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Flood disaster ravages~auabra
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food belt
Cassava bread policy to save N40bn yearly Slones:
L'1~i A ( lfloye
HE new ("assa"1 Bread De\'e!opment Policy stipulating 4') pH cent c:assava in wheat bread, has been dt!!o:rib!d as an initiatil'e capal'le 'If helping Nigeria to sal'e alx 'UI S252m (N40.03bn) an lUa·ly. According to the International Ins"itJle for Tropical Agricullule, the salings will con Ie for a drastic cui da....n 01] wheat importation. The instilule in a statement rmde 1:I'a.ilable to our coln'cipondent on Thursday, said thai ti le policy Ilil1 substantial ly imp roll! tile lill!lihoodsof t'<!SSa"ta farnl{!rs in the country. Meanwhile, the 0 1'0 State Gal'emment ha.! la uded efforts by TeseaJUleTS at the institute in SllC1:essfully produci ng bread l"ith 40 pen:ent cassava 110ur Ulat had similareating( ualities as the 100 per ct'lll II hl 'at flour bread. "We would like to commend IITA br the inclusion of hig I qualit)' c:assal'a flou r i" b "e;Id. Thls is a great breakt.hr, lUgh, ~ the Pennanent Secrelal Y, Oyo Stale Ministry uf A;r culture, Mr. Isaac ,\ dedullum, was quoted as s<\yin~ during a courtesy ru ll 1,)' [ITA's Deputy Direo..iur-{ elleral of
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Partnerships 2nd Capacity Building, Dr. Kenton Dashiell,
to the state's }\grk ministr)' last week. .'\.deduntan
said that the i nflQVlltiOIl would ha\'e a positi\'e impact on the livelihoods of resource-poo r famlers, and creale wealth ....ith a spin-()ff effect on job
creation for youths. Beyond the use of composite nourin baking, the institute identified other arus of collaboration betwffn IITA
and the state gOl'enunenl , including research and development and product
pr0ct';S5ing. TIle state Commissioner for Agriculturt'. Mr. Bimbo Kolade, specifically sought IITA's help in promoting cassava, maize ilnd yam,
as the state embarks on a transformation programme to mlli these crops catalysts of development. "For us, as a stale, we have
oil palm. horticultural crops, and cashew as crops Ulat will drive the agricultural transfonnation of the state,~ Koladesaid. "In the next four or five years, we want people to identify Oyu state ....ith these crops. We beli~ that with IITA, we should be the first in cassava production: he added. ('''OC02,
in bread was a collaborati~'e effort between UTA and partners. He said that the aim of the visit was to identify and develop action points that both UTA and tile state government would pursue to realize the vision of agricultural tral1sfonnation. To dl!monstrate the institute's commitment, Dashiell promised timt UTA would the state with planting
Ogunto partner foreign inVestOl'S on food production
the Direclor- G"!n ~1tI,Small
and Medium E\ to rprise;; Del'elopment Agency of Ni~eria , ro ll h IInmad Nadada Umar. hOI ; ~ aid . Accordi ng 10 hi m, the new twist I,as hecome
L-R: Monaying Director/Chief £'Cecutiuc Officer, Fidson Health care Pic. Mr. Fide/is Ayebae; Chairman, M r. Felix Ohiwerei; and Company Secretary, Mr. Abayomi Adeoolljo, allhe 13th Anllual General Meeting oft/Ie company, ill Lagos .. all Thursday . Photo: Seyull Bokure.
1Il1indatory because, already, political dendop mellt has ou t-paced economic development. thel eby causillg the ll1iSlTlntch that has p lunged th~ nation inlo the prel'ailing crisis. A statement signed by S!'I"IEDAN's Assislan l D i r~t or, Corporate Affairs. Levi An)ikwa. quoted Umar as sayi ng this while accepting th e cOlllennenl of the Fellow
of the Association of Business Specialists and Entrepreneu rs of Nigeria on him by the association. The award rome in recogni tio n oftheSfl lEDAN Doss' contributiolls to thl' de \'elopment o f business and entrepreneurship in Nigeria. ' He attributedth":!current economic and security challenges to poverty and unemr1oyment. White insisting that the
DS,,' rremiulU, from NIO. 00 0 tu Nll, 000. Th ~ re is. hOl\"i.!I·e r, no increase in the pric"s of OSt... Access. which remains at Nt . 500. whil e the Dnal ViewAcress fees and the access fei' for HDPVR both rema in at Nt, 800 ~!ultiChoice said the price i ncr~ ase had been necessita ted by ongoing increases in th e company's ope rational amI ancillary co~ ts. wh ich indlille. co ntent acquisition ~lltl development. tec hnical infrastruclUre. satellite lease, f~t'lh tit!s and ma i nte n~nre.
TIII~ company stre5sed that
MultiCh~):ice Nigeria 3.1mounces
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ULTICH(I (C~ . I !igeria·s leadingpaY~ll · pro'ider.
has announreJ ~ \"in-1I;n offer for DSt. ~ t1:.scribers follO\\ing an U!lI\OIro re\;ew of its subscliptiol ! fees. Howel"er, sUN ritels, who renew tlleir sU ')!; ~ription before its eXpi ratinll, ;Iand to pay less on thl! .)ld Ilr ffs. The nt'W sllhscription r~es announ t:led b:1 the c }mpany are: OSt\' Fam ll) . from N2. 80u to ~ : I. (0' ); OS,,· Com part, frO"ll N" . 800 to N5. 000: DS,,· ::011" p;'ct Plus. from N-;-. 000 I ' N;, iOO and
GUNStateGo"emment has expressed its readiness to partner "ith genuine invcstors in order to boost food production in the state. The state Governo r, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, So1id this in Abeokuta when directors of ZAJ. IBEEF Product Pic, a Zambian company, paid him courtesy call in his office. Amosun said the present administrntion was "il1ing to partner "ith the compa n)' bl.'-caUSf! its vision was in line with the cardinal progrnmme of the sta te for the promotion of agricultural products. He stressed. thatthe govemment wOllldcon\inue to partner with genuine inl'estors that would add VoIlne to the economy of the state, urging the \;sitors to take adl'an ta ge of the enablingell\ironmentbeing created by his gOI'enllnent as well as its efforts towards the indus trialisa tion of the state to come in and illl"CSL He said the state gOl'emment would continue to pm\ide infrnstrudural facilities, like good road lIetwork, power and security, among others, to e nabl e inl'estors to benefit from their investments. He expressed confidence that the presence of the cumpany would create wealth for the people of the state. TIle Group Direc tor of ZAMBEEF Product Pic., Mr. Carl Irwin, had earlier stated that the company was invoh'ed in the production. processing, dis tribut io n and retailing of basic foods. stressing the need to ensure pol'erty allel>iation on th e African continent through massil'e food production.
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MSME development, panacea for insecurity - SMEDAN D-G F as amI capacity OR ilhgel ia to overcome i~ : urrent economic iJ,d : ecurity challen ges, staJ:e lolders must pa}' Illilre aHention to the devl'lop l1 ! nt of Micro, Sma!: a nd Uedium Enterprises than' I'olilic:s.
IITA
materials on a two-hectare piece ofland . He thanked the state government for the construction of the t\iibode Road in lhadan, which eases the movement o( UTA staff and (amiers in the area. Located in the South West regi on o( Nigeria, Oyu state hosts IITA, and is endowed lIith vas t arable land. Besides IITA, the state also hosts the highest numbe ror agricultural rn;earch institutes in Nigeria.
10%
MSME sector must be del'el oped through training building programmes, lheSMEDAN chief executive said the neglect of small businesses oyer the years had resu lted in the high level of crime and political violence in the country. In order to overrome these myriad of problems, he said, small and medium entrepreneu rs must be encouraged to l.row and deve lo p.
s ubscription increase
while it was cummitted to keeping su bsc ription prict'S low, it was fo rced to implement an increase in orde r to continue to provide quality proglOlmming. improwd customer ser.ice and d~lh'er on its promise to remain Ih~ cll'licc pay entertainment destination on the African continent. No ting the impact th is increa.w ma!' hal.. on i L~ subscribe rs. the pay·n ' pro\ider Ilill be offering a 10 per cen t special off the
new subscription rates to inte rested subscribers, who would make pa}lnents before th eir subscription expires as part of a special offer tlla! would co me into effect from <>ttoben. The Managing Director of MultiChoice Nigeria, Mr. John Ugbe, said. -n,is implies that each montll a subscriber pays ahead of the ser.ice expira tion. he gets a 10 per ce nt rebate on Ule subsequent mon th's p~),"ent and this continues as long as the circle is unbroke n: he said.
Uma r said he received the award a challenge on himself and the entire agency to work harder in order to meet the e.'l:peclations of Nigerians, adding that the Agen cy has developed a policy document as well as a database of MSMEs in Nigeria which are aimed at la);ng the foundation for the development of the s ub-sec to r. According to Umar, the entrepreneurship del'elopm ent would dovetail to economic development of th e country and eradicate poverty, and SMEDAN is working hard in this regard_ Speaking earlier, the Registrar of th e associat iOll, Mr. Kenneth Oboh, stated that the award to the SM EDAN diredor-general was th e highest award of the association. Ba saio that the award was appro ved by the GoI'erning Counci l after a eareful study o f th e impressiYe activities o f SMEDAN under Vmar.