FRIDAY. JULY 8. 2011
Briefly 'Stabilise kerosene at N50' HE J oint Actio n Forum, a coosortium of civil society organisations, on Thunday urged the Federal Government to ensure that kerosene was sold al N50 per
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litre.
The Chairman
01 the
FG splits Anambra-Imo River Basin Authority Emma nue l Obe, Awk a HE Federal Government has split the Anambral Imo River Basin Development Au thority into nvo. The Managing Director of the authority, Mr. Gregory Ug.we:ze. disclosed thrs on Thursday in Awka. I'll
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a \\."Orkshop on ~Proper Management of River Basins. the \';ay For"..ard .~ whkh "as orgamsed by The Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, in colla boration with the National Water n!5OUrces Institute. Kaduna said that the h;,d !lOIN b«n
5plil inlo lhe lmo River Basin Development Authority with headquarters at and Anambra River BasLll Development Authori ty with its headqu;,rten in Enugu. But the VICe-Chancellor. NAU, Prof Boniface Egboka, urged !he Federal Governmen t to a1so create
o-m.
the Ebonyi River Basin DeveIopmenl Authority to adequatelycater lorthewater Md development needs of the people of the South·East geopolitkalrone. He Si!;!d thaI most of the surface and undeTground water re5OU~ of the zone had been by
forum. Mr. OIadipo Iilshina, a t a news coofl!n!l1Ce in lagos. appealed to the governmen t to make the product avaUabie to consumers. He said that the high cost of k£rosene was subjecting NIgerians to untold hardship, partiDJlarly in the Jast two
mon""-
The News Agency 0{ Nigeria quoted him as saying, ~II is appalling thai kerosene is still scarce and is sliD sold lor vilrious amounts far above the NSO benchmark.. Kit is even more unlortunate that !he government has not been able 10 address the problem of kerosene scarcity w up till now. Fashina said the call lor the removal of oil subsidy \\."as insensitive to the plight of the common man, especially 115 k£rosme was already too coslly lor them. He urged the governmen t to refurbish the existing nl'ftneries 50 thai they could reach their optimum production capacity and also build ne\V ones to overcome the chaDenges a§5OCialed with the noo-availability of petroleum products.
LG3DlV T G
Bectrooics
has
nauguraled a new Onema 3D lY. which relies on polarised film allached Ie the screen instead of bulky lJI1d ~ gasses !hat need Ie be recharged in between uses. First 0Cperlmented on the n1m. Aviltar. by Hol/ywoOO movie maker, James Cameron, the lechnol~ Is meant to aazleJate the adoption of 3D mle homes.. While making merepce to L
the benefit of Las Cmema 3 D TV technology. Cameron :said that then! was a growing battle between the produom 01 3D display technologies thai: relied on expensive active shutler-g\ass d~ aod thos.e that offered RIm Patterned Retarder. Nobel L..aumate and liteTary iwn. Prof. Wale Soyinka, who was the guest or honour at the inauguration, observed that the product woulclllMlmp the dnemacu.lture:in Nigeria inlhe most comfor1atie. enjoyable and social W3y when people watched 3D content In theuhomes. He noted thai the hJSion 01 technology and anema WiIS a plc!tform to sha.o.'CllSe human ingenuity and the use 01 enl2rtainment for the purpose 01 enhancing the quality of lile style of Nigerian vie\.\.oen. Soyinka commended the device for itsab!1ily lo eliminale the I~cdin g 01 dizziness or eye
• L-R: Oitrision Manager, Acodemy of Gemany Cooperatiues, Mr. Rudiger Meister; Managing DlreaodChlej Exerutioe Officer. HASAL Institute for Micro/irronce Studies, Mr. Rogers Nwoke; and Project Marroger, Arodemy oj German Coopt"nmues, Mr Sebastian SOlllmer, during Ure signIng of fhe Memorandum of Undersumding between HA5AL frrstlfu/e for Micro/inrma Studies and the AaxlemV 01 German Cooperorlues, In Abuja... OIl Thursdoy. Photo: Sam Adeko
Dangote to build biggest fertiliser plant in Africa T
EADING indigenous L..cong!omerate. lhe Dangote Group. has taken a big step toward building the biggest fertiliser piant on the African cootinent by signing anagreemenlwith theSaipem Group. lA.'hich win handle the project's engineering and infrastructule works The President, Gangote Group, AlhaJI Aliko Dangote. and the Cou ntry Manager, SaipemGroup.whoisa1sothe folanaging Diredor of Saipem Conbac\ing Nigeria U mited. Mr. Giuseppe Surace. signed the agreement on behalf 01 both o rganisa.!lOllS_ TIle plant. wh ich WIll be loca.ted in Edo State. according to a statement by the Dangote G roup, wiD be anexceRen lexampleci how to ulilise a subslantial amount of the country'ssignilicant gas
re5OUn:es as raw ma:erial in the Ammonia·Urea ferliUser production ~. When completed. the proft'Ct. the statement Si!;id. II>O.IId make: lhe country sell-sulfrcient in fer1i1iser production. thereby RIVing it the huge foreign reserve5 presently being spent on the Importation 01 fer1i1LWT With the agreement. Saipem is to build for the Dangote Group a fertiliser plant for the production of 7.700 metric tonnes per day 01 granulated Urea. \\.ith 1\0.'0 tralns of 3.850 metnc tonnes each pel'"day, and il isexpeded to start productlon in 2014. The wmpany said in the statement. 'The plant will be the 1argesI1Il Afnca as its
and 1.500 metric tonnes per day of Urea oompared with the Dangete plant's 2.200 metric tonnes per day 01 Ammonia and 3,850 metric tonnes per day ofl/rea. "The projeo. \\.i1ich wit oeate thousands 01 direct and indirect jobs In construdion and related fields. will pn:Mde a major boost to the agricuJllJraI sector by signiflCClndy Il'dudng the importilbon 01 lertiliser in Nigeria. and u1timatety,
dosestcompetilorl"la5tnS1abed capacity of only 1,000 metric lonnes pel'" ckIy of Ammonia,
2010 ' The amount represents a
Im e U m o ren forme r SecretaryGel"Mmll 01 the Comm o nwealth , Chief Emeka Anyaoku. ha5 called lor the urgent diversirlcation o f the Nigerian economy He said this during the distinguished management lectu re of the Nigerian Institute of Management tilled. "Nigeria at 50' The Challenges of Nalion hood ,~ on Thursday in Lagos ACCOl"ding to him. the country's industrial sector is now vi rtu al ly non-existent. noll"9 tha t the government
environment lor the Involvemen t of the private sector Kin Iuck.stl'lrting and puttIng the nahon's economy on the path 01 growth and development. the private sector has a pivotal rote. Anyaoku said. He lamented the sItuatio n whereby abou t 60 per cent 01 the coun try', financral rnourt:eS "'ere being 5I)ent on recurrent expenditure The former Commonwealth seaelarygeneral emph;,sised Ihatthe govern m ent must provide th e needed in lr;,structure
~,,","!~"'-'~~L__l~m~"~'~t~"~"~t~.--"th~.~.~n~'~b~li~ng,,----,,'~nd~f~,o~ ·lilate
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the growth o f
or
gowmments. He said. ~Surface waters am nooded, polluted, contaminated, silled up or rendered unusable by anthropogenic events fl.1any ~reams . nven and lakes have 'died . -Dams and reserwirs are mismanaged and abandoned. Groundwater reserves are betng damaged. Borehcrleos are sited and sunk lfI"l!5IX'I15ibly without prO(E" hydroIogIc;aland geoph~'5ICiII expert advJce ~ TheOuefExecutIWOffJCer:, National Water Resources InstillJte. Kaduna. Dr OIusanja Bamghoye, who 5pOke on regional water governance and water protecbon. stressed the nero 10 involve allliers of governmenl and the people III the initiabon and execution of water projects 10 avoid future f.ailures. lhe Dlredor. NaUonill Water Resources Capaaty Buildrng Network.. NAU. Dr Bernard Odoh, said more than one biftion peope In lhe world did not have acc:ess to safe water, whlle more thil1l n~"O billion people ~ alfected by walel shortages in over 40 countries He also saId thai 40 per cent of the people of the work! used sanito}tion fdhes thai did not meet the basir;: requirements !Of health. while 1.6 million dtildren under the age of frw died evuy YEar be<:au~ of un$llfe water and lack of basic .!I.lInillltion
Julius Berger records N171.87bn turnover Eme ka Eze.ktel, Abu)iI C
ONSTROCTION gia nt , Julius Berger Nigeria PIc, I"Ia5 recorded a lurnover 01 N171.78bn for the finanCIal Y£!ar ended December 31.
16 per cent ina\'i.t.o;e when
Anyaoku seeks diversification of Nigeria 's economy A
removing the nero for imporb when the planl is in lull production: Dangole was quoted as sayrng after the offICial signing ceremony thai he wong\y shared the vrev..o of President GoodIuck Jonathan that the counlry should not be importing those things that it had the raw materials and natural .!I!Wanlage for produdng iocaDy. with fertilber being one such products.
environmental degnI~lIOn, and therefore called on the Federal Government. the 51ilte government and the Federal Ministry 01 Petroleum Resources to work together to save the waler in the lIJIle_ Egboka regn!tted that water. a source of life. had been negIec!ed by successive
a credible ind ependent and vi rile private sector that was not a mere extension of the public sector because 01 the proprietary inlerests of servi ng publk o llice holders_ "'The Nigerian economy needs an a uth e ntk and proactive private sector that is interested In produclllg goods and services and is ready to Invest in research a nd development. he .!I.lIld Anyaoku caned on the government to strengthen the anti-corrupt ion agencies and also establi sh a special courl 10 try corrupti on cases 10 avoid delays in the delivery o f judgement. W
... shareholdets to get ZOOk dividend per share compared wilh the N 148 43bn it recorded in 2{X)9 The Chairman. Juirus Berger. AW.1 Nura Imo}m (retd). who disclosed this during the company' s 4151 Annual General Meetrng rn Abu,la. on Thursday. saKi the Board of Di rectors had approved the payment of 2()()k as dividend per share to its shareholden in appreciation 01 their support during the previous financial
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... The total dividend thai the company wiD payout Ie Ihe shareholders is N2 4bn Imam said. WAs regards performance. our company's turnover in 2009 was N148.43bn against N171 87bn in !he Y£!ar 2010 Th!S I"e presents an increase of 16 per cent over the previous year's reporting The Nigerian Stock Exdtange's share valuation 01 the comJlllny o}t the end of the year 20 I0 was
NSO compa red to N25 79 at the end 01 the year 2009 wThe increase in the company's stock value reflects !he confidence o f the shareholders and the public during the reporting period The proposed dividend lor the year 20 10 Is 200k per each ordinilry share, resulhng in a total gross dIVidend payment of N2.4bn Reviewing the operations o f !he company Within !he 2010 fmandal year. he said that Julius Berger provided skills enhancemenl training lor 7,000 employees, adding that it \.\IOUld continue to improve on its framing programmes in o rder to enhance the effICiency 01its ""Oridorce wOur commitment Ie training is evidenced by our numbers In 2010. 7.(XX) employees participated in some form 01 enhancement training related to their disciplines.. he said W
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