ1posite cassa\,,.IloUr, to be.sold ~ol'ds.master bakers and
Nigeria not oil rich, says ex-NEITI chair
P"IIIHS Inlo MB_1n Bu!Inoss II1d Comp\iingl
lAOOS
ing husbandry and fadlities to a rmdy Il\iU'ket. In c0l-
aca55
!BW, 'OliTIllIiCOUI1 No 1N~ SIno!, """~P1 PloI I5111DIu lI>ao'jo Roo\ OII_x.. tns<o<,
..
lid GIll.
PooIIlwMI. Tt_ ~~SIi2996,
Opp.AIIIlCM By """ Bot I!ost I Til: 010)4732731,0103311091'
(MlTEI), he no ted.: "Contrary to the popular notion, Nigeria is not among the topmost petroleum rich countries." H~ said of the world 's top 40 per capita petroleum produ cers In 2003, Nigeria ranked 37'"', staling that in that year, the five most petroleum-rim counlries, on a per capila bilSis, were Qatar, United Arab Emirate, No r-
w~~ !7:t"!!ch'd r~~;'t lin
ave-rage of JOO ~m!I' of oil equivalent or more per h8d in 2002 / 2003, adding that ,. newly emergent top producer is Equatorial Gumea, which occupies the sixth p0sition. He said N igeria's petroleum prod udion in 200J WilS equivalent to onIY-',;i;:.I~;' reb of petroleum ~
pe~r:
.
-
From John Olikhe n ua, eve ry Nigerilln comeOlred with a Gross Domestic Product of $BOOyer capita in the same year. He said if what each Nigerian can get from petroleum is N21 ,OOO pe- annum. were the net nvenue to be shart"d equally among Nigerians, it means Ihal Nigeria ca.nnot be transformed by pe troleum alone. In her remarks. the NEITI Ellecuti\,(' Sec re ta ry, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, urged MlTEI 10 serve u a strong independent p latform for effective dissemination of NEJTI au-
~~~~t.s~~hee :;S:n ~~~: pendent platform for public feedback and provide com-
~l!i~obifi~~~~~rm
for $0The Nigeria's Country 0\redor of the World Dank, Francosise Marie- Nelly. said the bank looks forward 10 seeing MITEI taking advantage of the NEtT! Act 10 convey the key mes5ages of the audit repor l 10 the people, s ialing that with MITEI , NEm will be able to participate in the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) debate in accordance with intemahonal best