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WEDNESDAY. JULY 6. 2011
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Nigerians spend N630bn annually on food importation - Sanusi lfe~lIIyi
• 'Agriculture gets only 4% of annual budgets'
O fluba. AbuJa
The Gove1nor of the Cenlral Bank ol N.gerla. ML Lamido SanUSI . OIl Tue:sday. said thai NlQerians were spending it whopping N63(bn annually on the importation agricultural products.
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The CBN boss d&iosed this in Abuja ":hile delivering it keynote lKld~ at the stakeholdm' COI'Ifm:eoce OIl the NIgeria Incentive·Based Syslem for Agncultural Lending. Sanusi lamented tNt. despite the 45 pel" cent c.ontribullon of the agricultur<1l sector to the GI'OSS Domestic: Product. it was gelling a meager four pel" cent of the Federal Governmenfs IOIaI annual budgets. He pointed out that the anomaly. if not corrected. could hamper the current aciministratiori s quest to gro.... agria.Jlh.nal output by 160 per cent from N15.25tn to
fact tha! le5lllhan four per cent 01 the Federal Government budget had been 1I1\ocated to agriculture since 2006
"This is contrary 10 the 2003 African Union Mitputo DWarallon
that
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He added. KFurthermore. pr1V<lIe investment in the agricultural value chain is at a 1000v ebb ou:;ng to perceived ri5ks. dislortloos iII'lIi uncertainba sudl thllt, Nigerian agriculture is tooay one 01 the most under funded in the world
highhgh ledhaveresu Uedinto Nigeria losing the leMling position it occupied In the 1960s in the expor tation of key crops such as cocoa. groundnut. colton rubber and palm produce. TIU! CBN the
15 per cent of global palm 011. groundnut Md cocoa expor ts respectively. "Today. the reverw b the case liS Nigeria's ilgricultural import bill stands al N630bn lInnuitlly. Large food products imports indude wheal !NI65bn). fish (N I05bn). rice (N75bn). Md sugar (N6Obn). ln the interest of ou r dear nahon. this trend
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Risk Sharing
N39 4tn by 2030. GMng a breakdown of the rood impel 1 bUL he said that wheat constituted the largest amount with Nl65bn. while lish (NIOSbnl. rice (N75bn\. and sugar (NGObn) loilOlAled in that Older
Sanu5i sUd. "Gross under funding of the sector is a major challenge as exempllrled by the
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• L·R. Acrirtg Director-Gelleral. Nigerian Institule of Social and Economic Research. lbodan, Prof Fem! Ololcesusi; Brig. .(;en. Arin~ Ebenebe: ond chairman of the occasIon. Prof. Niyl Gbodeges1n, 01 the NISER's seminar on an emergenl Africon mega aly In lbodan .. on Tuesday. Photo: Olalelcflll Adefayo.
Nigeria's satellite launch suffers setback Eve ru l Amaelule. Abuja HE prop05ed launch ing into the orbit of Nigeria's latest two saieUile5 on July 7 will no longer hold as scheduled. the Nil lional SpiKe Reseilrch and Development AgPncy has said While one of the satelli tes. the NigeriaSat-2. was
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consIrudedbySurreySatellite Technologies umited: the second. NigeriaSat.x. is an experimentill satellite COrt5lrucied by Nigerian engineers using Ihe fc)Cilities of SSTL A stiltement issued by the Head. Medi.a lind COrporllte Affairs. NSRDA. Mr. Felill Ale. in Abuja on Tuesda.y. said the postponement was
due to logistics and technical reasons. ~The Ale said. postponement was due to a It'port from the ilIunch sit e in RUSSia. which indica tes some logistics and technical rei.'loSOf\5. However. a neIU date lor the Illunch wiU be announced soon ~Launch de lay is a frequent oc:wrrence in the
Launching business. as this Is it very critica.i and sensitive stage. Any failure can be very devMtating. thus launch i!lQendes will alwoys llIke adequate measures toensure a perfect launch even 11 this tRmslates into iI delay' He added. - Nigeriil. like it!1 other space faring nations. has had a similar experience in the past, which is II
Lagos residents await mobile kerosene distribution trucks ,
AGOS State residents nol sighted mobile trucks hawking kerosene as promi5ed by the Nigeli<ln NatlOl'lal Petroleum Corporation and OIpital Oil and Gas The special distribution of the prodUd commenced on Saturday The News Agency of Nigeria reports thilt the NNPC and the o il company had $iIoid that trucks carrying kerosene would start seDing the product directly 10 consumers on 5.!Iturday_ NAN leporlli that the idea was mooted by the NNPC lind the oil company to eilse the scarcity of the product The C?rpOl'lltion' s spokesman. Dr. Levi Ajuonuma. hou.'I!Vf'I'. Sllid Ihat the pilot scheme commenced in Lagos on Fnday. He said that the proJecl was a pilot scheme in Lagos and thllt it was tested on Friday ilround the I~na. Ipaja area. An offICial of OIpitai Oil and Gas. .....ho pleaded anonymity. h()l.WV(!r, said thzIt logistics ilnd some bonJ.eneck5 had affected the commencement of the
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distribution of the produd to lagos residents. The officiill Sllid thilt the proJect ought to have commenced last \Well. ildding that Iogistk problems had hindered Its ImpiementaHon. He said thilt al l issues in respect 01 lhe scheme h<td been 50rIed OU!. ilddlTlg thilt the operiltion would soon commence
The ~ rce said thill the partner~'lIp was for the NNPC to provide kerosene. while ClIpitai all ilnd Gas would provide the trucks for ib; diSlnbution. -But we are still aw."Uing kerosene to kkk·start the project. Thereisnogoingback OIl the issues as everything to make It happen is reMly.~ the offICial Sllid.
NAN reports that over 200 trucks 1A.'ere seen at the Capital Oil and Gas lruckpark al Sanya Bus-stop. illong the Oshooi }\papa Expressway, ......aiting to Ioi!Id the product. Some of the drivers. however. said that they had been in lagos since FridiIY to commence loading and distribution. but were awaiting further directives.
Microfone approaches BPE to take over NITEL 1\
tel ecommunica tion s r\company. Mitrolone Telecom Nigeria Umited. has submitted II letter of Intent to the Bureau of Public Enterpnses to take over the opel'lltions 01 the Nigeriiln Te I e co m m u n i cllll 0 n 5 Umiled The company. in the leltert submitted in Abuja on Tuesday. said the move Wi15 borne out 01 its desire to salvage NITEL from the present sitUiltion it hMl found lIse l!. TIle compllny said it was determined ~to provide s.ervices to the very poor but hardworking Nigerians In the remotest parts 01 the country ..
Microfone said. ''We hereby reque51 that you (BPEI consider tl'llnsierrlng N1TEL to NigeTians via Mkrofone Telecom Nigeria umited for the benefit o f the grass roots, the pool and underserved majority of Nigerians. -We "",Ill" a !iQluliondriven approoch and ability to resolve the current N lTEL ililments with,n a short time that will benelilthe company and fVlther pre!")rc it for sale to ilny future prospective ilnd senous buyeT. ~ II added, -We are Willing and prepared to make Microlone ready to oller to BPE a milnilgemen' and
transformation contract that include5 lincmcing the developm4!nt of NITEL and sale of the company lit the end of the contract period .. Microfone said the transformation period for iI stra tegic compilny like NITEL would not exceed five years. ildding that II hild iI capable m."nagemenl team on the glol.md to execute the restructuring Initialive. The News Agency of Nigeria reports Ihilt f.litrolone is an in1tiative of the Nigerian Cilpilal Developmen t Fund. iln interdependent organisation in partnership with all tiers of government'" the country
common phenomenon in satellite bUSiness. ~NASRDA &sures Nigerians of its commitment to working with lis tethnical parln ers for the successful launch of the two ~tellites • Both Slltellites Wen! scheduled to be launched In Yasney. Russia. by Onepr. a satellite launch services provider. TIle contl'llct for the construction of Nlgeria5.at-2 was itwarded 10 SSTL in 2006 al a cost of [J34m. Another 18 per cent of the COSI was spent on the insurance 01 the spaceCRIft. As part 01 the package . 26 Nigenan engineers were trained on the construction of iatellile with hands-on experience acquired fmm th e construction put to use in the c(mStrudion of the expenmenllll satellite. NlgerillS.!ll-X. The Iilunch will bring to four the number of Slltellile5 that the country has taken to the omit since the Orsl. an earth observation satellite known as NigeriaSat- l. was put in the orbit on September 27,2003. The second sa tellite. which was pu t in the olbit was the Nigeriil communia:llions satellite knl)llJn as NigCom5.at- l However, the communications satellite failed the o lbit on November 8 , 2008 It is in the process 0 1 being rep1i1ced by the company that constr\lded iI. the China Great Wall Industry Corporotion. itnd IS expected to be put in the orbit later In the year
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Briefly Nigeria-Polish trade HE Polish Ambassador to N.geriil. Mr. NieslOi0W5ki Pnemyslaw. has decried the trade Imba lance between the two countries. which currently stitnds at about SlOOm annua lly. Przemyslaw. who spoke agilinsf the backdrop of the bllilterallies betl.wen Nigerill and Poland. said in Abujil that the Imbillance was in filVOUJ 01 his country as 98 per cent of the tl'llde was exports to Nigeria He told the News of Nigerlo in Agency Abuja that the iterm; o f trade were machineries. ply.uood lind scratch cards for telecommunication industries. adding thilt the busineues were being driven by small·scale operators. NAN reports Ihat eKpOrts from Nigeria to Poland hibiscus include ginger. OOlNeT. gum ArlIbic and some agricultuI'lI1 produce. The envoy 5aid thzIt the gap in the volume 01 trade WitS Largely due to the f;xl thilt Nigena was not exporting crude oil 10 Poland He also SilId tnal the ilbsenceol big Polish Investors In the natlon's oil and gas seCtOI was illso responsible for the imbalance ~We ilre not importing NlgeTla's main commodity. which is crude 011 because our bW,lnesse5 only came on fully in the last 20 years: Pnemyslaw said
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DTI cafes HE Comptroller· Gener-al of Cusloms. Mr AbduUlIhi Oikko. has directed II thorough investigation of aU Oired Tntde Input cafes 10 ensure quick itnd trllnsparent clearance process A statement by the Deputy Public Relations Officer-. Nigeria Customs Service. Mr Joseph AII."h. made aViliLable to the News Agency of Nigerio on M~y in Abujil. said Dikko issued Ihe orner. He said the Imilgillilry number 01 con tainers said to have being released withoul payment 01 duty had shown ignorance of the cJearilncc
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Dikko was quoted as saying, "It was known that the establishment of OTi cafes WilS one of th' innoviltions of the present management of the service to block revenue leakages. "'The OTis ."re OI.VTIed ilnd OpeTaited by noo.Cusloms o fficers under the superv15ion of the Service. its opel'll\ion5 lIliow importers 01 itgents 10 make dedilralioflS and payments online. thereby reducing human conlacts and occaSion 01 conupt tendencie5 ~ He $aid the speculation that some containers ,vere being fl'lluduJenlly released due to iDegai prachces itl ihe
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