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NEW S
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lFG may ban rice importation in 2015 T:
le F~L'Ial GoI.-emment
may
ban
rice
impoontalka as from
20 1S fiscill year. Tht! i\lil" istl!r of Agriculture ,Illd Naltlral Re50urce~, Dr Akinwumi \! 3\'e the Adeshina. indication ,luring a prescntatioll I t the 17th
Nigerian EcullomicSummit in Ahuja on Friday. The minister said within the next (0\11 yea rs, all effor1s would be geared towards narro\.;ng the gap between the demand and supply c rlhe cc'mmodity. Nigeria's d 'mand for rice cu rrenll)' stands at fh-e miJlif)n m~·tric tonnes \\hile its local production
is about ::.5 million metric Icnnes. Hl' saiJ , "TIle target of th e ministry i! to replace importeu bro\\ n rice \\ith locally<produet:d
brown
rice by 2013 and partially finance illcenti .-e... through
increased impo rt le\)" nn brown rice_ -llIIllOrts will be s ubstituted by s timulating the pri\'ate sector to in\'est in riCi' processing facilities in areas of current high production. Incenti\'es can be partially financed through increased import levy on fillished rice." 11le summit with theme, ~Att ra cting foreign direct invest ment through global partnership,had in attelldance key players in bo th th e private and public sectors of the eco nolll)·. TIle minister said in h is paper enti tled: -Agricultural Transformation Action Plan : Investing to di\'ersify t heeconomyand secure aUf future," that the country's fanner glory in the SKtor \,-ould be revived within the shortest tim e possible. Ue wondered why the country, with its vast potential in agricul tu re, could be importing
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-L-R: Fonner El'I!CUtiue S«:un'ty, Petroleum Pricing Regulatory Agency, Dr. OIuwole OIueyc; Managing Director, Mobil Oil Nigeria PIc, Mr. TtuJii OyebcJI!ii; Hood, PublicAjfoirs,lUr. Akin Fotunke; immediate past Managing DirectOI', Mr, O/u Onaiwyo; and Executiue Dir«:lor, Operations,Mr. He1llY Obill. at the artAjrico Downst'rrom Awal'ds, iIlAbuja_. on Thursday agricultural products. This, he noted, had ill r!\''ent ti mes. made Ille naira to come under severe pressure.
He said, ~Ou r rice tnmsform ation plan is to ensure that Nigeria will be self-sufficient in four years. Nige ria must become self-
Three varsity students die of gunshot injuries T
hfl~ studl!nts of tile O!abisi Onabanjo Unh-ersi ~. Ago11I"0),e, D!lun Hate, hit by stra~' buUets during an anned robhe!) utlack 0 11 the ins1.ittllioll·! campus on Thursday, have lied. Thl;' m:ma.;;ement of the ins titution till Friday confirmed thai tht' three students died a< a result of shock and gun ;hot injuries they su,<;t;lined afte r amled robbers attacbJ fi\~ banks on the permanI' It campus of the institution 01 Thursda} . When th e r ews of the dealh of the ! tl dents got to the campllS. It "'as ga th ered thai 5tudenls stal1ed a protest, charting antisecurity wngs I Id calling for the relocation pf the bank! frOlllthe campu ;. Heavil),-arme j robbers numbering alx ut 20 had on Thurnlay -aided First City Monum!nt Bank. Inlert"Ontinenlal Bank. Skye Bank. Ol-eanic flank an d Guaranty TnlSt Bank and stole undisdo;e J amount of
money. The insti tution's Public Relations Officer, Mr. Sam Oyeleye, said the school ml1Jlagement bad received the death news of three persons from the hospital where they were rushed for treatment. Ordere said that two of the deceased died as a ~sult of bullet ....ou nds while the last ]lerson died of shock. The state Commissioller
for Education, Science a nd Technology, Mr. Segun Odubela, who was in the ins titution on Frida)' for an o n·the-spot assess ment, described th e incident as pathetic and u nfortunate. He said Governor Ibikunle Amosun would \lsi! the Institution u soon as Ihe report reached him. Eye\,;tnesses accou nt said the armed robbers, who shot sporadically
and used el\"plosives whi le the operation lasted, also vandalised four ,'ehicles parked in the school premises, The bandits opernted unchallenged as security oper.ttives attached to the banks allegedly fled for dear lives when they found out that they could not withstand the superior firepower of the robbers.
Banks close shop, eject customers at RCCG camp l..c'ke 8aiyewu here was palpable fear on Friday at Ule Rrdemption Camp of tile Redeemed Christian Church of God on the lagos-Ibadan Expressway as customers of till! four banks \,ithin the camp were asked to lea\"! the premises following a report thatamled robbers were Illanning an attack. Ont' of the customers, who spoke "ith SATIJRDAY PUNCH, said he was at the Ibafo branch of In tercontinental Bank at
T
about to am where a man believed to ~ a senior employeeofthe bank brough t banking acthitles 10 a hal t and asked the customers to lea\"!. lie said, ~I msheddown to another br~nch in the camp because ' wanted to make an Ul'genl ....ilhJrnwaL unly to see tlmt tile same ml\n had also gi>'en 5ame order. thereby causing confusio n: When SATIJRDi\Y PUNCH called at the bank in Ibafo, a security guani in th e premises said there was an anned robbe!)' threat, which had forced the banks on the
c-'pressway to dose shop. He said. ·We are closed for now. You can only ca~' ou t banking transactions \o;th other brnnches in Kelu and other parts of Lagos. No bank ....ill open today on this ('l(pressway because we ha\'e rec1!h'ed anned robberv threats and we have to tJe proactive: TIle police Anti-Robbery Squad was seen on tile patrol \,ith an Armoured Personnel Carrier and a Mercedes Benz salon car. An lbafo resident told our correspondent that the poliCMlen shot sporadically
Kano votes N363m for magistrate courts building Mustap ha SaJih u, Ka llo
no Sldt ! Executh-e hu Council ppron:d N36JIIl for the construction of 26 ml3istrate courts in the local gO\-em01ent areas of the state. Slate Comm ssione r for Infonnatiun. [ir. Uma r Jlbri l, slated this wile I he bril!fed reporter.! un Ihl outcome of the weekly Ext'Cllti\'e Counci I meeting. Jubril !aid lhe council also appro\'ed I :964.31n for the Sl'COnd phas! of 60 fuur-
I(!
sufficient in rice production in a manner Illat grows the agriculture sector and creates jobs. ~Nigeria is the wo rld's second importer. importing two million me tric tonnes of rice. Rice e,~port trade market is very thin, and its prices are high ly \·olatHe. This commodity grows aU across Nigerio, hence selfsufficiency \\;11 positively impact on aU geopolitical wne!. • Acrosstheboard, Nige ri a ranks at the bottom on agric indices mKhanisa tion intensity. Nigeria's food imports are gro\oing at an unsustainable ra te of II per cenl annuaily.
classroom storey blocks in all the -H local go'-emment areas of th e state. 111e EXCO approved N13.591m for ' landscaping and provision of inte rlocking tiles in w ille hospitals in the state, including the maternity wan! of Murtala Muhammed Specialist Hospita! and Sabo Bakin Zuwo Matt'roil)' Hospital. HI! stated that over N9m ,,'as appro\'ed for tht' take· off of a pvu!try training progrdmme for :m womell ill each of the -14 [.G:U in
the slale, ..... hich .....ould be conducted nt KNARDA Training School, Dambatta. •Also, the council appfO\'ed N9.IJ-Im for the sponsors hip of an agricshow scheduled for this mo nth. It approved N64 .28;1Il for Iht' oonslrut,:tion of four classroom blocks lit Fisheries. U\-estock and Entrepreneuriul Institute,' he 58id. Jubrilsaidt.hlltotherworks induderl the renovation of building department, phase I at the ministr)' of works. housing and transport. as
well as general rello...ation of the guest charlet at the Government House. in ad dition, the DiCO appn"..ed N9-422m for the procurement of textbooks for Arabic and Islamic secondary 5chools, and the library of Arabic and Islamic Education Depurtment. Mtanwhile, the goremment has consented to the establishment of the State EoonomicManag:ernent Team under the Secretary to the State Go\'ernlllent and the Commissioner for Budget and Plannin~.
into the air to announce their presence around the bank. It was obse""ed that all Ihe banks. namely Intercontinental Bank, United Bank for Ahica, Oceanic Bank and Zenith Bank were lockl!d while the cus tomen and pa5sen-by were hanging around in fear. An eyewi tness, who gave anolher version of th e story. said the UBA might probably be th e target as il was the place the police first \isited. He attributed the foiled robbery attempt to the timely inte",'ention of the police. W'hen contacted on Ih~ telephone, the Public Relations Officer. Ogun State Police Command, Mr. Olumuyiwa Adejobi. an Assistant-Superintendent of Police, said the police were read)' to foresta ll a ny cri me of sueh. III' said, ~We would not ha"e allowt'd that (arnled robbery) to happen. We are fully on ground to protect the liVe! and property of the citizen!)'. I will o nly ad\;se Nigeri;ms, especiall~ the hank managers, tn be timel)' in calling the att en tion of the polke when there art indicatiolls that a crime is ahoullO be committed.-
Nigeria's no noil export sector remains poor -0'-(0111 KUll le Fal.1)'i ie Minister of Slate for Trade IUld Ln>'e5tlnenl, Dr. S::tmuel Ortom, has dnried tile abysmal p!'numlllflcc o f the non-o;1 upon sedor of the Nigerian eronom,·. Ol1om, who spoke in ugw; durinA tile OIJeJlint: of the lIumllfl C3pital Oe'..elopmenl Centre un Frida,,, S8Jd the pri,.. te Mrlor nfided 10 take an adnnlage of the enabli ng en,ironment pro,ided by the KO"emmenl. The. mini!ih:r . Yid, "The Afriaan Gro"th and Opportuni~' Act, no doubt. pre:scnu a wonderful \o\indow of opportunities for o ur pmduru in the US market. " It is qui le disturbing thai o'~r 10 yean of ti.i!i p",fe~ntial schune. Nigeri.:fs puformnnot in the non-oil uport 5ttlor has ",",ained
L
signifiantly pour. '"That o"er 6,400 pmducb a",(O\-ered hy AGOAsI.O\\'S the
huge opportunities a' lIilable 10 ollr e ntrqJ ~lI tun. The~i!i n o
doubl Ihal tiM:' establislmlenl of this a:ntre ' Ii[[ 10 a long
;'~:I~~ ~~~~n':':t~&err~~ :~\;~~~~:;torc'::'IJTI~~~~~':! lo thrh.... ~
DPMs take over in Oyo as House sacks LG bosses Aki n,,"ale Abol uwade. tbadan
ro Slate 1I0use of ,\Memblr on Fridar sacked the29a'da ke r chairmen In the council .reu In the state and ;!skecl the Direclors of Personnel Manaceme.nt 10 taJ.:e o\"t~r the
O
I dminislration.
The lawmaken;"
deci~ion
was sequel to a motion mm-ed
by the
"'J>~nl a Li n:
of state constituency, Fannto .·akonode. The transition chairmen wen! on Mo nday, ..'UIll151 8. Iw~o"..
!~~.~af~:'OI~n~1~~~5hi~
Iccordalll:e with tile extant law of Ihe local 30\-ermncnt. Tile otiler four local
~~;!;nn~~n~ ~un~~UI~~ ~et:"'t a riu ami acting ehairmcn said 10 be nu rn inees of a former go \-ernor of th«5lale, Chief Kashldl Ladoja.